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Social Psychology Application Thread 2010-2011


A. sesquipedale

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Hey guys, what's your opinion on this email from a POI (it's a response after I asked her about my status):

"I am sorry I didn't get to meet you at SPSP! We should have set up a time to touch base there - it is such a mad house, that is the only way to make sure you get to see someone. We have invited a small number of our top choices for a visit. Unlike some departments, we don't invite all of the people we are considering, just a small number. We did have an extremely competitive group of applicants this year. However, no decisions have been made and you are still among the narrowed down list of students I am considering. Best, "

I mean, obviously this is good(ish) news, but what's your take on it?

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Hi, UVa grad student here.

I just wanted to pop in and mention that Prospective Weekend just happened at UVa (across all areas) this weekend. Social psychology applicants were accepted, developmental applicants were accepted, clinical applicants were interviewing. I do not remember about the other areas (e.g., cognitive, quantitative), but I think they were accepted as well.

Just because you were not immediately accepted does not mean you are not a waitlist or that you are not your potential advisor's first choice. Newer faculty were given higher priority than more established faculty. If you have specific questions about particular advisors (in social), just send me a PM.

Good luck on the whole application process!

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i heard that NYU sent out interview invites already, and have 4 spots for 250+ applications :angry:

That's freaking insane. You have to believe that plenty of rejections, if not most of them, have nothing to do with merit. They hired four new faculty last year, I think, and I've read on this site that new faculty have first dibs on selecting from the applicant pool. If any of us were interested in more established faculty (e.g., Heilman, Uleman, Jost, etc.), perhaps only the absolute top applicant for each such POI was invited for an interview, and with no guarantee of admission if younger faculty members' selections accepted their offers.

I think that the info about circumstance (fit, need, and priority) playing a large role in admissions was posted by socialpsychg in the psych thread "How much research is enough?"

Hope everyone is doing OK!

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That's freaking insane. You have to believe that plenty of rejections, if not most of them, have nothing to do with merit. They hired four new faculty last year, I think, and I've read on this site that new faculty have first dibs on selecting from the applicant pool. If any of us were interested in more established faculty (e.g., Heilman, Uleman, Jost, etc.), perhaps only the absolute top applicant for each such POI was invited for an interview, and with no guarantee of admission if younger faculty members' selections accepted their offers.

I think that the info about circumstance (fit, need, and priority) playing a large role in admissions was posted by socialpsychg in the psych thread "How much research is enough?"

Hope everyone is doing OK!

To add on with anecdotal evidence, I know that Heilman invited three applicants to interview, and accepted none of them last year. A highly disproportionate number of applicants had come for the newest faculty member at the time (Jay Van Bevel).

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Anyone have any news on UMass Amherst, NYU, or Stanford?

At SPSP I had a meeting with my POI from UMASS. It was mentioned that they would start really looking at applications after their return from SPSP. Unless that was inaccurate, it looks like we still have some waiting to do!

You mentioned FSU, may I ask who your POI is?

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Hi,

all this process is nerve racking!

I asked for a young faculty member as my primary POI, but insiders told me that it could be risky, so I wrote more than one POI in my application.

And yet - no response from them!

this is my top choice - but I guess that we can't do it right with these numbers.

almost no chances at all...

To add on with anecdotal evidence, I know that Heilman invited three applicants to interview, and accepted none of them last year. A highly disproportionate number of applicants had come for the newest faculty member at the time (Jay Van Bevel).

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Hi,

all this process is nerve racking!

I asked for a young faculty member as my primary POI, but insiders told me that it could be risky, so I wrote more than one POI in my application.

And yet - no response from them!

this is my top choice - but I guess that we can't do it right with these numbers.

almost no chances at all...

I'm so sorry, you must be feeling pretty lousy about that, but take heart! We can do good science practically anywhere. "What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are small matters compared to what lies within us." That's Ralph Waldo Emerson. Honestly, no matter where we go, we'll still have our own intellect and passion to accompany us. Everything else--funding, program/POI reputation, location, etc.--is just gravy.

It's mirrored in the debate about whether going to a prestigious private university for undergrad instead of a less prestigious public one really impacts one's success when he or she is already motivated to succeed. And it turns out that it really doesn't matter.

The quality of the student, as measured by your determination, creativity, breadth of knowledge, etc. (all of which can be honed to some degree), seem to account for his or her success more so than the institutions he or she attends, though of course I'm sure studying in a "top choice" program might make life a little easier at the grad school level. So perhaps the program in which you enroll merely facilitates your success and is not outright causal.

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Just saw my rejection at Ohio State posted on the website, in case anyone else applied there and has not checked yet. I'm pretty okay with it. It's a great school, but it was probably the worst fit in terms of research interests among the programs to which I applied.

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I know that decisions have been made for Duke and that they are being made now for the University of Oregon. Anyone who's received an invitation to visit weekend at USC, UVA, or BC care to share?

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