What were you doing when you received your acceptance?

[anxietygirl]

I was in a CVS getting antibiotics with my boyfriend, who had strep, when I got my first acceptance. It was kind of embarrassing because I immediately started crying and jumping up and down. He started crying too, so everyone was just kind of staring at us. Then I called my parents and told them. My mom was in the grocery store, and she started crying. It was way more public than I would have liked, but also it was one of the best feelings ever. 

[nevermind]

I'd just driven home after work (where I received my rejection from Harvard). After stuffing my face with a dark chocolate square to ease the pain, I started getting ready to go to the gym...because I didn't just want to sit around feeling sorry for myself. I checked my email and voila--my acceptance from UCSD was there, with info to admitted students day. It wasn't a *total* shock (I had positive interviews with my POI), but it was really nice to get an acceptance "in hand" (or in my inbox) so to speak.

[bioanth]

I was walking out my door, heading to class, when I checked my email one last time. Saw an email saying "decision available to view". I immediately ran back inside, leaving the door wide open, dumped my backpack out onto my bed, grabbed my laptop, and checked the portal. My hands were shaking so bad I almost couldn't type my password! And I saw "accepted" on my letter and I started sobbing and called my mom, who thought something terrible must have happened. It was an emotional moment for me, if you couldn't tell. My dreams were validated!!!

[8bitsushi]

I'd just woken up (international student, so different time zone)... checked my email and saw an unfamiliar name above the word "Congratulations...!" in the email preview, and my heart started racing. Read the offer letter and was pretty delighted to find details of full funding, from one of my two top choices. A nice email from my POI quickly followed. This came unexpectedly early, and at a splendid time during a rather crappy month where I didn't know where my life was heading -- but now there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it seems. A point in life I'll never forget.

Needless to say I didn't get any work done for the next couple of days  

Edited February 18, 2016 by 8bitsushi

[floatinggreenskull]

I had a crappy morning at work, so when I was off instead of going straight home to stew, I called up my good friend and asked if we could get lattes or something. As we were driving in her car, my phone alerted me to an email (and I had just been jokingly venting to her a few minutes earlier about how a musicological mailing list I am on is constantly sending me stuff, thus giving me small anxiety attacks several times a day). 

"Ugggh I wonder what this one is..." -- me, opening the email and hiding it with my finger so I can reveal it a bit at a time. (Schrodinger's Email...?)

"AN ACCEPTANCE," she exclaims in her blessedly normal positive manner. I am doubtful but as I slowly pull my finger away, I see the words "Congratulations," "acceptance," etc....and I start to read it aloud to her, breaking into full-blown sobbing of happiness as I do so.  My first acceptance, with a dream financial package, and honestly the first time anything like this has ever happened in my life. Still waiting on 5 other schools to get back to me, but it feels so...validating? to know I've got a spot that I would be more than excited to attend, and that I am for sure leaving my hometown in a few short months to begin this new adventure. 

Edited February 18, 2016 by floatinggreenskull

[Musicologist]

For the first acceptance, I was at work.  I opened up my email around 8:00 am as usual, and saw that the school had emailed around 7:45 am.  It said that they were writing with good news and when they could schedule a conversation.  That conversation didn't happen until around 12:00, so I was a wreck the whole time.  Needless to say, not much work was done during those 4 hour of waiting.  When I finally did talk to them and heard about the funding, I was ecstatic all day and barely functioned.

For the second acceptance, I had just come home from work.  It was late, around 7:30pm, and had started making dinner when I saw a big envelope on the kitchen counter.  When I saw the school logo, I dropped the food and opened the envelope.  I read the first word only (congratulations) when I started screaming and whipping out my phone to text my friend, my graduate advisor, and another friend.  Then, I called two other people.  That evening, I finally read the letter in its entirety. 

Good times.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Musicologist

[Need Coffee in an IV]

I love reading these! For my acceptance there's not too much of a story. I was just randomly checking all my portals around 8ish and I saw I was accepted at the University of Oregon! I told my boyfriend as soon as I saw the email since he was right there ha. I then told everyone else the next day. Still waiting on funding.

