What were you doing when you received your acceptance?

[lxwllms]

It was really late at night and I was doing some homework. I had been emailing my POI back and forth a few hours beforehand, and when he replied back that last time he said "you're in! You're going to receive an email with a funding offer sometime tomorrow" etc etc. Needless to say I didn't finish my assignment.

[MathCat]

For three, I had just gotten home from hanging out with one of my best friends. I called her my lucky charm for admissions. For one, I was just about to have a meeting with my research project supervisor - he walked into the room just as I excitedly told my mom "I GOT INTO <school>!!" on the phone, haha. For the remaining 2, including the offer I accepted, I was at an open house and had just decided I didn't like it there.

 

My rejections both came while I was trying to get some work done in the library... that bummed out feeling (they were my top choices at the time, but I'm thrilled about where I'm going) didn't help my productivity.

[jujubea]

First one: I was attending my son's trivia competition and got a call I couldn't answer. Stepped outside and listened to the VM. Then went bananas.

2nd one: regular ol' day freelancing at home, got a call with the right area code.

3rd one: similar to above but I remember getting the funding notification way more clearly, since this offer in particular was irrelevant w/out $ info. I was notified of funding while finishing dinner with my fam about one minute after I believed I would not get word that day.

On all 3 (4) occasions, I jumped up and down for several minutes in joy

[felinebookworm]

For School A, I was sorting through my Yu Gi Oh! cards to weed out the ones I don't want to keep and sell them.

For School B I was making noodles wondering if I was going to be plucked off the waitlist and turned out I was. So excited!

How will I decide between schools I do not know. Both schools are excellent.

[PhDEducation]

Finally able to post here!

 

I was chaperoning a week long trip and during one lunch finally got the amazing news via the schools portal! So excited

[adepaola21]

I was smiling the whole time reading everyone's acceptance stories. Congrats to all!

 

One morning when I woke up, I emailed the grad secretary at the school because my status on the application website said "decision made". I kindly asked if I was still in the running to be accepted. I'm sitting on my bed and she emails back 2 minutes later. All I could see was "happy" ... "inform".... "accepted" and "I was going to email you this afternoon, but you beat me to it". I started crying and then decided to read the email again just in case I misread it (LOL). Nope! Read it again and continued to cry. Called my mom right away to inform her of my PhD acceptance and we had a very positive and emotional chat!

[floatingmolecule]

The night before I was accepted, I had been very ill with a stomach flu.  I woke up feeling completely empty and wasted, without any desire to move.  It was a fitting state to be in, considering I'd had no luck with applications and was struggling to keep myself motivated and optimistic.  Waking up feeling sucked dry.... it was as though my body finally agreed with my mind.

I wanted to do nothing.

I didn't even get up to eat, just lay there, hoping to fall asleep again.

And then my phone went beep beep beep.

I frowned, thinking:

Ugghh, SPAM!

Looked down and saw:
Congratulations!

Followed by an offer of admission.

 

I got up.  Oh yeah.  I got up.

[hyronomus4]

For my second and most important one I was at work. Luckily the co-worker who shares my office was out for the day.  I got an email saying a decision has been made with the letter attached.  I closed the door to my office and I just stared at the screen for a few minutes before I opened the attached letter.  My heart was beating really fast and it felt like one of those big life-changing moments that I should be emotionally present for.  When I finally read it and it said I got in I started crying.  I gave myself a few minutes of emotional explosion before I fixed my makeup and went back to work like nothing happened.  Later I sent an email to some family and friends that contained all of the exclamation points I was forced to hold in at work. 

Edited April 28, 2015 by hyronomus4

[Prairiegirl2015]

For my first one I had just woken up from a 4 hour sleep after working a night shift. I was browsing the internet(with my email opened in the back) when I heard the notification. I checked the email to see the sender as MSW/PhD. My heart skipped a beat! after finding out I was accepted I could not believe my eyes as I was not expecting any notification for at least another month. After calling a friend and family, I did the biggest happy dance in history. I still have the acceptance letter on my kitchen fridge to remind me of my accomplishment everyday. Although I ended up not attending that university, anytime I see that acceptance letter it instantly elevates my mood! 

For the one that I am attending, I was at work and decided to check my email. I figured I was rejected as others on the forum had been notified about 3 weeks prior. I was thinking, finally the rejection notification. I opened it only to see a congratulations!!!! I was in shock! I had to read it over and over again. Not only was it an acceptance but there was a 9000 funding package in the form of a GAship! I remember complaining to my mother about graduate school expences just a couple days prior. After about a week and half, my formal acceptance letter came in the mail and I found out I had been awarded an additional 6000 dollar scholarship(merit based) I was beyound estatic. 

From time to take I take that acceptance letter out and reread it just to remind me of what an accomplishment i have achieved. 

For someone who has been dealing with some tough issues lately, reading that acceptance letter always takes me to a different place!

