Fall 2017 Clinical Psychology Applicants

[stereopticons]

1 hour ago, periwinkle27 said:

For those who have interviewed and already secured acceptances, how did you prepare for your interviews? Is there anything in particular you did that you feel really made the difference for you?

Starting to get really nervous about my upcoming interviews!!

I did mock interviews with as many people as I could find that would let me (and we're in a position to give helpful feedback). And I did them more than once. Too early to say if it made the difference, but I did feel less nervous. 

[Rose1128]

1 hour ago, periwinkle27 said:

For those who have interviewed and already secured acceptances, how did you prepare for your interviews? Is there anything in particular you did that you feel really made the difference for you?

Starting to get really nervous about my upcoming interviews!!

Honestly interviews were nowhere near as stressful as I thought. I was anticipating being grilled on everything I've done/want to do but what I found was that I had interesting conversations with people about my interests and how they fit with the program. Be confident but not cocky, and be yourself. You wouldn't be invited if you weren't qualified. Make sure you refresh your memory on anything it's been a while since you've done (old posters, projects, etc) so that you can talk openly about them. Have a working knowledge of the most recent work your POI has done. And BE NICE!! It seems silly but I've heard horror stories of rude applicants and let's be real, nobody is going to want to work with you for the next 5 years if you're not a nice person. 

[ysi2010]

Hi,

In the very fortunate case that one is in a position to choose among more than one offer, it abnormal to reach out to a potential mentor/adviser or a DCT after being admitted but before making a decision? To ask questions/get info to help evaluate? Is it better to talk to their students? Is it best to not talk to anyone but just reach out once a decision is made?

[YES!!!]

7 hours ago, FacelessMage said:

I actually had an AWFUL interview at the school where I got accepted (cried for a good 20 minutes after because I felt lousy about it). Evidently that didn't matter. On the other hand, I've had interviews where I've felt super confident about where I've then not been accepted (or even waitlisted). I'm a nervous interviewer, so I'm never quite sure what to do. Just go in, know your stuff, be excited about life (but not too excited), and have fun with it. Having a pre-interview pump up song helps as well (I've been listening to "Be a Man" from Mulan before!). 

I wish there was a way to know for sure what works. I have basically put it down to being lucky. It is a given that we are all prepared going into the interview, we are all good enough to be there, we all know our stuff. What happens next is a function of chance as much as of anything else. Perfect present fit, future fit, great GRE's, strong publications, brilliant LoR's - God alone know what makes it works. Sometimes people with all of these also end up getting sidelined for some reason. So honestly, there is no straight formula that applies here. BUT I hope that all of us have greater luck in the process than we had even hoped for! 

[YES!!!]

4 hours ago, ysi2010 said:

Hi,

In the very fortunate case that one is in a position to choose among more than one offer, it abnormal to reach out to a potential mentor/adviser or a DCT after being admitted but before making a decision? To ask questions/get info to help evaluate? Is it better to talk to their students? Is it best to not talk to anyone but just reach out once a decision is made?

I think you have every right to connect with your POI to clarify any doubts that you have about accepting the admission offer. Honestly it will be good for both of you. Its a 5 year journey (at least). It's crucial that you are totally aligned with the lab you choose to join. No one minds answering questions really. If you can speak with some grad student in that lab first it might be more helpful but definitely you should feel free to address all doubts before taking a final call. Congratulations on the multiple hits. Hope they are all so good that the final decision about where to finally join gets really difficult for you to make

[rshoe]

On 2/9/2017 at 8:24 AM, blonderoast said:

Same thing happened to me, and I unexpectedly got an interview invite last week! I checked my application and it was still listed as "incomplete" when I got the interview email. So don't worry yet! I heard from someone in the program that they keep sending out invitations until pretty late in the game.

OMG! That's great news, thank you! I have a feeling I'm not gonna get in tbh because my GRE scores are dismal and it seems like they actually care about it, but we'll see. Thanks for responding!

[ysi2010]

On 2/11/2017 at 1:47 AM, YES!!! said:

I think you have every right to connect with your POI to clarify any doubts that you have about accepting the admission offer. Honestly it will be good for both of you. Its a 5 year journey (at least). It's crucial that you are totally aligned with the lab you choose to join. No one minds answering questions really. If you can speak with some grad student in that lab first it might be more helpful but definitely you should feel free to address all doubts before taking a final call. Congratulations on the multiple hits. Hope they are all so good that the final decision about where to finally join gets really difficult for you to make

Hi @YES!!!, thanks for your input! I did reach out; it's definitely a huge decision that in the end is worth going all out to make sure I'm confident with the choice.

I hope the same for you!! It truly sucks to have to make difficult decisions, that determine 5+ (Hopeful) years of your life, but in the end a privilege to have the opportunity to do so. 

Edited February 12, 2017 by ysi2010

[George J]

Does anyone have any advice for someone who was just placed pretty low on the alternate list? 

as if i wasn't already depressed enough because its valentines day this week

[psychout129]

On 2/8/2017 at 11:08 AM, fritolay said:

Thank you!!! Any tips or advice on what I should expect? Good luck and hope you get accepted!

