rosali

Ok, so complicated story. My flatmates and I signed a lease for our apartment in Andorra in September. The people told us to just sign the lease, it's all normal, blah blah blah, since it was in Catalan and none of us spoke it. So we did and it was great. Fast forward 5 months to yesterday. Our downstairs neighbor came up and told us we had a leaking pipe and it was filling her apartment with water. Okay, we got in touch with a friend who got in touch with the landlord. We were told our insurance would cover it. Ok, so what insurance? How do we go about claiming it? The answer was "the insurance you signed up for when you leased the apartment." Ok, so what insurance? Turns out we don't have insurance. At all. So we have to cover the damages ourselves. We're basically fotuts. So now I have to ask permission from the principal of my school to miss meetings that I never do anything at so I can wait for the plumber to tell us how fotuts we are. That's what you get for asking permission instead of just doing things. UGH UGH UGH.

@flop You could start with Season 2! You won't miss a ton by skipping the first season. @FoxAndChicken Sorry to hear that! Maybe if you tried a different counsellor? Or asked for a list of off-campus providers who accept your insurance/don't cost a ton? I feel like we students (of really any age, because my high school students are crazy stressed all the time and it's ridiculous) really don't get access to the mental health care we need a lot of the time. Being a student is really high-stress and demanding, and we put a ton of pressure on ourselves, too. Take care of yourself, friend!

@flop Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Bob's Burgers? Futurama? Parks and Rec? 30 Rock? Firefly? There are more, but these are some of my favorites for binge watching. @FoxAndChicken Depression can totally have a known cause! I can't tell how much you're joking (because...text), but maybe it would help if you have a counsellor or something you could talk to? I don't know if you're still at university, but most places have short term counseling for students. Feel better!

Right? I'm all about learning languages, partly because they teach you a lot about your own native language, and just generally make you a better communicator/writer, even if you're not all that good at learning languages. I was in a super-rut for a while. I started trying to cook healthier food, and filled the time I would have been Netflixing with swimming or reading. I mean, I obviously still Netflix (I'm human), but just moving around or doing something that uses different parts of your brain might help you feel better, and start thinking of backup plans in case you need them!

@raaawr I think I'll probably apply either this coming year, or the next one, depending on how I feel about whatever job I get. The one I'm looking at right now is being a full-time literacy tutor at a urban charter school. It's a yearlong program, so if I get in and I love it, I could get teaching certification and continue to work at that school, or if I don't, I can go to grad school. Plus, the work kind of relates to what I want to do in grad school, since a huge portion of the students are English Language Learners. I still have to get accepted to the program, but I'm definitely really qualified for it, so that's comforting! Good luck to you, too! You'll definitely figure something out in terms of plan B, but I'm sure you won't need it!

So, the longer I don't hear back from my last two programs, the more discouraged I get about them. HOWEVER, I found an awesome job posting for a year-long position that I'm actually qualified for and want to do, and I'm getting really excited about it! Like, maybe this might actually be better for me right now than grad school. Who knows? I also just got back from a conference in one of the most beautiful cities in Spain, and I actually made some friends (it was a large conference, and these things tend to overwhelm me), and I'm just a lot happier (and much less of an angsty wet blanket) than I was a week ago. Wheeeeeee!

Right? I'm 2/2 on rejections. I have two more applications out, and according to the message board, people have heard back from both, so it's looking prettttty grim for me this year. Regardless, waiting to hear back from the other two programs is even more stressful after the first couple rejections.

It seems like NYU has already notified accepted students for comparative lit, so it looks like I'm 3/3 with rejections. You guys, I'm SO GOOD at getting rejected from grad school. I should turn it into some kind of career. Print business cards, the works.

This is the first time I've been on gradcafe in a couple days (a record since I joined haha). And thanks! I'm constantly amazed by the positivity in this little corner of the internet. You guys are great. I hope the same for you, too, and that you find something to make the wait more bearable!