[ihatechoosingusernames]

I'm so happy to be able to post in this thread!

I had interviewed at this school about a week and a half earlier, and was told that I was either going to be accepted or put on a short waitlist. I was actually asleep on Monday morning when I got the call from my POI. I spent the first three rings of my phone trying wake up and make it sound as though I had been up and about like a normal human being during the work week. When I finally answered the phone, my POI says. "Hi! Do you have a moment for a really quick chat?" Really quick? Oh great. I guess it'll just take a quick second to put me on the waitlist. "I just wanted to let you know that we've decided to accept your application, and hope that you'll join us..." at which point I lost track of what she said because I floated away on a cloud of joy! 

[DrZoidberg]

I think it is funny how many hours I've spent obsessively opening my browser and checking my mail and logging on to websites, with no results, of course, but the moment I am tired in the supermarket, buying paper towels and milk, my phone throws an acceptance at me to an absolutely incredible, totally unreachable, program, whose rejection I had already come to terms with in my mind. My partner found me sobbing in the bread aisle, thinking something awful had happened. Tonight's menu was quickly changed to wine, wine, and wine. 

[Cat_Robutt]

I had been outside working on my car all morning to avoid email, gradcafe, and thinking about how waiting another week for my top choice to send notifications was torture. When I came inside to check my work email, there was one from the Dean of my top choice school titled "PhD." Heart RACING, I checked it: "Let us know when would be a good time to call." I immediately replied back something to the effect of "WHENEVER. NOW. PLZ." A few minutes later the phone rang and I'm surprised I didn't break down crying. My heart is still racing!

[BellaBendrix]

I was coming out of the gym, sweating like a pig, when I checked my email. I was so excited I ran back to the box to tell my coach, because I felt I HAD TO TELL SOMEONE to make it real. It was a weird, sweaty and ew hug what I got. I screamed like a girl. 

[CarefreeWritingsontheWall]

Oh tears. I was on a connecting flight back from a mediocre open house (with no guaranteed admit, invited to interview as part of their shortlist) when I went to turn off my phone and I got the email from Princeton. First official acceptance. I was sitting in the back surrounded by a ton of business associates flying together. I squealed, and restrained a scream of delight. The woman sitting next to me looked at me like I was insane. Spent the whole flight holding in happy tears and trying not to look crazy. 2 years ago I was rejected from everywhere I applied. Never thought this could happen - genuinely believed that all of my applications were a waste of money because of poor GRE scores. Currently been accepted to 4/5 programs that I've heard back from, with 3 more pending. Still so overwhelmed by this result.

Edited February 20, 2016 by CarefreeWritingsontheWall

[Love3]

It was Thursday, the day that the first school I interviewed with said that I would here back. I just kept checking my email and kept my phone near me waiting for a phone call. All day I heard nothing! Evening came around, I was trying to convince myself that I had been rejected, convincing myself that it will be okay because it was only my first interview. My aunt called me to see if I had any good news or news at all but I didn't have anything to say. She says make sure to check your junk mail and keep your head up if you don't see anything. So I check again before I went to sleep around 11 even though I didn't think they would send out email acceptances that late. I went to sleep so sad and defeated. I wake up the next morning and open my email and I see an email with the subject line of "Your ...... University Application". I open it and the first word says "Congratulations". I couldn't scream because I was in shock but all the family members I called screamed for me. The craziest part about it is I couldn't believe what time they acceptance was sent: 11:17 pm. I guess they send out acceptances that late after all!! If only I would've stayed up a few minutes later.. 

[FoxAndChicken]

I was in my English Fantasy class and I got an email from CMU and I made a bunch of faces very quickly like   and the professor asked if I had something to contribute to discussion and I remembered we were talking about encounters with death. 

[AspiringAstroneer]

I was asleep. Woke up to a text and a notification to my email, and BAM... there was an email stating "Congratulations!"

Couldn't go back to sleep, so I called my family, shared the news, and then went for a run to celebrate!

[porcorosso]

Finally, I can write my story on this thread!

