Fall 2015 Applicant Thread

[Rose Tyler]

Thanks, guys. I tried Googling my printer to see what the resolution would be but I couldn't figure it out. I'll scan it when I get home and see how it works.

[gradgoal]

Applying to these schools for fall 2015 (clinical psych):

 

wisconsin-madison

Purdue

Louisville

Idaho state

Syracuse

Queen's

Lakehead

UofT

Calgary

 

GRE:

verbal - 161

quant - 155

analytical - 4.5

 

GPA 3.3 overall

last 2 years 3.9

final year = 4.0

overall psychology classes 3.7

 

Anyone care to share what you think my chances are? (i'm canadian - does this increase my chances at american schools?)

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

[VulpesZerda]

Applying to these schools for fall 2015 (clinical psych):

wisconsin-madison

Purdue

Louisville

Idaho state

Syracuse

Queen's

Lakehead

UofT

Calgary

GRE:

verbal - 161

quant - 155

analytical - 4.5

GPA 3.3 overall

last 2 years 3.9

final year = 4.0

overall psychology classes 3.7

Anyone care to share what you think my chances are? (i'm canadian - does this increase my chances at american schools?)

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

Any research or clinical experience? Good letter writers? Those things are highly valued in this process

[gradgoal]

Any research or clinical experience? Good letter writers? Those things are highly valued in this process

Volunteer as a front line call respondent on a helpline. - provide short term empathetic listening for callers with various problems and/or mental health issues. I'm also doing an undergraduate thesis, and I was a lab volunteer for a few months. No publications or anything though. I'm sure my letters of reference will be strong.

 

...What do you think? Do I have a shot?

[VulpesZerda]

Volunteer as a front line call respondent on a helpline. - provide short term empathetic listening for callers with various problems and/or mental health issues. I'm also doing an undergraduate thesis, and I was a lab volunteer for a few months. No publications or anything though. I'm sure my letters of reference will be strong.

 

...What do you think? Do I have a shot?

 

I'm applying just like you are so I'm not an expert. Of course you have a shot, but getting in isn't that cut and dry so no one could tell you with certainty what will happen. It's good that you have those experiences. Clinical is competitive -- sharpen those interviewing skills! 

[CogPsych2015]

Just submitted my last app...let the waiting games begin!

[Rose Tyler]

I'm still applying too but I think you've got a good shot. It looks like a diverse range of schools. Pretty sure Madison and Purdue are both heavily research-oriented, but I know Louisville is balanced. I can't speak for Canadian schools.

[SchoolPsych_NYC]

Anyone out there writing their SOP? St. John's University expects personal statements to be around 350 words. They don't disclose this online, but I was informed by the director of admissions. I'm curious to know if anyone else is in the same boat. 350 words seems like barely two paragraphs.. 

[VulpesZerda]

Wow, 350 words would be impossible for me. But, I guess in that case I would expand on research experience in my CV so that it doesn't take up space in the SOP. Still, talking about interests and fit could be tough in 350. No cutesy stuff!

[psych face]

I know I saw one application that wanted all the personal statement information in 500 characters in a space in the online form. I almost didn't bother with it, since it was so short. I hacked and sawed the hell out of my statement and got something or other suggestive of my original statement in. But 500 characters is pretty short and that's the worst I saw.

[Rose Tyler]

500 characters? That sounds insane to me. The shortest requirement I had was 500 words, but that wasn't too difficult because the personal statement and research statement were separate.

[dftbkatie]

I'm so close to finishing up with applying I can taste it! I've finished apps for 5 of my 8 schools, and am waiting on one recommender for 4 schools. I'm gonna have to send it by snail mail.. He hates computers and has been having trouble uploading it! It's crazy that this big part of my life is coming to a close... Graduating in one month. Can't believe it. And I also got the best news from my mentor the other day... The study I ran for my honor's thesis ended up finding publishable results... Things in line with what he's published in the Journal of Social and Personality Psychology. It's looking like I'm gonna be a published researcher y'all!  

