2011-2012 Psychology PhD/Psy.D. Application Thread

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Member03326588 said:
i see that some people here have turned in their applicants already (congrats!) i'm wondering if there is any advantage to sending applications early as opposed to a couple days before the deadline? just wondering so i can plan accordingly, if there is such an advantage (e.g., they look it over right away and are less selective at that point)
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I'm not sure if there's an advantage admissions wise. I just wanted to get mine in as early as I could to save me some last minute stress. That way I might have some extra time in case something gets lost along the way.
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syzergy said:
I'm not sure if there's an advantage admissions wise. I just wanted to get mine in as early as I could to save me some last minute stress. That way I might have some extra time in case something gets lost along the way.
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:thumbup: Ditto. However, I must admit...submitting them later provides us with more time to perfect our material. Oh, that's probably more of an obsession than an advantage! :p
 
I'm also applying to Minnesota, and I don't know much about the interview situation, but I totally have a Minnesota specific question for you. Do you know what the "course abstract" upload thing is. It says on the website there will be specific instructions on the apply yourself department/program application, but I don't see any, and I'm seriously clueless.....
 
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Official GRE scores arrived in the mail yesterday! So now I get to send that off with my 2 applications instead of emailing the schools at a later date. Last LOR came in the mail last night as well. In regards, to sending applications off early, I agree with what the previous posters said. I would also add that this time of year the mail can get very slow. It took me over a week to get an a letter that was mailed in the same state.
 
member9976 said:
I'm also applying to Minnesota, and I don't know much about the interview situation, but I totally have a Minnesota specific question for you. Do you know what the "course abstract" upload thing is. It says on the website there will be specific instructions on the apply yourself department/program application, but I don't see any, and I'm seriously clueless.....
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Huh.. I definitely skimmed over that part of the application procedure page. I already submitted my application so hopefully I'm not just going to get my app thrown out. Yeah, I never saw any directions for uploading the abstracts on the actual app. You could always upload them in the section where you upload your CV/unofficial transcript, etc.
 
YAY! All 13 of my apps are submitted! Feeling pretty good. I can't wait to relax over Thanksgiving and enjoy this accomplishment for as long as possible. I know that it's only a matter of time before the stress of interview season will catch up with me but, for now, all is well. :cool:
 
I feel kind of like I'm cheating because I'm only applying to one school. I have young children who live half time with me and half time with their father so I'm not about to move anywhere to go to school, and there's only one Psychology PhD program in town...

With that being said, I have set a date of Dec. 1 (two weeks before actual deadline) to hand deliver the application packet to the department secretary. So far I have everything in hand except two LORs - one from my boss and one from a professor. My boss is procrastinating horribly so I talked to her assistant about getting it done this week - just have to wait and see what happens there. The professor has been out of town so hopefully she'll have it done this week as well. I asked both of them back in October so I'm getting a little anxious.

I guess I'm in kind of a different boat than most in that I've met with the professor I want to work with several times already and will be taking a class from him next term. Hopefully this will help my chances - as long as I don't bomb his class!
 
Tesseract18 said:
YAY! All 13 of my apps are submitted! Feeling pretty good. I can't wait to relax over Thanksgiving and enjoy this accomplishment for as long as possible. I know that it's only a matter of time before the stress of interview season will catch up with me but, for now, all is well. :cool:
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Congrats! I envy you :claps:
 
Congrats to those who finished their apps! I have a few more left that are due later than Dec. 1 so I started to procrasinate :laugh:!

One thing I'm constantly worried about is if my documents/GRE/transcript have been received. You can check your outstanding documents online for some programs but some others you can't. I'm not sure if I should call or email the admissions office to inquire about this :confused:...Also I have on program where my GRE scores were not received...I'm not sure if I should wait for it to show up to if I should just resend it again?

Is anyone else in this situation?
 
wuawua said:
Congrats to those who finished their apps! I have a few more left that are due later than Dec. 1 so I started to procrasinate :laugh:!

