Fall 2019 Psychology PhD Applicants!

[Celery]

On 1/23/2019 at 2:33 PM, ellamarie123 said:

I'm in the same boat as you (for clinical). Sent the department an email yesterday to ask if all interview requests had gone out and haven't heard back yet...

People waiting on Penn State, interview weekend for clinical is this weekend :/

[1|]010ls10o]

For in-person interviews where there isn't a preliminary/phone interview, how much time (out of a standard 30 minutes) would you spend discussing research overlap vs personality/program fit?

The personal statement/CV + the invite was probably enough to determine research overlap, right? I applied to several POIs but their interests aren't a good match with each other -- their interests are, however, a good fit with my experiences. Would you feel a need to justify the application to different POIs within the same program even more? Or is that already taken care of?

Edited January 28, 2019 by 21n14l

[ellamarie123]

2 hours ago, Celery said:

People waiting on Penn State, interview weekend for clinical is this weekend ?

Thanks for the information  Ugh I don't understand why they don't just send out rejection letters. What good is it to keep us hanging when we know it's not going to happen?

[dancedementia]

Person on the results page who called Suffolk, thank you! Now I can tone down the obsessing for a few days lol.

[ellamarie123]

On 1/23/2019 at 8:18 PM, soparanoid said:

Hey, thank you so much for this information! I’m beginning to feel a little hopeful now and only because of you. ?

Hey! Just called the department. I was informed that they are still reviewing applications, and they do not have an interview date (everything is done at the discretion of faculty members as we thought). She said if we haven't heard anything by the beginning of February, that's not a good sign.  Hope this helps!

[PsychGal]

Hello, has anyone heard from Northwestern Feinberg for Clinical Psych Phd? I know they are notifying by Feb 1st, just wanted to see if anyone had any more info than that!

[psych5ever]

19 hours ago, TrustingTheProcess said:

Does anyone know typically how long after interview weekend do Clinical Psych PhD programs contact accepted applicant(s)?

 

19 hours ago, ClinPsych2019 said:

Usually pretty quick. Faculty want to get offers out ASAP before you get an offer from anywhere else. I’ve heard as quick as the Monday after a Friday interview from some people who applied last year. But I’m sure it varies a little, but it’s definitely pretty quick.

now freaking out that I haven't heard of my status since interview weekend--does this go for being on the waitlist/rejected too? or are they waiting to hear from accepted applicants before reaching out to those they don't send offers to?

[JoePianist]

1 hour ago, 21n14l said:

For in-person interviews where there isn't a preliminary/phone interview, how much time (out of a standard 30 minutes) would you spend discussing research overlap vs personality/program fit?

The personal statement/CV + the invite was probably enough to determine research overlap, right? I applied to several POIs but their interests aren't a good match with each other -- their interests are, however, a good fit with my experiences. Would you feel a need to justify the application to different POIs within the same program even more? Or is that already taken care of?

It depends on the rhythm of the conversation — if it seems like the interviewer is engaged discussing research fit, go along with it. If it seems like you’re doing /all/ the talking about the topic for 10 minutes straight, might be a good idea to move on to something else

[speedbump]

On 1/22/2019 at 3:19 PM, dancedementia said:

Yeah, and Harvard also lets their POIs take full charge of the interview process. So some will reach out sooner than others, etc. There's no admissions committee, so to speak.

wait, there's no admission committee at Harvard? does that mean professors get to decide offers on their own?

[psychizkool]

52 minutes ago, psych5ever said:

 

now freaking out that I haven't heard of my status since interview weekend--does this go for being on the waitlist/rejected too? or are they waiting to hear from accepted applicants before reaching out to those they don't send offers to?

It really varies a lot. At a recent interview, they told us not to freak out if it happened to be months until we heard back, because the program also has to wait until they know exactly how many students they can fund. It did turn out they made offers the following week though lol. 

After another interview, I heard back about waitlist status from one POI after maybe a week, and a rejection from the other POI after maybe a month, when the program had told us to expect to hear back in 2 weeks.

so if it's been a while, it could just be because they don't yet know how many offers they can make.

best of luck!!

[ClinPsych2019]

1 hour ago, psych5ever said:

 

now freaking out that I haven't heard of my status since interview weekend--does this go for being on the waitlist/rejected too? or are they waiting to hear from accepted applicants before reaching out to those they don't send offers to?

I’m not sure about waitlist status...also I’m sure it’s different for different schools! I would think they would send out waitlist pretty quick as well so maybe they just haven’t made decisions yet!!

[refreshing_email]

For anyone who has been waiting on NYU Steinhardt (counseling), all interview invites have been sent out 

[AHopefulStudent123]

4 hours ago, Celery said:

I have not. They've been back in session since 1/14. 

I haven't heard anything either! Seems like we're all in the same boat. 

[TiredOfApps]

2 hours ago, psych5ever said:

 

now freaking out that I haven't heard of my status since interview weekend--does this go for being on the waitlist/rejected too? or are they waiting to hear from accepted applicants before reaching out to those they don't send offers to?

