Fall 2015 School Psychology Applicants

[iphi]

I received an email today from Loyola that said they have received my application and are in the review process.  It also provided the date that interviews will take place. This has increased my anxiety by 100%. Who knew the waiting would be the hardest part of this process??!

 

Is this Loyola Chicago? I know for sure they take 5 PhD students every year, no more & no less. Just FYI!

[Guest lacrosse789]

Did any of you make backup plans incase you don't get in anywhere? I know we should all be confident in ourselves and our applications, I'm just not sure if I should start looking at other opportunities now or wait until results come in.

[SchoolPsych_NYC]

Did any of you make backup plans incase you don't get in anywhere? I know we should all be confident in ourselves and our applications, I'm just not sure if I should start looking at other opportunities now or wait until results come in.

 

I was also thinking about this.. besides reapplying, I would probably study harder for the GRE and keep on working full time to save some money. Maybe take on a part time internship or volunteer position.

[iphi]

Did any of you make backup plans incase you don't get in anywhere? I know we should all be confident in ourselves and our applications, I'm just not sure if I should start looking at other opportunities now or wait until results come in.

 

I would suggest waiting for results. Even in a month or two you should have a better idea based on how many interviews you are invited to. But it really depends on your goals/plans. If you think you need to apply for a specific thing with a deadline that is soon, then obviously do it. If your back-up plan is just to find a job then you can probably hold off.

[schoolpsy15]

Is this Loyola Chicago? I know for sure they take 5 PhD students every year, no more & no less. Just FYI!

It is! But that's interesting. According to the enrollment data on the NASP website, they took 22 PhD students in the 2013-2014 year. I do see they only took 5 the year before that. Is the website inaccurate?

[iphi]

22 would be insane! Are you sure that's not a department-wide thing? To my knowledge they could not support that many. It may be a typo. I wonder if that 22 was supposed to be a 2! Also, keep in mind that not everyone accepted will come.

[PschoolPsychology]

It is! But that's interesting. According to the enrollment data on the NASP website, they took 22 PhD students in the 2013-2014 year. I do see they only took 5 the year before that. Is the website inaccurate?

 

It looks like it is, accredited programs are required to post their student admissions data and Loyola posted that last year they received 25 applicants, had 4 accepted and all four of those enrolled. 

[schoolpsy15]

It looks like it is, accredited programs are required to post their student admissions data and Loyola posted that last year they received 25 applicants, had 4 accepted and all four of those enrolled. 

Thank you!

[PschoolPsychology]

Thank you!

No problem! Loyola Chicago was actually on my short list for applications too and was one of the last schools that I ended up eliminating when I didn't think I had the time for extra applications, it looked like a great program though so good luck!

[SchoolPsych_NYC]

JUST SUBMITTED MY LAST APPLICATION!!!!!!   What a relief! This has been one of the most stressful experiences..

 

and now I shall wait........ but at least I can enjoy the holidays! I'm sure I won't hear anything until late January or February. Plenty of time to catch up on life  

 

Best of luck to all who are waiting on LORs, editing their SOP, or are just about ready to apply! 

[ed_psy]

I am still revising SOP, pathetic! Deadline is approaching....... really......due in about a month. I still haven't heard from professors regarding the recommendation letters. I'm going to make a trip to visit them if they don't reply my email (I sent them almost 3 weeks ago and only heard back from one asking me why and where I am applying to, did not say whether he will write one for me though  )

[Echidna]

Hey Ed_psy! Grad apps are a lot of time and effort, and that's not counting how you still have to handle school/life/work while you're cranking them out. So no worries, and you'll get it done!

 

But what might help is that before you go visit them, make a list of programs, a draft SOP/ motivations statement for applying to grad school, and your CV. And take a printed version of those with you, and give them to your profs if they're willing to write. It makes the process easier. I even made a little document with POIs at each program and how I thought they matched up (short bullet points), and I think it helps to 1) show that you're serious 2) separate you from the other load of students asking for rec letters right now and 3) give the profs a better opportunity to write something stellar.

 

It's getting close to the holidays though, so you might want to make your move, but also be considerate

 

If you're applying to EdS programs, you should be more than okay. I'm not so sure about PhD apps at this point, though I know there are some still up.

 

Good luck, and let us know what happens/if you have anymore questions!

[ed_psy]

Hey Ed_psy! Grad apps are a lot of time and effort, and that's not counting how you still have to handle school/life/work while you're cranking them out. So no worries, and you'll get it done!

 

But what might help is that before you go visit them, make a list of programs, a draft SOP/ motivations statement for applying to grad school, and your CV. And take a printed version of those with you, and give them to your profs if they're willing to write. It makes the process easier. I even made a little document with POIs at each program and how I thought they matched up (short bullet points), and I think it helps to 1) show that you're serious 2) separate you from the other load of students asking for rec letters right now and 3) give the profs a better opportunity to write something stellar.

