"Lessons Learned" from this process

[socpsychstudnt]

Hi, all! I initially intended this post for lessons learned about grad school interviews, since I'm about to have my first one this week, but I figure this post might be helpful all around. It might be nice to have the wisdom and experience of several people in one place. Some take-aways I've learned from both my experiences and my job (where I interact with well-regarded faculty in the scientist-practitioner realm). For context, this is my second time applying, and it went way smoother for me this time.

Advice I've been given:

• Don't settle for a program you don't LOVE out of impatience or desperation - a good fit is key!
• Act excited and gracious whenever anyone reaches out/ in all interview situations
• Do your research on how the program is right for you and how you bring something valuable to benefit them, too

Things I've learned along the way:

• Be as organized as possible when preparing to apply. A spreadsheet with the school name, due dates, "are official transcripts needed y/n", "date GRE scores were sent", "all letters uploaded y/n" was CRAZY helpful to me this time around.
• Be realistic about how much it will cost you - a conservative estimate is probably
  • $100 per application (though often less)
  • + plus the cost of sending transcripts when necessary ($10 a pop for me)
  • + sending GRE scores (pretty much everyone wants official scores),
  • + a small gift to your letter writers, only if you think it would be appropriate (I sent $10 Starbucks gift cards and thank yous to my letter writers and the grad students who helped them; it's my second time asking them to write on my behalf and I did 12 apps this time, so I felt a little guilty)

Let me know what you guys think! I'd appreciate interview tips if you have them.

[grad29]

If there's one word I could come up with that includes basically everything, it's preparation. Preparation, preparation, preparation. Prepare applications early! Prepare for interviews by coming up with sample questions/responses, reviewing the program, figuring out what you're going to wear, getting enough sleep, a good breakfast, exercise, coming up with LOTS of good questions to ask current students and faculty, etc...Start preparing for GRE and/or subject test early. It took me literally a year to apply to 8 programs, go through interviews, and get accepted into a program. Lots and lots of work. If I hadn't started preparing so early I'm not sure if I would have come out alive. Good luck at your interview!

Edited February 15, 2016 by westy3789

[hey-yo-psych]

Still interviewing but having a promising cycle so far.

I only chose schools where I got nice emails back from a PI I was specifically interested in.  On the one hand, it gave me a good shot at best fit schools very early, but I have had some surprises.

Biggest surprise was being invited to a great school because of a POI that was not on my radar.  Also, learning about a lot of VERY interesting people during my interviews.  

I also realized how much location matters to me.  

I still suggest a very concentrated approach in narrowing down on specific POIs very early, but If I had to do it again I would sprinkle in more schools with excellent locations or high prestige just in case there was a stray research interest I could have missed.

[socpsychstudnt]

@westy3789 and @hey-yo-psych thanks for your advice and congrats on your success! I can't wait to see how everything ends up in a few weeks!