I've accepted my offer - now what?

[lexileigh]

Hi all! I recently was accepted into a Clinical Psychology PhD program and have accepted my offer, so I figured I'd start a thread for people in a similar boat! What do you all plan to do until we attend? Are there resources/tools you plan on using to prepare for the change? Congratulations to everyone in a similar boat!

[philoquant]

My next step is to find a place to live. I've already contacted grad students with the kind of place I'm looking for and they provided many helpful suggestions. I've also had my post-acceptance meeting with my PI so I have plans in that regard too.

[SocDevMum]

As someone who was in that spot last year - take the time to breathe and enjoy yourself! Read some non-academic books, take a weekend getaway (if your area allows travel), indulge in some hobbies, go out with friends and family.  Because the next 5+ years will not allow you to do nearly as much of any of that as you would like! 

Then, yes, start scouting for housing in your new city, maybe make some connections both within and outside your academic program to ease the transition.  

Congratulations!

[PsyDuck90]

22 minutes ago, SocDevMum said:

As someone who was in that spot last year - take the time to breathe and enjoy yourself! Read some non-academic books, take a weekend getaway (if your area allows travel), indulge in some hobbies, go out with friends and family.  Because the next 5+ years will not allow you to do nearly as much of any of that as you would like! 

Then, yes, start scouting for housing in your new city, maybe make some connections both within and outside your academic program to ease the transition.  

Congratulations!

As someone in my 3rd year, I cannot agree with this more. Your whole life will more or less be grad school for the next 5+ years. Take this time to read any non-academic books you've been interested in, binge a show, travel, spend time with loved ones,, do nothing. You will have some down time in grad school, but not much. So before you start juggling all the multiple responsibilities, take some time to enjoy the stage of your life you're in at the current moment. 

[DocPending]

Congratulations!! I just accepted an offer as well and I have been looking into apartments and mentally preparing myself to move (looking into cost, furniture, and making a budget). I also have been in touch with current students in the program who have provided a lot of helpful information about the area and the program. However, overall I am working to save money and relaxing because I know the next 5 years will be hectic!

Edited March 9, 2021 by DocPending

[Regression2theMean]

Congratulations! I agree with the others in this thread: Take some time to relax and do non-academic things for a few weeks. 

One thing I will add: Start planning your budget now (especially once you've found your place to live). A lot of grad students I know have struggled with balancing their budgets during the first year on top of the new pressures of being in grad school. Having your budget planned out ahead of time can really help! 

[pandemicpolly]

I also recently accepted an offer. Here's my non-clinical program prep:

1. get onto grad housing waitlist

2. audit 1 more course at the institution I work at (filling a math/modeling knowledge gap)

3. plan a decent vacation for August (program starts September)

4. still in progress: figure out when my current PI/boss will let me leave lol (covid made hiring a replacement complicated)

[Rerun]

Hi thanks for starting this thread. Congratulations on being accepted! I haven't accept my offer, so I am still a bit in limbo. Nevertheless, I've prepared myself, a bit more to the academic side, in re-learning some basic stats through a study group and coursera. I am not very confident with my stats skills, so that's why. Another thing that I want to prep is my lit review skill ( I want to increase my pace in getting to know my research literature and paraphrase), prepare a system for my bibliography/ lit reviews, get to know how I can read more (both non and academic), and possibly put some hours in learning academic writing (I have some publications, but as an international student, I am not very confident that my writing skills will be good enough for PhD expectation). I've also learn some new recipe and coping mechanism (I guess that's more like a pandemic survival) for my PhD survival kit. I need to complete some publication manuscripts that are due for my lab too. But yes I love the tips on indulging to hobbies and spend more times to fun places. 

[fnewman2]

Hello all! I've had my acceptance for grad school (FDU's MA in Forensic Psych program) for quite a few months but have finally felt comfortable reaching out to the school to ask questions and such in preparation. But I've been feeling mostly lost as to what I should do in the limbo. I've been making sure to find time to relax, but most of the time I'm stressing about how I'll afford everything. I've started apartment hunting, would prefer to live by myself if possible, but know that will likely not be financially feasible (or smart). I will also be moving out of state which has been a barrier to trying to find a place to live and a job. Anybody have any tips or recommendations for funding this sort of thing? Good places to hunt for flexible, in-person-class friendly jobs? Good scholarship websites for graduate students?