Fall 2021 Social & Personality PhD

[phdwannabequeen]

What an exciting past week or so! Congrats to those who have heard back and I wish everyone that the same fortune should come to you soon too!

I only applied to 6 programs this year and I have 2 invites to formal interview weekends. I also had an informal phone interview with my POI from one university, but haven't heard anything since then.

I'd imagine that many will hear back right after the 1st. What a terrifying way start the new year!! ?

[777SPY777]

I have not gotten any interview invitations yet. I know that UC Berkeley has sent a mass interview invitation email (department). Any other interviews for social psych programs that have not been mentioned in this thread yet?

Edited December 27, 2020 by 777SPY777

[Bald Academic]

6 hours ago, 777SPY777 said:

I have not gotten any interview invitations yet. I know that UC Berkeley has sent a mass interview invitation email (department). Any other interviews for social psych programs that have not been mentioned in this thread yet?

I have applied to University of Minnesota, University of Oregon and UIUC. I haven't heard anything from them yet.

Edited December 27, 2020 by Fabretti

[gparks]

I'm hoping the increase in applications is why there seems to be a delay in interview invitations compared to last year and it isn't just we're not getting invited

[inwaldosia123]

Just got rejected by UC Berkeley, kinda sad

[777SPY777]

19 minutes ago, Skyler0117 said:

Just got rejected by UC Berkeley, kinda sad

How did you know you got rejected?  Have you received a rejection email? or because you didn't get the interview invitation?

[inwaldosia123]

2 minutes ago, 777SPY777 said:

How did you know you got rejected?  Have you received a rejection email? or because you didn't get the interview invitation?

I got the mass email from Graduate Student Affairs saying all the invitations have been sent and those who are not invited are unlikely to be offered admission. Here is how they say this:

"We are kindly reaching out to let you know that at this point in time applicants who have been invited for interviews have been contacted. Applicants not invited for an interview are unlikely to be offered admission, but all applications remain open until final decisions are made and applicants notified."

 

[777SPY777]

7 minutes ago, Skyler0117 said:

I got the mass email from Graduate Student Affairs saying all the invitations have been sent and those who are not invited are unlikely to be offered admission. Here is how they say this:

"We are kindly reaching out to let you know that at this point in time applicants who have been invited for interviews have been contacted. Applicants not invited for an interview are unlikely to be offered admission, but all applications remain open until final decisions are made and applicants notified."

 

Oh! I just checked my spam folder and it was there LOL.. Bummer! ? Best of luck for the rest of your school lists

[inwaldosia123]

2 minutes ago, 777SPY777 said:

Oh! I just checked my spam folder and it was there LOL.. Bummer! ? Best of luck for the rest of your school lists

The same to you!

[777SPY777]

15 hours ago, Fabretti said:

I have applied to University of Minnesota, University of Oregon and UIUC. I haven't heard anything from them yet.

Good luck! Hope we hear back from them soon

[Regression2theMean]

Hi all. I am a current PhD candidate in a social program at an R1 school that some of you have mentioned (PM me for more info but I don't feel comfortable posting more details here). I wanted to give you all a heads up that many programs (the one I'm in and at least 5 other programs that I have friends/colleagues/peers in) are limited on admissions this year due to university budget cuts related to COVID. The social program I am in has been cut down from our typical 6-7 department/university funded admission slots to 3-4 slots for our area. Across the entire department, the reduction is similar to this (~60% in each area) with areas that must maintain specific numbers for APA accreditation (e.g., clinical and counseling) having few to no admissions related cuts. Fortunately, PIs that have grant funding to support a graduate student or students that qualify for grants/fellowships (such as NSF GRFP and diversity and inclusion fellowships) are not impacted by these cuts.  

Also, as some have noted, most faculty take time off at the end of December or are on mandatory furloughs during winter break and probably won't review applications in totality until January. Programs that make decisions per advisor tend to be quicker than programs that make decisions as an area which could also impact how long it takes to hear back.

Best of luck to you all!  

