What is your method of madness??

[musichistorygeek]

I just found out that one of my top choices might not notify me until well into March. This will not bode well for my obsession/current level of procrastination.

[FutureSLP]

Wow, I am so jealous of those of you who are expecting to hear back from schools soon!

Most of mine won't start mailing letters until mid-March or the end of March, so I have a while to wait.

This doesn't stop me from obsessively stalking my in-box, university websites, and the mailman, however.

[emoleys]

I have my Mail program constantly on. Every time I hear that ding, I immediately click to the program. I'm expecting a response within the next 2 weeks. This waiting is only helping me procrastinate on other tasks I very much need to take care of (i.e. taxes, homework, etc.). I'm on the verge of tearing my hair out!

[antithesis]

I had phdcomics for about 1.3 days. Read.

I check my email every five seconds. No hyperbole. No joke. I know that gmail will update itself but I just push the refesh button anyway. I have absolutely no idea what's gong on in any of my classes currently.

I have been actively seaching for more websites like thegradcafe to see if results are posted by people anywhere else that I would otherwise be missing or more mindless graduate level comics. Haven't found any yet. Recently I've been going back to collegehumor and fmylife for mindless humor.

Like another poster I now know everything about the towns I'm applying in. I have also watched EVERY video relating to the universities I'm applying to. Seriously. All of them.

Please give me more suggestions.

[amandacarol1215]

My poor mail lady. I sit at home and watch out the door for the mail truck to pull up, and then run downstairs and wait for her to put everything in the mail boxes. Yes, she watches me and I'm sure she thinks I'm pathetic, but at least I'm not alone!

[Oh the waiting game]

I check my postal mail so much that for a second I thought someone was stealing my mail and called the postal service but they told me in a very nice way that I was a little bit crazy! But every time I put my key in my mailbox and slowly open it only to find that there is nothing inside, a little piece of my sanity floats away!

[flotsam]

I hate that the URL for the gmail inbox changes to "https://mail.google....0/?shva=1#inbox" after I log in. My brain sees 'inbox' and '=1' and automatically makes it "Inbox=1 YAY YAY!"

NO, BRAIN, THERE'S NO NEW MAIL THERE, I TOLD YOU THE LAST TIME.

Down, Brain, Down!!

(It's alive!!!!!! It has a mind of its own, this brain of mine!)

My hand reaching for my laptop to check my email is like it has Alien Hand Syndrome...like Dr. Strangelove.

Edited February 22, 2011 by flotsam

[VernalEq]

I'm literally driving myself mad playing the waiting game. I know because although its causes me such distress to keep checking my email (even in the middle of the night) to sadly find an empty inbox, I continue to obsessively check every every 5 minutes. Worse yet, I am the midst of finding a part-time job to take my mind off grad school letters and am finding no luck. Ahhhh. I figure that by Friday all of my letters will have arrived and I can breath deeply. One acceptance at least keeps me sane.

[CauchyFan]

I've pretty much come to grips with not going to my dream school. In fact, now I'm anticipating returning to my current institution to get my Masters. I get to get a real (government) job in 2 years or so and I'll make more money than I would have as a professor anyways!

Though I have no idea how I would react if I wind up getting accepted at the last minute or something.

[diber]

I just found out that one of my top choices might not notify me until well into March. This will not bode well for my obsession/current level of procrastination.

Yes! I'm expecting an early March response from a couple of my places, and I just don't get it! Why the torture!? They had very early due dates for applications...in Dec! What's taking them so long!? I mean, they know they want, just get on with it, then.

[diber]

And I've just finished knitting my 6th hat since I filled out applications. Just trying to make my hands do something besides check email.

[jmacnomad]

My routine is pretty much the same as those above. Right now I'm really wishing I didn't have an office job where I can access to the internet all day long! I'm feeling guilty because I'm becoming a slacker with OCD!

[DrPepper-olic]

This week, eating Girl Scout cookies in front of the computer has slowed down the email-refresh-repeat cycle. Not by much. And I look like Cookie Monster.

(I thought going to the gym would stop the insanity, but my iPhone is an enabler!)

[mscongeniality1]

I need to stay away from the results page for awhile, methinks. Responses are FINALLY starting to go up for my schools/programs and it's making me crazy with impatience and anxious that, even though people are getting news today, I have somehow been rejected because I haven't been called/emailed/sent a letter yet.

[rainbowworrier]

I've lost 10 lbs in the last month from the anxiety of waiting. The deadline for my top program was Feb 1, but I submitted everything back in mid December, thinking (foolishly) that would somehow speed things up.

I can't compare to previous years because nobody has ever posted anything. I also cannot consult the FAQ page because the department doesn't have one.

The poor ladies at Graduate Admissions, and the Dept. Secretary know nothing about when admissions decisions are typically made, and no statistics are listed about how many applicants usually apply/admitted/GRE means/GPA means/ etc.

I'm attempting to not drive myself bonkers over this, but not knowing is excruciating!

[MoJingly]

My routine is pretty much the same as those above. Right now I'm really wishing I didn't have an office job where I can access to the internet all day long! I'm feeling guilty because I'm becoming a slacker with OCD!

DITTO!

[planetparker]

me too!

DITTO!

[avas]

My routine is pretty much the same as those above. Right now I'm really wishing I didn't have an office job where I can access to the internet all day long! I'm feeling guilty because I'm becoming a slacker with OCD!

THIS. Already had OCD... slacker part is new.

[GI1]

I do check my email like all the time and think a lot about future, I imagine myself holding an admission from one of my top schools and so on.... sometimes the opposite case,no admissions and then I would feel empty and so sad I can't even express.... I feel like I'm gonna get crazy waiting, oh God give me strength....

[everygirl]

First post. Breaking my cherry because I identify so, so much.

It seems that my programs notify acceptees by email, and rejects by snail mail. I've submitted my parents mailing address as my contact address, so either my Blackberry will show an acceptance email, or a text from my mom that a thin envelope has arrived from one of the schools. But since it seems that I won't be notified either until March, my Blackberry is mostly showing me that emails saying that I can enlarge a piece of anatomy that I don't possess. I've started to get seriously turned off by penises.