OFFICIAL 2009 Interview Invite Thread

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jennigold said:
I'll try - using my actual statements:

Last year: As a result of my previous work, including studying resilience with Dr. X and CBT with Dr. Y, [NOT VERY SPECIFIC DEPRESSION RESEARCH] I am interested in exploring the factors that may lead to an increased vulnerability for depression, and developing improved methods of prevention for those individuals. I would also like to continue my work in neuropsychological research and assessment. To that end, I would like to focus my graduate education on studying the mood disorders, specifically depression, with Dr. Z, with the intention of pursuing a career in clinical research in an academic setting.

This year: From the last six years of my involvement in research, I have been able to pinpoint my specific interests. My work at Place X, in addition to that of my current position at Place Y, has allowed me to examine my interests in sleep, sleep deprivation, and sleep disorders. After a thorough review of the literature, I have found myself most interested in Dr. Z’s work. Dr. Z and his students’ varied interests in behavioral sleep research, including the effects of sleep on decision making, insomnia, and mindfulness are extremely appealing. I would like to join Dr. Z’s research team to continue his lab’s lines of interest, in addition to pursuing my own research questions. One area of particular interest for me is the role of sleep deprivation on the brain regions that control emotion regulation.


Hope this helps
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Dead on...My application this year sounded like your application from last year...Probably why I'm not doing so well in the invitation department!
 
So I just called u of hartford, they are not done inviting people for interviews !
phew....
 
jennigold said:
I'll try - using my actual statements:

Last year: As a result of my previous work, including studying resilience with Dr. X and CBT with Dr. Y, [NOT VERY SPECIFIC DEPRESSION RESEARCH] I am interested in exploring the factors that may lead to an increased vulnerability for depression, and developing improved methods of prevention for those individuals. I would also like to continue my work in neuropsychological research and assessment. To that end, I would like to focus my graduate education on studying the mood disorders, specifically depression, with Dr. Z, with the intention of pursuing a career in clinical research in an academic setting.

This year: From the last six years of my involvement in research, I have been able to pinpoint my specific interests. My work at Place X, in addition to that of my current position at Place Y, has allowed me to examine my interests in sleep, sleep deprivation, and sleep disorders. After a thorough review of the literature, I have found myself most interested in Dr. Z’s work. Dr. Z and his students’ varied interests in behavioral sleep research, including the effects of sleep on decision making, insomnia, and mindfulness are extremely appealing. I would like to join Dr. Z’s research team to continue his lab’s lines of interest, in addition to pursuing my own research questions. One area of particular interest for me is the role of sleep deprivation on the brain regions that control emotion regulation.


Hope this helps
Click to expand...

Thanks so much!!! I think mine was more like your 2nd one (from this year), but the only problem is that I haven't been able to do research yet in the area I want to do it in. I feel like my SoP does a really good job of emphasizing my journey on how I determined that this is what I want to do, but I wonder if that's enough?
 
jennigold said:
I'll try - using my actual statements:

Last year: As a result of my previous work, including studying resilience with Dr. X and CBT with Dr. Y, [NOT VERY SPECIFIC DEPRESSION RESEARCH] I am interested in exploring the factors that may lead to an increased vulnerability for depression, and developing improved methods of prevention for those individuals. I would also like to continue my work in neuropsychological research and assessment. To that end, I would like to focus my graduate education on studying the mood disorders, specifically depression, with Dr. Z, with the intention of pursuing a career in clinical research in an academic setting.

This year: From the last six years of my involvement in research, I have been able to pinpoint my specific interests. My work at Place X, in addition to that of my current position at Place Y, has allowed me to examine my interests in sleep, sleep deprivation, and sleep disorders. After a thorough review of the literature, I have found myself most interested in Dr. Z's work. Dr. Z and his students' varied interests in behavioral sleep research, including the effects of sleep on decision making, insomnia, and mindfulness are extremely appealing. I would like to join Dr. Z's research team to continue his lab's lines of interest, in addition to pursuing my own research questions. One area of particular interest for me is the role of sleep deprivation on the brain regions that control emotion regulation.


Hope this helps
Click to expand...

Rats. My essays sound a lot like your essays from last year. I was afraid of being too specific, but clearly I wasn't specific enough. I'm grateful for your feedback.
 
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saribou13 said:
Thanks so much!!! I think mine was more like your 2nd one (from this year), but the only problem is that I haven't been able to do research yet in the area I want to do it in. I feel like my SoP does a really good job of emphasizing my journey on how I determined that this is what I want to do, but I wonder if that's enough?
Click to expand...