One thing I'm constantly worried about is if my documents/GRE/transcript have been received. You can check your outstanding documents online for some programs but some others you can't. I'm not sure if I should call or email the admissions office to inquire about this :confused:...Also I have on program where my GRE scores were not received...I'm not sure if I should wait for it to show up to if I should just resend it again?

Is anyone else in this situation?
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If you're so worried about it, you can send the GRE scores again and contact the schools. I would probably give it a few more days though.
 
wuawua said:
Congrats to those who finished their apps! I have a few more left that are due later than Dec. 1 so I started to procrasinate :laugh:!

One thing I'm constantly worried about is if my documents/GRE/transcript have been received. You can check your outstanding documents online for some programs but some others you can't. I'm not sure if I should call or email the admissions office to inquire about this :confused:...Also I have on program where my GRE scores were not received...I'm not sure if I should wait for it to show up to if I should just resend it again?

Is anyone else in this situation?
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I went through all of my 14 submitted schools yesterday and many of them still had something missing (GRE scores, transcripts, etc). I sent all the GRE scores together and all the transcripts together so I assume that since some schools have the GRE score and others don't, they may just be behind in the records. Same situation for the transcript.

Some schools say it takes 7-10 days to update their records. I'm going to keep my eye out over the next few days and probably call them if they haven't received and updated everything by Wednesday.

I will say, have deadlines right after Thanksgiving is very inconvenient. If I do find out that something needs to be resent, I worry that there won't be enough time.
 
I have a question about one of my applications. I've been working on it for months and I am still not happy with it. The supplemental application asks that I describe any technical skills I have, I don't know how to write it other than just list what I know and a brief description of some of the programs that are specific to my current job.
There are also 2 questions that ask about the same information I put in my SOP. I hate to be redundant, but I don't know what else to say.
The last question asks about administrative, research, teaching, and /or human services experiences you have had. Some of this was covered in my SOP so I just copied the main information and pasted and for the rest I don't know what else to do other than make it like a resume.

Any one else have the problem of not knowing how to write or format an answer? This is the last thing I need and then I can send off and be done!
 
Kent State University Question

Does anyone know if KSU clinical psychology requires you to provide names of faculty you would like to work with? It's not on their information sheet (aka psychology app), and the grad school app doesn't state anything either. The only place I found anything about a mentor is in the handbook, and that says you will have an interim advisor and then may choose any faculty for your MA thesis and dissertation. I don't mind listing who I really want to work with but am wondering if they want me to and if it helps or hurts my application.

Thanks, everyone.
 
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Butterfly6 said:
Kent State University Question

Does anyone know if KSU clinical psychology requires you to provide names of faculty you would like to work with? It's not on their information sheet (aka psychology app), and the grad school app doesn't state anything either. The only place I found anything about a mentor is in the handbook, and that says you will have an interim advisor and then may choose any faculty for your MA thesis and dissertation. I don't mind listing who I really want to work with but am wondering if they want me to and if it helps or hurts my application.

Thanks, everyone.
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Always mention who you'd like to work with even if the program doesn't initially match you with a mentor. It will give them a better idea of your research interests and how you plan to apply these interests in a way that will match the faculty within the program. It doesn't matter if you don't end up with that person in the long run, the point is to look organized in your application and to demonstrate that you've thought through your fit with their program.
 
syzergy said:
I went through all of my 14 submitted schools yesterday and many of them still had something missing (GRE scores, transcripts, etc). I sent all the GRE scores together and all the transcripts together so I assume that since some schools have the GRE score and others don't, they may just be behind in the records. Same situation for the transcript.

Some schools say it takes 7-10 days to update their records. I'm going to keep my eye out over the next few days and probably call them if they haven't received and updated everything by Wednesday.

