OFFICIAL 2008 Interview Invite Thread!!!

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Hi,
This is my 3rd round of applications since I got my BA in 03 and MA in 05 while waiting to get in. This is also my 1st interview🙂, and likely I will only have one, so I anticipate the odds are I will apply again next year. This process sucks. I am published. I have a 4.0, my GRE's suck, I have 19 posters at International conferences, I am a study coordinator/MRI tech at a VA hospital and have been teaching graduate and undergraduate statistics for over 2 years at a State University in the Psychology Department and have excellent reviews. It is all a game, hopefully I am getting better at it.🙄

Well take heart in this little tidbit, once you get an interview, your GRE scores are no longer an issue. Basically an Interview means that you are a candidate that they would accept into their program. It's now up to you to close the deal and it sounds like you have the right stuff to do just that.

One important thing... Don't feel desperate about getting in to the one and only school you get an interview at. Desperation has an ugly odor, so don't let it show or get to you. Just relax and take deep breaths.

Mark
 
I don't know if anyone applied to SMU, but my friend did and just got a phone call today inviting her to interview day on February 23rd. Sooo.. incase anyone wanted to know. 🙂
 
Well take heart in this little tidbit, once you get an interview, your GRE scores are no longer an issue. Basically an Interview means that you are a candidate that they would accept into their program. It's now up to you to close the deal and it sounds like you have the right stuff to do just that.

One important thing... Don't feel desperate about getting in to the one and only school you get an interview at. Desperation has an ugly odor, so don't let it show or get to you. Just relax and take deep breaths.

Mark

Mark, thanks for your words of wisdom, and i totally agree. Here's my concern though: my GRE scores are dismal and i wholeheartedly believe that's the #1 thing stopping me from getting in. All i want in that interview but i fear i won't ever get an interview because the schools won't look past my GRE scores to my otherwise very strong application. Anyone have any thoughts to this? How important are the GREs and can a candidate be admitted, or atleast get an interview, with terrible scores?
 
Mark, thanks for your words of wisdom, and i totally agree. Here's my concern though: my GRE scores are dismal and i wholeheartedly believe that's the #1 thing stopping me from getting in. All i want in that interview but i fear i won't ever get an interview because the schools won't look past my GRE scores to my otherwise very strong application. Anyone have any thoughts to this? How important are the GREs and can a candidate be admitted, or atleast get an interview, with terrible scores?

I have taken the GRE 3 times in 6 years, here were my scores:
V410 Q610 A680
V470 Q580 A480
V560 Q540 W5.0

Mine sucked bad and I still got an interview...so there is hope, especially considering that the first two tests have now expired and they only saw the 3rd, which is below the 30th percentile for when I took it. It did take me several application years for me to boost my other items up to the point where they could not ignore me as easily, but it was worth it, because eventually I will get in, and when I do, I will not only appreciate it more than others, but I am now so far ahead having done my MA and a considerable amount of the coursework already. Keep trying!
 
Mark, thanks for your words of wisdom, and i totally agree. Here's my concern though: my GRE scores are dismal and i wholeheartedly believe that's the #1 thing stopping me from getting in. All i want in that interview but i fear i won't ever get an interview because the schools won't look past my GRE scores to my otherwise very strong application. Anyone have any thoughts to this? How important are the GREs and can a candidate be admitted, or atleast get an interview, with terrible scores?

I think it would depend on what you mean by "terrible." Obviously I don't expect you to post your scores, but I think a lot of people have different views on what "terrible" is. Anyway, I'm no expert, but I feel like most Clinical Psych Ph.D. programs probably have an official or unofficial cut off of about 1000 or 1100. Some schools post what their cut off is (as in the case of SDSU/UCSD - they want at least a 550 on each section and tell you to reconsider applying if you do not meet those cut offs). Others don't though. I'd say they'd probably look for their cut offs before giving interviews. GRE scores aren't the most important factor, but they are definitely involved in deciding who gets interviewed.
 
Here is a good horror story (not to scare you, as I only seen this at this school, and I have seen the process at 4 now).

I used to work in a lab at SDSU (2003) where one of the chairs of the PhD clinical SDSU/UCSD program would meet to go over candidates with other members. I was privy to their discussions and basically, they were all carrying around this piece of paper with about 25 names on it then said the following in columns: GPA, GRE VQA, name. All the way down it was 4.0, 800, 700, 800, etc. It was so ridiculous. Can that many people score 800 on these tests?

Positive Story:
At another school I got to help pick who came into an MA clinical program, (which I am aware is less competitive but still had 200 apps) and we were completely ok with scores in the 500's if everything else was fine and focused really on the other factors.

