aucinema

I got my first acceptance on Friday while I was on my way to New York City for the weekend. That afternoon I had visited my mom at work and she had asked me, "Oh, if you get a letter in the mail from Top Choice University while you're away, should your dad and I open it?" I told her that I really wasn't expecting a letter since my application had just been forwarded to the department the week before and almost everyone there was away at a conference, but I told her that if a letter came in she should open it and call me if it was good news, but to hold off calling if it was bad news so that my weekend wouldn't be ruined. I completely forgot about the conversation until that evening when my friend and I were on the train to NYC. My dad called me and said, "Oh, about that letter that came in, you were accepted." I said, "What letter?" When I finally realized what he was talking about, I freaked out. I think everyone on the train thought I was off my rocker. I made him read it out loud to me and jumped up and down for a while and then sat down ... and then jumped up and down again before my friend forcibly pulled me back into my seat. My mom is so clever - she knew how to formulate a plan of action without rising my anxiety level. I love her!

Thank you for this! Bob Marley gets me through ....

:-) Congrats!!

Rejection letter emergency response plan: 1. Tear up later/close browser angrily (depending on mode of delivery) 2. Call mom 2b. Cry to mom 3. Call SO/close friends and complain; wavering between sadness, anger and relief 4. Open a beer (or several) 5. Order take out 6. Spend 1-2 hours googling search phrases such as "why grad school is a mistake" and "i hate grad school" 7 Watch something trashy 8. Go to bar 8b. Cry to stranger at bar 9. Sleep for 12+ hours 10. Wake up and move on with my life.

I would wait before contacting them unless you NEED a timeline for the decision (i.e. you're contemplating whether to accept another offer, etc). A month is not a long time for adcomms and sending them e-mails at this point would just be a nuisance to them and probably only serve to slow things down. Hang in there! My dream school had a Feb 1 deadline, too and I'm going crazy!!

That is a horrible situation and I am truly sorry. I've never really thought that notifying applicants of "unofficial" acceptances was good practice anyway, just for this reason. I know it's very rare that a grad school shoots down a department decision, but still, it can happen. And when it does, it's 10 times worse then a rejection from the get-go. Not to mention, I can't believe they waited 2 weeks to inform you that they were rescinding your acceptance. I wish I had some advice for you, but I don't. If I were you though, I would probably e-mail the graduate school for further explanation.

Sending big congratulations your way!! As for celebrating, I'm sure you'll find a way. :-)

It is frustrating because if i don't get in anywhere, it's just going to make things 10 times as embarrassing. No body wants to listen to me talk about a plan B because they're so convinced that I'm going to get in. Honestly, I think that they believe that getting into graduate school is about as difficult as getting in as an undergrad, which, as we all know, is blatantly false. They tend to get annoyed with me when I express any doubts about acceptance ... At least if I don't get accepted anywhere I'll have the bleak satisfaction of telling them, "I told you so."

Darn, I still haven't heard anything from UMass. At this point, I'm assuming rejection and/or waitlist. Just out of curiosity, is your friend in state?

I haven't even been accepted anywhere yet and I already feel this way. I'm really afraid of who/what I am going to become over the next few years. All of my friends and family keep telling me that I'm being ridiculous, but I'm worried about it nonetheless.

Wow, congratulations! Enjoy the rewards of all your hard work! P.S. I think you absolutely deserve to gloat today. I know I would!

I still have undergraduate work to do until May. After that, I'm going to work part time, look for apartments, and hopefully take some trips. I really want to spend some time at my uncle's condo in the White Mountains this summer, too. We usually go for 2 or 3 days at a time, but I'm thinking that I'd like to spend a solid week or two up there this summer between the time when my job ends and school starts. Assuming I get in somewhere, of course ...

Rejections are discouraging, especially when you haven't had an acceptance yet. That said, don't give up hope based on one rejection letter! You still have 12 more opportunities to be accepted, so there's no reason to panic yet. Not to mention, there's so many stories here of people who were rejected from their "safety schools" and then went on to be accepted to their top choices. I understand how you feel though. I haven't heard anything from any of my schools yet, but I'm afraid of how I'll feel when I get a rejection letter. We put so much stress on being accepted to graduate school and sometimes it's hard to keep things in perspective. Chin up and get ready for that acceptance letter!

That's quite sneaky of them, but also very clever. Once again, just proof that you can never be too careful on the internet.

I'm 21, and I'll be 22 in September so I guess I'm on the young side. Then again, it's very common in my field to go straight from undergraduate to doctoral work because there is no master's and the bachelor's degree is intended to be pre-professional (in other words, totally useless). I look forward to having a PhD before I'm 30!