Fall 2019 Psychology PhD Applicants!

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43 minutes ago, loffire said:

I have compiled some resources I found with regard to datelines. PLEASE DON'T USE THIS TO FEED YOUR ANXIETY

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hJFI7od93wXNHfLiUl0pv4lPUsueRmVg_6N85xgFQd8/edit#gid=0

https://imgur.com/a/CGVa9

https://fretpwner.shinyapps.io/GradCafeStatistics/

Can’t open any of these on my iphone’s Google Chrome... But from what I see, it seems like most of my programs aren’t on these..... so HA!!!!

me: 1     early morning anxiety: 0

[higaisha]

1 hour ago, loffire said:

I have compiled some resources I found with regard to datelines. PLEASE DON'T USE THIS TO FEED YOUR ANXIETY

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hJFI7od93wXNHfLiUl0pv4lPUsueRmVg_6N85xgFQd8/edit#gid=0

https://imgur.com/a/CGVa9

https://fretpwner.shinyapps.io/GradCafeStatistics/

I think generally the spike comes around slightly after christmas

currently looking at the GREs and cackling at my 25thp scores LOOOLLL

Edited December 8, 2018 by higaisha

[justacigar]

2 hours ago, petitebiscuit said:

To the University of Oregon interview poster, do you mind posting which program/POI you applied to?

I'd like this info as well! 

[vmPFC187]

There is a lot of variability in when PIs start to look at applications. For example, I talked to my PI yesterday and he hadn’t even gotten the applications from the administrator yet. So don’t start worrying too much yet!

[justacigar]

5 minutes ago, vmPFC187 said:

There is a lot of variability in when PIs start to look at applications. For example, I talked to my PI yesterday and he hadn’t even gotten the applications from the administrator yet. So don’t start worrying too much yet!

Thanks, this is a helpful reminder! I keep oscillating between calm and total anxiety, but it's still very early

[vmPFC187]

Also, please know that any communication with the PI or anyone in their lab is fair game for us to be making assumptions of how you would fit into our lab. As unfortunate as it is, it really means that you need to be on for any contact whether it’s an email/unofficial interview/interview/etc. My best advice is to be professional/polite through this entire process. Like I said earlier, I am happy to answer questions.

[xxxxxxxxxx]

10 minutes ago, vmPFC187 said:

 As unfortunate as it is, it really means that you need to be on for any contact whether it’s an email/unofficial interview/interview/etc. My best advice is to be professional/polite through this entire process. 

Need to “be on?” Can you clarify this?

Also who would be impolite or unprofessional in their conversations with a potential advisor/lab mates? Is common sense not that common.. lol ?

[vmPFC187]

12 minutes ago, checkingmyemail said:

Need to “be on?” Can you clarify this?

Also who would be impolite or unprofessional in their conversations with a potential advisor/lab mates? Is common sense not that common.. lol ?

You would be surprised. 

 

What I mean is seeming interested, asking lots of questions, not being on your phone, professional/polite, appropriate attire, etc. 

 

My PI likes to have people come in for unofficial interviews first because it is more laid-back but it should still be treated as a formal interview. 

[sassyyetclassy]

has anyone heard from UCSB yet? last year they sent out interview invitations around this time

[EileanDonan]

10 hours ago, HAC said:

Actually, I have a surprising amount of free time because my jobs in the lab are classified as part time so I can’t work over ~10 hours per project per week. I think the hard part is just mentally organizing and prioritizing what is important in the limited time I am actually at work. 

 

I would say it depends how different the topics are and what type of experience you are getting from working on the project. I think as a pregrad student nobody expects you to be specialized and having a wide range of research skills may be more attractive to a future POI than having less experience. I know that professors I sent my resume to were rather impressed with the breadth of experience I have coming out of undergrad and didn’t seem to be worried that some of research experience is strictly cognitive (i.e. attention research) when I am applying to social psych programs. Good luck ?!

Thanks for the word of encouragement. I have a promising lab position interview this coming week, and I'm hoping for the best. I'm planning to enter a clinical program in the future, and while I'm not sure this lab could be considered more clinically-focused per se, it does look like it offers the chance to learn different skills. As you say, hopefully future POI's will look kindly on that! Good luck to you as well! ?‍?

[petitebiscuit]

Alright, question. Do you think not getting a preliminary Skype interview means you aren’t going to be invited to an interview weekend?

[light1996]

9 hours ago, justacigar said:

Thanks, this is a helpful reminder! I keep oscillating between calm and total anxiety, but it's still very early

LOL same tho

[pineapplepizza]

Is anyone applying to a Personality program/focus?

[kalman_gain]

30 minutes ago, petitebiscuit said:

Alright, question. Do you think not getting a preliminary Skype interview means you aren’t going to be invited to an interview weekend?

Not at all, I remember when friends applied last year, the one that got a skype interview didn't end up getting an invitation to the interview weekend, and the other who didn't get a preliminary interview did. There might be a number of reasons a prof wants to have a prelim interview, for example two completely different reasons:

a.) POI who is working ahead of schedule and is really excited about an application
b.) POI who thinks the applicant is "on the fence" and wants to get a measure of the applicant before extending a formal interview

[shockwave457]

Just want one email lol

[psychxgeekx]

Validation please, that all my hard work was not for nothing. Much appreciated lol

[Psych1234]

Thanks @ResilientDreams for the reassurance!!! I swear I probably would not have been able to sleep that night thinking about "incomplete" applications. 

