Social Psychology Fall 2017 Applicants

[MyDogHasAPhD]

3 hours ago, Blackwater said:

I have had a few phone interviews and most of the questions have been pretty similar. Examples below:

• Why do you specifically want to work with the POI
• Why do you want to attend that specific program
• Describe your most important research experience and the main things you learned from it
• Why do you want to pursue a PhD in social psych
• Is there a specific line of research you want to pursue
• Typical strengths and weakness questions

Also, be sure you have a few questions to ask them concerning the program and/or their research.

 

These are helpful! 

Thank you and best of luck!

[Emotix]

I'm not sure if this is relevant for you, but if you've been out of school a few years they may question you about that. I was asked, "Why the PhD? Why now? Are you sure you're ready to leave work and go back to school?" I was also asked a lot about my specific research interests to determine my fit for their lab. My phone interview was very casual, not at all set up like a structured interview. 

[psycbcs]

Hi. Has anyone heard back from Stanford or UChicago?

[Blackwater]

I emailed my POI from UChicago, and they let me know that they have reviewed applications already. I am not sure if they contacted these applicants or not, but I felt that was the implication. 

8 minutes ago, psycbcs said:

Hi. Has anyone heard back from Stanford or UChicago?

 

[psycbcs]

9 minutes ago, Blackwater said:

I emailed my POI from UChicago, and they let me know that they have reviewed applications already. I am not sure if they contacted these applicants or not, but I felt that was the implication. 

 

 

Thanks for your info!

[dormcat]

21 hours ago, Blackwater said:

Has anyone heard from UC Santa Cruz?

I had an interview with someone in developmental, can't speak for social though. He said they're going to be meeting in the next two weeks to make decisions.

[Blackwater]

Thanks!

4 minutes ago, dormcat said:

I had an interview with someone in developmental, can't speak for social though. He said they're going to be meeting in the next two weeks to make decisions.

 

[dormcat]

7 hours ago, MyDogHasAPhD said:

Anyone who has already done interviews care to share some questions they were asked? I have my first one via phone on Friday and am currently not-so-slightly freaking out. Thank you!

I had an interview at Michigan and at UCSC and they were really different, so maybe the contrast will help? For UMich, where I applied to the joint women's studies phd, I was asked:

• What do you hope to get out of the program (academically)?
• Who is your favorite theorist outside psychology?
• What questions drive the research you'd like to do in grad school?
• Can you tell me more about your past work with x methodology and how you hope to use it in the future?
• Where do you see yourself in five years, or, when you're ending grad school, what do you imagine you've accomplished?

With just these five questions we talked for about an hour, and it was a lot of fun.

At UCSC I was asked:

• Can you tell me more about your research background?
• What was your role in x project?
• What research would you like to do at UCSC?
• Where else did you apply?

With these four questions we talked for about 20 minutes and it felt like a more formal interview. Overall, with the UM interview I felt more like I could express my personality and carry on a more casual conversation whereas I couldn't get a read on the person interviewing me from UCSC. I was also sick during my UCSC interview which probably colored my experience.

The questions I asked them were:

• What do you wish you had known at the start of your graduate career?
• When you think about past students who have been successful in the program, what characterizes them and sets them apart from others? What careers paths have your successful students pursued? I don't have a particular definition or idea of "successful," so I'd like to know your own interpretation of success in the context of your response.
• Does the program or school provide academic and/or emotional support to students? Are there tutors, or do students tend to form study groups? Is there an assigned advisor outside the research advisor available to students as they transition into grad school, particularly during their first year?
• My work is driven by X. I have a sense from your work what your broader goals or implications are, but we haven't directly discussed it. Therefore, I’m wondering what drives your research?
• To what extent do you prioritize promoting student work through publications and presentations? 
• What are the most important ways the joint PhD program can grow in the next 5-10 years and how can I as a student contribute to the growth of the program?