I think that's the hardest part, someone else previously asked the question if you need to have done research in the area youre applying to. The answer is not always, but its probably the biggest factor. In my initial emails to profs that were doing research in areas that interested me but I had no background I stated that specifically, and asked if that would be a problem. Some said 'I don't expect students to have this very specific research background but background in depression is a must,' so then I would tailor my SoP to be very depression-related including all the measures I used and most importantly, the questions I had in mind to answer. Also, I used the background I had most, sleep research, to create a question to tie depression and sleep together to show the POI that I could bring a novel method to their lab.
 
Tania said:
Boston University - Received a phone call from prof. of interest. Interview dates set for 2/13 or 2/23.
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I'm a new member to this forum (register today) and I did not know that if you don't want to specify the POI's name you just send a PM to the moderator instead of posting. So I got a lot of PM's myself asking for name of POI at Boston Univ. Sorry but I'm not comfortable to mention the POI's name. Best of luck to everybody!!
 
I just got an interview offer for Loyola Chicago clinical Ph.D. from the department secretary. My first interview. I'm so excited!!!!
 
WantCalm said:
I just got an interview offer for Loyola Chicago clinical Ph.D. from the department secretary. My first interview. I'm so excited!!!!
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that's weird b/c they said that invites wouldn't be emailed until next week. but i guess the committee was supposed to meet today, so maybe they were really jazzed up about your app. congrats!
 
WantCalm said:
I just got an interview offer for Loyola Chicago clinical Ph.D. from the department secretary. My first interview. I'm so excited!!!!
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That's great! I applied there too. Did you get an email or phone call?
 
Oh, sorry! It was an email. I was freaking out so I'm not surprised I forgot something. Interviews are either Feb. 6th or Feb. 20th.

edpsych said:
That's great! I applied there too. Did you get an email or phone call?
Click to expand...
 
WantCalm said:
Oh, sorry! It was an email. I was freaking out so I'm not surprised I forgot something. Interviews are either Feb. 6th or Feb. 20th.
Click to expand...

Do you mind telling me what the first letter of your last name is? haha. I'm trying to keep hope alive and am praying that they are sending emails in alphabetical order.
 
S

Could be totally random...

edpsych said:
Do you mind telling me what the first letter of your last name is? haha. I'm trying to keep hope alive and am praying that they are sending emails in alphabetical order.
Click to expand...
 
Anyone gotten that U Florida e-mail yet? If your app is complete, it should be a mass e-mail. If it is incomplete, you will get a personal e-mail. If you get NOTHING, then something is seriously wrong with your app. Since the psych department does not have an app status page, there is no way to know whether everything/anything was received.... So anyone hear back yet??? 😱
 
I just wanted to say that the University of Florida is known as UF, not UFL (even though the website is ufl.edu). I'm not applying there, but I'm from the south and have a lot of friends who enjoy football. 🙂
 
I'm gonna join in with anyone who's freaking out today. I am going crazy here hoping that at least one of my schools would send out invites today so I don't have to go through another weekend without knowing..... ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.
 
Did anyone else just get what appears to be a mass e-mail inviting prospective students to an open house at PGSP? It doesn't sound like an interview or anything. It says it is Feb 7th and it includes talks by the DCT, Faculty Chair, and Q&A with Grad students. I don't think I can afford to fly all the way to cali if this is just a mass e-mail...Thoughts anyone?
 
hkandm4s said:
Did anyone else just get what appears to be a mass e-mail inviting prospective students to an open house at PGSP? It doesn't sound like an interview or anything. It says it is Feb 7th and it includes talks by the DCT, Faculty Chair, and Q&A with Grad students. I don't think I can afford to fly all the way to cali if this is just a mass e-mail...Thoughts anyone?
Click to expand...

Sounds like an interview to me. Many schools prefer to call it Open House. I guess they are trying to make applicants a little less nervous about it (which totally does NOT work):laugh:
 
hkandm4s said:
Did anyone else just get what appears to be a mass e-mail inviting prospective students to an open house at PGSP? It doesn't sound like an interview or anything. It says it is Feb 7th and it includes talks by the DCT, Faculty Chair, and Q&A with Grad students. I don't think I can afford to fly all the way to cali if this is just a mass e-mail...Thoughts anyone?
Click to expand...

Found this on their site:

PGSP Discover Day

We are excited about your interest in PGSP!

