*I is stressed* venting thread for Fall 2020 Applicants

[CatastrophizingNerd]

3 hours ago, merpppy said:

After being rejected from (almost, hopefully NOT ALL!!!) the schools I applied to, what makes me the most sad is having to go through this process AGAINNNN.... next year.... and possibly having to take the GRE again. ugh. anyone else have this fear? I'm having many moments of dread over here!

I am too! How many schools / rejections? I applied for 10 but got only 6 left

[SocPsyPhDWannabe]

Just now, CatastrophizingNerd said:

I just got my plane tickets!

To Greece... where I'll be bartending until the next application cycle.

Relatable. I am studying for my Personal Training cert as we speak. The tragedy of having anything but a PhD in the field of psychology....under qualified to do almost anything in the field of psychology.

[JoePianist]

6 minutes ago, CatastrophizingNerd said:

I just got my plane tickets!

To Greece... where I'll be bartending until the next application cycle.

Congrats on the bartending gig

[Justice4All]

3 hours ago, merpppy said:

After being rejected from (almost, hopefully NOT ALL!!!) the schools I applied to, what makes me the most sad is having to go through this process AGAINNNN.... next year.... and possibly having to take the GRE again. ugh. anyone else have this fear? I'm having many moments of dread over here!

This was me last year. I applied to what I thought were PERFECT fit schools during my senior year of undergrad. January came and went and didn't hear a peep. I was absolutely devastated. Not gonna lie, that pain really stings especially as other friends were celebrating their successes. However, as much as cliche as it is, everything WILL work out! Either you will get into a program this year (fingers crossed!) and not have to worry, or you'll have an amazing gap year experience like I did hopefully directly in your field. I learned a lot this year about myself and as much as I thought I knew my interests, spending several months immersed full-time in my field of study let me grow tremendously. It's also still early, I'm giving myself until the week of Jan 20 to be nothing but extremely hopeful.

As far as having to do everything over again....it can suck, but it doesn't have to. You'll know how the GRE works (studying only took me a month), you'll be familiar with the process which takes some stress away. You can always ask for feedback on your application and fine tune your materials. Getting rejected will make you sad if you let it, but ultimately, it can be your best fuel for success. My second time applying was done with extreme focus and intention which has lead to. a few interviews thus far. Trust me, IT WILL HAPPEN!

[2ndTimeHopeful]

I’m thinking of pulling a “George” & just showing up on interview day at my #1 school & acting like I was invited. 

[hermm]

9 minutes ago, 2ndTimeHopeful said:

I’m thinking of pulling a “George” & just showing up on interview day at my #1 school & acting like I was invited. 

Hold up this is a move.

[Schy]

 

I'm just going to leave this here 

[Su08]

Are there any international students here?

Does anybody knows if they review international students separately or maybe  like after they review domestic students?  I have no idea what is happening and I keep checking my emails like a hundred thousand times a day. I have applied to 11 phd programs in total. Recently, I sent them an email to inquire about my status and they told me that all applications are under evaluation but I know that for some program they have sent out their invites as i have seen in Gradcafe forums. I have no ideas if they are going to send more later or that was it.  Just feeling extremely stressed at this point. 

 

[Justice4All]

It's Friday....there's bound to be good news today...right....RIGHT? 

[twotimer]

1 minute ago, Justice4All said:

It's Friday....there's bound to be good news today...right....RIGHT? 

What I've been thinking all week ?

[devpsych2020]

11 minutes ago, Justice4All said:

It's Friday....there's bound to be good news today...right....RIGHT? 

PLEASE

[devpsych2020]

Frozen 2's "Show Yourself" has been a great music to listen to before phone/skype interviews. Reminds me of all the hard work I've put in thus far (in layers of images/slow mo), makes me feel like my (well alive and healthy) parents are watching over me in the sky with graceful smiles on, and boosts my confidence and I internally shout, “Come to me now, [School]”. 

 

...Idk guys, as long as it works, right?

[clinicalpsych.2022]

47 minutes ago, Justice4All said:

It's Friday....there's bound to be good news today...right....RIGHT? 

I know UT Southwestern Medical Center said they will be sending out invites today, not sure about other schools. Fingers crossed!

[justacigar]

Okay, very unrelated to application stress, but I hate that GradCafe limits the amounts of reactions you can give in one day! I need to upvote the Fairly OddParents meme! I need to!

[Lioness]

14 hours ago, 2ndTimeHopeful said:

I’m thinking of pulling a “George” & just showing up on interview day at my #1 school & acting like I was invited. 

Yes! That reminds me of a guy I interviewed for job, who stuck around and then snuck into the company holiday party that afternoon. We hired him. 

[Psych1st]

3 minutes ago, Lioness said:

Yes! That reminds me of a guy I interviewed for job, who stuck around and then snuck into the company holiday party that afternoon. We hired him. 

I didn't expect that ending! 

[PsyZei]

26 minutes ago, justacigar said:

Okay, very unrelated to application stress, but I hate that GradCafe limits the amounts of reactions you can give in one day! I need to upvote the Fairly OddParents meme! I need to!

I upvoted it for you ?