I will say, have deadlines right after Thanksgiving is very inconvenient. If I do find out that something needs to be resent, I worry that there won't be enough time.
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Thanks guys...good to know others are in the same boat :). I called one of the secretaries earlier today and she supposedly checked the "loose mail" and my folder but my GRE scores that I sent a month ago was not there. I guess it's probably lost and I will have to pay ETS to send it again.

No Thanksgiving in Canada for me, but I don't think a holiday should delay the mail by that much, if that's what you are worried about.
 
syzergy said:
I went through all of my 14 submitted schools yesterday and many of them still had something missing (GRE scores, transcripts, etc). I sent all the GRE scores together and all the transcripts together so I assume that since some schools have the GRE score and others don't, they may just be behind in the records. Same situation for the transcript.

Some schools say it takes 7-10 days to update their records. I'm going to keep my eye out over the next few days and probably call them if they haven't received and updated everything by Wednesday.

I will say, have deadlines right after Thanksgiving is very inconvenient. If I do find out that something needs to be resent, I worry that there won't be enough time.
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wuawua said:
Thanks guys...good to know others are in the same boat :). I called one of the secretaries earlier today and she supposedly checked the "loose mail" and my folder but my GRE scores that I sent a month ago was not there. I guess it's probably lost and I will have to pay ETS to send it again.

No Thanksgiving in Canada for me, but I don't think a holiday should delay the mail by that much, if that's what you are worried about.
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Although I admit that I am quite jaded at this point of my life and this process, I find it very annoying that these schools appear so sloppy in their record-keeping. What are we paying them for?? Seriously. I've had these same issues, especially when viewing the online status pages, and when I contact them by email (IF there is an email address to be found or if they even will respond to emails--true in at least two cases!), I'm getting some pretty snarky responses (i.e., "Look at the online status portal"). They're not communicating by mail, this is the only option. I get the sense that they don't want to bother with my application much of the time. :bang:

It's like they're happy to get your money, rank you as one of the applicants, and then have an excuse to not even look at your application (thereby increasing their competitiveness due to higher applicants and lower admissions). It's taking advantage of the confusion of submitting over a dozen applications. Ugh. :bullcrap:
 
Just wanted to pop my head in and say good luck to everyone. I am joining in for a second year of applications and have always found these forums to extremely valuable. Hang in there everyone!
 
Anybody else have programs asking for an autobiography? I'm struggling a bit. :confused:
 
bmedclinic said:
Just got an email letting me know that I am not getting an interview at UAB. :(
Thus for those of you who didnt get a form email, maybe you're getting an invite soon. Sucks because I was rather intrigued by their program, but that's okay-- I've rationalized it by telling myself their site was "too neuro and not enough bmed for me". Haha.
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There's results for interviews already :eek:? I looked at UAB admissions just now and doesn't it say deadline is Nov.30? So they are reviewing the applications and making decisions before the deadline? I hope other schools are not like this because then it seems there may be an advantage/disadvantage to applying early.
 
ddsooner said:
Anybody else have programs asking for an autobiography? I'm struggling a bit. :confused:
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I haven't seen this in my applications. Perhaps it is just a lengthier SOP with more personal info? Do you have to write an autobiography and an SOP? If not, I would just incorporate your SOP that you wrote for other programs and add some personal info.
 
wuawua said:
There's results for interviews already :eek:? I looked at UAB admissions just now and doesn't it say deadline is Nov.30? So they are reviewing the applications and making decisions before the deadline? I hope other schools are not like this because then it seems there may be an advantage/disadvantage to applying early.
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Maybe this was meant for the internship invite thread? I can't imagine phd programs already sending out invites. We haven't even hit the deadline for most programs! I thought I had at least a few weeks before I freaked out about interview invites! :)


EDIT: Just looked at bmedclinic's other posts and they're all in the internship thread. I think they just posted in the wrong thread. whew!
 
wuawua said:
There's results for interviews already :eek:? I looked at UAB admissions just now and doesn't it say deadline is Nov.30? So they are reviewing the applications and making decisions before the deadline? I hope other schools are not like this because then it seems there may be an advantage/disadvantage to applying early.
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you're right- wrong thread. I'm finishing my phd program and applying for internship. Good luck guys!
 
wuawua said:
I haven't seen this in my applications. Perhaps it is just a lengthier SOP with more personal info? Do you have to write an autobiography and an SOP? If not, I would just incorporate your SOP that you wrote for other programs and add some personal info.
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Thank you :)
 
Being my second time around I thought I was in pretty good shape with handling this process, but preparing applications for 12 schools (5 paper submissions) is kicking my ass. I'm pretty good with my essays, it's mainly begging my bosses for my letter of recommendations.

