Another Great Offer

I spoke with my potential advisor from the experimental psychology program (Program B) that I received an offer from in January but was waiting on funding information. They have offered me their top funding package, which includes a full tuition and fee waiver, a $13,500 research assistanceship (9 months, 20 hours per week), and a summer stipend of $2,500 to support an independent research project of my choosing. The advisor was really nice to talk to and I think the program in general and her lab in particular are wonderful. I would be very happy to go there.

But yeah, if the official letter from the other school (Program A) comes with the offer I have been given verbally, I am still going to choose that one. I think Program A sets me up better to pursue a variety of different theoretical research streams, while at Program B, I would be working in a more specific and applied area - I'm super interested in this applied area, of course, but (1) that could change, (2) it is more limiting when applying to PhD programs since it may fall more heavily into "health psychology" (and I don't want to get a PhD in that), and (3) I am primarily interested in the theoretical aspects of this applied area than the applications, if that makes sense. Program A also has three potential advisors with good research matches, while Program B has only the one. The coursework in the two programs is basically the same; both require a thesis but Program A requires a "major literature review paper" in lieu of the additional elective required at Program B.

All this being said, it was a fantastic offer and I feel great about getting it.

I still have not heard back from two programs, but as soon as I get the official letter from either of the psychology programs I have already talked to on the phone, I am going to withdraw my applications from them and turn down the two un/under-funded offers I already have. This is getting super-close to being a done deal.