[Schy]

32 minutes ago, justacigar said:

Okay, very unrelated to application stress, but I hate that GradCafe limits the amounts of reactions you can give in one day! I need to upvote the Fairly OddParents meme! I need to!

just knowing you want to upvote it is enough for me <33333333

 

(but also I had that vision clear in my head from the moment I woke up and had to make it for myself, my friends outside of phd applications/academia do not find me as amusing so thank u) 

[justacigar]

10 minutes ago, PsyZei said:

I upvoted it for you ?

 

3 minutes ago, Schy said:

just knowing you want to upvote it is enough for me <33333333

 

(but also I had that vision clear in my head from the moment I woke up and had to make it for myself, my friends outside of phd applications/academia do not find me as amusing so thank u) 

*sniff* thanks guys

I live off of memes these days so I appreciate your efforts ?

[StressyMess]

Need to rant! I am suddenly feeling really freaked out about this entire process. So many people I spoke to kept telling me, "oh you'll definitely get invites!" And now I'm feeling really anxious and ajdgsdljfgdjh. I got my first rejection and now I see invites coming in from schools that I applied to. I was so confident in my application but now I'm not so certain. Why was I so confident?! Such a garbage feeling to question your work, your time, and yourself!! I also know it's asinine to base your self-worth off of an application process when you're competing against 400+ people with similar credentials, but so challenging to keep my head up right now.

[emdreaming]

1 minute ago, StressyMess said:

Need to rant! I am suddenly feeling really freaked out about this entire process. So many people I spoke to kept telling me, "oh you'll definitely get invites!" And now I'm feeling really anxious and ajdgsdljfgdjh. I got my first rejection and now I see invites coming in from schools that I applied to. I was so confident in my application but now I'm not so certain. Why was I so confident?! Such a garbage feeling to question your work, your time, and yourself!! I also know it's asinine to base your self-worth off of an application process when you're competing against 400+ people with similar credentials, but so challenging to keep my head up right now.

This is a really stressful time. Be kind to yourself and do something nice for yourself just because. This is my third application cycle, and I can say that I have watched so many amazing, qualified, wonderful candidates get rejected, and some candidates with a seriously unique/ atypical background get accepted. It is such a gamble that is often sprinkled with some combo of knowing the "right people", luck, hard work, being the right applicant at the right time, funding, and a million other variables that we aren't even aware of. You were probably confident because you are qualified. But being qualified doesn't always equal getting the spot. It is not about you and your self-worth, even though it is easy AF to feel that way. Look how many people are on here freaking out. And that's just the people who are on here and posting. Think about the thousands of applicants who are in your shoes. This does NOT define you. YOU define YOU. Keep your head up, keep busy, and keep going. Rejection is NOT the worst thing in the world, and sometimes, in a crazy way, it helps put you on the right path. 

[Schy]

3 minutes ago, emdreaming said:

This is a really stressful time. Be kind to yourself and do something nice for yourself just because. This is my third application cycle, and I can say that I have watched so many amazing, qualified, wonderful candidates get rejected, and some candidates with a seriously unique/ atypical background get accepted. It is such a gamble that is often sprinkled with some combo of knowing the "right people", luck, hard work, being the right applicant at the right time, funding, and a million other variables that we aren't even aware of. You were probably confident because you are qualified. But being qualified doesn't always equal getting the spot. It is not about you and your self-worth, even though it is easy AF to feel that way. Look how many people are on here freaking out. And that's just the people who are on here and posting. Think about the thousands of applicants who are in your shoes. This does NOT define you. YOU define YOU. Keep your head up, keep busy, and keep going. Rejection is NOT the worst thing in the world, and sometimes, in a crazy way, it helps put you on the right path. 

THAT LAST SENTENCE THO OMG IM CRYING ?

[justacigar]

Next week feels like do or die time over here. The last 3 programs I'm waiting to hear from all sent out invites this time last year, and two of them are my #1 and #2 programs. NBD, I'm fine, totally fine, just my life trajectory hanging in the balance

????

[springxsummer]

2 hours ago, emdreaming said:

This is a really stressful time. Be kind to yourself and do something nice for yourself just because. This is my third application cycle, and I can say that I have watched so many amazing, qualified, wonderful candidates get rejected, and some candidates with a seriously unique/ atypical background get accepted. It is such a gamble that is often sprinkled with some combo of knowing the "right people", luck, hard work, being the right applicant at the right time, funding, and a million other variables that we aren't even aware of. You were probably confident because you are qualified. But being qualified doesn't always equal getting the spot. It is not about you and your self-worth, even though it is easy AF to feel that way. Look how many people are on here freaking out. And that's just the people who are on here and posting. Think about the thousands of applicants who are in your shoes. This does NOT define you. YOU define YOU. Keep your head up, keep busy, and keep going. Rejection is NOT the worst thing in the world, and sometimes, in a crazy way, it helps put you on the right path. 

This is so important. Well said.

[whitmanic]

27 with work experience, near perfect GRE scores, top 5-ranked undergrad institution, finishing a research psych master's, and just got 4 rejections in a row. I don't know what they want. Need to find a plan B for life...

Edited January 10, 2020 by whitmanic