Edited April 28, 2015 by Prairiegirl2015

[SLPosteriorCricoarytenoid]

I will give some background. Before finding my way to my field (speech-language pathology), I had completed my undergraduate degree in an out-of-field major that was related (psychology and biology). I found my way to SLP through a lot of related experiences. Anyways, I had faced a lot of set backs and struggles my last few years of college. After graduating with my BS, I was dead set on pursuing SLP even though I was financially strapped. I paid out of pocked to complete a post-baccalaureate year of prerequisite courses and also for the graduate applications. I knew how large of a risk I was taking considering how competitive it is to get into master's program in this field. I was very aware that this entire year of courses could essentially go to waste if I couldn't get into a program. However, I took the risk since this is what I'm meant to do. I quite literally worked my tail off last summer so I could afford to do schooling this year. I knew that I had done everything in my power to make it happen, so I was ready to know the outcome. 

 

I was caught completely off guard when I received my first acceptance. I was working on a large group project when I saw the email pop up. I had a mini heart attack and I mentally prepared for a rejection. I was very aware of some of the extremely qualified people I was up against from interviews. To my surprise, it was an acceptance. I was in public and working on a group project so I had to do my best not to cry! I am not the crying type at all, but it was such a relief and unreal feeling. I was in a state of shock the entire day! The greatest feeling ever is knowing that your hard work has paid off. It was also a surreal feeling knowing that not only am I the only person in my family to get a 4 year degree, but I will be the first to receive a graduate degree as well. Later, I received even better news when I found out I was accepted into my top choice program. I had completely wrote the program off since I had a 5% chance of admission, but somehow I pulled it off! Moral of the story: Hard work and perseverance pay off. 

[scarvesandcardigans]

For School A, I was sorting through my Yu Gi Oh! cards to weed out the ones I don't want to keep and sell them.

For School B I was making noodles wondering if I was going to be plucked off the waitlist and turned out I was. So excited!

How will I decide between schools I do not know. Both schools are excellent.

 

I love this.

 

For my first acceptance, I had just sat down at work. I opened my email on my phone and saw that I had received a decision from my second-choice school (the one I am now attending). I opened the decision letter on my work laptop and just kind of sat and stared at it for a couple of minutes. I had only read "pleased to notify," which was in the first line. I didn't bother reading anything else. Then, I got up and walked into my boss's office and told her the good news. She is an alum of the same university, so she was really excited. Then I called both of my parents at work, texted my boyfriend, who called me on his lunch hour. I was on the phone a lot. Then I just kind of went back to work like nothing had happened.

 

For the second acceptance, I was waiting to hear back from schools toward early March, and had not received any other emails since the aforementioned. So I logged on to the application portal of one school, which had said that a decision was reached on Feb. 19, even though I had received no email about it being posted! I opened it and thought first, "Oh okay, rejection - I can handle it." I skipped the first paragraphs and skimmed the words "intent to enroll," and my heart skipped a beat, or five, and I read the rest of the letter. It was definitely a surprise. 

 

Kind of mellow, now that I look back on it. I wish I had done some kind of neat happy dance.

[FantasticalDevPsych]

So excited I can finally post on this thread after reading everyone's responses and thinking I'd not be able to do this until next year!

Due to a special circumstance I was allowed to apply to a university late, because of this I had been in contact with the grad admin throughout the entire application process.

Today I received an email from the grad admin saying the faculty are reviewing your application at this time (which I thought must have really meant right then) and you will hear shortly. Needless to say this made me very anxious. I decided to take a shower since I had just came back from Tae Kwon Do and it would prevent me from refreshing my phone every couple minutes. When I got out I checked my email again and there was an email from the admin with the subject line Acceptance Letter!

I wish I would have had some happy dance or something but I am about to meet with my current PI and I'm really looking forward to telling her!

Now I can say I got into grad school on Star Wars Day! May the 4th be with you!

[amoeba_chica]

I was driving. I noticed a missed call and a voicemail. As I was merging into 60mph traffic I heard, "We want to extend to you an offer of admission." I was on my way back to campus and then just could not wait to get back to tell my adviser.

I also received a late offer today, while walking through the zoo. I declined it as I'm already committed to the earlier offer.

[thepriorwalter]

For the school I ended up choosing, I had gone to the movies alone to see Big Hero 6. I had my phone on "do not disturb," which sends everything straight to voicemail (and rarely tells me if I missed a call that didn't leave a voicemail). I got home and took my phone out to call the friends I had plans with that night about what time I should meet them and saw I had a voicemail from Ann Arbor, MI that was 3 minutes long. Stared at the screen for five minutes before I could make myself press play.

[bsharpe269]

The school I have decided to attend was my 5th acceptance but I was still way more excited about this one than any of the others (including the first).

