Crosswordese

First of all, congrats on getting the acceptance! I'm glad that perfect interview ended up leading to an offer in the end! At this point, a week out from that initial waitlist email (and now having just heard that I am most probably waitlisted at my final program too), I have begun searching for potential new jobs as well to try to distract me and make me feel less helpless, but a mental roadblock for me is the fact that I currently have an RA position on a study that will be in data collection for several years. So while part of me feels I shouldn't "jump ship" here and start from scratch in another RA/RC position just to reapply to programs in December, the other part feels my experience here wasn't "enough" to get in (it's not in my major area of interest, just related to a secondary interest, and I've only been involved in recruitment & data collection), and so I should join a lab/study that's smaller scale but faster-paced, where I might have more chances for a poster/pub by next cycle and for networking in my desired future field. So at this point I'm kind of putting off that decision (and conversation with my current PIs about my opportunities here) until I get rejections from my remaining two programs, which maybe isn't the best idea... But I am keeping tabs on openings, and am telling myself I will apply if something comes up that really seems to fit my wants and needs better than my current job. So hopefully just looking for things will keep me preoccupied until I hear back with the final verdicts... Anyway, thanks for sharing how you were coping with the not knowing and how it turned out well for you! Best of luck at EMU!

If the Southern Illinois University Carbondale clinical PhD poster sees this, could you DM me your POI? Congrats and thanks!

I just got placed on my first waitlist post-interview and I am worried about my mindset a bit... I don't want to take this as a rejection and get too down about it, but I also don't want to be too optimistic, especially as this school/POI has been my top choice since I started the process. I am also only waiting to hear back from one other school at this point, which makes things feel a little more dire. I'm trying to manage my expectations, but it's hard. All of my other rejections and assumed rejections have been softened by the thought that I still had my top choice on the docket, as it was my last interview. So now I feel sort of at a loss... I feel like I should be regrouping and thinking about next steps to strengthen my application next year, but I don't really want to at this point. I think I inadvertently got too attached to the idea of this program and POI being the perfect match for me, so now I'm trying to avoid clinging to the hope afforded by still being on the waitlist so I don't get wrecked when it doesn't happen... But it also could happen! So I keep going back and forth... There's really no point to this post, I just wanted to get my feelings out to some people who might understand. But any advice about getting into a good mindset about this all would be appreciated!

Did anyone go to Southern Illinois University Carbondale's clinical PhD open house? I was only able to do skype interviews, so would love it if you could DM me about it! And does anyone know anything about their timeline?