I came back from school. I came back from school around 10pm. I was obsessed with my quantum chemistry homework, and had not checked my application status all day. Anxiety attacked me, and made me check the gradcafe results page. One person got into the program of the schools I applied to, saying the admission decision is up on the webpage. Immediately, I checked my application. I saw a message logo on my application, and opened it. .......delighted to offer you admission to the Physics Phd program beginning Autumn Quarter 2016...... I stopped breathing, and read the same sentence from the beginning to make sure I understood English correctly. (English is not my mother tongue) I showed my girlfriend to make sure that I read it right. (Forgive me for how stupid I was. I was excited) "Fuck this chemistry shits, I do not have to worry about it any more!" (I completed it in a perfect manner indeed ;D) 

I checked the webpage technically on Friday. On the same day, I presented my thesis at the chemistry department. I got good reactions from the audience. I went to a fancy dinner held at my college because I won a leadership award. It was the nicest day in the last four years.

[sierra918]

I've been dying to add my story here! It's not an overly interesting one though!! I emailed my POI this morning to see if he had any news. In the afternoon, he sent a reply saying that I'd been accepted with an amazing funding package!! I screamed when I read it and scared my 4-year old to death!! This is my top choice, and I'm ecstatic to attend!!

[rhombusbombus]

I got one acceptance while I was in class, another when I was doing my morning email check.

I got funding for one school while I was getting ready fro recruitment day at another.

[iloveOM]

43 minutes ago, rhombusbombus said:

I got one acceptance while I was in class, another when I was doing my morning email check.

I got funding for one school while I was getting ready fro recruitment day at another.

I got my email after morning email check.

I think that it is healthier to receive admission offer in the morning, because you will have good mood the whole day, eat out to celebrate, no more junk food bla bla.

Other time? Ahh... As in the evening, people can hardly go to sleep

[TwirlingBlades]

Hey friends! I am a long time lurker, but finally made a real account, lol.

I knew when my acceptance was coming because the school I applied to (where I'm doing my undergrad) emailed me saying that the decision would be on the online portal in 48 hours. So, the night before my decision was going to be up (the decision was going to be up at ~9am) I couldn't sleep. I woke up, after tossing and turning all night, at about 9:30. I opened my laptop, where I had the portal already open, logged in, and checked my decision. I saw that I was accepted, took a HUGE sigh of relief, and then rolled over and went back to sleep. 

I'm pretty sure I didn't get any funding through my department, so I have to look in other departments  I have no official word yet, though. 

[Phiner. Determination]

I was packing to drive to another interview... Phone had a missed call from an unrecognized number.. The rest is a wonderful memory!! This is surreal!!! 

[lucky_stars]

Thankfully I was at home for my rejection, but I was at work on Sunday evening when the email popped up on my phone about a decision from the MSW program I applied to (yep, only one--ALL  the eggs in one basket!) I immediately called my sister while trying to open the PDF on the my phone and finally had to open it on my work computer. I wanted to cry so much, but held it together so I could repeat the conversation to my mom and then my coworkers. It was a pretty fantastic day. 

[Keya]

Hiii! Well, it's been a while since I got my acceptance, but I only just noticed this thread.

So I was returning from a wedding, and although I had been in a hyper-aware state when it came to my phone buzzing because of the whole waiting for decisions thing, the decisions were put out of my mind because of the wedding. I casually checked my phone and saw a mail from something called the ISSS (International Students Something Something) at one of the universities I had applied to. I opened it and found that the mail was asking me to start Visa process. I was annoyed for a minute thinking this was some cruel joke because I hadn't received any sort of admit from anywhere. I checked the application page when I got home (Hardest half hour of my life!). One of the other people who got an offer for the same program as me got a mail to look for housing before he got the mail telling him about the decision.

I'm waiting for more decision, but it really is validating. I'm not entirely useless! 

The mail telling me that a decision has been uploaded on the application page reached me the next morning.

[ChrisTOEFert]

While I was at work, while my girlfriend was cooking me dinner, while I was sleeping, and one while I was anxiously waiting.  I think I need to have my mind preoccupied to work in my favour.  

[tdcp]

Setting up a PCR..