Decisions 2018

[HannahRae]

Hello fellow grad school 2018 applicants! I know this is kind of early in the game but, I wanted to start a thread for people who have either made their decision, or are in the process of making their decision about where they intend to attend grad school! 

 

After much much much thought and worry and back and forth, I have accepted my offer from Loyola University Chicago to attend their MSW program specializing in mental health!

 

Anyone else out there feeling feelings, making hard decisions!? 

 

[kristine22]

Congrats on your decision!

I'm currently deciding between 3 schools (one only gave me a week to decide!) so the pressure is on. I think the part I hate most about deciding is having to email my prospective supervisors and tell them I'm declining their offer.   They all seem wonderful with great projects. One is a very prestigious school with great career prospects, but I just can't  see myself involved in this project long term. The other is slightly less prestigious but still a solid school with research interests fitting mine exactly, so I think I know what to do.

good luck to all!

[Elephas]

What are some of the factors you used or are using to make your decisions?! I'm currently in the process as I've received notification from all of my programs. 

[kqfka]

I got into UMSI today w/ the offer of co-advising w/ multiple POIs I reached out to. I have a strong urge to accept it right away, but I suppose I should probably wait until I hear final decisions from CMU and UW Seattle. More waiting 

balaenopter_a, to which NW program were you admitted?

Edited February 9, 2018 by kqfka

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

Still need to wait and hear back from a few programs, but I've visited one program, will visit another next month, and had an interview for another school today. I keep looking at places to live (at the programs that have interviewed or accepted me) and planning my move to each of these places, but I don't have a clear idea yet of where I'd prefer to go. And then I have at least two schools left to hear from (another two others have been admitted, but I haven't heard anything). I just want all their decisions in my lap so I can sit down and actually figure out where I'll be spending the next 4+ years of my life...

[iwearflowers]

I've got two campus visits coming up, and I'm trying to schedule at least one more (still waiting to hear back from one program). I've basically got a data collection protocol drafted with all of the questions I want to ask students and professors, things I want to cost out online, and other factors I want to consider (climate, program fit, etc).  Then it's going into an Excel spreadsheet I'm calling my decision matrix. And then I'll probably end up picking based 75% on that and 25% on what my gut says because I'm an INFP. I honestly didn't expect to get into more than one or two programs, so I was not expecting this part of the process to be quite so stressful.

[toear5]

1 hour ago, iwearflowers said:

I've got two campus visits coming up, and I'm trying to schedule at least one more (still waiting to hear back from one program). I've basically got a data collection protocol drafted with all of the questions I want to ask students and professors, things I want to cost out online, and other factors I want to consider (climate, program fit, etc).  Then it's going into an Excel spreadsheet I'm calling my decision matrix. And then I'll probably end up picking based 75% on that and 25% on what my gut says because I'm an INFP. I honestly didn't expect to get into more than one or two programs, so I was not expecting this part of the process to be quite so stressful.

I love this -- I'm deciding between a few schools (and still waiting on final decision from a couple others) and I am definitely creating a "decision matrix" as well. There are just so many factors to consider that it can become fairly overwhelming...My plan is to assign point values to every factor and see who comes out on top. Plus gut feelings, of course. 

[Elephas]

1 hour ago, iwearflowers said:

I've got two campus visits coming up, and I'm trying to schedule at least one more (still waiting to hear back from one program). I've basically got a data collection protocol drafted with all of the questions I want to ask students and professors, things I want to cost out online, and other factors I want to consider (climate, program fit, etc).  Then it's going into an Excel spreadsheet I'm calling my decision matrix. And then I'll probably end up picking based 75% on that and 25% on what my gut says because I'm an INFP. I honestly didn't expect to get into more than one or two programs, so I was not expecting this part of the process to be quite so stressful.

The excel matrix idea is really cool I just have comparable columns I may go ahead and try that out!

[synapticcat]

Okay, so it's not official quite yet, but that's only because I just received my offer of admission this past week and the graduate school hasn't yet processed my admittance so I can't go online and officially "accept" their offer. 

But I am 99.999% sure that as soon as it is humanly possible to do so in the online portal, I will be accepting an offer at the University of Michigan to pursue a PhD in Neuroscience through their Program in Biomedical Sciences (PIBS). 

I'm still shocked I was accepted as this was my dream program and I completely fell in love during my interview weekend. Every faculty member and student I interacted with was passionate about their work, the school, and seemed genuinely happy to be there. Really clicked with several of my interviewers who have similar research interests and am hoping for the chance to rotate with some of them over the next year. As a native Michigander who moved out of state for undergrad, I'm also really looking forward to moving back knowing I will have family and friends only a short drive away.

I'm so incredibly excited! Cheers to all of us making this important decision and ending up at awesome institutions in the near future 

 

Edited February 11, 2018 by synapticcat

[iwearflowers]

15 hours ago, synapticcat said:

Okay, so it's not official quite yet, but that's only because I just received my offer of admission this past week and the graduate school hasn't yet processed my admittance so I can't go online and officially "accept" their offer. 

But I am 99.999% sure that as soon as it is humanly possible to do so in the online portal, I will be accepting an offer at the University of Michigan to pursue a PhD in Neuroscience through their Program in Biomedical Sciences (PIBS). 

I'm still shocked I was accepted as this was my dream program and I completely fell in love during my interview weekend. Every faculty member and student I interacted with was passionate about their work, the school, and seemed genuinely happy to be there. Really clicked with several of my interviewers who have similar research interests and am hoping for the chance to rotate with some of them over the next year. As a native Michigander who moved out of state for undergrad, I'm also really looking forward to moving back knowing I will have family and friends only a short drive away.

I'm so incredibly excited! Cheers to all of us making this important decision and ending up at awesome institutions in the near future 

 

Congratulations!!! It's so nice when you end up being the dream applicant for your dream school.