A visit to our campus provides a great opportunity to learn more about PGSP first hand.
Several Open Houses will be held throughout the 2008-09 academic year where faculty, staff and current students will be on hand to discuss our doctoral programs in Psychology and Clinical Psychology. You will learn much more about these curricula, experience our campus and clinic, and learn about both the research and clinical experiences of many of our current students.
February 7, 2009Date:
10:00 am – 1:00 pmTime:
Pacific Graduate School of PsychologyLocation:
405 Broadway Street
Redwood City, CA 94063Address:
Parking is available in front and back of the building

Alternate Dates:
March 7th, 2009
April 4th, 2009

"The open house offered an invaluable experience for me. The faculty took the time to provide a welcoming and intimate atmosphere for potential students, the insight into the school was immensely helpful. I left the open house with a feeling of comfort because of the personalized attention, new connections and overall program organization."
Sabrina Vierling
1st Year Ph.D. Student
Boulder, Colorado​

Please RSVP by either emailing us at [email protected], or calling the Admissions Office at (800) 818-6136, if you can attend an Open House.
If you would like to visit, but are unable to attend an Open House, we would be happy to accommodate you with a personal tour of PGSP at your convenience.
Should you decide to visit us, here are some of the things you can do during your visit to the campus:


  • Take a guided tour of our refurbished Clinic.
  • Meet with an Admissions counselor to discuss our curriculums and your goals.
  • Discuss financial aid, housing, and community life.
  • Visit a class in session (please let us know at least a week in advance to arrange this).
To schedule a personal tour of PGSP, please call the admissions office at (800) 818-6136.
 
FreshAirTO said:
Anyone gotten that U Florida e-mail yet? If your app is complete, it should be a mass e-mail. If it is incomplete, you will get a personal e-mail. If you get NOTHING, then something is seriously wrong with your app. Since the psych department does not have an app status page, there is no way to know whether everything/anything was received.... So anyone hear back yet??? 😱
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I got the e-mail saying that my application was complete and under review.
 
Ok now that does not sound like an "interview" at PGSP
 
lucyguard said:
I'm gonna join in with anyone who's freaking out today. I am going crazy here hoping that at least one of my schools would send out invites today so I don't have to go through another weekend without knowing..... ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.
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Haha, today I was like "Darnit, it's Friday! Wait, that's not my usual reaction." Only us, right?
 
Yeah, I didn't think it sounded like an interview...it didn't say that you would be talking to anyone in particular or meeting the person you want to work with. I haven't gotten an invite yet (though most of my schools haven't extended invites yet) so I am jumping at every single e-mail. I keep getting e-mails from schools I didn't apply to telling me how wonderful their programs are (I guess because of the gres). My blackberry just says on the home screen "Graduate Admissions Univers" and gets cut off so every time I get one my heart stops. :laugh:
 
cara susanna said:
Haha, today I was like "Darnit, it's Friday! Wait, that's not a normal reaction." Only us, right?
Click to expand...


I forget who it was, but a previous poster got an interview on a sunday night, so keep on your toes 😀
 
So...I'm gonna go ahead and repost this from earlier on in the thread (I hope you don't mind BlindBlonde - I included your post too as it's really good). Everyone seems to be freaking out a lot which is totally understandable - I was there just one year ago and am now thankful to be done. (...at least til internship :scared:)

Also, if it makes anyone feel better, this time a year ago I still had a whopping ZERO invites and wound up with 9 so there is still LOADS of time even if your schools have already started to send out invites. Here's what I and BlindBlonde (no relation 😛) said early early on in this thread (moderators I hope you don't mind the double post! It seems relevant and needed enough and has remained within the same thread :xf:).......


(from me)
Hey all - while I don't envy your position (I was there just a year ago), I did want to share something with yall - especially those of you who haven't heard a peep yet. (*Please keep in mind I'm not bragging, just trying to empathize with the stress yall are feeling right now).

Last year I applied to 14 programs (perhaps went a touch overboard with that one) and I didn't hear a single peep from ANY of them til the end of January. I ended up getting 9 interviews - the first one I was notified of on the 24th of Jan and the last one I was notified of on March 11. So...if you have not heard anything yet, try not to stress out too much (I would say don't stress out but I wouldn't have been able to do that last year no matter how many times people told me don't stress!). Some programs are very slow and will get to you in their time which can be incredibly frustrating.

Also, keep in mind the kind of schedules various programs have for interviewing/accepting/etc. Widener for example has several interview dates spanning about 3 months. I was told I got an interview with them on March 11 and by that point, some people that were in the very first interview batch had already been accepted! I analyzed this to no end (reading the posts from people who interviewed and got accepted at the very same place months earlier with no apparent discrepancy between us) - did it mean something (presumably bad) that I was in the very last interview batch? Did I have a worse chance of getting in because I was in the last batch? I went into way too much of a panic over it and overanalyzed EVERYTHING but I went to the very last interview and still got in, as did several other people in the same batch.

Anyway, it may seem hard if not impossible to stress out over everything or over analyze every single thing you hear about every program you applied to (I know I was pretty muchly in constant panic from December to April) just PLEASE try to help yourself out, do some self care - whatever it is (within reason of course 😛) that calms you down/takes your mind off this process even if only for a few minutes. Just because Program A offered an interview to SDN member ______ (or a non-SDNer) does not mean you are off their list or lower on their list.