Its a crap shoot, keep trying, and remember, there is no way to know what school will see you the way you want to be seen: Intelligent, Motivated, Hard-Working, and Worthy of their attention for one day this year. You just have to keep trying until someone finally sees what everyone else in your life surely knows...that you were made for grad school and will contribute to science greatly!
 
YES!!! I wrote to Steve Luck and YES, ERPs as a method...what did you hear??

what did I hear about Steve Luck? or what did I hear about UC Davis? Well....Steve Luck is the man! I haven't met him but I wanted to take his ERP bootcamp last year (back when I was interested in mu wave suppression....no longer...). I encourage you, if you haven't already done so, to buy his book. It's a killer read.

As far as Davis is concerned. I was told this week by my prof that they haven't even looked at apps yet, and that it is pretty early in the process. hang in there!
 
Here is a good horror story (not to scare you, as I only seen this at this school, and I have seen the process at 4 now).

I used to work in a lab at SDSU (2003) where one of the chairs of the PhD clinical SDSU/UCSD program would meet to go over candidates with other members. I was privy to their discussions and basically, they were all carrying around this piece of paper with about 25 names on it then said the following in columns: GPA, GRE VQA, name. All the way down it was 4.0, 800, 700, 800, etc. It was so ridiculous. Can that many people score 800 on these tests?

that's so interesting... because if you look at the admissions stats for SDSU/UCSD - it says 588 avg. verbal/680 average quant. 3.67 avg GPA!

???!!!

(this is one of my favorite schools btw)
 
Mark, thanks for your words of wisdom, and i totally agree. Here's my concern though: my GRE scores are dismal and i wholeheartedly believe that's the #1 thing stopping me from getting in. All i want in that interview but i fear i won't ever get an interview because the schools won't look past my GRE scores to my otherwise very strong application. Anyone have any thoughts to this? How important are the GREs and can a candidate be admitted, or atleast get an interview, with terrible scores?

One year I had 2 interviews (13%), the next I had 14 interview offers (51%).

Same GRE scores, same GPA (4.0).
560 V (75%)
740 Q (78%)
5.5 AW (86%)
680 Subject (80%)

So it's not all about GRE scores. My verbal was just average (ok, a little better than average 75th percentile) but not stellar. People were there with lower and higher GRE's. GRE's are only important in the screening process and lose importance once you have an interview.

Match is the #1 criteria.

Mark
 
Hi,
This is my 3rd round of applications since I got my BA in 03 and MA in 05 while waiting to get in. This is also my 1st interview🙂, and likely I will only have one, so I anticipate the odds are I will apply again next year. This process sucks. I am published. I have a 4.0, my GRE's suck, I have 19 posters at International conferences, I am a study coordinator/MRI tech at a VA hospital and have been teaching graduate and undergraduate statistics for over 2 years at a State University in the Psychology Department and have excellent reviews. It is all a game, hopefully I am getting better at it.🙄


hey... i am in a similar boat as you. i applied in 05 and got rejected to every single school i applied to. i took some time off to work, do research, pull my interests together, and reapplied this year. so far it's been going better.

in writing my essay this year, i had some students who had been on committees in past years look over my essay. the main thing they kept asking me was, why? why this? why that? how do all your experiences tie together to explain what you want to do and why you want to do it?

also, with clinical, make sure you get some clinical experience. volunteering with crisis management, anything like that. you absolutely must have that, or they will not consider your application.

let me know if you need more advice. i'd be glad to help. and really, it's not about *you.* it's about the process.
 
Sorry if someone else already posted this (but I dont see the date on this thread):

USF Clinical-- Email invite, choice of either Friday, February 8th, or Friday, February 22nd
 
Did anyone apply to Harvard? If so, any word? Yes, i know they are not APA approved. 😀
 
This thread will be VERY busy next week. Just an estimation though.
 
I just received an e-mail from my POI at the University of Cincinnati. (No joke, it is time-stamped at 1:30a.m.) It sounds like she wants to speak over the phone first and said that I would possibly be invited to the on-campus interview on 2/29.

My second interview this year! (One more than when I applied in 2006.) Good luck everyone!
 
I was also wondering if anyone had heard from Northwestern-Evanston campus? 😳
 
Has anyone heard from the University of North Carolina Greensboro? I received an email from them last week inviting me to their graduate school open house. At first I got excited, but then I realized that it was probably a generic email sent out to all grad school applicants. What a cruel joke to send out an email like that during this time! haha, oh well. I haven't heard from any of my schools yet so I'm starting to feel pretty down 🙁 I've also been checking this forum obsessively.
 
