AMC Posted January 25, 2008 Posted January 25, 2008 Best of Luck to all 2008 Grad School Applicants!! I was wondering how other applicants were passing the time while not being plagued with anxiety, crippling agony, and the pestilent, gnawing doubt about the impending outcomes. One way I have decided to spend my time is to read EVERYTHING I can find about graduate life, the academic environment, funding, avoiding departmental politics, writing the dissertation and even tips on securing a tenure-track position. Granted, this is a lot premature and little obsessive, but consider the benefits of reading ahead: * We
sarah4153 Posted January 25, 2008 Posted January 25, 2008 Last night I had to look up the weather for every city a school I applied to is located! Now they are all on the recent locations in my weather widget and cycle back and forth. Sad, I know. :-D jgilme1 1
JordanJames Posted January 25, 2008 Posted January 25, 2008 Sarah, that's sad, but I'm absolutely pathetic. Ever since all of my applications have been completed, I've spent the majority of my time refreshing this board to see if anyone has posted anything, refreshing my inbox, and looking for schools whose application deadline has not past. Does anyone else have an overwhelming desire to apply to more schools?
crustaceangirl Posted January 25, 2008 Posted January 25, 2008 No WAY do I want to apply to more schools! I'd be happy to never apply for anything ever again... but I know that in my first or second year of grad school I'll probably be applying for pre-doctoral fellowships and stuff, which will be even more work. Sigh... I do check this site (and some other grad school related sites) obsessively, and now that I've got interviews coming up I'm reading everything I can find about the schools that are interviewing me, as well as tips on what questions to ask during interviews, who to talk to, what to wear... and so on. Oh, and checking apartment listings on Craigslist for every city I might be moving to!
ahug030 Posted January 25, 2008 Posted January 25, 2008 No WAY do I want to apply to more schools! I'd be happy to never apply for anything ever again... Ditto :wink: . I have a phone interview in half an hour... so nervous. I've read enough to do some major ass-kissing though
gammagoblin Posted January 26, 2008 Posted January 26, 2008 I was ready to apply to some masters programs but I had a phone interview at a place I really want to go to. And i'm too broke to keep applying. And things to do : video games & joints I should be working on my honors thesis or my classwork but oh well.
rising_star Posted January 26, 2008 Posted January 26, 2008 Last night I had to look up the weather for every city a school I applied to is located! Now they are all on the recent locations in my weather widget and cycle back and forth. Sad, I know. :-D You're just now checking the weather? I apply to schools based on weather. I hate lots of winter weather and snow so I ruled out Wisconsin, Syracuse, etc based solely on weather.
eternallyviolet Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 I took on another job, so now I have three. I teach online at two community colleges and at a private high school. I have over 200 students... ...it ALMOST takes my mind off of waiting.
pleasegodletmein Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 over the weekend i convinced myself that i would survive if i didn't make it into grad school and had to spend the rest of my life working 9-5 for some rich, dumb bastard. this morning i got to work and realized that if i do not get in, i am going to have a complete mental breakdown and spend the rest of my life in an asylum. on another note, to pass the time whilst waiting i am: 1) engaging in martha stewart-worthy cooking sprees during which i make enough gourmet food for 5 thousand people and freeze it all. 2) refreshing my email and staring at my cell phone, willing it to ring with acceptance notifications 3) calling/emailing all the people i've meant to call/email for the past 10 years 4) annoying my girlfriend with my anxiety and moodiness 5) drinking 6) watching every episode of lost (a horrible, mind-numbing show. but it sure does have a lot of episodes and thus kills a lot of time) 7) lamenting the fact that i am wishing part of my life away 8) aimlessly wandering the streets 9) staring out the window 10) getting pierced jgilme1 1
pleasegodletmein Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 You're just now checking the weather? I apply to schools based on weather. I hate lots of winter weather and snow so I ruled out Wisconsin, Syracuse, etc based solely on weather. i did the same, but somehow still ended up with indiana on my list. something about the mid-west seems so friendly. but now that i'm all done applying i wish i had applied to every school in the country, including alaska, just to get in somewhere.
Minnesotan Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 I took on another job, so now I have three. I teach online at two community colleges and at a private high school. I have over 200 students... No wonder the rest of us can't find jobs.
pleasegodletmein Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 ha. true that. i've done more than my share of time working at starbucks.