Edited January 12, 2017 by dormcat

[OptimiscallyAnxious]

18 minutes ago, dormcat said:

I had an interview at Michigan and at UCSC and they were really different, so maybe the contrast will help? For UMich, where I applied to the joint women's studies phd, I was asked:

• What do you hope to get out of the program (academically)?
• Who is your favorite theorist outside psychology?
• What questions drive the research you'd like to do in grad school?
• Can you tell me more about your past work with x methodology and how you hope to use it in the future?
• Where do you see yourself in five years, or, when you're ending grad school, what do you imagine you've accomplished?

With just these five questions we talked for about an hour, and it was a lot of fun.

At UCSC I was asked:

• Can you tell me more about your research background?
• What was your role in x project?
• What research would you like to do at UCSC?
• Where else did you apply?

With these four questions we talked for about 20 minutes and it felt like a more formal interview. Overall, with the UM interview I felt more like I could express my personality and carry on a more casual conversation whereas I couldn't get a read on the person interviewing me from UCSC. I was also sick during my UCSC interview which probably colored my experience.

The questions I asked them were:

• What do you wish you had known at the start of your graduate career?
• When you think about past students who have been successful in the program, what characterizes them and sets them apart from others? What careers paths have your successful students pursued? I don't have a particular definition or idea of "successful," so I'd like to know your own interpretation of success in the context of your response.
• Does the program or school provide academic and/or emotional support to students? Are there tutors, or do students tend to form study groups? Is there an assigned advisor outside the research advisor available to students as they transition into grad school, particularly during their first year?
• My work is driven by X. I have a sense from your work what your broader goals or implications are, but we haven't directly discussed it. Therefore, I’m wondering what drives your research?
• To what extent do you prioritize promoting student work through publications and presentations? 
• What are the most important ways the joint PhD program can grow in the next 5-10 years and how can I as a student contribute to the growth of the program?

Thank you so much for sharing these. 

[MyDogHasAPhD]

19 minutes ago, dormcat said:

I had an interview at Michigan and at UCSC and they were really different, so maybe the contrast will help? For UMich, where I applied to the joint women's studies phd, I was asked:

• What do you hope to get out of the program (academically)?
• Who is your favorite theorist outside psychology?
• What questions drive the research you'd like to do in grad school?
• Can you tell me more about your past work with x methodology and how you hope to use it in the future?
• Where do you see yourself in five years, or, when you're ending grad school, what do you imagine you've accomplished?

With just these five questions we talked for about an hour, and it was a lot of fun.

At UCSC I was asked:

• Can you tell me more about your research background?
• What was your role in x project?
• What research would you like to do at UCSC?
• Where else did you apply?

With these four questions we talked for about 20 minutes and it felt like a more formal interview. Overall, with the UM interview I felt more like I could express my personality and carry on a more casual conversation whereas I couldn't get a read on the person interviewing me from UCSC. I was also sick during my UCSC interview which probably colored my experience.

The questions I asked them were:

• What do you wish you had known at the start of your graduate career?
• When you think about past students who have been successful in the program, what characterizes them and sets them apart from others? What careers paths have your successful students pursued? I don't have a particular definition or idea of "successful," so I'd like to know your own interpretation of success in the context of your response.
• Does the program or school provide academic and/or emotional support to students? Are there tutors, or do students tend to form study groups? Is there an assigned advisor outside the research advisor available to students as they transition into grad school, particularly during their first year?
• My work is driven by X. I have a sense from your work what your broader goals or implications are, but we haven't directly discussed it. Therefore, I’m wondering what drives your research?
• To what extent do you prioritize promoting student work through publications and presentations? 
• What are the most important ways the joint PhD program can grow in the next 5-10 years and how can I as a student contribute to the growth of the program?

These are great! I really like the questions you asked.

As far as the UMich questions, I would never think about a theorist outside of psychology (because...uh I can't remember when I did something other than study psychology lol). Might be something worth thinking about! I would have been stumped there. 

Thank you so much!