Hey kr862313,

Not sure if this helps, but USF's interview weekend is called an "open house" weekend and they are only inviting 33 people. Maybe thats what University of North Carolina Greensboro is doing too?
 
This thread will be VERY busy next week. Just an estimation though.

I agree. I know that 3 of my schools said they would be making their decisions by the end of January and contacting applicants soon thereafter. I think we'll get the bulk of our invites over the next 2-3 weeks ... and then it really dies down.
 
I was also wondering if anyone had heard from Northwestern-Evanston campus? 😳

I'm waiting on them too, haven't heard anything. In last year's thread, someone checked the online app and got notice of their rejection at the end of january - needless to say, I'm checking a couple times a day.
 
I agree. The next two weeks are going to be crazy. I'm still waiting for 5 of my schools to respond and they're supposed to do that in the next two weeks. Talk about being stressed out!! :scared:
 
Has anyone heard from the University of North Carolina Greensboro? I received an email from them last week inviting me to their graduate school open house. At first I got excited, but then I realized that it was probably a generic email sent out to all grad school applicants. What a cruel joke to send out an email like that during this time! haha, oh well. I haven't heard from any of my schools yet so I'm starting to feel pretty down 🙁 I've also been checking this forum obsessively.

i got that same email! i was soo mad when i opened it too. i also think it was a generic email...or hope so anyway since i trashed it.
 
i got that same email! i was soo mad when i opened it too. i also think it was a generic email...or hope so anyway since i trashed it.

Well I emailed them today to ask about it, just in case. I will let you know if they respond with good news.
 
Just a quick question that recently came to mind - does anyone know on average how many candidates each POI invites to interview? I assume all of my POIs are only accepting one applicant and was just wondering what my chances of getting accepted after an interview would be. I realize it's different for every school, but any thoughts would be great. Thanks.
 
Just discovered this thread - like it a lot! It's nice to know that I am not the only nervous wreck 😳

Here is my status:

UPittsburgh: Interview invite by POI (on 1/22) for 2/22-2/23
U at Buffalo: Two phone interviews by POIs on 1/14 and 1/16
U Texas at Austin: no news
U Cincinnati: no news
U Central Florida: no news
U Illinois at Chicago: no news
U Memphis: no news
U Syracuse: no news
 
Just a quick question that recently came to mind - does anyone know on average how many candidates each POI invites to interview? I assume all of my POIs are only accepting one applicant and was just wondering what my chances of getting accepted after an interview would be. I realize it's different for every school, but any thoughts would be great. Thanks.

The general idea is that many schools admit one third of all interviewees which means they probably invite 3 people to interview per each admission spot. But again each school differs.
 
Just a quick question that recently came to mind - does anyone know on average how many candidates each POI invites to interview? I assume all of my POIs are only accepting one applicant and was just wondering what my chances of getting accepted after an interview would be. I realize it's different for every school, but any thoughts would be great. Thanks.

The general idea is that many schools admit one third of all interviewees which means they probably invite 3 people to interview per each admission spot. But again each school differs.

It does indeed vary by school and even by professor within the school. I've been interviewed by profs who only invited 2, 3, or 4 applicants and then I've been in interviews (and seen other profs) where 8 to 15 people were invited for one opening with a single prof.
 
I just got an email from my POI at Syracuse for a phone interview this week.

For everyone waiting to hear from Syracuse, don't fret because the email said that the evaluation process is still in its early stages!
 
I have not heard anything from either Temple or Loyola University of Chicago. Given that the interviews are in a week, should I assume that my chances are now really low?
 
Just a quick question that recently came to mind - does anyone know on average how many candidates each POI invites to interview? I assume all of my POIs are only accepting one applicant and was just wondering what my chances of getting accepted after an interview would be. I realize it's different for every school, but any thoughts would be great. Thanks.


Like ppl have been saying it depends. But the good news is that a professor does not necessarily accept 1 student. The professor I am currently working with personally accepted 2 people last year and then allowed 2 other people who were accepted into the program join the lab once the school year started (yes a total a 4 ppl, almost half of the incoming class). Yes this is extremely rare but it can happen, especially if the professor got a big grant or something.

I assume you will get a better feel of how many ppl were invited and how many spots there are once you go to the interview.

And remember, in many schools it's not really the professor who has a say. The entire committee has to approve a candidate.
 