Anyway, good luck to everyone! It's almost over (to only begin the waiting game).
 
Just a quick question. Does anyone have an opinion about how much of a personal statement should talk about my faculty interests? Should I just include a sentence for each professor or should I go into greater detail? I'm including this as part of my paragraph talking about my research interests and why the university is a good fit. I've been agonizing about how much detail I want to include in this or if its something that won't be nessecary until interviews.

Thanks!

SMR
 
I called Minnesota and they said it should be in the department/program part of the apply yourself application but that doesn't work for me. I'm not really sure what to do anymore..... I've tried using a mac, a pc, different browsers, etc turning off pop up blockers and no luck.

Anyone have any hints?
 
Hello everyone

I had a quick question....I just got my scores and was wondering how to report them - for those who have taken the revised format, are you guys listing the new scores (130-170) or converting it and reporting it in the old format? Thanks!
 
I'm writing in the new score with the corresponding percentile. I'm pretty sure ETS is sending some sort of information to the schools on how to interpret the new scores and admissions committees are smart enough to figure out what's going on.
 
So, I submitted all my Dec 1 apps (12 of them), and now I'm getting paranoid about the programs losing my stuff, haha. But I have a reason to be paranoid because some of the schools actually HAVE lost my transcripts, so I have to send stuff express on Monday. So much for sending the supporting materials on time...

I think I might call every single school to make sure they have everything (if it's not clearly stated through my online app), but I can also see how that is extremely annoying for the schools, so we'll see how I feel on Monday...

Now I have to start working more on my Dec 15 apps... (5 of them)
 
Psych2011 said:
I think I might call every single school to make sure they have everything (if it's not clearly stated through my online app), but I can also see how that is extremely annoying for the schools, so we'll see how I feel on Monday...
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I did that on Wednesday! All the schools were nice and very helpful.
 
syzergy said:
I did that on Wednesday! All the schools were nice and very helpful.
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Oh, that's good to know! =) How many days after you submitted your application did you wait though? I submitted my last apps on Thursday (yes, on Thanksgiving, haha), so if I call tomorrow, they probably won't have had time to match my application with my transcripts etc.

Did most of your schools have everything they needed?
 
Question: If I took the GRE subject test November 12th, when should I expect my score to available if I call ETS over the phone and pay the $12?
 
meta4 said:
I'm a little confused about what to do when certain schools ask for information beyond the statement of purpose, but it's all stuff that I have already written in there.

For example, they ask to write a statement of purpose with my research interests, career goals, reasons for choosing their school, etc.. Then I have to answer a separate set of questions asking "what are your carer goals?", "what are your specific research interests?", "why do you think our school is the right choice for you?".

Is it OK to copy and paste parts of my statement? I don't want to be redundant but I really don't have new information to add.
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Almost all of my programs have the same redundant requirements. I'm starting to think this is their way of weening out people that aren't serious enough to sit through this torturous process... One program had 5 (yes 5!) separate essays required: Statement of Purpose, Clinical Statement, Research Statement, Diversity Statement, Professional Plans, and a blood sample (ok maybe not). I've tried re-wording the same general point over and over... we'll see I guess.

And is anyone else frustrated by the character limits on some of those boxes in the online app?? "In 100 characters (including spaces), please list your honors, awards, and publications" - really? I don't understand their angle here!
 
Hello everyone!