 

It's getting close to the holidays though, so you might want to make your move, but also be considerate

 

If you're applying to EdS programs, you should be more than okay. I'm not so sure about PhD apps at this point, though I know there are some still up.

 

Good luck, and let us know what happens/if you have anymore questions!

Hi Echidna,

Thanks for the suggestions and encouragement. I will make a trip some time next week with my documents. (I know that finals week and holidays will be here soon). Hopefully he will be in office and I can have a conversation about applying to schools with him. 

[gray cat]

Well. Got my first invite ever. Praying to the weather gods so it's not too cold in New England in January.

[schoolpsy15]

Well. Got my first invite ever. Praying to the weather gods so it's not too cold in New England in January.

Congratulations!!! 

[PschoolPsychology]

I got an email from a professor at South Carolina yesterday where he told me that even though I had listed different professors as my possible mentors at the school, I might have interest in performing research in his lab instead. We're in the process of scheduling a phone conversation at the moment but in the meantime I've got to make myself familiar with his work pretty quickly so that I don't leave a bad impression. It's certainly not how I expected my first correspondence to go but I'm happy to hear any news that carries the potential for promising results.

Edited December 13, 2014 by Pschool

[Guest lacrosse789]

The results search is killing me. I am just going to assume no news is good news, right? 

[PschoolPsychology]

Good news for the day is that my phone interview with the professor from South Carolina went really well, and he informed me that I was going to be invited to the campus for an interview and started mentioning possible stipends (Does this qualify as a result to submit to the database or do I need to wait for an officially dated invite?). I'm elated about that, but also a bit worried about one of my other schools as I saw that two people got contacted by LSU today via email and I haven't heard from them yet. Still, all things considered, it's a great day!

[gray cat]

Congrats to all the applicants getting interviews!! I've seen a bunch posted on the results site.

 

Now I'm starting to worry about what I'll wear. I'll be travelling from Europe so I think I'll just buy a nice suit while in the US for 2 reasons: I want to carry as little as possible and it would probably get all wrinkled in the suitcase.

 

So excited!

[athlete2academic]

Hey Gray Cat, congrats on the interview! New England will be chilly, so be prepared.

As for attire, I wouldn't view buying a suit while in the U.S. as your only option. If you already have one you like, you wouldn't necessarily have to "pack" it. I've travelled on several domestic flights that have a place inside the cabin where passengers hang their suits so they don't get wrinkled. Only much smaller planes (intra-regional jets) lack this luxury. You'll be on an international flight, so you should have no problem asking the flight attendants to store a suit if you choose to do so.

Also, most airlines allow for one carry-on item (backpack, etc.), then one "personal item" (a suit, for instance). Until I started traveling regularly, I didn't know about this option. That said, unless you are a frequent flyer, I doubt most people are aware of this. It takes away all the anxiety of arriving at your destination and finding a wrinkled suit.

Again, congratulations and good luck!

[Guest lacrosse789]

I believe this was covered last year but I'll ask it again... what do you do if you already committed to an interview day but you are invited to another one the same day (that you like more)? Is it going to decrease my chances of admission if I opt for the Skype interview for the second school? 

[PschoolPsychology]

I believe this was covered last year but I'll ask it again... what do you do if you already committed to an interview day but you are invited to another one the same day (that you like more)? Is it going to decrease my chances of admission if I opt for the Skype interview for the second school? 

I think that you should try to email both schools and let them know about your potential scheduling conflict, and see if either one has a contingency plan for applicants in your situation to visit at another time. If they're both locked in to the same time period, I say you have to choose to visit the one that you like more at this time, but that's just me  .

[PschoolPsychology]

I received two official invitations to interview today at Georgia and South Carolina! South Carolina holds an interview on Friday January 23 in addition to an evening event the day before and the day of, and Georgia's interview day is Monday January 26th with a potluck the night before. If anybody else has gotten an invite to either of these dates shoot me a pm and we'll talk!

[iphi]

You guys are so lucky! I didn't get my first invite for another month (January) last year!

 

I believe this was covered last year but I'll ask it again... what do you do if you already committed to an interview day but you are invited to another one the same day (that you like more)? Is it going to decrease my chances of admission if I opt for the Skype interview for the second school? 

 

So last year I had THREE interviews on the same day. I swear they did it on purpose. However, I committed to the first school that called me because I didn't hear from another one for over a week. Long story short, I got 6 interviews last year and went to 3 in-person, did 3 skype interviews. I got into every school, no matter what the interview method. Therefore I can say from experience that it shouldn't matter!

[Guest lacrosse789]

You guys are so lucky! I didn't get my first invite for another month (January) last year!

 

 

So last year I had THREE interviews on the same day. I swear they did it on purpose. However, I committed to the first school that called me because I didn't hear from another one for over a week. Long story short, I got 6 interviews last year and went to 3 in-person, did 3 skype interviews. I got into every school, no matter what the interview method. Therefore I can say from experience that it shouldn't matter!

 

Good to know!