Red Bull

Bookshelves are overrated. I keep my books in stacks. I have had several compliments on the tottering stacks of books that I keep around my apartment. You should try it!

Even though I have been relatively successful in my admissions, I am still depressed. I know that I will be moving to an as of now unknown new city where I have no friends, no family, and will be immersed in a totally new experience. All of the excitement and tension of cramming one more item on my CV is over and I am coasting through classes during my last semester. I am apprehensive and bored at the same time. I have been sleeping a lot lately, my appetite is somewhere near zero, and I am suffering from a terrible sense of ennui. I am literally depressed over this change of life that is happening. My only consolation is that I know that things will eventually pick up. Right now is just awful, though, especially since I am waiting with bated breath from my dream school.

I have had generalized anxiety and panic disorder for years. It helps to remind myself that anxiety is a transient emotion- it will be gone soon. I also like to use mindfulness meditation. It may help to find a counselor or a psychiatrist who is trained to help with anxiety and stress issues. Good luck to you and I wish you well, I have been there before!

The dark tower series is excellent, although it is a little bit tedious towards the middle books of the series. I'm still finishing up on black history themed books and movies that I read during February. I'm cheesy like that. My favorite so far has been "Their Eyes Are Watching God" by Zora Neal Hurston. Amazing!

Then it's on to plan C: being cryogenically frozen until the job market is better.

It's giving me the same error message from the links you posted. Looks like a problem on their end to me.

If my dream school rejects me I will be very upset. I will retreat into my cave with an eighteen pack of cheap beer, watch cartoons, and think evil thoughts for about 48 hours. Then I will be over it and start working on a plan that utilizes the best of the opportunities that I do have. I am so grateful and blessed that I have two acceptances with full funding. Some people don't even get that.

I would still be going to graduate school. I want to be a professor of religious studies. While there may be more students vying for positions in graduate school because of the economy, I do not feel threatened. I have spent so much time and energy in my undergrad years developing my scholarly skills that I don't feel threatened by those who otherwise would be in the job market. I have publishing credits, paper talks, teaching experience, etc that set me apart from those people who just need something to do until the amelioration of the world's economic woes. I think it won't be too difficult for admissions committees to sort out those who have really worked toward a vision of grad school and those who, like the fabled groundhog, poked their head into the post-graduation world and decided that it's worth it to pursue more school instead of tackling a difficult job market.

Although I have succeeded in getting accepted to two schools so far, my plan B was teaching English in China. There are plenty of teaching abroad programs for college graduates that may interest you. The plus side is that it may pad your resume if you decide to give grad school another try.

For rejection based on programmatic fit: It's not you, it's us. P.S.- Thanks for the app fee, the staff all bought lottery tickets and Dr. Johnson won two hundred dollars.

There's really nothing you can do at this point except for wait it out. The program knows that you submitted your transcripts on time in order to be admitted to the program. If they didn't have any more spots available they probably would tell you and not pretend that you still have a shot at the program. I would take solace in the fact that your case is now "special" because it was not put together in time and has been singled out from the rest of the herd. This may positively impact the professor's assessment of you.

I have a smartphone too; it is a curse anda blessing. I check my email, the graduate division websites, and the results search over twenty times a day. I am driving myself insane. I am typing this on my iPhone right now because I can't think of anything else. I wish I could sleep until I got my results.

Check out, it cheers me up every time I see it. Monty Python ftw. Just remember that no matter how big your problems seem right now they are small compared to the unimaginable vastness of the universe. I hope this brightens your day.

I would not call to check and see for a few reasons: 1) Most likely the person you talk to has no idea when the decisions will be mailed out. 2) Even if the person you talk to has some idea, your specific decision may not correspond to that idea 3) The department probably gets inundated with semi-psychotic slavering grad students calling to check and see. The decision will come when it comes. Take a deep breath, relax, and think Zen.

One of my schools pulled the same thing on me. Luckily it was only a few days after the app deadline so I figured it was way too early for a reply. If that were to happen at this moment when the rest of my replies are imminent it would probably give me a stroke. So, note to my enemies, now is the time to send an email with something like "decision available" etc in order to bump me off via myocardial infarction.

It is so good to hear that I am not the only one who is going through fits waiting for replies from schools. I am not close with anyone else who is applying so I don't have anyone I can talk to about what I am going through. Waiting for replies from schools is like going through detox. I can't sleep, I can't eat, and I can only think about one thing- checking my email over and over like some sort of junkie. I just want the wait to be over!

Applying to grad school is like... paying to be punched in the stomach and told your not good enough. So yes, I believe masochistic is a nice description.

It's not over until you get the letter. There's always hope.

The admissions committee for my top choice school met last Wednesday... I am anticipating a decision at any moment. Gah!

I will certainly not pay for my humanities education. It seems as though many students are admitted to programs without funding so as to pay for those who truly have a talent for it. Don't just dismiss this as arrogance, it is true graduate education as well as some undergraduate institutions.

salted nuts

I got my acceptance by email on my smart phone right before class. I ran out of class and called my mom, who began crying because I got full funding. I then went back to class and had to squirm for an hour and a half while pretending to listen to a lecture about Streetcar Named Desire. After class I ran to my department and grabbed a friend as well as a professor and went out for beers.

The acceptance letters I have given to my parents, who are much less likely to throw it out while cleaning up the house than I am. I have not yet received a paper rejection letter, just a short dear john over the interwebz.

prank monkey