Fall 2021 Social & Personality PhD

[PokePsych]

20 hours ago, phdwannabequeen said:

What's a good range to look for with a stipend? I know it varies a lot on lifestyle, cost of living, etc. but what is too low? I believe in the area I could get a 1 bedroom apartment for $950 if I tried really hard and gave up some luxuries. Thanks!

Depends really on the location - like you'd need a lot more in NYC than in the midwest.

Thinks to factor in; Rent, do you need a car, health costs, etc.

[socialpsychnerd]

4 hours ago, Fabretti said:

I am sorry for that. I got accepted at this program and will be accepting the offer. Which POI did you applied to?

All good, dude that's amazing that you got in!!! I'm so happy for you!!! POI's initials are DA, for anyone who wants to know

[psych2121]

Anyone with an update on CUNY?

[psychm00n]

Has anyone heard anything from UW-Madison's social psychology program recently? I saw on the results page that someone was rejected, but they didn't say anything about it being unofficial or official...

[north_runner]

3 hours ago, psych2121 said:

Anyone with an update on CUNY?

I just saw on the results page that someone said they were waitlisted on Feb. 4th for the critical social program. Personally I haven't heard anything.

[appliedpsyc]

5 hours ago, north_runner said:

I just saw on the results page that someone said they were waitlisted on Feb. 4th for the critical social program. Personally I haven't heard anything.

same here ?

[socialpsychnerd]

anyone hear from University of Florida?

[Regression2theMean]

On 2/15/2021 at 12:09 PM, phdwannabequeen said:

What's a good range to look for with a stipend? I know it varies a lot on lifestyle, cost of living, etc. but what is too low? I believe in the area I could get a 1 bedroom apartment for $950 if I tried really hard and gave up some luxuries. Thanks!

Like @PokePsych said, it really depends on the cost of living where the university is located. $20,000 will go a lot further in South Bend, IN than it would in Boston, MA or New York City. Cities and their surrounding suburbs tend to be more expensive than smaller towns or "college towns." California tends to be exponentially more expensive on average than most other states in the U. S. while the south and midwest tend to be a bit more affordable (unless you're in a bigger city). I used a cost of living calculator online to help determine if the stipends I was offered were reasonable (and to compare them to one another).

Graduate students typically don't make a lot of money so most do have to give up a lot of luxuries if they're living on their stipend alone. Think about the things you can't give up (i.e., health care, food, bills) while making your calculations. You should also think about what you will need where you will be moving and what the program provides. My program gives everyone a new laptop and access to all the software you could need, an unlimited city bus pass covered for 5 years, very affordable health insurance, (during COVID) an internet stipend, etc.. These "bonuses" as a part of your offer will make a big difference in the affordability of graduate school over time, even if they seem relatively minor up front. 

Try talking to the current graduate students in the program. They should be honest about how livable they think their stipend is or will give some hints about it. Do they say they need an extra job to make ends meet? Do they live with 2-3 roommates because they can't afford to live alone? Is there guaranteed summer funding? Do people have to take out student loans or dip into their savings to make ends meet?

[PokePsych]

Definitely talk to current grad students!

 

I got a good stipened + cheaper on-campus housing + good healht insurance (including for my partner). Also keep an eye out for hidden universtiy fees that are not part of your 'package'

[gradinternstudent]

On 2/16/2021 at 9:00 PM, north_runner said:

I just saw on the results page that someone said they were waitlisted on Feb. 4th for the critical social program. Personally I haven't heard anything.

Such a bummer  I understand the process is all messed up this year but this silence is terrible! 

[dbon2113]

For those of us anxiously waiting to hear from CUNY BASP (or CUNY in general). I reached out to my POI for an update and will let you know when/if they answer to give people an idea of where we're all at. Best of luck to everyone!

[dbon2113]

21 hours ago, dbon2113 said:

For those of us anxiously waiting to hear from CUNY BASP (or CUNY in general). I reached out to my POI for an update and will let you know when/if they answer to give people an idea of where we're all at. Best of luck to everyone!

Received an email today that I've been waitlisted.

[appliedpsyc]

On 2/19/2021 at 12:27 PM, gradinternstudent said:

Such a bummer  I understand the process is all messed up this year but this silence is terrible! 

For CUNY critical, I received an email this morning that there was a decision posted to my portal. Official rejection was there when I checked. Glad for an end to the radio silence at the very least!