I guess to sum up, try to relax, take a deep breath every once in a while, and, when needed, vent In the mean time, good luck and remember to breathe

(from BlindBlonde)
Whoa...I feel the need to comment on a few of things here:

1. It is still VERY early! I will admit, I am a little anxious about my schools as well, but many places still haven't started the spring semester yet, meaning professors may or may or may not be back yet. It takes time to sort through hundreds of applications--so be patient!

2. I said this before a couple of times, but I'll repeat it again. Do not lose hope if someone on this thread hears back from one of your schools and you haven't. Yes, sometimes it means that you were likely rejected. But I also had a school give me an interview invite a couple of years ago, and the invite was 2 weeks after someone posted in the interview invite thread. Just use this thread to recognize the info is being sent out, but don't lose hope entirely.

3. I personally do not like badgering schools. You have to think that these schools are processing a lot of applications, and it is a stressful time for everyone--you, the psych department, and the department secretaries. My view is that the interview invites will come when they come--no need to harass the schools and demand to know what is going on. Some may disagree with me on this point, but still, it is worth stating.

So let's all take a deep breath in, and calm down.

Good luck everyone!
 
WantCalm said:
I just got an interview offer for Loyola Chicago clinical Ph.D. from the department secretary. My first interview. I'm so excited!!!!
Click to expand...

Awesome, congrats! I applied there too and didn't get the email, but my research interests weren't as strong of a match there as they were at other programs.
 
Just to clarify, those of you that got invites from emu, did it sound like they would still be extending some? That initial email they sent made it sound like the only day they would be sending them out would be today, but Sierra, you seem to have different information. Btw, those of you that heard from EMU would you be willing to pm me your POI's?
I am someone who still has no invites, this is my second year applying, and its my birthday today and I was hoping the universe would give me some nice presents in the form of invites but not so much, so I am feeling like a super debbie downer, especially since I didnt get an email from EMU so it would be great to hear if there is still hope.
Thanks!
 
saribou13 said:
Thanks so much!!! I think mine was more like your 2nd one (from this year), but the only problem is that I haven't been able to do research yet in the area I want to do it in. I feel like my SoP does a really good job of emphasizing my journey on how I determined that this is what I want to do, but I wonder if that's enough?
Click to expand...

I think that sometimes being TOO specific might hurt you; you are going to be coming in as a student, there to learn. The research experience I have only broadly connects to my specific area of interest, and I've been getting good responses. If you seem too set on one idea, what if the professor doesn't like it? Make it sound like you know what you're talking about, but make sure you are still casting a wide net.
 
If harnessed, the anxiety contained within this thread could easily power the city of NY for at least 1 hour. :scared:

5 schools applied to, no acceptances or rejections yet. My top choice did contact me to state that there are issues with my GRE score. Despite having a master's degree and 6 years of research experience, 1 publication and 3 published abstracts, my GRE is still being considered. I don't understand at all. I'm ready for this process to be over with.
 
Ohh, Myelin, I'm so sorry. 🙁

I thought that my GRE score would be a liability, but I got an interview so I guess it was okay enough.
 
Heard from POI at Northwestern clinical psychology PhD program. Invited for on campus interview 2/13. Can't believe it.
 
myelin said:
If harnessed, the anxiety contained within this thread could easily power the city of NY for at least 1 hour. :scared:

5 schools applied to, no acceptances or rejections yet. My top choice did contact me to state that there are issues with my GRE score. Despite having a master's degree and 6 years of research experience, 1 publication and 3 published abstracts, my GRE is still being considered. I don't understand at all. I'm ready for this process to be over with.
Click to expand...

That's pretty impressive credentials...
 
cara susanna said:
Ohh, Myelin, I'm so sorry. 🙁

I thought that my GRE score would be a liability, but I got an interview so I guess it was okay enough.
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Hey that's great to hear! I bet you are excited. At this point, I'm done worrying. If it doesn't work out this year, I'll take this year to study for the GRE again and hopefully get over 1200. If I do get in, I'll be very thankful. It has been quite the journey, regardless.
 
SierraIwanicki said:
That's pretty impressive credentials...
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Thank you Sierra. This just goes to prove how much weight is placed on the GRE. Luckily, my POI is going to bat for me with the committee. They even told me that they are not considering anyone else this cycle but me. I expect to hear something next week. :xf:
 
That's great! Best of luck to you!

I'll never forget our little GRE "support" group. 😉
 
My POI did say that they were only inviting 4-6 people to campus for interviews at Northwestern for clinical psych (Evanston). I just about fell out of my chair. The USC interview had 26 people and that was just one of the two days they had.
 
Just got a phone call from my POI at University of Nebraska- Lincoln. Interview/Open house is scheduled for 2/27.😀
 
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