[MyDogHasAPhD]

1 hour ago, Emotix said:

I'm not sure if this is relevant for you, but if you've been out of school a few years they may question you about that. I was asked, "Why the PhD? Why now? Are you sure you're ready to leave work and go back to school?" I was also asked a lot about my specific research interests to determine my fit for their lab. My phone interview was very casual, not at all set up like a structured interview. 

Thanks! I have a gap in undergrad, which I have often wondered if they will ask about. I have a response prepared just in case. 

[canessa]

4 hours ago, dormcat said:

I had an interview at Michigan and at UCSC and they were really different, so maybe the contrast will help? For UMich, where I applied to the joint women's studies phd, I was asked:

• What do you hope to get out of the program (academically)?
• Who is your favorite theorist outside psychology?
• What questions drive the research you'd like to do in grad school?
• Can you tell me more about your past work with x methodology and how you hope to use it in the future?
• Where do you see yourself in five years, or, when you're ending grad school, what do you imagine you've accomplished?

With just these five questions we talked for about an hour, and it was a lot of fun.

At UCSC I was asked:

• Can you tell me more about your research background?
• What was your role in x project?
• What research would you like to do at UCSC?
• Where else did you apply?

With these four questions we talked for about 20 minutes and it felt like a more formal interview. Overall, with the UM interview I felt more like I could express my personality and carry on a more casual conversation whereas I couldn't get a read on the person interviewing me from UCSC. I was also sick during my UCSC interview which probably colored my experience.

The questions I asked them were:

• What do you wish you had known at the start of your graduate career?
• When you think about past students who have been successful in the program, what characterizes them and sets them apart from others? What careers paths have your successful students pursued? I don't have a particular definition or idea of "successful," so I'd like to know your own interpretation of success in the context of your response.
• Does the program or school provide academic and/or emotional support to students? Are there tutors, or do students tend to form study groups? Is there an assigned advisor outside the research advisor available to students as they transition into grad school, particularly during their first year?
• My work is driven by X. I have a sense from your work what your broader goals or implications are, but we haven't directly discussed it. Therefore, I’m wondering what drives your research?
• To what extent do you prioritize promoting student work through publications and presentations? 
• What are the most important ways the joint PhD program can grow in the next 5-10 years and how can I as a student contribute to the growth of the program?

Wow thank you so much for these! Extremely helpful. I may also add that over a skype interview I was asked

• Is there any specific paper that you read that inspired you or really got you interested in what you want to pursue?

I wasn't very prepared for this question to give a specific paper so I was very broad. I wish I had a paper and author in mind, so you guys might want to think about that one too just in case it comes up!

[milkymamahdf]

11 hours ago, dormcat said:

I had an interview at Michigan and at UCSC and they were really different, so maybe the contrast will help? For UMich, where I applied to the joint women's studies phd, I was asked:

• What do you hope to get out of the program (academically)?
• Who is your favorite theorist outside psychology?
• What questions drive the research you'd like to do in grad school?
• Can you tell me more about your past work with x methodology and how you hope to use it in the future?
• Where do you see yourself in five years, or, when you're ending grad school, what do you imagine you've accomplished?

With just these five questions we talked for about an hour, and it was a lot of fun.

At UCSC I was asked:

• Can you tell me more about your research background?
• What was your role in x project?
• What research would you like to do at UCSC?
• Where else did you apply?

With these four questions we talked for about 20 minutes and it felt like a more formal interview. Overall, with the UM interview I felt more like I could express my personality and carry on a more casual conversation whereas I couldn't get a read on the person interviewing me from UCSC. I was also sick during my UCSC interview which probably colored my experience.

The questions I asked them were:

• What do you wish you had known at the start of your graduate career?
• When you think about past students who have been successful in the program, what characterizes them and sets them apart from others? What careers paths have your successful students pursued? I don't have a particular definition or idea of "successful," so I'd like to know your own interpretation of success in the context of your response.
• Does the program or school provide academic and/or emotional support to students? Are there tutors, or do students tend to form study groups? Is there an assigned advisor outside the research advisor available to students as they transition into grad school, particularly during their first year?
• My work is driven by X. I have a sense from your work what your broader goals or implications are, but we haven't directly discussed it. Therefore, I’m wondering what drives your research?
• To what extent do you prioritize promoting student work through publications and presentations? 
• What are the most important ways the joint PhD program can grow in the next 5-10 years and how can I as a student contribute to the growth of the program?