Also, anyone with experience reaching to Harvard POIs? I realized I made a note in my planning that the website does not indicate who is planning to take students in Fall 2019, but forgot to follow-up with the faculty individually. Is it too late to reach out now? I'm still super interested and have read about their works in the past month but worry it looks bad to now reach out with deadlines coming up.... 

Harvard is definitely a reach^3 school for me imo, but still want to try to apply! 

[higaisha]

23 minutes ago, Psych1234 said:

Thanks @ResilientDreams for the reassurance!!! I swear I probably would not have been able to sleep that night thinking about "incomplete" applications. 

Also, anyone with experience reaching to Harvard POIs? I realized I made a note in my planning that the website does not indicate who is planning to take students in Fall 2019, but forgot to follow-up with the faculty individually. Is it too late to reach out now? I'm still super interested and have read about their works in the past month but worry it looks bad to now reach out with deadlines coming up.... 

Harvard is definitely a reach^3 school for me imo, but still want to try to apply! 

Two I reached out to didn't even know if they could accept students, not sure about others. Read the other posts on Harvard here, it seems their department makes some complex, behind the scenes decisions about who can admit a student AFTER apps come in. 

Eeeeeeeh It probably looks bad to reach out this late, maybe call the department to ask if they know who's recruiting? If they don't then send out the emails!

[Psych1234]

9 minutes ago, higaisha said:

Two I reached out to didn't even know if they could accept students, not sure about others. Read the other posts on Harvard here, it seems their department makes some complex, behind the scenes decisions about who can admit a student AFTER apps come in. 

Eeeeeeeh It probably looks bad to reach out this late, maybe call the department to ask if they know who's recruiting? If they don't then send out the emails!

Went back a little to dig for the post about this! Thanks for the clarification -- I was wondering why on earth they are not more clear about who is taking students and who is not. 

I agree, I def snoozed on this one. Good suggestion, and if the admissions also does not know I may just take the gamble and apply even if I do not know who is taking the students next fall. ?

[higaisha]

20 minutes ago, Psych1234 said:

Went back a little to dig for the post about this! Thanks for the clarification -- I was wondering why on earth they are not more clear about who is taking students and who is not. 

I agree, I def snoozed on this one. Good suggestion, and if the admissions also does not know I may just take the gamble and apply even if I do not know who is taking the students next fall. ?

Tbh spare your time and money and just apply again next year when you'll be more prepared and put together. But if you manage to whip up an app without even knowing who is/isnt/maybe accepting students then you're a GOD LOL

[PsychApplicantFall2019]

@Psych1234 I think that reaching out now would be totally fine. I was actually talking to a grad student at Harvard who had already submitted his app and then realized there was someone else doing cool work who he hadn’t put on the application. He emailed them and now he is at Harvard working with them! Reach out and talk to as many people as you can. 

[xxxxxxxxxx]

Re-reading my Statements of Purpose and CVs submitted (as usual)... Because what else is there to do, in anticipation of invites rolling out over the next week or two............ ?

 

[PsychM]

On 12/7/2018 at 10:28 PM, Psych1234 said:

Hi all, this is my first time applying (and using the forum). Just a question for everyone who's applied to Temple -- you were only supposed to upload the person statements and LORs on interfolio right? I just went onto my Temple account and noticed that the application says I did not submit letters or personal statement. PANICKING (sorry I'm all nerves now). 

I was confused on this as well so prior to the due date I contacted the admissions office and I was told that everything should be done through Interfolio - personal statements, you should have provided your letter writers contact info in Interfolio and then they received an email with instructions on uploading their letters to Interfolio, unofficial transcripts, unofficial GRE scores. You should have filled out the whole thing, basically. Also, once those things were submitted then you had to "Assign" them to the categories in Interfolio. For example, once my letter writers submitted their letters, I then had to go into the document requirements portion of Interfolio and it would show all the uploaded documents and I had to manually select a category for each one - I had to identify which requirement it was meeting - LOR, personal stmt etc. If you didn't manually assign them to the categories it probably isn't a huge deal because the school should have them but it may be showing that they don't because they weren't assigned properly. Therefore, the automated system doesn't realize the requirement is met. Does that make sense?

 However, it seems to me that if you didn't fill out the whole thing properly that you wouldn't have been able to click "submit." Does your portal look like this image of mine? Does it show the full application was submitted?

Edited December 9, 2018 by PsychM

[petitebiscuit]

I don’t want a lot for Christmas....just a 9/9 acceptance rate.

[PsychM]

To everyone worrying about why they aren't hearing anything yet... Please keep in mind it is very common for programs to start reviewing applications after the semester is over but before Christmas. Sometimes they don't until after New Years though. Many faculty members are extremely busy at the end of the semester and like to wrap up final exams and final grades for the classes they teach before focusing on reviewing applications. This is how it was at the very large R1 school where I earned my bachelors degree and at the school where I earned my clinical psych masters degree. I also currently work in the School of Medicine at a large R1 university and I know the university's psychology department is the same way as I know a number of students in the PhD program. At all three places, a week or so after applications are due the grad admissions office reviews and forwards them to the psych department and then most department faculty don't really begin review until after finals. A lot of schools have finals next week so I would say the most popular weeks to expect being contacted if you are being invited to interview will be December 17-21 and January 7-11. This is not my first application cycle (unfortunately) and those weeks correspond to what I have personally experienced in the past. Of course there will be some before those dates and some after BUT the majority will likely fall in those two weeks. I hope this helps with the anxiety a bit - especially for those of you applying for the first time. Good luck, everyone!! ?