 

I'm posting here because no one in real life truly understand what this means.. And I know you guys will.

[Rose Tyler]

Congratulations! That's fantastic news.

 

I'm waiting on all my LORs to be in and it's killing me because I don't really have any control over it. And now we're on Thanksgiving break so the next time I see all my profs in person will be after the due dates.

[dftbkatie]

Congratulations! That's fantastic news.

 

I'm waiting on all my LORs to be in and it's killing me because I don't really have any control over it. And now we're on Thanksgiving break so the next time I see all my profs in person will be after the due dates.

 

Thank you Honestly, I wouldn't hesitate to contact them by e-mail... I felt annoying when I did, but really... It's your future so you have to do all you can to make sure things get done, y'know?

[Rose Tyler]

Thanks. I always feel annoying but it has to be done. Only one of them hasn't submitted anywhere so I emailed him yesterday just to ask that he's getting the online submission links. He said that he's doing all his letters this week. Didn't do much to settle my nerves.

[SchoolPsych_NYC]

I posted this in the School Psych thread, but also gonna post here..

 

So I did not waive my right to access any of my applications. I had assisted in developing a letter for one of my recommenders and was provided with an unofficial copy prior to his uploading. However, something told me that this person would just be uploading directly from microsoft word, no university letterhead or anything, just his signature. I emailed to thank him for uploading but also casually asked if it was printed on letterhead. This was his reply:

 

"Frankly letterheads are mostly a cosmetic element. We have provided numerous recommendation letters to other individuals who have been part of our project in the past and have not received any negative feedback about this. There is a process for authenticating your references which is very thorough.  In the end, you will be judged on substance so I would not dwell on it too much." 

 

I am uncomfortable with all of this, given that I know from experience and common sense, a letter of recommendation is only considered official with a signature on university, organization, or company letterhead. So I have emailed admissions to clarify, but just wanted to gauge an opinion on here, if anyone has also been in this kind of situation. I know some of you may say you didn't even get to see your letters and some things are better left unknown... sigh

[Gvh]

 

I posted this in the School Psych thread, but also gonna post here..

 

So I did not waive my right to access any of my applications. I had assisted in developing a letter for one of my recommenders and was provided with an unofficial copy prior to his uploading. However, something told me that this person would just be uploading directly from microsoft word, no university letterhead or anything, just his signature. I emailed to thank him for uploading but also casually asked if it was printed on letterhead. This was his reply:

 

"Frankly letterheads are mostly a cosmetic element. We have provided numerous recommendation letters to other individuals who have been part of our project in the past and have not received any negative feedback about this. There is a process for authenticating your references which is very thorough.  In the end, you will be judged on substance so I would not dwell on it too much." 

 

I am uncomfortable with all of this, given that I know from experience and common sense, a letter of recommendation is only considered official with a signature on university, organization, or company letterhead. So I have emailed admissions to clarify, but just wanted to gauge an opinion on here, if anyone has also been in this kind of situation. I know some of you may say you didn't even get to see your letters and some things are better left unknown... sigh

 

 

I would also be uncomfortable if my letters were not on the appropriate letterhead - however, if your recommender really doesn't want to use letterhead, I don't really see what you can do to mediate it :/ I doubt having 1 letter not on letterhead would be the difference of being accepted or not accepted into a program. If they are unsure about the authenticity of the letter, I'm sure the adcomm would simply get in contact with the letter writer. 

 

However I'm not sure how not waiving your right helps your case...it is always recommended to waive your rights, to corroborate the lack of bias.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Gvh

[SchoolPsych_NYC]

I would also be uncomfortable if my letters were not on the appropriate letterhead - however, if your recommender does not want to use letterhead, I don't really see what you can do to mediate it :/

 

However I'm not sure how not waiving your right helps your case...it is always recommended to waive your rights, to corroborate the lack of bias. I doubt having 1 letter not on letterhead would be the difference of being accepted or not accepted into a program. If they are unsure about the authenticity of the letter, I'm sure the adcomm would simply get in contact with the letter writer. 

