NOW That We Have been Accepted, What to do?

[FreudianSlip7]

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Congrats on everyone who got into their respective clinical PhD or PsyD prgrams! This is such an exciting time, but I can't help but wonder, what should I be doing (besides looking for apartments), to prepare myself for the coming fall? I keep wondering do I know enough stats, enough literature on my area of interest, etc, etc, to be a good first year student? Now that I have gotten in, my focus has turned to staying in. I know the grad survival guide is here, but it talks more about life outside of the psychology building. How can we prepare ourselves now to ensure a successful first year?

 

[cara susanna]

Thanks for posting this, I think a lot of us have that same question 😀

 

[psychmama]

Honestly, I'd suggest just trying to relax and not worrying prematurely. If you've gotten through this process and been admitted, it's a pretty sure bet that you've got all that it takes to be successful in your programs. Other than looking for places to live and things like that, I'd recommend having fun as the best preparation. Come September you'll be plenty busy, and will appreciate having had the time off beforehand.

Congrats again to all of you!🙂

 

[Ollie123]

Grad school really hasn't been that bad in my experience. Yes, its a lot of work. Yes, there are times I'm stressed. However, I love what I'm doing and I don't feel like I'm struggling just to stay above water.

Coursework isn't bad and isn't all that important anyways, don't worry about it. Clinical work isn't really something you can "prepare" yourself for...any decent program will make sure you are ready before going in. Although, for the record, no one ever "feels" ready for their first client😉

I think the only recommendation I would make is to start reading articles in your area and start thinking carefully about a thesis topic. I've been slow on this one (and continue to be slow) and really regret it, especially since my study is pretty simple so its not like I had a need to slow it down. You don't have to walk in with a proposal already in hand, but do some basic readings in your area (talk to your advisor and see if he/she has recommendations), read a few current review papers to identify gaps in the literature, and start picking out things that are interesting to you.

 

[nononora]

Assuming that you were accepted at a competitive school, your excellent work ethic has got you here and is likely to continue. It may be helpful to speak to your POI - they will often have a standard list of articles that they have all their lab members read.

My personal recommendation would be to take a vacation before the **** hits the fan! You're not going to have much time to relax during your program and now would be the perfect time to do it.

 

[Psykd4Life]

I would say RELAX as much as you can. Don't start grad school before your first day, and enjoy your summer! 😀 This is what I'm going to do, and I don't at all feel like I will be at a disadvantage.

 

[Elle758]

I'd echo the "relax" advice. Take a vacation, read a book for leisure (I haven't done that in years!), spend time with friends/family, etc. I really don't think you need to prepare academically yet for anything. There will be plenty of time for that when you get started.

Congrats, and welcome to the crazy world of being a doc student. 🙂

 

[FreudianSlip7]

I get it I get it. I need to chill out Thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[Eruca]

^ See, you learn quick! So just do that 😉

Ditto with the relax, have fun, do some reading/thinking about thesis topics. Nothing too major. I agree with most of the above, except I am always reading at least one non-professional book. Good fiction is just something I'm not willing to give up!

 

[kh1264]

*If you have to relocate:

When are most of you moving to your new city/town? I am graduating in May from a PA school but my fam lives in NC. My new school will be in NYC and I am all mixed up about what to do with my stuff. Is it worth it to drive it down south then drive it back up? Should I relocate right away? Confused...😕

 

[FreudianSlip7]

*If you have to relocate:

When are most of you moving to your new city/town? I am graduating in May from a PA school but my fam lives in NC. My new school will be in NYC and I am all mixed up about what to do with my stuff. Is it worth it to drive it down south then drive it back up? Should I relocate right away? Confused...😕

I'm not moving until Aug 1st- that's when my lease is up at my old place, but if I can break it a month earlier so that I have time to get more familiar with the new area. I think you should do whatever is most convenient for you and gives you some time to adjust and get to know your new surroundings. I know some schools have assistantships that start in July, so it would depend on that too.

 

[cspkbehave]

I am a little worried about the moving issue as well. I am going literally "cross-country" I am moving from Washington State to South Florida. Does anyone have any suggestions on good ways to move your life that far by yourself? Renting a moving U-Haul, paying for someone to do it for you, selling almost all of it before you leave? Also, what is a good way to find out what the "good" and "bad" neighborhoods to live at are?

 

[Ollie123]

I think selling and re-buying is the way to go if you own cheap things. if you own nice things, I'd go the u-haul route, though see if you can find some help...there's a great deal of furniture that's simply impossible for one person to carry. If other new students are arriving around the same time you might be able to help eachother out. Hiring movers will be disturbingly expensive (I imagine several thousand at least, given the distance) but it might be worth it if you have a lot.