In my experience it varies a lot by program. I've interviewed at one program where they said they take a long time (4-6 weeks, maybe longer) and not to expect to hear from them for a while. The same school - the professor said I should be hearing from them in a few weeks. I wound up waitlisted at most schools I didn't hear back from (including that school). I wouldn't stress if they don't immediately get back to you - there's no way of knowing if it actually means anything and highly depends on the school and department in my experience. 

[shockwave457]

Just got rejection email from POI who was top choice after interview #sobbing

[PsychedOutHopeful]

5 minutes ago, davidfreire20 said:

Just got rejection email from POI who was top choice after interview #sobbing

Ugh I am so sorry. My heart really goes out to you. “What is meant for you won’t pass you” has been my mantra on repeat. I hope a new door opens for you!! 

[humanisticPOV]

22 hours ago, meezy123 said:

It's so nerve wrecking prepping for an interview, knowing that your POI is only accepting ONE student. Anyone have any tips on how to really stand out? It's a phone interview

1) Be OVERPREPARED! Read the program handbook multiple times, familiarize yourself with the research of your POI but also with the research their students are currently doing, look at their lab website and student/professor bios. Pro tip: search all the government funding databases (NIH, NIMH, etc.) to see what projects are currently funded for the POI you're interviewing with; in my experience, professors are always impressed if you know about projects they haven't published yet. Also check out "Mitch's uncensored advice to applying to graduate school in clinical psychology" (http://mitch.web.unc.edu/files/2017/02/MitchGradSchoolAdvice.pdf), specifically Section 3 about interviews.

2) Be yourself. The best way to stand out is by being authentic and honest about your experiences/interests. If you don't have experience with a certain method or analysis technique, say so, and do not misrepresent your interests or abilities. Personally, I don't try to tailor my research proposals to specific PI's because I want to show that I would research that topic even if I wasn't in their lab, that it's something I'm passionate about and committed to researching. It shows you've developed your interests enough to have a solid direction you want to embark on (and hopefully the professors you applied to work with are already a good match for your interests, without you needing to tailor yours to match theirs). Additionally, some professors will ask you very specific questions about your research interests or potential projects you would want to work on and if it isn't something you've already spent a lot of time thinking about or researching, you would likely be unprepared for those types of questions.

3) Make it more of a conversation than an interview. Professors are not only interested in your knowledge of the field and match with their projects, but they want to know that they would enjoy working with you closely for many years and that you would make a good addition to their lab, from a social/cultural perspective. My mentors repeatedly refer to interviews as "the a--hole test"; just demonstrate that you have good social skills and that you're not afraid to speak your mind or ask questions (read: DONT BE AN A--HOLE).

4) Weave your answers into your experiences. Instead of giving a direct answer to a question, demonstrate your answer by talking about an experience you've had or an opportunity that exemplifies your answer. (Example: If asked to "Describe your work ethic", instead of saying "I'm responsible, hard-working and dedicated", talk about how you took on additional responsibilities for a certain project or some professional development that you've done to build healthy work habits). This kind of response answers the question while also giving more information about your interests/experiences. These kinds of answers also help to make the interview seem like more of a conversation than a "formal interview". If you have a TON of past experience, try to pick your 2-3 most relevant experiences to elaborate on for the interview instead of attempting to give an overview of your complete work experience, and refer back to these experiences as often as possible! (interviews are usually relatively short, an hour max, so you don't want to run out of time talking about everything you did 5 years ago before getting to your more recent/relevant experiences). Stay calm, be confident in your responses and tone of voice, and I'm sure you will do GREAT! GOOD LUCK  

Edited January 28, 2019 by humanisticPOV
typos

[9 of cups]

2 hours ago, refreshing_email said:

For anyone who has been waiting on NYU Steinhardt (counseling), all interview invites have been sent out 

How do you know? 

[kwilson28]

16 hours ago, PsychGrad2019 said:

Has anyone received a formal interview invitation from Tufts non clinical?

I got an email 1/25 from my POI letting me know that I hadn't been selected for the formal interview. Hope that helps. 

[9 of cups]

hey all, 

Anyone know anything about Counseling Psych: 

University of Maryland? 

Seton Hall? 

Columbia?

NYU? 

Leigh? 

Fordham? 

Or Rutgers dual Social Work degree? 

 

Good luck to all!

[paraent]

i forgot it was a weekday today

such peace that i now get to be free of

Edited January 28, 2019 by paraent

[refreshing_email]

46 minutes ago, 9 of cups said:

How do you know? 

I emailed admissions and the associate director replied “Invitations to interview have been sent.  After interviews have been conducts all decisions will be sent to applicants.  However, only those invited to interview are still under consideration for admission. “

so I interpret that as all have been sent already 

[paraent]

Looking to hear about University of Virginia and Brown. Non-clinical. Anyone hear from either about an on-campus invite? 

[paraent]

Looks like the Brown ship has sailed, hm.

[ellamarie123]

3 hours ago, liusc16 said:

wait, there's no admission committee at Harvard? does that mean professors get to decide offers on their own?

From what I can tell, yes. There is no official interview day, it's all up to the professor. At least that's what I was told when I called them this morning.