[gparks]

2 hours ago, Regression2theMean said:

Hi all. I am a current PhD candidate in a social program at an R1 school that some of you have mentioned (PM me for more info but I don't feel comfortable posting more details here). I wanted to give you all a heads up that many programs (the one I'm in and at least 5 other programs that I have friends/colleagues/peers in) are limited on admissions this year due to university budget cuts related to COVID. The social program I am in has been cut down from our typical 6-7 department/university funded admission slots to 3-4 slots for our area. Across the entire department, the reduction is similar to this (~60% in each area) with areas that must maintain specific numbers for APA accreditation (e.g., clinical and counseling) having few to no admissions related cuts. Fortunately, PIs that have grant funding to support a graduate student or students that qualify for grants/fellowships (such as NSF GRFP and diversity and inclusion fellowships) are not impacted by these cuts.  

Also, as some have noted, most faculty take time off at the end of December or are on mandatory furloughs during winter break and probably won't review applications in totality until January. Programs that make decisions per advisor tend to be quicker than programs that make decisions as an area which could also impact how long it takes to hear back.

Best of luck to you all!  

If we are capable of paying our own way at least to start the program, would that make a difference? And how would we go about relaying that to programs (if you know)?

[Regression2theMean]

41 minutes ago, gparks said:

If we are capable of paying our own way at least to start the program, would that make a difference? And how would we go about relaying that to programs (if you know)?

I think the answer to this question is complex and differs a lot across programs. I certainly cannot speak to all programs. 

I know my department will not take anyone into a PhD program that they cannot fully fund for at least 5 years, unless that person has a grant or other fellowship. This is actually written into my department’s graduate student handbook and on our department website.

In general, I believe most PhD programs at prestigious and/or R1 institutions look down upon so called “self-funding.” It is a point of pride and indicator of commitment to fund all of your students. In some cases, funding students can be part of a larger departmental commitment to the university and/or donors. Moreover, by funding students, programs are then able to hold students more accountable for their research productivity (and, to a lesser extent, coursework) because that is what they are being paid to do. Again though, some programs may be more amenable to your idea.

The best way to know would be the first read the program’s website carefully and look for indicators of their guaranteed funding commitments. The other thing to do (after checking the program’s website) would be to contact their program officer/assistant director of graduate studies. Program officers often know the most information about how admissions are going to work on a given year and can be a huge asset in the process. When I applied, I found the program officers more useful than the faculty in answering my more general questions.

[GREBlaster9000]

@Regression2theMean Thank you for the insight into this year's admissions process! I assumed that we'd be pretty delayed due to COVID / budget impact / apparently an uptick in application numbers (any #s from your university this year, out of curiosity?), but good to know for certain.

Wanted to briefly introduce myself to the other social psych applicants!  I graduated in spring 2018 as a psych / statistics double major, with three years of JDM research + a senior thesis in social psychology under my belt. Since graduating, I took a year off to teach English + travel abroad, and am now working in consulting.  I submitted social psych PhD apps to Princeton, Harvard, Michigan, USC, Brown, and Cornell (no news yet ofc), plus a few apps to business school PhDs in related fields (marketing, org behavior, decision sciences).

Best of luck to everyone as we continue to play the waiting game. Happy new years!!

[Regression2theMean]

@GREBlaster9000 From what I’ve heard, my program had a ~15-20% increase in applicants overall. That being said, what I’ve heard from my advisor is that the increase is for very specific PIs who study topics most relevant to current events (e.g., intergroup relations/stereotyping and prejudice, health disparities, social connections/relationships, loneliness and so on). 

[PokePsych]

Our department had double the number of applicants! Half the spots! Everything is going to be delayed as well, because people need simply more time to read through applications

[inwaldosia123]

Hi all. Has anyone heard from UNC? There is one post on the results page saying the interview invites from UNC have been sent out. Quite confused.

[aurorma]

1 hour ago, inwaldosia123 said:

Hi all. Has anyone heard from UNC? There is one post on the results page saying the interview invites from UNC have been sent out. Quite confused.

I applied but have not heard from them either. IIRC it was from dev or clinical program, so I hope it's just due to the different agenda of their programs rather than our applications being stalled fingers crossed

[sksamra]

Hey all!