As for good places to live...email current students. I don't know where in S. Florida you are going, but if its the Tampa area I'd be happy to help🙂

 

[mshbe]

I found hiring movers to not be that much more expensive, but we did not have a good experience. We moved also to south FL last year. My wife was starting med school and I was starting grad school. Though we were promised by the contract that our stuff would arrive within 2 weeks at the very latest, (and informally that it would probably actually take 5 days), it took almost a whole month. We had no things/furniture/etc, even for the week after my wife started school. We even had to fight to get them to deliver it then. And things were broken. And this was a large reputable company.

Just our experience, thought I'd share it. I recommend renting the truck and driving it yourself if possible. It may seem like a pain, but you at least have control, and you will know where your stuff is.

 

[Psych1212]

Oh God not talks about moving....🙁

I too vote for renting the U-haul and attempting to give it a go yourself if at all possible. It's bad, but not THAT bad. Recruit some friends if possible and/or agree to pay them a nice sum (some of them won't take it of course). This can at least help with the loading phase in the event that they cannot travel with you to unload.

Every time we have moved it has been worse and worse because we accumulate more expensive things over time. This time I'm not looking forward to moving our 61-inch flatscreen or the elaborate home gym system that will need to be taken apart (and then put back together again at the new place).

Blah....



Washington to Florida?.....That might be a different story. If I could afford it, I would hire movers in that scenario. I only have a 5 hour move to make this time around and have never had to move more than that.

 

[cara susanna]

My parents and I think my sister are going to help me, so that's good. I'm about 9 hours away.

 

[aly cat]

I am a little worried about the moving issue as well. I am going literally "cross-country" I am moving from Washington State to South Florida. Does anyone have any suggestions on good ways to move your life that far by yourself? Renting a moving U-Haul, paying for someone to do it for you, selling almost all of it before you leave? Also, what is a good way to find out what the "good" and "bad" neighborhoods to live at are?

I can help you!

I was raised in Broward county ( where Nova is located), and did (doing) my undergrad at University of Miami. If you are going to either of these areas please feel free to PM me with questions, I'd be happy to help. This goes for everyone else as well! (And if anyone wants to hook me up with Orlando, Florida advice, I'll take it!) 🙂

 

[kh1264]

As far as finding good neighborhoods go, I am currently ADDICTED to the City-Data online forums. I'll be moving to NY and each day I think I fall in love with a new neighborhood described by the natives. After reading various opinions, I look up the neighborhood on Wikipedia, YouTube, etc. and try to get a mental image of it. Basically, I go above and beyond normal exploration (mainly because I have Senioritis and avoid doing actual homework...lol). My point is, City-Data is a good start. Obviously you're trusting the opinions of random posters...but that's what we do here, right? haha

 

[suerte]

As far as finding good neighborhoods go, I am currently ADDICTED to the City-Data online forums. I'll be moving to NY and each day I think I fall in love with a new neighborhood described by the natives. After reading various opinions, I look up the neighborhood on Wikipedia, YouTube, etc. and try to get a mental image of it. Basically, I go above and beyond normal exploration (mainly because I have Senioritis and avoid doing actual homework...lol). My point is, City-Data is a good start. Obviously you're trusting the opinions of random posters...but that's what we do here, right? haha

Oh wow! The city-data online forums are my new favorite thing. Thanks for sharing!!! (I'm also a senior and desperately in need of new ways to procrastinate on my thesis!) 🙂

 

[dd123]

oh wow I'd never heard of city-data either. it's awesome. thanks for the tip.

 

[JackD]

One thing that I had wanted to ask, which goes along with this topic of preparing for grad school, was if it would make sense to go over my old psychology notes, during the summer.

I have stacks of lecture notes and fairly detailed notes from my old textbooks, that are just sitting in my room. All are still organized and I have them from my courses in personality psychology, developmental psychology, neuropsychology, psychopathology, behavior modification, and research methods. Would it make sense to go through those notes as a refresher? Maybe type them up, which probably wouldn't take too long, and have them for future reference?

 

[Cmvramirez]

I am a little worried about the moving issue as well. I am going literally "cross-country" I am moving from Washington State to South Florida. Does anyone have any suggestions on good ways to move your life that far by yourself? Renting a moving U-Haul, paying for someone to do it for you, selling almost all of it before you leave? Also, what is a good way to find out what the "good" and "bad" neighborhoods to live at are?