Thank you for sharing! Super helpful.

I also had an informal chat with one of my POI. She asked a lot of questions about my previous research. 

• If you have another chance to redo the study, how would you like to improve the design/what other measures you'd like to incorporate?
• Who else do you want to collaborate with in the dept.?

I wasn't prepared for these two questions, I wish I could have done it better. Good luck everyone!

[MyDogHasAPhD]

Seriously, you are all great. Thank you so much. I feel a lot better about tomorrow now. 

 

[dormcat]

8 hours ago, canessa said:

Wow thank you so much for these! Extremely helpful. I may also add that over a skype interview I was asked

• Is there any specific paper that you read that inspired you or really got you interested in what you want to pursue?

I wasn't very prepared for this question to give a specific paper so I was very broad. I wish I had a paper and author in mind, so you guys might want to think about that one too just in case it comes up!

When I was asked what I want out of Michigan's program, I answered it in two parts: why I want to go to Michigan and why I want to work with my PI. In answering why I want to work with my PI, I mentioned a particular paper I read in undergrad that really set me on my research/life path and how when I read her work I was inspired in the same way. Her work is like a call to action, and I see my research as a form of advocacy, so it was perfect. She brought it up numerous times over the course of our call and even said she was teaching my 'catalyst' article the following week and hoped it had the same impact on her students. I had a lot of little things like that throughout my responses that I think really resonated with her and showed we were a good fit, so I hope that helps. I didn't really know what "fit" meant or how it was measured until I had two calls where I felt like I was saying the same sort of thing but the vibe was starkly different.

Also, I'll say I was really open about what I have and haven't accomplished. I am admittedly going into grad school with a really unusual research record, but it's still a bit outside my PI's preferred methodology. I was upfront about how her research made me look at my own differently, and made me regret that I didn't do things X way and that I am really excited to change the way I think about data. After the call I felt like we really hit it off but was worried I was too forward with gaps in my knowledge. However, I just found out I was accepted and she noted in her acceptance email that my curiosity and excitement for the research is what stood out. Honestly my main advice is to be yourself a bit and let your personality come through a bit because if you hide it you'll feel like you need to hide it for the next five or six years. 

[soccerplaya]

I kind of wish people would actually specify which specific program they got accepted into. :| For example, UMich's social psychology area and personality/social contexts area are really distinct and send out their acceptances at different times, but then you see acceptanceresults where people put down "social/personality psychology" which isn't helpful.  Joint programs are also handled differently, although they usually specify more clearly which areas they're in when they're accepted on the results page. I interviewed with someone in umich social recently and am currently dying of nerves. -sigh-

[tyladm]

On 1/11/2017 at 2:05 AM, fadedfigures said:

Still waiting to hear from my schools as well, so everyone is in good hands. Although according to GradCafe's admission's page, DU has typically made their calls this week for the past few years. It's safe to say I'm a little nervous! 

@fadedfigures I'm waiting to hear from DU as well. I got an email encouraging me to fill out the FAFSA from them but that's the only peep I've heard.

Accepted: 0/6
Interviews: 0/6
Rejected: 0/6
No contact: 6/6

[MyDogHasAPhD]

5 hours ago, dormcat said:

When I was asked what I want out of Michigan's program, I answered it in two parts: why I want to go to Michigan and why I want to work with my PI. In answering why I want to work with my PI, I mentioned a particular paper I read in undergrad that really set me on my research/life path and how when I read her work I was inspired in the same way. Her work is like a call to action, and I see my research as a form of advocacy, so it was perfect. She brought it up numerous times over the course of our call and even said she was teaching my 'catalyst' article the following week and hoped it had the same impact on her students. I had a lot of little things like that throughout my responses that I think really resonated with her and showed we were a good fit, so I hope that helps. I didn't really know what "fit" meant or how it was measured until I had two calls where I felt like I was saying the same sort of thing but the vibe was starkly different.