I am currently an undergraduate with a double major in criminal justice and psychology with a minor in social science research methods. I applied to about   9-10 programs and have already received interviews from two. I had my interview with University of Massachusetts Amherst today and have another interview with the University of Denver tomorrow. Reading through everyone’s posts and even looking through a few Twitter threads that you all provided, I’m honestly surprised I’ve already gotten two interviews. Although I do see myself as a strong student, with the amount of applications and how competitive it is this year I’m kind of worried that these two interviews might be it for me. I’m just wondering how everyone else is feeling especially at this point in the application season? Are there any updates on what schools you’ve heard from? Also, any tips on dealing with the stress of simply waiting for admissions decisions and interviews is much appreciated! I will also try to chime in with anything I find helpful or that has helped me through the process so far!

Hope you all are well!

[socialpsychnerd]

9 hours ago, sksamra said:

Hey all!

I am currently an undergraduate with a double major in criminal justice and psychology with a minor in social science research methods. I applied to about   9-10 programs and have already received interviews from two. I had my interview with University of Massachusetts Amherst today and have another interview with the University of Denver tomorrow. Reading through everyone’s posts and even looking through a few Twitter threads that you all provided, I’m honestly surprised I’ve already gotten two interviews. Although I do see myself as a strong student, with the amount of applications and how competitive it is this year I’m kind of worried that these two interviews might be it for me. I’m just wondering how everyone else is feeling especially at this point in the application season? Are there any updates on what schools you’ve heard from? Also, any tips on dealing with the stress of simply waiting for admissions decisions and interviews is much appreciated! I will also try to chime in with anything I find helpful or that has helped me through the process so far!

Hope you all are well!

Hey, congrats on the interviews, that's amazing!!!! I'm on the same boat, I got 1 interview and I'm feeling like that might be it too... Then I looked for assurance from my friends in PhD programs, and honestly, I had a few friends have this drag on until April, and got off the waitlist then, 2 of them even only got interviews in February. It sucks thinking that it'll be months for decisions, but well... I'm doing plenty of mindfulness related things and self care as suggested to me by them. It's been helping a lot, thankfully ?

[inwaldosia123]

11 hours ago, aurorma said:

I applied but have not heard from them either. IIRC it was from dev or clinical program, so I hope it's just due to the different agenda of their programs rather than our applications being stalled fingers crossed

Hope so. Thank you :)

[sksamra]

27 minutes ago, socialpsychnerd said:

Hey, congrats on the interviews, that's amazing!!!! I'm on the same boat, I got 1 interview and I'm feeling like that might be it too... Then I looked for assurance from my friends in PhD programs, and honestly, I had a few friends have this drag on until April, and got off the waitlist then, 2 of them even only got interviews in February. It sucks thinking that it'll be months for decisions, but well... I'm doing plenty of mindfulness related things and self care as suggested to me by them. It's been helping a lot, thankfully ?

Yeah I honestly think getting interviews early on is more stressful than getting them later in the application process. A lot of my programs won’t even finish reviewing applications until the end of January so realistically I understand I shouldn’t be getting any more interviews but it’s still nerve-racking to think about possibly not getting into any of my programs. I’m finishing my last interview today and it should take a lot of stress off of me especially since school just started back up as well. But if you or anyone else on this thread wants any interview tips I’d be happy to share my experience!

[phdwannabequeen]

Hi all!

I hope more invites are trickling in for everyone! I was hoping someone could share some advice for virtual interviews in general? Not question wise, but advice on mannerisms, etc for doing an interview over Zoom. Also, I had a prelim interview with a faculty and they mentioned that the formal interview would include a chat/interview with current PhD students. So, any advice on that?? Thanks guys

[researchresearch]

I'm an Indian who has applied in 4 schools in the States for a PhD in Social Psych. Has anyone heard from UNC, Duke, UCSD, or Michigan?

Edited January 7, 2021 by researchresearch

[aurorma]

9 hours ago, researchresearch said:

I'm an Indian who has applied in 4 schools in the States for a PhD in Social Psych. Has anyone heard from UNC, Duke, UCSD, or Michigan?

also applied to social at unc/duke/UM, not heard back from any at this stage.