FeetInTheSky

Congrats to the Pittsburgh, Davis, and WUSTL admits.

You as well. Just breathe!

You're 100% not alone. I found it very hard to focus at work this week and that's usually not a problem. Tonight I'm going out to eat for a friend's birthday and think I'm going to leave my phone at home because I can't keep checking it for updates. I'm coping by doing as much of my favorite stuff as I can... lots of music and writing and time with friends... because if I don't do that then all I'm going to do is sit at home and stress. Plus I've been applying to jobs, trying to turn my nervous energy into productivity.

Indeed. Thanks for the encouragement... we shall see where it goes. If only I can be as lucky! And thanks for the commiseration, all... And yes, such heros at Bowling Green!

womp. Really starting to look hard at the likelihood of striking out. I probably should have applied to MA programs....

I'm not sure why they haven't released yet (if they're supposed to do so), but Berkeley's had a bad day: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/02/512992000/breitbart-editors-event-canceled-as-protests-turn-violent-at-uc-berkeley The university is open today but I wouldn't be surprised if some schedules got knocked around a little bit.

There are many SUNY schools and they all work independently of each other. So if Buffalo has released decisions, that means absolutely nothing to you if you applied to Stony Brook or Albany or any of the others. It also depends on which program you've applied to... at Buffalo, for example, the PhD deadline was December 15, but the MA deadline is March 1. So far it seems that only PhD decisions have come out, so if you applied for the MA, there's nothing to be concerned with.

Meanwhile, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so if my data are correct, we're in for six more weeks of waiting for decisions.

Groovy. Thanks for reassuring my uncertainty. That's a weird thing to thank somebody for. This whole "will I go to grad school" thing is really a trip, innit? (In other news, I just discovered that you can write GradCafé posts in Comic Sans. I'm not saying I'm going to do this indefinitely, but right now I'm going to take my small moments of glee where I can get 'em.)

Does anyone have thoughts/insight into what UMD is up to? First a trickle of interviews, then a small number of admits. My own portal still says departmental review. Based on data from previous years, they seem to use an enormous wait list; are we assuming that those of us who are yet to hear the Call of the Turtle are either on the wait list or the no list? Yours in speculation, Jeremy

I did that when reporting my OSU rejection. No, I'm not that good at math....

When you get a phone call from an unfamiliar number with an area code that may match up to one of your schools.... and it's a telemarketer. This week is going to kill me.

I'm just going to toss out a little idea on timing... it's very stressful to finish your PhD applications. I work a 9-5 job and spent an hour or two after work every day for three months researching programs and working on writing samples and preparing for the GRE and all that noise. I loved my undergraduate days, but if I recall correctly, I 100% did not have the available time to put together the applications that I put together this year (and I'm exactly raging with confidence in them anyway). If you're planning on writing a thesis, then it's possible that you won't have that available time either. I encourage you to at least entertain the notion of just focusing on your thesis next year and then finding a job the following year that you can hold down while you work on your applications. It's a bit clunky, but it made my life much easier. One of the students I work with (I got a job at the university that I graduated from, which is great because it means continued access to research resources and my old professors/letter writers) is applying for anthropology programs and has decided to take the route that I did because he got very overwhelmed his senior year. I'm not saying this is the only way to be successful, I'm just saying you should give it a think.

I did my taxes the other day.

Official no from OSU... This is definitely recompense for all the mean things I've said about LeBron James.

Everything that you said in your post is relevant to me as well.

"You are only allowed to give reputation five times a day." But how else can I show my Internet empathy with @anxiousgrad and their namesake emotion?

Mine does too. Hope that's not an implied no... congratulations, @Wyatt's Terps You're such a light on this board you deserve it. Although you are now to blame for my recent heart palptations.

Enough time on this website has taught me that if you're sure of yourself, you're delusional. I mentioned this on the "waiting it out" board, but whenever I start to freak out I work on my "what if I don't get in plan." Rather than sitting at home and thinking about it, I actually have like a physical document of which steps to take, what jobs to apply for, which summer programs to consider, etc. So if the worst happens, I have an "in case of emergency break glass" document I'm one of those colossal dweebs who finds solace in productivity, and so it makes me feel better to work on something that will remedy the very thing that I'm freaking out about.

Weirdly enough, checking the OSU portal five minutes after I last checked the OSU portal has yielded no new information.

The good news is that I have not yet vomited.

I've spent the time working on a back-up plan. It's a word document that lists, in order, what opportunities I'm going to look for and what I'm going to cancel if I don't get in anywhere. This way, if I strike out, I'll have a plan intact and won't feel this wash of directionlessness. The productivity feels good.

All six applications are done. I'm not sure if this is weird or not but I don't really feel relieved. It's nice to have my evenings back, I suppose. (I'm reading a novel! For fun! Would you believe it!?) But I don't feel this profound feeling, like one of these: Still, it's nice to not have to work on applications any longer. Now I'm not permitting myself to worry, because there is nothing that I can do about it. Worrying about things over which you have no control only creates stress. Best of luck to everyone still working. You can do the thing!

Please stop panicking! Believe in yourself. You are smart and motivated and will get this done. The more time you spend freaking out is less time that you can spend actually doing the thing. A song that is relevant: Yes, okay. It's okay to be nervous and to be stressed because there's a lot going on. But just sit and focus on the thing in front of you. Make that the best you can make it. You can worry about the rest of it later.