Long time lurker, first time posting :)

I have a dilemma with one of my Psychology Ph.D. programs. In addition to the personal statement, they require a "personal history" statement. Here is the prompt:

.In an essay, discuss how your personal background informs your decision to pursue a graduate degree. Please include any educational, familial, cultural, economic, or social experiences, challenges, or opportunities relevant to your academic journey; how you might contribute to social or cultural diversity within your chosen field; and/or how you might serve educationally underrepresented segments of society with your degree.

Now, as a psychology applicant, we are well trained to never never get too personal with the personal statement. So I am a bit lost as to how to approach this with distance, yet eloquent revelations.... More specifically, should I mention that my mother passed away recently, that she was the driving force behind my studies, and that this tragedy has further motivated me to accomplish the goals we built together? Too mushy? Too revealing? Help! :confused:
Thank you so much!
 
Waiting on 2 letters of recommendation. 4 of my schools have a 12/1 deadline. UGH.

Just in case they don't come in by tomorrow or Tuesday, should I go ahead and overnight the rest of my application and just send the letters separately when I get them?
 
spafticus said:
Waiting on 2 letters of recommendation. 4 of my schools have a 12/1 deadline. UGH.

Just in case they don't come in by tomorrow or Tuesday, should I go ahead and overnight the rest of my application and just send the letters separately when I get them?
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In the same exact situation. I'm thinking of sending the rest of my application in, but I really have no idea what to do!
 
spafticus said:
Waiting on 2 letters of recommendation. 4 of my schools have a 12/1 deadline. UGH.

Just in case they don't come in by tomorrow or Tuesday, should I go ahead and overnight the rest of my application and just send the letters separately when I get them?
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suzypep said:
In the same exact situation. I'm thinking of sending the rest of my application in, but I really have no idea what to do!
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I was in your position last year. Walk yourselves to your recommenders this week, with a pre-written letter if you have to (with nothing to do but sign), sit and wait until it is completed, and overnight the application/letter on Tuesday or Wednesday. If the school requires everything in one packet, you'll have to wait for the letter, but otherwise you can send the rest of the materials tomorrow (2- or 3-day) and just overnight the letter.
 
Well, my big issue is that one my recommenders lives in another state. Simply impossible to physically get it from him.

If I don't receive the letter from him tomorrow I think I will just add a letter in my submission basically stating I'll send the 3rd letter once I get it. Grr...
 
Psych2011 said:
Oh, that's good to know! =) How many days after you submitted your application did you wait though? I submitted my last apps on Thursday (yes, on Thanksgiving, haha), so if I call tomorrow, they probably won't have had time to match my application with my transcripts etc.

Did most of your schools have everything they needed?
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I submitted my application/materials 10-15 days before I called them to confirm. Most of them were missing one piece (some missing my transcript but had my GRE, some missing my GRE but had my transcript). This was reassuring because at least one piece wasn't missing from ALL my schools.

I called again 3 days later and pretty much everything was completed. I guess it takes USC 2 weeks to process transcripts so my transcript might not be in until December 2nd at the latest. They recommended that I call the psychology secretary and ask if my application will be counted as incomplete even though everything was technically in. I'm going to call tomorrow and see what they say. This might be a good option if you submitted your materials later since I was told it takes most schools 7-10 days to process supplemental materials. I believe many schools let you slide as long as your materials are sent by the due date. They understand that it takes awhile for them to process everything.

A couple schools required that I mail in the materials and I didn't send those out until 11/17. Even though they probably received them right around Thanksgiving break, I'm going to call tomorrow and see if they've been received.
 
Did anyone apply to U. Florida here that is having a hard time tracking their documents? They have no online tracking system and the secretary told me that they can't check any of the documents because of the high demand for it.
 
wuawua said:
Did anyone apply to U. Florida here that is having a hard time tracking their documents? They have no online tracking system and the secretary told me that they can't check any of the documents because of the high demand for it.
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They were difficult in that way (i.e., no tracking system and no willingness to check on status of materials) for me when I applied there last year. In my case, they did end up getting everything entered correctly; hopefully it will turn out that way for you too! :)
 
I made calls to the grad schools today and it was shocking how many mistakes there were!

