L83Ste Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 It just seems that this is where it is going. I haven't received anything official yet, but a few are assumed since others have heard back. Does it seem that most people get rejected their first round of applications?
isilya Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 Well, it seems like this depends on tons of factors -- how competitive your field is (and how competitive it is this particular application season), how many other people applied to work with your POIs, how many schools you applied to, etc etc. IF you get rejected, I'd say it's probably some combination of a particularly competitive year in your field + applying to 3 schools. But I wouldn't give up hope now!! It's barely the end of January!! Anything can happen, results vary widely across fields and institutions Piagetsky 1
TXInstrument11 Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 I'm not sure if I would say "most", but it is extremely common, especially for popular psych programs like clinical and social. However, a lot of people apply to a large number of schools to help offset this. So, even if they got rejected from 10+ schools, they would still be counted as successful (artificially lowering the number of 'complete' rejections, in essence). One of my professors heard that, for clinical psych applicants, the golden # of schools was found to be 13 in one study. Still, it's pretty early yet. A lot of the committees for my schools haven't even formally met by this point (I called and confirmed). I mean, unless you're looking at cut-and-dry required interview dates that have come and gone, like I found with U Oregon, you can't assume this early. Also, did you apply to masters or doctoral programs? I would assume that masters programs would post later since a lot of them are still open, but I could be wrong.
CleverUsername15 Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 Social is also extremely competitive.
L83Ste Posted January 25, 2015 Author Posted January 25, 2015 Well, it seems like this depends on tons of factors -- how competitive your field is (and how competitive it is this particular application season), how many other people applied to work with your POIs, how many schools you applied to, etc etc. IF you get rejected, I'd say it's probably some combination of a particularly competitive year in your field + applying to 3 schools. But I wouldn't give up hope now!! It's barely the end of January!! Anything can happen, results vary widely across fields and institutions I really wanted to apply to more schools this year. Circumstances are not great at the moment for moving though, so I was limited. I think it will be better next year, but it is a bummer about this year. I'm still hoping, but I always plan for the worst. Thanks for the encouragement! I guess I'll wait a little while. I heard that rejections usually take a long time though, so the fact that I haven't heard from anyone is a little disheartening. Also, did you apply to masters or doctoral programs? I would assume that masters programs would post later since a lot of them are still open, but I could be wrong. I applied to PhD programs, but one of them allowed me to check the "if you don't get into the PhD would you like to be considered for Master's" box. I did check that, but I'm not sure when their deadline was for terminal Master's. CleverUsername15 1
KW58D Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 While, the quantity of applications does vary year to year it seems like the number is steadily climbing. Programs that would have been considered reasonably competitive with maybe double to triple the applicants per slots available a couple years ago now receive hundreds of applicants for 2-5 positions available. It's scary when you see unfunded programs turning away countless students that are pretty much willing to take out a fortune in student loans just to get into grad school. L83Ste 1
spunky Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 It's scary when you see unfunded programs turning away countless students that are pretty much willing to take out a fortune in student loans just to get into grad school. this is actually quite true. even though quite a few labs had seen their funding situation reduced at our uni, the sheer amount of applications this year was ridiculous. if other competitive programs are like ours, it would make sense to me why people who applied to traditionally popular programs (social/clinical) haven't heard an answer yet. i know a few profs that are still going through the applications they got. i think it makes sense, though. psychology keeps on being one of the top most popular majors (i think it's always either the top #2 or #3 every year) and all these psych undergrads learn at some point that they will need graduate school to become psychologists. it's all becoming a numbers game now.
MissLatte Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 I'm not sure if I would say "most", but it is extremely common, especially for popular psych programs like clinical and social. However, a lot of people apply to a large number of schools to help offset this. So, even if they got rejected from 10+ schools, they would still be counted as successful (artificially lowering the number of 'complete' rejections, in essence). One of my professors heard that, for clinical psych applicants, the golden # of schools was found to be 13 in one study. Still, it's pretty early yet. A lot of the committees for my schools haven't even formally met by this point (I called and confirmed). I mean, unless you're looking at cut-and-dry required interview dates that have come and gone, like I found with U Oregon, you can't assume this early. Also, did you apply to masters or doctoral programs? I would assume that masters programs would post later since a lot of them are still open, but I could be wrong. Completely agree. A would say more than half of the PhD students at my Undergrad school said they had to apply 2-3 cycles before getting accepted. The PhD student I worked with directly suggested I apply to at least 5 clinical programs and then some cognitive/behavioral neuroscience programs because of the low chances of getting into clinical programs ( I have a cognitive neuroscience interest). Of the 11 schools I applied to I only received one invite (IU Bloomington) so I am freaking out hoping I do not screw up the interview.
TheMercySeat Posted January 25, 2015 Posted January 25, 2015 (edited) I don't know what implications this has for any posters on the forum, but some programs at certain universities are still accepting PhD apps (Utah State University, UT San Antonio, University of Nevada - Reno). Admittedly, I don't know how 'good' these programs are by the metrics of posters on this forum-- my search hasn't been dictated by ranking, but in opportunities to advance target skills that are transferable to industry, academia, and the nonprofit world (grant writing, research, and advancing stat knowledge), receive full funding, study my topics of interest, and build up my portfolio (conference, pubs, etc). I'm certainly not advocating to apply 'just anywhere' to go somewhere, but perhaps it could help to consider taking a look to see if any programs with a later deadline host professors with your topic of interest? Edited January 25, 2015 by TheMercySeat
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