[gradinternstudent]

18 minutes ago, appliedpsyc said:

For CUNY critical, I received an email this morning that there was a decision posted to my portal. Official rejection was there when I checked. Glad for an end to the radio silence at the very least!

Got the notification as well with the same bitter decision... hard to digest.

[Mytinydancer2007]

On 2/5/2021 at 10:59 AM, Monkeybug said:

I've heard nothing, but I assumed that they have sent out their first round of invites

I interviewed with NYU's social psych PhD program on Feb 5th. Haven't heard anything since though. 

[Mytinydancer2007]

On 2/5/2021 at 10:32 AM, EudaimoniaX said:

Do we know anything at all about NYU?

NYU's social psych PhD program had interviews in the beginning of Feb. Haven't heard any news since though so I don't think final decisions have been made yet. They did get about double the applications they usually do though. 

[Mytinydancer2007]

On 2/10/2021 at 3:46 PM, Milou2644 said:

Hi all, Sending you all lots of care as we navigate this truly difficult application season! 

I was wondering if anyone heard back from Cornell with an invite to interview? I saw that some people got rejections, but I havent heard anything nor did I see any posts about interviews. Just wondering if others are in this limbo? 

Thanks all 

Haven't received a formal rejection yet. They sent out this back mid-January:

Thank you for your interest in Cornell University's Psychology PhD program.

Your application is complete. Our faculty are in the midst of reviewing applications.

Any communication will come in the form of an email

 

Again thank you,

Graduate Field of Psychology

 

[gradapp2021]

Has anyone been officially rejected from Duke? I haven't heard anything and it is already March!

[sksamra]

Hey all! I hope everyone is doing good and has gotten some good news over the last few months. Has anyone heard from CUNY, Stony Brook University, University of Delaware, or Purdue?

[Faculty Full Prof]

On 2/18/2021 at 8:57 AM, Regression2theMean said:

Like @PokePsych said, it really depends on the cost of living where the university is located. $20,000 will go a lot further in South Bend, IN than it would in Boston, MA or New York City. Cities and their surrounding suburbs tend to be more expensive than smaller towns or "college towns." California tends

It may be unwelcome advice, but choosing a grad program on the basis of the size of the stipend is short-term thinking.

When I was admitted to grad school, I had several choices (yeah, I know), but one top choice offered me $X, and another offered me $3X, literally three times as much money. I chose $X, and it was absolutely the right decision. Yes, my grad years were leaner than they could have been, and yes, it was a serious struggle. But because the low-paying program was a better fit, offered better opportunities, and offered extraordinary peers, it was the right long-term choice.

So yes, pay attention to the offers, and yes, pay attention to cost of living.

But keep in mind your values, and why you're going to grad school, and what you hope to get out of it.

(In case anyone wants to charge me with privilege, current grad students make 150% - 250% of what I and my peers made as stipends--after adjusting for inflation/COL. It wasn't easy then and it's not easy now, but it's doable for most of us.)

[Regression2theMean]

8 hours ago, Faculty Full Prof said:

It may be unwelcome advice, but choosing a grad program on the basis of the size of the stipend is short-term thinking.

When I was admitted to grad school, I had several choices (yeah, I know), but one top choice offered me $X, and another offered me $3X, literally three times as much money. I chose $X, and it was absolutely the right decision. Yes, my grad years were leaner than they could have been, and yes, it was a serious struggle. But because the low-paying program was a better fit, offered better opportunities, and offered extraordinary peers, it was the right long-term choice.

So yes, pay attention to the offers, and yes, pay attention to cost of living.

But keep in mind your values, and why you're going to grad school, and what you hope to get out of it.

(In case anyone wants to charge me with privilege, current grad students make 150% - 250% of what I and my peers made as stipends--after adjusting for inflation/COL. It wasn't easy then and it's not easy now, but it's doable for most of us.)

I agree that going to the program that is the better fit, offers the best opportunities, etc. should be a higher priority than your stipend. However, you also should consider what sacrifices you will need to make if you go to a program with an insufficient stipend. (By "insufficient" I mean a stipend that would not cover your basic cost of living. - which is, unfortunately, the case in some programs.) I have peers at different universities that have needed to take on side jobs or private student loans to pay the bills during graduate school. This can detract from their ability to focus on what they need to in graduate school and prevent them from taking full advantage of the opportunities available to them. As long as your basic needs are covered by the stipend, I would agree that your values and what you want out of graduate school/what programs can provide that should be your biggest consideration.