 

Actually, whether you waive or not, it has no reflection upon your application (or at least thats what the application says when you choose to either waive or not to waive) But I hear you, I'm sure they will reach out if they are unsure of the authenticity. 

 

I am also surprised by my recommender's defense, citing that the letterhead is for aesthetic purposes?! if that was the case, a signature is just for show too and any lamen could upload! wtf... 

[Gvh]

Actually, whether you waive or not, it has no reflection upon your application (or at least thats what the application says when you choose to either waive or not to waive) 

 

Yeah, it seems your recommender is unnecessarily stubborn - but I will disagree with you about waiving your rights. In my experience (and most people on TGC will agree), although "technically" it doesn't reflect upon in your app, a letter that has not been waived indicates the letter writer is notified in the email notification that the letter will be available to the applicant at their discretion. As a result, this letter can be considered less valuable since the writer *might* not be completely forthcoming in their recommendation. Obviously, this probably depends on school to school and adcomm to adcomm, but in your case I really don't see how this would help you.

[SchoolPsych_NYC]

Yeah, it seems your recommender is unnecessarily stubborn - but I will disagree with you about waiving your rights. In my experience (and most people on TGC will agree), although "technically" it doesn't reflect upon in your app, a letter that has not been waived indicates the letter writer is notified in the email notification that the letter will be available to the applicant at their discretion. As a result, this letter can be considered less valuable since the writer *might* not be completely forthcoming in their recommendation. Obviously, this probably depends on school to school and adcomm to adcomm, but in your case I really don't see how this would help you.

 

I see your point, however not waiving is only useful if you've been accepted to the school and as a student will have access to your personal file which will include your application and letters. I mentioned I didn't waive but adcomms don't know I helped to write the letters-- I only chose not to waive so that my recommenders would feel comfortable sharing a copy of their letter post upload for my own records. 

 

Also, you said it doesn't technically reflect upon my app.. I may be naive here but I am taking what the app says sincerely: "You may waive your right of access to this specific report if you so choose. Your decision to waive or not to waive your right of access will have no bearing on the handling of your application."

 

Regardless, my recommender is being stubborn and it's getting a little ridiculous. It's obvious to him now my trust in his reference is broken.. :/

[CogPsych2015]

My last letter of rec was sent in (thank goodness, as my first deadline was today), so my apps are officially complete . I'm sure this should be a good feeling, but now all I'm doing is stressing that I did something absurd like spell my own name wrong. This is going to be an incredibly long next few months...

[isilya]

This is crazy, I can't believe your guys' apps are already due! I've only submitted one (Stanford) so far, and my last one is due on January 2nd then again, I'm applying to Linguistics and Cognitive Science departments, so different than psychology. I'm super stressed, but actually quite excited right now!! I'm submitting to two (and possibly three) conferences soon so I'm doing a bunch of data collection and analysis and it's super fun I just hope it doesn't take away too much from my applications since I don't have as much time to work on my SOP as I would have otherwise liked...

[VulpesZerda]

I'm working on finalizing four of my applications today... Though I should be getting ready to leave for Thanksgiving dinner soon   I think I will be ready to press those 'submit' buttons tomorrow! That would be four down, six to go. Last deadline is in January, but I want this all done before Christmas.

[psych face]

. . .  I'm applying to Linguistics and Cognitive Science departments, so different than psychology.  . . .

 

I guess I'm just confused.

[Tolman's Rat]

This is crazy, I can't believe your guys' apps are already due! I've only submitted one (Stanford) so far, and my last one is due on January 2nd then again, I'm applying to Linguistics and Cognitive Science departments, so different than psychology. I'm super stressed, but actually quite excited right now!! I'm submitting to two (and possibly three) conferences soon so I'm doing a bunch of data collection and analysis and it's super fun I just hope it doesn't take away too much from my applications since I don't have as much time to work on my SOP as I would have otherwise liked...

Assuming you're applying to work with Liina Pylkkanen and/or David Poeppel at NYU? Just submitted my application two nights ago!

 

Done 4 with 5 left to go.