Thanks I would say it was definitely a bit more "interview-y" than other programs I interviewed at, meaning it definitely felt more like they were throwing out some tricky thinking questions as opposed to just having a conversation about my experiences and interests. Nothing TOO crazy, but be prepared to think about not only what you've done but how those experiences may have impacted you in different ways, what specifically your interests are and why, how you arrived at where you are now, etc. 

[YES!!!]

38 minutes ago, George J said:

Does anyone have any advice for someone who was just placed pretty low on the alternate list? 

as if i wasn't already depressed enough because its valentines day this week

Honestly you can only just sit it out and wait to see how the final admissions list looks like. What will be, will be. No need to get upset about anything. You've done the best you could. Now it's totally out of your hands. Why fret over something.that you have no control over at all? I hope you get into the program of your choice this cycle itself. Good luck!

[fritolay]

2 hours ago, psychout129 said:

Thanks I would say it was definitely a bit more "interview-y" than other programs I interviewed at, meaning it definitely felt more like they were throwing out some tricky thinking questions as opposed to just having a conversation about my experiences and interests. Nothing TOO crazy, but be prepared to think about not only what you've done but how those experiences may have impacted you in different ways, what specifically your interests are and why, how you arrived at where you are now, etc. 

Thanks for the heads up!!

[FacelessMage]

3 hours ago, George J said:

Does anyone have any advice for someone who was just placed pretty low on the alternate list? 

as if i wasn't already depressed enough because its valentines day this week

It's pretty much wait it out I'm afraid. There's always hope though! This happened in a med program, not a clinical one, but I know of one school who went through it's entire waitlist one year and had to hit up the people they rejected to fill the rest of their seats. Strange things can happen when you're least expecting them! 

[JacobW83]

2 hours ago, FacelessMage said:

It's pretty much wait it out I'm afraid. There's always hope though! This happened in a med program, not a clinical one, but I know of one school who went through it's entire waitlist one year and had to hit up the people they rejected to fill the rest of their seats. Strange things can happen when you're least expecting them! 

Wow that's crazy! 

I met a girl at an interview who said, in a previous year, her friend got waitlisted at 3 places and ended up with offers from all of them... So yeah, strange things can happen when it comes to waitlists!

[ellieotter]

5 minutes ago, JacobW83 said:

Wow that's crazy! 

I met a girl at an interview who said, in a previous year, her friend got waitlisted at 3 places and ended up with offers from all of them... So yeah, strange things can happen when it comes to waitlists!

To add to this, a girl from my lab who waitlisted at all of her schools she interviewed at (4, if not more I believe) and ended up receiving offers from all of them! It's a slim chance but a chance none the less!

 

[neuropsych4life]

To those who have been waitlisted at programs- are you contacting the program to see where you fall on the waitlist? The anxiety is killing me 

[psychapp2016]

Has anyone heard back from UC Berkeley after interviews? I expect we'll hear by the end of this week but wondering if acceptances started going out last week?

[YES!!!]

17 minutes ago, psychapp2016 said:

Has anyone heard back from UC Berkeley after interviews? I expect we'll hear by the end of this week but wondering if acceptances started going out last week?

Berkeley confirmations started being sent out at the end of January / first week of Feb itself. You may want to mail them to check your status there. 

[psychapp2016]

7 minutes ago, YES!!! said:

Berkeley confirmations started being sent out at the end of January / first week of Feb itself. You may want to mail them to check your status there. 

Thank you!

[Display_Name_]

This may be a long shot, but did anyone who interviewed at UConn this past week ask someone when we should be hearing back? It totally slipped my mind and I don't really feel comfortable reaching out to ask... My POI responded to a thank you note and said I would be hearing back "soon," but that could mean anything. Ahhhhh

[JacobW83]

To whoever posted the A&M Acceptance on the results page, could you PM me? And congrats!

[That Research Lady]

3 hours ago, Display_Name_ said:

This may be a long shot, but did anyone who interviewed at UConn this past week ask someone when we should be hearing back? It totally slipped my mind and I don't really feel comfortable reaching out to ask... My POI responded to a thank you note and said I would be hearing back "soon," but that could mean anything. Ahhhhh

I was checking the page to see if anyone heard from UConn since I too forgot to ask ? I told myself last week that I wouldn't stress after interviews but here I am....stressing lol

[FacelessMage]

Could the person who got the acceptance at Sam Houston PM me please?  And congrats! 

[8BitJourney]

Just finished interviewing at one of my top ranked programs and it was everything I wanted. Except one thing: we won't know admissions decisions till early March XD I wished we were notified earlier just for the fact that I don't want to hold onto interview slots that could go to other great applicants :/

Edited February 14, 2017 by 8BitJourney

[PNIplz]

Congrats to the poster from IUPUI! Can you please DM me your POI? It's one of my top choices. Thanks!

[YES!!!]

6 hours ago, 8BitJourney said:

Just finished interviewing at one of my top ranked programs and it was everything I wanted. Except one thing: we won't know admissions decisions till early March XD I wished we were notified earlier just for the fact that I don't want to hold onto interview slots that could go to other great applicants :/

That's really amazing 8Bit. I guess there is nothing you can do about the other interviews lined up for the moment but just interview everywhere you have been invited. How fabulous it would be when you get the chance to compare several offers before picking the best one. Congratulations!