To any Princeton applicants

[Thrak]

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Ok, so I'm applying to Princeton's Social and Personality Psych PhD program, and it had been six weeks since I submitted my app. On the online section to check your status, they had received my transcript and GRE scores, but nothing else. I figured they just hadn't gotten to it yet. I emailed them, since I knew the Embark system was having a couple of glitches (for New School in particular) and I wasn't sure if it was a general Embark problem or just a hiccup with New School. I got this as a reply:

"Any materials that were uploaded with your web application will NOT be updated on your status. Only materials submitted hard copy in the mail will be updated."

So, if any of you are applying to Princeton, don't panic if your web submitted info isn't updated... because it won't be.

This is what's driving me nuts about the process... what's standard operating procedure for one program is the complete opposite of another and halfway right for a third. Mistakes *do* happen, but you can't even know at a glance if there's a problem or not. So very frustrating!

 

[kyril]

ugh. this stuff makes me so annoyed. i applied to NYU's Counseling PhD, and they also use embark. at first, all the fields for the parts of my application were visible, but not filled in recieved. now, there are no fields, except a cryptic "Portfolio" one, which doesn't apply to me, and there is a big, yellow, bold warning box when you log on to check the status of your application saying that they are very busy and do not call them to check on the status of your application. but how else to find out, and why give us the option, if it just lies fallow?

how can such a rigid process not be standardized?

i guess my thought is this - you know that you're going to get 250-350 apps for 4 spots. it says so on the website. so make the deadlines earlier, and get one 8$/hr work study to do nothing up update files online. it' like when you go to ups in december looking to buy packing peanuts or labels or whatever, and they are all out, "it's christmas, it's our busy season!" they say. yes, but it happens EVERY YEAR. why so shocked that it is really busy during the busy season? sigh.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

how can such a rigid process not be standardized?

A standardized process would be nice, but the requirements vary greatly (unlike med school that has pretty consistent requirements, which allow for a bit more of a standardized application). Some psych departments are quirky, others are right by the book, but it doesn't seem that any two are the same.

i guess my thought is this - you know that you're going to get 250-350 apps for 4 spots. it says so on the website. so make the deadlines earlier, and get one 8$/hr work study to do nothing up update files online. it' like when you go to ups in december looking to buy packing peanuts or labels or whatever, and they are all out, "it's christmas, it's our busy season!" they say. yes, but it happens EVERY YEAR. why so shocked that it is really busy during the busy season? sigh.

Unfortunately the distribution of applications is probably anything but equal, so getting through 350+ applications will be daunting regardless of how many people you have assigned to them. I hear where you are coming from with earlier deadlines, but they probably are set like that for reason. Imagine being a professor and getting requests for LOR due in Nov, when your semester starts in September and you are worrying about your own students, research, classes, etc. Those extra few weeks for the LOR can be crucial. Also, requesting transcripts, writing essays, etc can all take more time than expected. Having spread out deadlines helps schools and applicants, as interviews can start earlier/later, applications can be mailed out in groups, and interview dates would be less likely to be conflicting. So deadlines can serve many purposes and changing them just to accommodate notification may be more problematic than originally thought.

-t

 

[EquestriAnn]

Just FYI my friend got an interview invite for Princeton's Cognitive Neuroscience program last week (the invite was last week, I don't know when the interview is).

 

[Thrak]

Just FYI my friend got an interview invite for Princeton's Cognitive Neuroscience program last week (the invite was last week, I don't know when the interview is).

I don't know if you heard that sound, but it was the wind going out of my sails...

Maybe the Social and Personality people aren't done with invites yet? Hope springs eternal!