clehman13

I'm about to head into my first year and this will be the first summer I've had in years (co-oped in the summer for undergrad). Probably going to start reading a couple papers a week and just stashing the bibliography somewhere with notes. Other than that, probably going to spend more time in the gym and play video games. If I were you, I would take some time to relax since who knows when you'll be able to have the summer to yourself again. 

A professional job does NOT entail you should give up on having any relationships, pets, children, friends, hobbies, or time off to just relax. You are thinking about this all wrong. Thinking about this as a professional job means you devote a certain part of the day (=the working hours) to your studies, and the rest of the time can be devoted to whatever else is happening in you life, including all those other things. It's really important to have something else in your life beside school, whatever that is. Otherwise, you'll burn out very quickly.  

Generally speaking: stipends are income and are taxed accordingly.
Despite a close call involving shithead Republicans in congress, tuition waivers and scholarships used to pay for tuition are still tax free.

Y'all have very different experiences from me, in my departments it's very common for all grad students to address faculty directly by their first name 

This is kinda dorky but my girlfriend and I were planning on going to First Friday so we pregamed a bit then headed out. We were tipsy in a used book store when I got the email at 8p. I made so much noise that I think I startled the shopowner's cat that was trying to sleep on the counter.

This is definitely the right call. When I was at my first undergrad school, it was school policy that professors be called by their first names (I think it was something administration did to try to create community since it was a school built on odd circumstances). However, there were certain professors that I still called Dr. LastName because they preferred it. They just couldn't officially say to call them Dr. LastName, which kind of sucked for them. Long story short, if they insist that you call them by their first name, do so, otherwise just say Dr. LastName.

Princeton University Computer Science, PhD (F19) Rejected via E-mail on 1 Feb 2019 I 25 Feb 2019 Was my safe school To anyone that gets a rejection from an Ivy League and says it was his/her safety school: we could never, in a million years, be friends.

Worries: The reason that applications are taking so long to get processed probably means that I'm getting wait listed or denied. But then again, the departments I applied to haven't really sent out any offer or rejections besides to those who did priority apps. I'll be upset if I don't get in anywhere, but at least rejection gives me a direction. I can seriously look for jobs with rejection. I can't make any commitments while in limbo, y'know. I don't have any undergrad research experience, but I did well on the GRE (165 quant, 156 verbal, 4.5 writing), my GPA is meh (3.36), I started college at 15, and I have a LOR from a PI at NASA. That being said, I still feel super overshadowed by everyone. My GF told me not to worry because she said I sounded qualified, but I don't think she realizes how much more qualified everyone else is. I just kinda want to know so I can carry on with my life and try to plan things out.
Excited: I'll be glad to be out of undergrad at the very least. I did also get invited to stand on the engineering observation deck at a future NASA launch, which I look forward to (although, that won't be for another couple of years). 
 
EDIT: That actually felt really good to write out just to get my thoughts straight.

Every email notification I get now gives me a heart attack. Now that it's the end of Jan and most 1 Dec applications have been processed already, I'm almost as desperate for rejections as interviews, so that I can stop clinging to false shreds of hope! Sounds like everyone else is feeling the same way ?

You should be talking to your family and friends... not some strangers on the internet

If they don't understand, make a better job of explaining, bring in more tangible examples of what you are going through.

Oh yea, definitely. Waiting has not been kind to my mental state. Looking at how qualified everyone else is that's getting accepted, I'm worried that I'll be denied to all my schools. I really wish that they would come out and tell me that I'm under-qualified right now. Yea, that would suck, but I wouldn't be stuck not knowing. Getting rejected now means that I can look for jobs and get over the negative emotions of being rejected sooner. It's even more frustrating when you bring this up with other people and they tell you not to worry about it and that's it's out of your control. It's like, well yea, that's why it's so frustrating. Or even worse is that they tell you that "surely the programs aren't as competitive as you say they are" without actually having ever applied to graduate school. I get that they're trying to be helpful, but that doesn't ever really help with the anxiety. 

Oh yea, definitely. Waiting has not been kind to my mental state. Looking at how qualified everyone else is that's getting accepted, I'm worried that I'll be denied to all my schools. I really wish that they would come out and tell me that I'm under-qualified right now. Yea, that would suck, but I wouldn't be stuck not knowing. Getting rejected now means that I can look for jobs and get over the negative emotions of being rejected sooner. It's even more frustrating when you bring this up with other people and they tell you not to worry about it and that's it's out of your control. It's like, well yea, that's why it's so frustrating. Or even worse is that they tell you that "surely the programs aren't as competitive as you say they are" without actually having ever applied to graduate school. I get that they're trying to be helpful, but that doesn't ever really help with the anxiety. 

Oh yea, definitely. Waiting has not been kind to my mental state. Looking at how qualified everyone else is that's getting accepted, I'm worried that I'll be denied to all my schools. I really wish that they would come out and tell me that I'm under-qualified right now. Yea, that would suck, but I wouldn't be stuck not knowing. Getting rejected now means that I can look for jobs and get over the negative emotions of being rejected sooner. It's even more frustrating when you bring this up with other people and they tell you not to worry about it and that's it's out of your control. It's like, well yea, that's why it's so frustrating. Or even worse is that they tell you that "surely the programs aren't as competitive as you say they are" without actually having ever applied to graduate school. I get that they're trying to be helpful, but that doesn't ever really help with the anxiety. 

Oh yea, definitely. Waiting has not been kind to my mental state. Looking at how qualified everyone else is that's getting accepted, I'm worried that I'll be denied to all my schools. I really wish that they would come out and tell me that I'm under-qualified right now. Yea, that would suck, but I wouldn't be stuck not knowing. Getting rejected now means that I can look for jobs and get over the negative emotions of being rejected sooner. It's even more frustrating when you bring this up with other people and they tell you not to worry about it and that's it's out of your control. It's like, well yea, that's why it's so frustrating. Or even worse is that they tell you that "surely the programs aren't as competitive as you say they are" without actually having ever applied to graduate school. I get that they're trying to be helpful, but that doesn't ever really help with the anxiety. 

Are you okay?? take a chill pill its not the end of the world bro.
Go outside breath some fresh air it will do you good?

What's making me more anxious is the fact that I haven't even gotten rejected from anywhere yet. I'm just sitting over here in silence. I talked with all of my POIs prior to applying to the programs, had 2 Skype calls with my top choice back in October, and an interview with my 2nd choice last week. I wish I could get anything-- even a rejection would be better than the waiting in silence.

I am really fortunate in that my undergrad school has some really good connections. I've had a few recruiters from Lockheed Martin reach out to me in the last couple of months, so I'll probably interview with them and hopefully I'll get an offer. If all goes well, I'll try to get a Master's while working there and then moving onto a PhD instead of the current plan to push straight for the PhD. I would like to move, but my parents have also been kind enough to let me live there so I can save up and the rent amount they asked was really small. I feel hopeful about the next few years. I just want to hear a response from the programs I applied to soon so I can plan accordingly.