Fall 2017 Acceptance Thread

[Clinapp2017]

School: Boston University 
Program: Clinical Psychology
Date of Notification: 2/28/17
Method of Notification: Phone call from POI (official email of admission to follow from the graduate school)
Thoughts: I am so honored to receive an offer of admission at BU. I will be accepting the offer because this is my top choice school! :-)

Best wishes to everyone as the season goes on! I am rooting for all of you because we need more clinicians and researchers to answer the world's biggest problems. 

[cortisol]

School: University of Houston
Program: Clinical Psychology PhD
Date of Notification: 02/15/2017
Method of Notification: Phone call from POI
Thoughts: very happy, as it's a great fit and also the only interview I got in two application cycles. Accepted today after receiving official letter

[fritolay]

School: Rutgers University (GSAPP)
Program: School Psychology, PsyD
Date of Notification: 3/1/17
Method of Notification: Email
Thoughts: I'm super excited! It's my second choice and an amazing program. Just waiting to hear if i get accepted off waitlist for my #1.

[cheesecafe]

Can we talk about average stipends we've been offered? I received an offer from a school in a big city for $17,000 and was content with it until I received an offer from a school in a rural area for $26,000. What are your guys stipends looking like? Have any of you had experience with asking for more money?

Edited March 2, 2017 by pbjcafe
Typos galore

[fritolay]

School: Yeshiva - Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology
Program: School-Clinical Child Psychology, PsyD
Date of Notification: 3/2/17
Method of Notification: Email
Thoughts: That was fast.... I just had my interview this morning haha 

[Rose1128]

5 hours ago, pbjcafe said:

Can we talk about average stipends we've been offered? I received an offer from a school in a big city for $17,000 and was content with it until I received an offer from a school in a rural area for $26,000. What are your guys stipends looking like? Have any of you had experience with asking for more money?

$26,000 seems high; super awesome but definitely not something I would expect from most places. Both schools I was offered funding at offered in the $15,000 range. Are we allowed to ask for more? I just accepted since I assumed what was set, was set. I don't know the protocol here lol

[MH429]

1 minute ago, Rose1128 said:

$26,000 seems high; super awesome but definitely not something I would expect from most places. Both schools I was offered funding at offered in the $15,000 range. Are we allowed to ask for more? I just accepted since I assumed what was set, was set. I don't know the protocol here lol

I was offered minimum of $19,500 for 5 years in a very low cost area. I also know there are $20,000 going around for large, expensive cities- which after the taxes, would be a little rough to afford rent, food, transportation, etc. I think $17,000 is quite low for a big city. I guess it depends on how pricey that city is- Chicago, New York, LA, DC, and the like.

$26,000 is huge though!

[Happy_Green_Inchworm]

11 hours ago, MH429 said:

I was offered minimum of $19,500 for 5 years in a very low cost area. I also know there are $20,000 going around for large, expensive cities- which after the taxes, would be a little rough to afford rent, food, transportation, etc. I think $17,000 is quite low for a big city. I guess it depends on how pricey that city is- Chicago, New York, LA, DC, and the like.

$26,000 is huge though!

I was offered $16,500 in a very low cost area. I'm keeping in mind this is the 10-month stipend--all the students in the program I'll be attending work there over the summer, so it should work out to more like $19-20,000. I'm moving from a very high-cost area, so (especially since I'm moving with my partner) I may have a higher quality of life, even with the significant pay cut.  

[8BitJourney]

I've seen stipends from 13.5k to 24k but lower end was typically smaller cities/rural areas and the 24k was NYC. I guess you could bring it up as a concern but all grad students that I asked about it just said that they took out 1k-2k in loans to supplement if they really thought they needed it rather than ask for a stipend bump.

[MH429]

1 hour ago, Happy_Green_Inchworm said:

I was offered $16,500 in a very low cost area. I'm keeping in mind this is the 10-month stipend--all the students in the program I'll be attending work there over the summer, so it should work out to more like $19-20,000. I'm moving from a very high-cost area, so (especially since I'm moving with my partner) I may have a higher quality of life, even with the significant pay cut.  

Completely agree! I'm actually quite excited- I'll be accepting the offer I was talking about in the low cost area. I also currently live in a high cost area and my significant other is also moving with me, so we're looking forward not to have to pay $2000 for a decent apartment.

[JacobW83]

Quick question about accepting offers -- if you've received an "unofficial offer" (spoken with POI over the phone or over email and accepted), at this point should you decline your other offers or should you wait until you've received/accepted the "official offer letter"?

[PNIplz]

3 minutes ago, JacobW83 said:

Quick question about accepting offers -- if you've received an "unofficial offer" (spoken with POI over the phone or over email and accepted), at this point should you decline your other offers or should you wait until you've received/accepted the "official offer letter"?

Wait for your official letter. I was given one of these unofficial offers from a POI and then waitlisted after they met as a committee :/

[cheesecafe]

14 hours ago, Rose1128 said:

$26,000 seems high; super awesome but definitely not something I would expect from most places. Both schools I was offered funding at offered in the $15,000 range. Are we allowed to ask for more? I just accepted since I assumed what was set, was set. I don't know the protocol here lol

Hahah I am not if we are allowed to ask for more. I did meet a grad student during an interview who said he "negotiated" his offer, but who knows exactly what that means. 

I appreciate everyone's input! The reminder about the stipend being only for the academic year is also a very good point!