When my husband & I moved to Chicago from DC, we had our friends help us load the truck. When he got to Chicago with our rented truck of stuff, we had hired a couple guys from craigslist to move our stuff into the apartment. We posted an ad, got responses, weeded through them, & got two guys for about $75 combined for a couple hours. It was a great deal, I highly recommend it! Best of luck to you, moving sucks! 🙂

 

[texgirl5660]

I too am moving cross-country and have been lucky because i did not accumulate much during my undergraduate career because I expected if I got into a program I would be moving way the hell away because I wanted to be more on the western side of the US because I am from Texas. I have gotten rid of everything basically except clothes and essentials. Selling my scooter, shelves, and everything. if you look at the costs of freighting stuff across the country, it is absurdly expensive. I am also lucky that I don't have a bunch of expensive crap and am not married, so I don't have all that nice stuff you get when you tie the knot. 🙂

 

[cara susanna]

Yikes, going from Texas to ND will be pretty hard. I'm moving to ND as well, but I'm already in the Midwest so I'm not too unfamiliar with cold, long winters and flat land. 😉

 

[psychdude5469]

I had an advisor in UG tell me that the best time in graduate school was the window of time between getting accepted and the first day of class. Celebrate! You're in! Enjoy your time left as an undergraduate. Spend time with the people you will be leaving. Go eat at you favorite local diner or go drink at your local bar. As far as class goes, DO NOT start studying before class has started. You are prepared enough. If you must be nerdy and need to do extra work (I was guilty of this) ask your advisor to send you some articles to read. Becoming familiar (or more familiar) with the research area that you will start off in will be beneficial. Apart from that, don't do anything grad school related. In the next 5 to 7 years you're going to be getting about 15 years worth of education.

I would also suggest emailing your future fellow classmates to begin to get to know them.

 

[FreshAirTO]

Yikes, going from Texas to ND will be pretty hard. I'm moving to ND as well, but I'm already in the Midwest so I'm not too unfamiliar with cold, long winters and flat land. 😉

I am doing the reverse! Moving from Toronto, Canada, home of the freezing negative temps and gusting winds that'll blow your glasses off your head (right now, it is snowing and -4 C outside) to Austin, Texas! One extreme to the other, I guess! 😉

Texgirl5660, what part of Texas are you from? Anyone else heading to/from Texas??? I can help answer questions for anyone planning on moving to Toronto or to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania! 🙂

 

[psybee]

As far as finding good neighborhoods go, I am currently ADDICTED to the City-Data online forums. I'll be moving to NY and each day I think I fall in love with a new neighborhood described by the natives. After reading various opinions, I look up the neighborhood on Wikipedia, YouTube, etc. and try to get a mental image of it. Basically, I go above and beyond normal exploration (mainly because I have Senioritis and avoid doing actual homework...lol). My point is, City-Data is a good start. Obviously you're trusting the opinions of random posters...but that's what we do here, right? haha

subscribe to time out new york too! it's a magazine and has tons of great info on everything that is happening in the city. granted, you won't much time to do it but...

 

[Wildcat06]

So like many of you, I am also moving cross country (Colorado to North Carolina) and I am trying to find roommates via the grad school listserv and craigslist.

I'm debating whether or not it's a good idea to travel there next month to check out potential apartments and roommates or just sign a lease from afar. Needless to say it would be an expensive trip so can I get by without making it? Has anyone done that?

 

[LISage]

Can anyone recommend any other good websites where I can find a roommate?

 

[lucyvanpelt]

Hehe, now that you are accepted, you can dispense advice to those of us who'll be reapplying! 🙂

 

[FreudianSlip7]

Can anyone recommend any other good websites where I can find a roommate?

the best thing to is contact your school's housing office; they will give you most beneficial information and provide you with places and websites to find roomamates. Also contact students that are currently in your program, from my experiece, they are really helpful.

Also checkout apartmentratings.com to see reviews about safety, noise,cost and managemet issues on the apartments you are interested in.

 

[JSNYC]

Just curiuos to hear what people are doing over the summer! My program doesn't start until mid-August so I plan on going home, relaxing, and baby-sitting part-time to make some money 🙂

I also plan on reading up on some of the literature in my field to start brainstorming dissertation topics. My goal is to get into my internship after 4 years of schooling so I want to start thinking about topics early!!

 

[cara susanna]

My future advisor or whatever term you would use recommended a book to me, so I'm reading that.

But mostly I'll be apartment hunting/buying furniture/etc.

 

[miripsych]

Hi all! On the off chance I choose not to heed the advice of others on this forum to just relax over the next few months, I'm wondering if it's unheard of to contact your future advisor over the summer to discuss research ideas. A current professor of mine thinks I have a great study idea (that I wrote an entire paper on) and suggested I take it to my advisor, see what she thinks, and if she approves, get started on the IRB application, etc. over the summer so that I can start collecting data as soon as possible in the fall. Does anyone think this might be perceived negatively by my advisor in any way? Are professors likely to jump on this or see it as being presumptuous? While I think I have a good idea of my future advisor's mentoring style, it's so hard to tell until you actually begin working with them and I just want to start off on the right foot!

 

[cara susanna]

My future advisor told me to call him anytime to discuss research ideas, if I wanted. I did so and he was like "Wow, you're the first person who's ever actually taken me up on that." 😉

 

[psychgrad]

Miripsych, I'm starting on a project with my future advisor next month (starting my MA/PhD program in the fall). She's got a ton of archival data that can eventually go towards a publication or two. I'm taking her up on her offer because I want to get a publication in order to be competitive for external funding applications next year.