Feel like I'm going Crazy

[LadyWolfshadow]

34 minutes ago, Larkin said:

The coronavirus, in combination with the election, is making this period so much more stressful. I'm only waiting to hear back from one more school (waitlisted), so there should be a sense of relief and joy. It's almost over! I have offers that I'm excited about! But having to spend time at home and the tension and fear around is making that sort of lightheartedness difficult. Is anyone else experiencing this?

I would also really like to know whether/how it is influencing admissions decisions.

I'm absolutely experiencing this.  I've only got three schools I never heard from, acceptances to two programs I really like, and now I'm a giant ball of anxiety when I should be super happy about this.  It's like...I know that I'm going to be a PhD student in the fall and I should be excited and happy, but my visits got cancelled and my entire university system shut down for two weeks, so there's even more time to stress out about all of this even though it's almost over.

[Larkin]

58 minutes ago, LadyWolfshadow said:

I'm absolutely experiencing this.  I've only got three schools I never heard from, acceptances to two programs I really like, and now I'm a giant ball of anxiety when I should be super happy about this.  It's like...I know that I'm going to be a PhD student in the fall and I should be excited and happy, but my visits got cancelled and my entire university system shut down for two weeks, so there's even more time to stress out about all of this even though it's almost over.

That sounds terrible, having everything yanked out from under you all at once! I'm so sorry. It's hard to feel celebratory when the whole world has gone topsy-turvy, daily life is disrupted with more to come, and everything is strange and uncertain. Congratulations on those acceptances, though! Hope some happiness comes.

[masthana]

4 hours ago, LadyWolfshadow said:

I'm absolutely experiencing this.  I've only got three schools I never heard from, acceptances to two programs I really like, and now I'm a giant ball of anxiety when I should be super happy about this.  It's like...I know that I'm going to be a PhD student in the fall and I should be excited and happy, but my visits got cancelled and my entire university system shut down for two weeks, so there's even more time to stress out about all of this even though it's almost over.

Feeling this too. I'll partake in whatever "virtual open house" my accepted department can arrange, but it's definitely a bummer. 

I also feel that it's never going to be over, you know? We're on the precipice of the grueling first year. I got accepted to one place - check - but now I have to plan and strategize how I'm going to interact with faculty over Skype, think about negotiation of funding, relocate across the country, etc etc.

[LadyWolfshadow]

11 hours ago, masthana said:

Feeling this too. I'll partake in whatever "virtual open house" my accepted department can arrange, but it's definitely a bummer. 

I also feel that it's never going to be over, you know? We're on the precipice of the grueling first year. I got accepted to one place - check - but now I have to plan and strategize how I'm going to interact with faculty over Skype, think about negotiation of funding, relocate across the country, etc etc.

It's definitely a lot of planning and strategizing at this point.  One of my programs already reached out to us yesterday letting us know that the program director is going to host a video conference next week to talk to us and they're trying to organize the virtual visit thing for early April and the other one hasn't said anything yet about it, but their campus had confirmed cases of COVID-19 so I'm giving them some time to put out at least some of their dumpster fire.  I have no clue how the faculty interactions are going to go long distance, especially since I read so much into tone of voice and body language that doesn't translate well online.  Regardless of which way I choose, I'm having to look at moving 700-800 miles away so it's going to be a huge logistical challenge. 

What sucks is realizing that if it's going to take them until early April to put this stuff together, there's going to be so little time to think before we have to sign our papers to commit to our programs.

[masthana]

4 hours ago, LadyWolfshadow said:

It's definitely a lot of planning and strategizing at this point.  One of my programs already reached out to us yesterday letting us know that the program director is going to host a video conference next week to talk to us and they're trying to organize the virtual visit thing for early April and the other one hasn't said anything yet about it, but their campus had confirmed cases of COVID-19 so I'm giving them some time to put out at least some of their dumpster fire.  I have no clue how the faculty interactions are going to go long distance, especially since I read so much into tone of voice and body language that doesn't translate well online.  Regardless of which way I choose, I'm having to look at moving 700-800 miles away so it's going to be a huge logistical challenge. 

What sucks is realizing that if it's going to take them until early April to put this stuff together, there's going to be so little time to think before we have to sign our papers to commit to our programs.

@LadyWolfshadow I feel the exact same!! The only reason I haven't committed to my one acceptance is because somehow 3 programs still haven't gotten back to me (and 1 of them had an application deadline of early December....) and I want to negotiate my offer. 

Luckily, since I'm already sure about my program, I can start to get the ball rolling on things like housing

[LadyWolfshadow]

1 hour ago, masthana said:

@LadyWolfshadow I feel the exact same!! The only reason I haven't committed to my one acceptance is because somehow 3 programs still haven't gotten back to me (and 1 of them had an application deadline of early December....) and I want to negotiate my offer. 

Luckily, since I'm already sure about my program, I can start to get the ball rolling on things like housing

I still have three that I haven't heard back from yet and all were 12/1, 12/3, or 12/15 deadlines.  I'm pretty much writing them off at this point since the ones that I have access to see the status are in various flavors of "under review" and have been there forever.  I wish I was in some kind of position where I could negotiate anything, but it seems like that's pretty rare and I'm definitely not the most competitive candidate, so it feels like a minor miracle that either of these programs wanted me in the first place.

I'm just now realizing that I have exactly one month to figure this all out and sign on the dotted line, then I have to worry about things like relocating. 

This whole process is a giant flustercluck.

[masthana]

How are things going for everyone?

Are folks relieved that the process is over?