While the higher stipend is tempting the two programs I am considering are fairly equal so I think I have a tough decision ahead of me. 

 

[fritolay]

phone call from Chestnut Hill College today  Nice program, but will be declining. Hopefully this helps anyone on a waitlist!

[LLsApps]

1 hour ago, PNIplz said:

Wait for your official letter. I was given one of these unofficial offers from a POI and then waitlisted after they met as a committee :/

That's awful! How did they communicate that to you? Was this the situation you mentioned in the other thread, where that POI ended up not being able to extend any offers, or did the POI extend an offer to someone else?

[dormcat]

7 hours ago, pbjcafe said:

Hahah I am not if we are allowed to ask for more. I did meet a grad student during an interview who said he "negotiated" his offer, but who knows exactly what that means. 

I appreciate everyone's input! The reminder about the stipend being only for the academic year is also a very good point!

While the higher stipend is tempting the two programs I am considering are fairly equal so I think I have a tough decision ahead of me. 

 

If it's negotiable, negotiate. My first year fellowship has a pretty low stipend (especially considering I'm moving across the country and uprooting my partner from their career). I asked if it was negotiable and was told it wasn't. You have another offer you can use to request higher pay. There are obviously downsides but if all else is equal and the lower paying school says no, you don't have much to lose going to the higher paying school. Remember that a PhD is a job and your livelihood for the next 5-6 years should be a big deal!

[PNIplz]

22 hours ago, LLsApps said:

That's awful! How did they communicate that to you? Was this the situation you mentioned in the other thread, where that POI ended up not being able to extend any offers, or did the POI extend an offer to someone else?

Extended to someone else, but I have the feeling that this POI may want both and could only extend to 1 to start with. The person they offered to is a rockstar and was at interviews with me and had more publications so I totally respect the decision to offer to them first if it is that case. But yeah. Can only stay hopeful now!

[JacobW83]

Just got an (unofficial) acceptance to Texas A&M's Clinical Psych program! I was nominated for (and received) a Diversity Fellowship as well! 

 

Very excited! 

[Psychoplasmics]

2 hours ago, JacobW83 said:

Just got an (unofficial) acceptance to Texas A&M's Clinical Psych program! I was nominated for (and received) a Diversity Fellowship as well! 

 

Very excited! 

Congratulations! That's awesome.

[schwilliam]

School: Temple University
Program: School Psychology PhD
Date of Notification: 02/02/2017
Method of Notification: Checked the website, received email later
Thoughts: Help! Now I'm even more stressed. I'm in love with the professors and the program. It's totally in line with my research interests (very assessment focused) and I had a really good gut feeling during interview day. I only applied to Temple and UT Austin (my back up plan is to continue teaching), and UT's decision was a rejection. I was so excited to see I had been accepted, but was disappointed when I saw their funding offer. For the first two years, they offered a 10k discount off tuition and 8k in assistantship per year. There is no way I could swing that without drowning in student loans. Do I have any other options? Is this sort of thing negotiable? Is this a normal amount of funding for school psych? At least I'm proud that I was accepted. 

Edited March 4, 2017 by schwilliam

[dancedementia]

School: Texas State University
Program: MA Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Date of Notification: 03/09/2017
Method of Notification: Email. At 10pm, no less!
Thoughts: Overwhelming relief! As some of you may know, I had to withdraw from my other masters program (at BU School of Medicine) due to financial hardship. I was so terrified I couldn't get in anywhere to complete my studies, haha. This is a very well respected program in the state. Still waiting to hear back from Univ of Houston (my top choice) but still overjoyed I have at least one acceptance. 

[dancedementia]

On 2/28/2017 at 6:23 PM, Clinapp2017 said:

School: Boston University 
Program: Clinical Psychology
Date of Notification: 2/28/17
Method of Notification: Phone call from POI (official email of admission to follow from the graduate school)
Thoughts: I am so honored to receive an offer of admission at BU. I will be accepting the offer because this is my top choice school! :-)

Best wishes to everyone as the season goes on! I am rooting for all of you because we need more clinicians and researchers to answer the world's biggest problems. 

Congrats!! Super tough program to get in. You'll love Boston!

[transfatfree]

On 3/4/2017 at 6:49 PM, schwilliam said:

School: Temple University
Program: School Psychology PhD
Date of Notification: 02/02/2017
Method of Notification: Checked the website, received email later
Thoughts: Help! Now I'm even more stressed. I'm in love with the professors and the program. It's totally in line with my research interests (very assessment focused) and I had a really good gut feeling during interview day. I only applied to Temple and UT Austin (my back up plan is to continue teaching), and UT's decision was a rejection. I was so excited to see I had been accepted, but was disappointed when I saw their funding offer. For the first two years, they offered a 10k discount off tuition and 8k in assistantship per year. There is no way I could swing that without drowning in student loans. Do I have any other options? Is this sort of thing negotiable? Is this a normal amount of funding for school psych? At least I'm proud that I was accepted. 

4

Congratulations on your acceptance! Sorry to hear about your funding situation. I heard that funding has always been tricky at Temple. And funding is poorer in school psych than clinical/counseling psych in general. While you can always try to negotiate, you can talk to current students and see whether this is typical first. Then you can decide how you can approach it more appropriately. 

[Jasiminie]

Has anyone heard from CSULA YET ??

[Hexonxonx]

Has anyone heard of acceptance by UNC Chapel Hill for the PhD program or from William & Mary PhD or EdS programs for school psychology for fall 2017?