When did it hit you?

[Klee185]

I just took my GRE today and while I was waiting to be called in the room to take my test it hit me. I. am. applying. to. graduate. school. It was kind of a cool moment. I was just wondering if anyone else had those moments? Where were you or what were you doing? Tell me about it so I don't feel like a crazy person.

[eevee]

Congrats on taking your GRE!! It didn't hit me until a lot later, probably first when I asked someone to read over my SoP for the first time and then definitely when I submitted my applications over thanksgiving break and saw the toll it took on my bank account :')

[Elephas]

It didn't hit me until I submitted my first application and then it really hit me when I got my first response from a school

Edited April 2, 2018 by Elephas

[XVIIA]

I've been out of undergrad for about 5 years now, but I always kind of thought I wanted to get a PhD. I had a vague plan for awhile, but it's hard to leave a job I really like, etc. This year I finally pulled the trigger. So for me, it's been several moments of "Oh, wow, this is finally and actually happening. I'm really doing this."

One was after I submitted my first application. Before that, nothing I did truly committed me to attending this fall versus some time in the next several years. The biggest one was actually as I was heading to the airport for my first interview. I was like, whoa, this is it. Not only am I really doing this, but I may be about to see and experience where I'll be for the next 5 years.

[lemma]

It didn't hit me until I walked onto campus and got my office. That first day. 

It really hit me after the first coursework seminar. 

[brainlass]

Through the long and arduous process of researching options, preparing applications, flying out for interviews, waiting to hear back, receiving acceptances... It still did not really sink in that I was really forging a path for my future. The day that I made my decision and formally accepted an offer,  I felt relieved and satisfied, but honestly still felt pretty business-as-usual.

Then I announced it to my lab, and the post-doc came up to me, put both hands on my shoulders, and said, "This is the first day of the rest of your life. You're going to get a PhD!"
Finally, it hit me.

[waltzforzizi]

It still hasn't hit me! I mean I am going to Berkeley with a pretty good package and have yet  to cry or scream out loud. I think it will hit me on my first day. 

I'm kind of upset that it hasn't haha.

[Hi!]

It has not hit me yet. It might happen once I purchase the flight to USA or I step into my new apartment that it might start to feel real.

For now, I just feel anxiety due to all the paperwork that's needed

[Melvillage_Idiot]

I was in a weird place when I started my MA a few years ago, so that particular step in grad school honestly never hit" me. It was just another thing I was doing at the time.

My PhD search, on the other hand, hit me after I got home from visiting the second of my two prospective schools. I'd had a really good visit to both of them, and I knew that no matter where I ended up, I'd be happy. That felt amazing.

I'm sure it'll hit me all over again during the preparation for a cross-country move, although that "hit" might be far more literal and involve me dropping a box of books on my foot on the way to the UHaul.

[Halek]

It mostly hit me when I got an email inviting me to interview. It still haven't fully sunk in yet though.

I feel like it might start to feel real when I'm packing up my things to move in July.

[waltzforzizi]

On 4/3/2018 at 8:33 AM, lemma said:

It didn't hit me until I walked onto campus and got my office. That first day. 

It really hit me after the first coursework seminar. 

lmao, don't know why but this is really funny. How are your seminars? What type of coursework do you have?

[lemma]

13 hours ago, waltzforzizi said:

lmao, don't know why but this is really funny. How are your seminars? What type of coursework do you have?

This class is a mathematical statistics class for those of us in mathematical finance, econometrics and actuarial science. It was a brutal awakening when the professor handed out the first assignment that day. I had been in the workforce for a few years, and had also completed my undergraduate in a different (though related) major). I hadn't rearranged an equation in a long while, let alone do pure math proofs....

[TeacherTurningSocialWorker]

It didn't really hit me until I got accepted to Columbia and NYU on the same day. Like, I grew up a poor kid, only child of a single, 16 year old mother. Was always "smart" and always did well in school without really trying. It was a proud moment when I graduated from undergrad (also the first in my family to go to any type of college!!), but it was a prouder moment when I called my mom and told her that I was accepted to an Ivy League school for graduate work. Even though I won't be attending Columbia, I'm so proud of myself. So it's hitting me now when I'm realizing the amount of loans I'll need to take out, while also quitting my job to complete a full time program. Eek!