 

I was leaving my apartment to go visit a friend. Before driving off, I looked down at my phone since it was on silent and I had a missed call and voicemail. My phone said the call came from the city that my top choice PI had recently moved from so I immediately guessed it was him. I listed to the voicemail and it was him congratulating me on my acceptance! I started crying which didnt happen for any of the others (even the first) and I ran inside and gave my SO a huge hug while he kept asking me what was wrong since the tears threw him off.

[coffee_grad]

I love these stories. 

 

I couldn't sleep one night when I heard an email alert on my phone. I tilted up the phone, and my heart rate probably sky-rocketed when seeing the sender was a faculty member at my top-choice school. It was an email regarding travel funds to visit, which didn't initially mean I was accepted, but after some digging online at 3 AM local time, I figured out that only accepted students were offered travel funds. So, it was exciting but also strange to find out I got in before I was extended an offer. I didn't end up attending this university, because the funding package at another great university couldn't be matched. I got that call in a research meeting with my faculty mentor. I had to keep it together until the meeting was over and everyone left.

[OhioAud]

When I received my acceptance to the school I am attending I was on the phone with my dad telling him about how I didn't think I got in, because other people began posting acceptances and waitlists on the results page 3 hours earlier.  It was 6 o'clock at night and I thought it was too late in the day to hear from the school, so I assumed a rejection email would be coming the next day.  As I was talking to him, I heard my email *ding* and saw the acceptance email.

[Ashlée]

I wasn't doing anything in particular.  I was 95% sure I was going to go to France to teach English with TAPIF (Teaching Assistant Program in France) after I received a rejection from a school, assuming that I wouldn't be accepted to the other one and that, even if I was, I could defer admission.  I came upstairs to my bedroom in the apartment I share with my best friend/roommate, checked my email for the thousandth time that day, and about fainted when I saw an email waiting for me.  I believe the first words out of my mouth when I opened the PDF file and saw "Congratulations!" were, "Oh, my God!", at which point I practically flew downstairs and exclaimed to my roommate that I had been accepted to Concordia University, my top choice.  We jumped around and shrieked, and I cried, and that was pretty much when I knew there would be no deferral.

[Nolagirl]

When I got my acceptance letter for my MHS (May 2014), I was at work at a job I hated. I was working unpaid overtime, and I was crying because I felt like I would be stuck in a job like this forever. This was my third application cycle, and I hadn't been accepted to any PhD programs. This was the first Masters program I applied to, and when my mom called and told me I had a letter, I asked her to open it. I was sure it was another rejection. When she read, "Congratulations," I didn't think it was real. It took me 20 minutes to stop shaking! Now, hopefully I will have that feeling again soon for a doctoral program.

[onceinalifetime]

On 12/30/2015 at 3:15 PM, Nolagirl said:

When I got my acceptance letter for my MHS (May 2014), I was at work at a job I hated. I was working unpaid overtime, and I was crying because I felt like I would be stuck in a job like this forever. This was my third application cycle, and I hadn't been accepted to any PhD programs. This was the first Masters program I applied to, and when my mom called and told me I had a letter, I asked her to open it. I was sure it was another rejection. When she read, "Congratulations," I didn't think it was real. It took me 20 minutes to stop shaking! Now, hopefully I will have that feeling again soon for a doctoral program.

Wow third application cycle, thats tough! Way to hang in there though and keep trying. I can only imagine how the nerves must ramp up each year after getting rejection after rejection. Congratulations! Life is so unpredictable!

[Nolagirl]

@onceinalifetime definitely! Thanks! I feel now like it was a good thing. I've done so much more research, and I feel much more prepared for this application season. Hopefully I get good news this year! My applications are limited to my geographical area due to family, so that can make it tough. 

[onceinalifetime]

6 hours ago, Nolagirl said:

@onceinalifetime definitely! Thanks! I feel now like it was a good thing. I've done so much more research, and I feel much more prepared for this application season. Hopefully I get good news this year! My applications are limited to my geographical area due to family, so that can make it tough. 

Same here - I'm from Wash DC area but applying only in/around Los Angeles because my gf's career is taking her there. There are tons of East coast schools that have excellent programs that I'm giving up because of this. But I've also found 7 programs in the area I need to be in that I'd be happy at. So yea, I know the stress of feeling limited, like I wasn't able to give myself the best chance at making it. But we'll see.

[Nolagirl]

@onceinalifetime best of luck!!! I can't wait to find out if you get in! The stress of relocating must make the waiting period even more difficult. 

[onceinalifetime]

Was at work, nonchalantly checking my email, more out of boredom than anything else. It was 10 p.m. ET and I had just checked it 20 minutes prior, so I didn't expect anything important to be in there. I was pretty surprised to find an acceptance and full fellowship offer! My first one, so it felt pretty sweet!

[Nolagirl]

@onceinalifetime Congrats!!!! I know you must be so excited!