Minnesotan Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 I just live off the government and the university, but still I disagree with this on principle! lol
NO8DO Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 engaging in martha stewart-worthy cooking sprees during which i make enough gourmet food for 5 thousand people and freeze it all. This one cracks me up - because I've done this also. Or since I'm still a poor undergrad, I just have one meal out of it, then throw the rest in the fridge to live off of for the next couple of days haha. My friends keep asking me what I'm going to do about this 'working' thing over the summer (luckily I'll be living au pair in France for part of it), and they're like, so I guess if you end up going to grad school you'll just be an overqualified barista with an undergrad degree in (insert humanities discipline here). haha bastards with immediate long-term job prospects.
crustaceangirl Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 I'm not sure what to do about working over the summer, either! I'm planning on taking a vacation for part of it (Europe with my lovely SO... it will be grand) and then moving to whatever city houses my grad program. But that leaves maybe two months before I start classes. I doubt anyone would want to train me for a new job just to have me quit two months later, and I don't want to keep a part-time gig while still in grad school. So I may have to start calling SO "sugar daddy" during that summer... (thankfully I have some savings, too, if I don't spend them all in Europe that is).
nailbitingnmiserable Posted January 28, 2008 Posted January 28, 2008 Really guys, as apprehensive as we may feel about next month
Minnesotan Posted January 29, 2008 Posted January 29, 2008 I dare not think what would happen if I don't get in anywhere. After all of this waiting, I might just snap. Ermm... anyone know of a high-paying job that allows you to do basically nothing, while staying at exotic resorts on faraway beaches? Maybe I'll look into something like that.
pleasegodletmein Posted January 29, 2008 Posted January 29, 2008 i'm hoping that's what being a professor entails. i also considered being a "quality assurance" officer who travels to resorts and posh hotels to make sure that they are as enjoyable as they should be, until i found out that they have to go around testing light bulb sockets and boring stuff like that. i think brewmeisters have it pretty good- they just work for a few months making beer, and take the rest of the year off to drink it. also, my uncle had a fireworks store in wyoming and he made enough money in the summer to live off of. glad to know there's someone out there as ambitious as i.
adizzygirl Posted January 29, 2008 Posted January 29, 2008 I'm considering birthday clown/magician as a backup career if nothing else pans out while I think of a better plan and prepare for another round of applications. My parents would be happy to have me back home, I'd get to hang out with little kids without actually going through the whole giving birth/raising process, and I make a fool of myself on a regular basis anyway so I've got loads of experience! I could probably dress my dog up like a mini-lion and bring her with me, too. Er.. on second thought, I really just hope I get in somewhere. I'm sure the clown/magician life is not nearly as glamorous as it seems to be. As far as passing the time until the rejections and hopefully acceptances start coming in, I have one word for you all: karaoke! Haha.. I'm actually getting pretty good. I'm a hit at the gay bars, anyway, and they tend to be a tough crowd.
rising_star Posted January 29, 2008 Posted January 29, 2008 Ermm... anyone know of a high-paying job that allows you to do basically nothing, while staying at exotic resorts on faraway beaches? Maybe I'll look into something like that. Travel writer.
pleasegodletmein Posted January 29, 2008 Posted January 29, 2008 travel writer, yes. but for those of us without a degree from Harvard, this is an impossible dream- check out the credentials of those bastards next time you pick up a Lonely Planet.
fedge Posted January 29, 2008 Posted January 29, 2008 I have been at work for three hours. I have checked my e-mail 42 times. Good or bad, I just want to hear something! At this point waiting is so much worse than rejection.
halifax Posted January 30, 2008 Posted January 30, 2008 Another thing to do while "Waiting it Out": string together random phrases comprised of words like 'admissions, decisions, committees, acceptances, meetings, graduate, forums" and google them, sometimes to great effect Check out the results of my queries: HILARIOUS!!! A couple of squabbling Ivys.... http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/v ... ?badlink=1 I found it amusing....will I, too, have virtual fireworks?? :evil:
crazypoligirl Posted February 3, 2008 Posted February 3, 2008 I just want to know! Don't these people realize that I only have so much hair to pull out? So much laundry to do? So much craigslist apartment trolling?? Why, WHY, WHY? I just want to know! Put me out of my misery (only with acceptances of course), PLEASE!!!! Okay, sorry folks, I just needed to unload. I am now returning to my saner side, lol.
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