IOPsych3927

You are absolutely, unequivocally not too old. One of the students in my incoming cohort is in her mid-40s, and our program is very competitive. Older students have maturity and a sense of focus that often helps them excel in graduate school compared to their younger, early-20's peers. I'm not sure what your career goals are (an academic versus a practitioner career), but either way, jobs that require a doctorate in psychology are largely merit-based. If you're truly good at what you do, your record will speak for itself and you'll get a great job regardless of how old or young you are. I say go for it, and remember that your age is a strength, not a disadvantage!

For anyone who is waiting on USF, I wanted to let you know that their incoming cohort is confirmed. Six students have accepted positions, and they do not have funding for any more. Best of luck to you all.

My post referred to people who are holding official acceptances from several schools. For your situation (1 official offer and the rest pending), I completely understand why you don't want to make a decision yet. Even if you are down to two offers it is understandable to need some time. The real problem is when students hold on to acceptances from 3 or more schools for weeks, or sometimes months, when they really are heavily favoring some programs over the others and are even holding on to offers from schools they're fairly certain they don't want to attend. Trust me, it happens- I've heard the stories! Also, some info on USF. USF is hoping for a cohort of 5 or 6. Four students have accepted offers, and think there is one offer still pending. As long as that student makes a decision soon, it is definitely possible that they could go to the wait list. To follow up on your point, I have definitely heard of programs having more or less students enroll than they had originally intended. My impression from other grad students and faculty is that most programs really try hard to confirm their incoming cohort before April 15.

Agreed 100%. I decided the day after I came back from my final visiting weekend (March 18th). My decision was USF and I notified all the schools within 24 hours of returning from my last visit. In case anyone is still waiting to hear from the schools I was accepted at & declined (BGSU, UIUC, Rice, & University of Connecticut), PM me if you need to know my POI. I also removed myself from the wait list at George Mason. To other people who are still holding multiple offers, do the right thing and notify ASAP. There are less than 3 weeks to go before April 15 and every day that goes by is another day departments are kept on hold and unable to make offers to deserving students on the wait list.

Rice has made four offers (to the best of my knowledge) and has already had admitted students visit. A couple of weeks ago, I was told that two of those offers were from Dr. Hebl and two were from Dr. Villado. The graduate students I spoke with said that there is no waiting list- that if the four admitted students decline, the professors who have accepted them will not make any more offers. But another person mentioned that Dr. Beier said she was on a waiting list.So it could be that Dr. Hebl and Dr. Villado are not planning to extend any more acceptances, but other professors (e.g. Dr. Beier) are still debating on whether to admit students or not. I want to make it clear that this is all speculation, and that my information is a little old. If you hear from a professor directly, take their word and not mine!

Hi, IIT has good faculty, so I can't say anything about the quality of the training you will receive there. However, the ability to provide funding is very indicative of the overall "health" of a program, and the fact that IIT requires you to pay $110k+ in tuition alone is a huge red flag. Given the high living expenses in Chicago for the next 5 or so years, I would guess that you would graduate with close to $200,000 in debt. Even if you are able to get an awesome applied job, most do not start earning six figures until at least 10-15 years in the workforce. The 2009 APA report has the mean income for applied I/O psychologists (PhD level) in business, government, or consulting positions as $104,000 (average work experience= 12 years). The median (which is a better measure of income, since it is far less skewed), is $91,500. So paying off $200k in debt will likely take decades and be an enormous burden for you. Given these numbers-- and the fact that you will be graduating with a medical student's debt, without the same earning power-- I would recommend attending the Masters' program and then applying to a Ph.D. program . I know 3 students who transferred to a "top 10" I/O program with their Masters' degree. Not all of their courses transferred, but their Master's thesis always did. So that will take off a huge amount of time after you transfer, and you will graduate with closer to $20,000 (rather than $200,000!) in debt. You know your own situation best obviously, but hopefully my two cents helps you make a more informed decision. Good luck!

I word take Dr. Beier at her word. I was told by graduate students that Rice does not use a wait list, but faculty gets the final say and maybe Dr. Beier does things differently. Good luck!!

Hi all, I have some updates about the programs I've been admitted to and hope they're helpful for someone out there. University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign- all acceptances have been extended. They do not use a waiting list. Rice University- all acceptances have been extended. They do not use a waiting list. University of Connecticut- unsure whether they use a wait list, but acceptances have been extended. Visiting weekend is the weekend of March 29th (they changed it). I have declined this acceptance, so I hope it helps someone. I applied to work with Dr. Barnes- Farrell, but they do not accept students to work with a particular faculty member. Students do not choose their adviser until after their first or second semester. University of South Florida- if you have not been contacted, it is unlikely that you will be. There are 5 offers currently made and 5 people on the "short list" (all were invited to visiting weekend). Two people have accepted offers, and the other 5 short-listed students may be extended acceptances as soon as 3 other admitted students decide whether or not to accept. Bowling Green- Accepted students and short-listed applicants have all been invited to visiting weekend on March 15-16.

If anyone needs info on the schools I've applied to, I've heard from all except for Georgia Tech (assuming a rejection on that one anyway because they made offers earlier this month). Hang in there everyone! Hoping that (good) news finds you all soon.

Their visiting weekend is March 15 and all admitted students have been notified. I know some wait list notifications have gone out as well. So you're either on the wait list and haven't been notified, or rejected (keeping my fingers crossed for you that it's the first one). if you're really anxious about it I would email and ask. Some people discourage this, but I think it's not worth torturing yourself. Good luck!!

I heard from Connecticut today. Their visiting weekend is March 8, so I suspect they'll be contacting all admitted students soon.

Seconding what SocPos said, all admitted students at Rice have been notified. I'm not sure if they have sent out wait list notifications yet.

I am still waiting on three schools.

Just sent you a personal message!

Agreed! I have heard this from multiple other graduate students at a "Top 10" I/O program- that everyone extends offers to the same group of applicants, who can only accept 1 out of their multiple offers, and eventually free up spots at all the other programs who made them an offer. The wait list tends to have good odds, especially if you're at the top. I would just try to reach out to your professor of interest and make sure that he/she knows how interested you are in the program, because it could make a difference. Actually, I think congratulations are in order to you for making the wait list at Penn State. Penn State is an awesome program. I myself was rejected from Penn State really early in the game (and was bummed that it was the first official news I got, before I had received any of my acceptances!). It wasn't unexpected though since my professor of interest is going on sabbatical.