Also, I'll say I was really open about what I have and haven't accomplished. I am admittedly going into grad school with a really unusual research record, but it's still a bit outside my PI's preferred methodology. I was upfront about how her research made me look at my own differently, and made me regret that I didn't do things X way and that I am really excited to change the way I think about data. After the call I felt like we really hit it off but was worried I was too forward with gaps in my knowledge. However, I just found out I was accepted and she noted in her acceptance email that my curiosity and excitement for the research is what stood out. Honestly my main advice is to be yourself a bit and let your personality come through a bit because if you hide it you'll feel like you need to hide it for the next five or six years. 

Really great advice. Thank you. 

I was wondering if you got the typical "Tell me about yourself" question and if so, how did you answer it? Did you provide background details about your life at all outside of psychology or did you keep it mostly academic?

[fadedfigures]

2 hours ago, tyladm said:

@fadedfigures I'm waiting to hear from DU as well. I got an email encouraging me to fill out the FAFSA from them but that's the only peep I've heard.

Accepted: 0/6
Interviews: 0/6
Rejected: 0/6
No contact: 6/6

Yay! Someone else applying to DU! The Admissions Results page doesn't have a boatload of information on the program, so I'm glad to see someone who is also currently in the midst of awaiting results.

It seems that between yesterday and the end of the month is when they make their calls to invite you to a February interview. It's rough to think that we might keep holding on until the end of the month (or even more after that). I just want to know. Their program seems amazing. 

[ForeverJung]

Hello folks, has anyone heard from the following programs regarding interviews?

University of Minnesota Twin Cities - Social Psychology
University of Kansas - Social Psychology
University of Delaware - Social Psychology
University of Iowa - Social Psychology

I saw that someone posted in the results section that they have been accepted to the Social Psychology program at UM but there is no post regarding interviews. I am a bit skeptical that a program such as the University of Minnesota would go without interviews. Do some professors simply choose to not interview candidates? Such as, they have an applicant planned out?

Hope all is well.

[tyladm]

15 hours ago, ForeverJung said:

Hello folks, has anyone heard from the following programs regarding interviews?

University of Minnesota Twin Cities - Social Psychology
University of Kansas - Social Psychology
University of Delaware - Social Psychology
University of Iowa - Social Psychology

I saw that someone posted in the results section that they have been accepted to the Social Psychology program at UM but there is no post regarding interviews. I am a bit skeptical that a program such as the University of Minnesota would go without interviews. Do some professors simply choose to not interview candidates? Such as, they have an applicant planned out?

Hope all is well.

I also applied to the U of MN program and have not heard a word.

[Godpsy]

Anyone know what are the chances/probability of being admitted after interview?

Shall we keep the contact going with the pOI after the interview?

[infamousMJ]

Hi! I submitted my applications back in October but I recently started using grad cafe so that explains the lateness. I applied to 3 social programs: Temple U (interviewed there yesterday!), Washington State and Columbia. My research interests are a mix of social cognition, self-assessment and social organizational topics like marginalized groups in the workplace. I'm also applying to 7 I/O programs with similar research interests. 

Edited January 13, 2017 by infamousMJ

[soccerplaya]

Ugh. I just got an informal acceptance into umich social psychology. Sobbing at work.

I graduated with an undergrad GPA between 2.9-3.2 and have been working  for five years to make up for it.

[MyDogHasAPhD]

4 minutes ago, soccerplaya said:

Ugh. I just got an informal acceptance into umich social psychology. Sobbing at work.

I graduated with an undergrad GPA between 2.9-3.2 and have been working  for five years to make up for it.

Congratulations!! So amazing when hard work pays off.