I applied to 4 schools and have been rejected from two so far (one day after another, too. It sucked). Rejection's awful no matter what, but I think it's worse when you have fewer horses in the race...you pin all your hopes on one (or two, or four) school(s), and getting rejected is even worse because it's the only school you wanted. Especially when you see people with, like, 20 apps out. I've definitely lost a lot of hope for my applications after the first two were rejected (one of the letters basically said "we had a bunch of competitive applications, pitted them all against each other, and yours wasn't as good as the others. bye." The other just said "bye." (not verbatim, obviously)). BUT I have a backup plan that I'm pretty excited about, and I'm on vacation in my favorite place in the whole world, so things are looking up for me.

Rejected from Brown! Woohoo, the fun just keeps coming!

Here's another thing I think I did wrong in my applications...do people typically contact the departments before applying? Is this a thing? Should I have done that?

I feel you! All I have is a rejection and three pending applications, so I'm prettttttttttttty nervous. Like, going to school more is all I'm qualified for; I'm not ready for a grown-up job yet!

@SLPgradstudent I'd probably keep teaching English, but I think I'm going to try to find a job that will help strengthen my applications. I'm realizing now that I'm probably not going to get in anywhere I applied, partly because my research ideas are really, really specific, and partly because I didn't really know what I was doing this time around. Most days I really, really love teaching in Andorra, but today I'm annoyed because it's 8 AM and I have a really loud, unruly class. Unlike other ETA programs, I'm alllllllllll alone in my classroom. But they're my only group today, and then I get to go skiing! **EDIT to add: I posted this just before any students arrived! I don't use gradcafe when I'm actually working (though I found out about my first rejection at the end of one class and the beginning of the next, which suckedddddd)

Sure! Come visit! My first language is actually English--I'm a Fulbright ETA, so I'm here for a year (at least...my plan B might be to stay here another year if I don't get accepted to any of the programs I applied to), but I also speak Spanish, French, and (some) Catalan. In Andorra, Catalan is the official language, but everyone also speaks Spanish, and at least a little French.

I'm vegetarian by choice, but my boyfriend's celiac, and while I can cook pretty good food for both of us, we're a nightmare to host/go out to dinner with. Fortunately, I'm not picky and will eat anything that doesn't have meat on/in it. The biggest problem is actually my boyfriend's aversion to spicy food. He likes bland things, but I could put sriracha or ginger or curry in just about anything.

@piglet33 and @The Interdisciplinarian Thanks for the sympathy! I talked to my mom and went to they gym (finally bought a membership!) and I feel better about it. Rejection sucks no matter what, but the adcom knows what they're doing, and if I get rejected, it's because my research interests just doesn't fit with what anyone in the department is doing (at least, that's what I tell myself.). I am really regretting applying to only 4 schools though...

Heard back from Northwestern...rejected. So it begins. At least I know.

I've had lots of success with Bob's Red Mill flours, but some of them don't have xanthan gum added, which is annoying. The best I've found ever is a Spanish brand called Gallo. It has a really good texture for baked goods, but I don't know if you can get it outside Spain. Also, just received an email from NYU. It was spam. Took about 5 years off my life...

Now you all have got me wishing I had a waffle iron...

Don't worry! They probably forgot that you're on another continent, and once they remember they'll feel bad about being pissy. GOOD LUCK!

CONGRATULATIONS @Pink Fuzzy Bunny and @haltheincandescent!!!!! Weeee I'm so happy for you! Joining piglet in the wine-raising (except mine's tea because I have to teach youths tomorrow morning)!

@piglet33 Mine does have lots of pictures of mountains! I'm from the seacoast, so it's so foreign to me, I have to take tons of pictures haha. And, wow, you do have special instagram skills...my instagram name and my gradcafe name are pretty different! @gingin6789 Wooooo gradcafe friends becoming other-parts-of-the-internet friends!

I was told (I think by @haltheincandescent?) that you can get notifications literally whenever the adcom feels like sending them out. That (weirdly) made me feel weirdly better/less inclined to check my email all the time. Also, @gingin6789 your dogs are adorable, and I agree with piglet, your wedding dress was gorgeous! Also, I like your glasses. Basically, your instagram is awesome, and I also followed it. I can never have too many pictures of dogs on my feed!

It depends on the cat! If you adopt one from a shelter (which you should do!) you could get an older one, since they tend to be more laid-back AND have far lower adoption rates than younger cats. Plus, the shelter workers can tell you a bit about each cat's personality, so they'll know who'd be a good fit for you.