- School 1 lost my transcripts which I sent about a month ago. I now have to overnight them for $30.
- School 2 had my GRE scores under a different name in a different department and I had someone named Michael's scores (I asked them if his were better than mine and if they were, could I just use his... good laugh)
- School 3 lost one of my recommendation letters. I had even received an automated email saying it had been submitted over 2 weeks ago. So they received it, but then the system erased it. My recommender now has to re-submit it - she's on sabbatical so here's hoping she checks her email soon!
- School 4 had my junior college's transcripts under "high schools."

I highly recommend calling these departments! All that hard work would have been for nothing if I hadn't called to double check. Some programs still accept materials after the deadline and everyone was extremely nice, so that's a consolation.
 
I agree, I don't understand some of these schools! SO many mistakes, and it's really anxiety provoking! I'm going to continue calling schools tomorrow because of all the mistakes found today! ugh...

26846 said:
I made calls to the grad schools today and it was shocking how many mistakes there were!

- School 1 lost my transcripts which I sent about a month ago. I now have to overnight them for $30.
- School 2 had my GRE scores under a different name in a different department and I had someone named Michael's scores (I asked them if his were better than mine and if they were, could I just use his... good laugh)
- School 3 lost one of my recommendation letters. I had even received an automated email saying it had been submitted over 2 weeks ago. So they received it, but then the system erased it. My recommender now has to re-submit it - she's on sabbatical so here's hoping she checks her email soon!
- School 4 had my junior college's transcripts under "high schools."

I highly recommend calling these departments! All that hard work would have been for nothing if I hadn't called to double check. Some programs still accept materials after the deadline and everyone was extremely nice, so that's a consolation.
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26846 said:
I made calls to the grad schools today and it was shocking how many mistakes there were!

- School 1 lost my transcripts which I sent about a month ago. I now have to overnight them for $30.
- School 2 had my GRE scores under a different name in a different department and I had someone named Michael's scores (I asked them if his were better than mine and if they were, could I just use his... good laugh)
- School 3 lost one of my recommendation letters. I had even received an automated email saying it had been submitted over 2 weeks ago. So they received it, but then the system erased it. My recommender now has to re-submit it - she's on sabbatical so here's hoping she checks her email soon!
- School 4 had my junior college's transcripts under "high schools."

I highly recommend calling these departments! All that hard work would have been for nothing if I hadn't called to double check. Some programs still accept materials after the deadline and everyone was extremely nice, so that's a consolation.
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Wow, that's really unbelievable! I'm sorry that you are going through this. It really makes me wonder, even more now, how often these mistakes happen--and even more so, how often this happens when the application is marked as an application, but not even considered because it is incomplete (i.e., decreases acceptance rates and boosts the appearance of competitiveness).

I had it out (via email) with a school over my Psych GRE score, because the person said they couldn't guarantee my score would be reviewed by the committee or something like that, because the score wasn't entered into my online application. I was like, well, the scores don't come out until late November and I needed to submit your online application so that my recommenders would get the email, etc...and you are going to take my money and not look at my application?? I never got a clear answer.
 
syzergy said:
heh I can do it. I need more reasons to procrastinate :)
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YAY! Thanks :) I know how time consuming that thread can be (from lurking the two previous years, hehe, I can't believe I actually will have a reason to participate in it this year!)

I wouldn't mind doing it either if you change your mind.
 
Psych2011 said:
YAY! Thanks :) I know how time consuming that thread can be (from lurking the two previous years, hehe, I can't believe I actually will have a reason to participate in it this year!)

I wouldn't mind doing it either if you change your mind.
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Thanks! I'll keep it updated and let you know if things start to get overwhelming. I'm a frequent lurker so I'll definitely be around to update.
 
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