thegrey

Two of the programs I applied to accepted me with funding (one of them with a generous fellowship offer, yay!) before interviews/visits, which is amazing and beyond what I had hoped for, but as recruitment events approach I feel my impostor syndrome going full throttle. My fear, which I know is irrational, is that they will meet me and realize they've made a mistake. I know I can't be the only one battling this. How do you all cope with these feelings? Tell me your favorite brain hacks to hold more gratitude and confidence, and move away from feeling like a fraud 

When I started grad school I cried myself to sleep every night for about two months. I was lonely. I was broke. I was struggling. I had one professor suggest I drop out. Twice. Grad school sucks pretty much all the way around. But since fall 2016 I've also participated in my first academic conference, been published half a dozen times, and gotten a position as an editor for an academic journal. We're all stressed and tired and think we suck. I try to fall back on the fact that my school wouldn't have accepted me if I didn't deserve it. Then of course you'll have the "I just tricked them into thinking I was good enough" thoughts, but heck, if you can trick a school, you can make it in the field. As telkanuru said, none of us are good enough. Determination will get you a lot further than being "good enough" or "intelligent" will.

The Hello PhD podcast had two back-to-back episodes on Imposter Syndrome! I highly recommend this podcast, even if you're not in the hard sciences--I credit Hello PhD and the Grad Cafe Forums for being my two sources of sanity through the application and waiting process.  
http://hellophd.com/2017/04/070-imposter-syndrome/
http://hellophd.com/2017/04/071-practical-advice-overcoming-imposter-syndrome-dr-maureen-gannon/

Two of the programs I applied to accepted me with funding (one of them with a generous fellowship offer, yay!) before interviews/visits, which is amazing and beyond what I had hoped for, but as recruitment events approach I feel my impostor syndrome going full throttle. My fear, which I know is irrational, is that they will meet me and realize they've made a mistake. I know I can't be the only one battling this. How do you all cope with these feelings? Tell me your favorite brain hacks to hold more gratitude and confidence, and move away from feeling like a fraud 

Two of the programs I applied to accepted me with funding (one of them with a generous fellowship offer, yay!) before interviews/visits, which is amazing and beyond what I had hoped for, but as recruitment events approach I feel my impostor syndrome going full throttle. My fear, which I know is irrational, is that they will meet me and realize they've made a mistake. I know I can't be the only one battling this. How do you all cope with these feelings? Tell me your favorite brain hacks to hold more gratitude and confidence, and move away from feeling like a fraud 

Legitimately shocked. Just got straight up accepted to georgia Tech (bioengineering with home school at ECE)

If you google "NIH grad school interview preparation", there is a presentation from the NIH OITE that is meant to help you prepare for interviews. It seems pretty helpful, I'd check it out!

I love this attitude. I agree completely. Set a high bar for yourself, be specific in your interests, and pursue the things you're passionate about. I feel like a lot of people who take a shot at a PhD are generally doing it for the love of it, in some way or another. Plenty do it just because they're smart and it just seems like a logical step, too...
I admit that I'm aiming for the degree because of the benefits it'll give me in my research career, but only made the decision to shoot for it after working in the industry for a few years, and determined that I needed it to do the things I'm passionate about. Getting to do research that I think is awesome and neat on the way? That's a bonus.

Your research experience is great and you've applied to a range of schools. So long as your letters of rec are positive and your statement of purpose is solid, I think you'll be fine. Don't let the trolls get you down. Good luck!

Your research experience is great and you've applied to a range of schools. So long as your letters of rec are positive and your statement of purpose is solid, I think you'll be fine. Don't let the trolls get you down. Good luck!

Your research experience is great and you've applied to a range of schools. So long as your letters of rec are positive and your statement of purpose is solid, I think you'll be fine. Don't let the trolls get you down. Good luck!

Anyone else waiting on UW M3D? I see some rejections and interviews on the results page from last week. Hoping my application didn't get buried or devoured by Krampus

Congrats! Hope the invites keep coming, though this was my reach program!

As long as your package was passed along, I don't think this will affect your admission decision at all. Admissions committee won't be counting words. Yours might feel a little longer than the rest, but they read sooo many that I doubt they'll even notice. Good luck!