Has anyone heard back from UofWisconsin-Madison clinical psych yet? Not one person has brought up this school yet :T
 
Saw University of Pennsylvania in the master list, but no corresponding post - does anyone know when the e-mail went out, or whether it was a mass e-mail vs. individual e-mail?
 
I was just told about this blog and can't decide if it will help my nerves or make it worse! Needless to say I'm here and will probably now be addicted.
Has anyone heard from (both clinical):
U Wisconsin- Madison
Indiana University

Has anyone gotten an acceptance at Yale yet?

Aahh this is driving me crazy!
 
I was just told about this blog and can't decide if it will help my nerves or make it worse! Needless to say I'm here and will probably now be addicted.
Has anyone heard from (both clinical):
U Wisconsin- Madison
Indiana University

Has anyone gotten an acceptance at Yale yet?

Aahh this is driving me crazy!



Unfortunately I don't think it will help your nerves much. But, take my word for it, now that you know this message board exists, it will be impossible to not check it at every free minute!
 
U at Buffalo: Two phone interviews by POIs on 1/14 and 1/16

Is this CUNY-Buffalo or actually Univ. at Buffalo or something else? Just want to make sure I list it correctly 🙂
 
Well I'm not clinical psych, but I got an interview invite to Purdue for Biopsychology. Still waiting to hear about 8 others. Is the interview feedback thing not working for other people? I keep reading about how helpful it is but I can't get on it!
 
Hi guys! So this is the first time I have been to this website, and I am very overwhelmed yet relieved at the same time. I applied to about 20 schools, have gotten interviews (so far...) at two, and have not been invited by 13 others that apparently have already extended their interview invitations. Needless to say, it is (unfortunetly) calming that I am not the only one who has been let down during this insane, anxiety-provoking process. Thanks for the support guys and I wish everyone good luck!
 
i got that same email! i was soo mad when i opened it too. i also think it was a generic email...or hope so anyway since i trashed it.


Hmm, you guys might be in luck, I didn't receive this email at all and I applied to their Clinical program!
 
Has anyone heard from the University of North Carolina Greensboro? I received an email from them last week inviting me to their graduate school open house. At first I got excited, but then I realized that it was probably a generic email sent out to all grad school applicants. What a cruel joke to send out an email like that during this time! haha, oh well. I haven't heard from any of my schools yet so I'm starting to feel pretty down 🙁 I've also been checking this forum obsessively.
I haven't heard from UNCG yet either 🙁
 
I have not heard anything from either Temple or Loyola University of Chicago. Given that the interviews are in a week, should I assume that my chances are now really low?

I heard from Temple on 1/20 for an interview offer...
 
Sorry to post two in a row...not very efficient.

But has anyone heard from Drexel University in Philly? I know their interviews are mid-February, so I'd think that they would have contacted people by now.
 
Has anyone heard anything from George Mason or University of Rhode Island?

Thanks!
 
Sorry to post two in a row...not very efficient.

But has anyone heard from Drexel University in Philly? I know their interviews are mid-February, so I'd think that they would have contacted people by now.

Yes. See the list on the first page of this thread.
 
Is the interview feedback thing not working for other people? I keep reading about how helpful it is but I can't get on it!

YES!!! I have tried from multiple computers (Mac and PC) and have been unable to look at the interview feedback. My first interview is Feb 8/9 and I would really like to be able to look at it before then. What is the problem??? Anyone have any helpful hints? Does anyone else have this issue?
 
*PLEASE share your feedback about your site interviews HERE. (The interview database is being updated, so the link may temporarily not work, it should be fixed ASAP). We are trying to build a database to help out current and future clinical psychology students. If any programs are missing from the list, please drop me a PM and I'll add it. -t*

Okay. I guess I should look at the first page updates before I look at the last page! Phew, i am so glad that the interview database will be fixed soon because I would really like to hear about what it is like at each school. Especially the "light" canyon hike at U of Arizona!
 
But has anyone heard from Drexel University in Philly? I know their interviews are mid-February, so I'd think that they would have contacted people by now.

I haven't heard anything either, and the first page suggests that interviews may still be offered. Does anyone know if they are still extending invites?
 
Are all of these interview dates for clinical/counseling programs? I'm applying to cognitive and social programs, and I'm not sure if they typically do interviews or not.

:luck: Good luck everyone!
 
I have not heard anything from either Temple or Loyola University of Chicago. Given that the interviews are in a week, should I assume that my chances are now really low?

I have not heard anything either. In December they sent an email saying that we should expect to hear from them by Jan. 25th, but there was just dead silence. I assume that means rejection, but they implied that they would tell you one way or the other (interview or rejection) by that date.

Any recommendations?
 
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