PGSA Frequently Asked Questions

Q) During your first year of graduate school, did you live alone or with a roommate?

• Typically, this is a personal choice. PSU does not have any programs by which it pairs first year students. There are a variety of options for housing that do not include leases and therefore, you have the option of switching to a roommate situation if you so desire. Often times, students get together and share apartments as they get to know each other better over the course of the first year. A few students live in campus housing, but most live off-campus. Current graduate students can give you information about different housing options.

Q) Do you like the small Psychology department at Portland State University?

• Advantages include the ability to know your entire cohort and the ability for the advisor to focus more time on individual students.
• Disadvantages include fewer networking opportunities within your cohort and fewer classes being offered given the size requirements to fill a class.

Q) What kind of people are in your first year classes? Are those students first year graduate students as well?

• Usually, first year students are required to take the quantitative methods (statistics) series in their first year along with the Advanced Applied classes (Social/Developmental /Organizational) and hence first years end up taking most of the same classes. Sometimes, however, there are classes which are not offered every year (like Occupational Health Psychology, Work & Well-being, Systems Approach to Psychological Research) and so students take those first before the Advanced Applied courses (as the Adv. Appl. are offered every year). So you may end up taking a class with 2 nd and 3 rd years also.

Q) Are there a lot of opportunities to meet other people your age?

• Yes...there are a lot of students who hang out together and go places. At times, students plan to have a happy hour or something to enjoy on Friday evenings. The rigor of the first year courses typically brings many first years together to form study groups and expands from there. Additionally, many of the incoming students are new to the area, so there is a general desire to get to know one another and hang out. Portland is a very friendly city with lots to do so it's easy to meet people outside of school.

Q) How have you liked living in Portland?

• This is entirely dependant on what you know and what you like. Portland is small compared to many cities, but not too small. Portland is a beautiful city with a lot to offer. There are two rivers, a variety of lakes nearby, and a view of the mountains and evergreen trees. Portland even has deciduous trees that change color as per the season.
  
  If you enjoy doing outdoorsy stuff, there are a lot of things you can do here. There are many hiking trails and people often take trips to the coast. During the winter people go to ski on Mount Hood (or even to Whistler in Canada) as well as sledding and snow walking. During spring and summer, a lot of people go white water rafting...the water is not as white as in Colorado but it is pretty good here.
  
  If you are interested in live music, Portland is a favorite stop for many artists (and if they don’t come to Portland, they usually stop at the Columbia River George or in Seattle). The smaller music scene is also great—up and coming bands type thing.
  
  Cuisine is fairly versatile here, with restaurants serving foods from a variety of countries and Pacific NW cuisine—however, not the variety you would see in a city like NY or Chicago.
  
  Also, a point to mention is that it does get gloomy and rainy here in Portland. The rain is typically not the heavy rain that is common on the East Coast. This is more of a drizzle. Initially, many do not enjoy the weather...but eventually you come to accept it as part of the city....and grow more comfortable with it.

• This depends on your idea of doable. Generally, if you are extremely frugal, you can get by on the assistantships alone (with some sort of summer funding). However, many students take out a portion of the student loans available or save over the summer to supplement the assistantship monies. There are also scholarships within and outside of the University that students from our program have received. We have included a link to Craigslist.com and to the campus housing office; these may help with the housing costs questions. I would recommend visiting the DMV website if you plan to bring a car and realize that parking at the university costs $235 per quarter. Additionally, if you live near the university, parking will cost extra. Other things—really the cost is relevant to what you know. A gallon of milk is about $3.30 (which is more expensive than Southern California and cheaper than NYC).

Q) Generally, are PSU Ph.D. students more interested in working in industry or in academia?

• There are students with both career goals. The applied nature of the program tends to train people better for research and applied work. Teaching is not an emphasized area here at PSU (i.e., no classes are offered on how to teach). However, there are a variety of opportunities to be a teaching assistant and eventually, to teach undergraduate courses.

Q) What types of jobs do PSU graduates usually get?

• While there are some students who choose to go into academia, the majority of PSU grads work in applied settings, many doing applied research. PSU has many ties to the community, so students wanting to stay in Portland usually do not have trouble finding employment. We have also had several students leave Oregon for jobs and have a fairly active alumni network.
  
  Also, there is an I/O group called PIOPA ( http://www.piopa.org) that meets once a quarter. This is a good way to network with practitioners in the Portland area.

• Yes, PSU covers health insurance for full-time grad students (even if you don't need it....you get it). The cost is covered in your student fees (which are additional to the amount covered by your tuition remission—approx. $400/quarter).

• PSU provides an atmosphere for great relationships. Faculty are supportive of one another and often work together on projects. There is no competitive nature amongst the graduate students, typically they get along and work together to get through the program. Additionally, senior grad students (2 nd- 4 th year) are very helpful and willing to work with the newer students to make your progress through the program more fluid (you may have to search out some of these connections—but the benefits are immense). Each faculty/student relationship is different—there is not a norm regarding advising styles. You should speak with graduate students who are working with the particular graduate advisor you are interested in. As far as coursework and faculty/student relationships, the majority of faculty have open-door policies and are very approachable—they want you to learn.

• Collaboration is very common and rewarding here at PSU. There are research (and teaching) collaborations among faculty within the Psychology Department and in other departments at the University. These collaborations typically include students. You are encouraged, if you are interested in another faculty’s research, to approach them and create collaboration.

• There is funding for conference attendance through the University. The amount of money offered is provided at a first-come first-served basis. You also have to present something on campus (usually at the departmental Celebrating Our Success event) in order to be eligible for funding. Additionally, some of the faculty have grants that will cover some student travel fees.
  
  In addition, International student questions can often be answered via the International Student Services department. Their web site is: http://www.intl.pdx.edu/ISS.