Quigley

Good reminder and excellent advice. I know that I personally need to adopt a healthier approach to this waiting period or I am going to make myself physically ill by the end of February. You are right that enjoying this free time by exercising, indulging hobbies, socializing, reading for pleasure, etc. will make the news (good or bad) come a lot faster than by checking the results board every 4 1/2 minutes. Two weeks on the beach in Thailand wouldn't be half bad, either. I really like your concept of making a list of things to look forward to in the event of straight rejections. I'm as guilty as anyone of convincing myself that life will in fact not go on if I don't get in anywhere, but I plan to start giving my list some thought so that I can be in a better position mentally if the good news does not come this time around. Thanks for the great tip.

Ooooooh. Jealous! Have one for me while you're there.

I know, I know. I'm not saying it was rational. I'll turn it off tonight, avoid caffeine, and try to get a decent night sleep for once.

Me. I'm big mess of nerves right now. I snap awake every time the e-mail alert goes off on my phone in the middle of the night, hoping for good news and not junk from Travelzoo, Netflix, or Chase. Then I lay there and dwell for a while and then drift off again until the next e-mail. Obviously the logical thing would be to silence my phone alerts, but I'd probably wake up just as often just to check to see if I received any e-mails. For the time being, I can at least find comfort in the fact that none of my schools have shown up on the results board yet.

nobody knows

money tree

free sample

just dance

irish spring

Some of these are great! No dreams yet, but I do snap awake every morning to check the e-mail on my phone.

Anybody else torturing themselves by searching for apartments and researching neighborhoods near schools they haven't been accepted to yet?

collection agency

Nothing from mine either. I assumed since the top programs in each field get the most applications, they would take longer to get through the process.

pilot light

"Show me the place" by Leonard Cohen

sign language

No kidding. I worked on mine on and off for a couple of months and they seemed so great to me in when I submitted them in November. Works of pure genius. Now reading them 2 months later, I'm banging my head on the wall and wondering what on earth I was thinking. Sigh. If only we could all get 1 acceptance soon so we can stop doing this to ourselves.

I think it really depends on the program, year, unique circumstances, etc. Some will do them all at once, some will do it in waves.

I'm right there with you. It's been a while since I've found myself anxious for the weekend to be over.

stage hand

I was wondering about that too since Columbia seemed to be one of the slowest programs in previous years, until a second admit posted on the results board a few minutes ago. Seeing the acceptances starting to get posted isn't helping my anxiety much. I have to remind myself that none of the schools I applied to have shown up on the board yet. Wisconsin sent acceptance e-mails on the Tuesday following MLK day last year. It would make my year to hear from them tomorrow.

call center

Agreed. I eliminated schools at the bottom of my list that I decided I wouldn't be happy attending while knowing that it could mean re-applying next year. Although I do understand... I still have moments every day where I kick myself for not going just a little farther down the list if it means not waiting another year.

big bird

Yes, excellent point. Which makes the anxiety so much worse. Not to mention the fact that nobody I know can understand why I'm so stressed about this.