Just told my supervisor I would be leaving...

[dapper]

So, I have been doing research with a prof for the last 2 years of my undergrad, back in January she said if I wanted she would be happy to have me as a grad student the following fall. I said that would be great but i still wanted to apply elsewhere. I applied and she wrote my references and all that. Anyway, then she left to go on sabbatical and told me she wanted to know by the end of MARCH if I was going to stay with her or not. So obviously I had no choice since I hadnt heard back from anywhere but to accept.

ANNDD as you can imagine as the months trickled by I started to get responses from schools.. a few rejections and then on my last hope from the one school out of them all I realllyyy wanted to get into an offer came. YAYY. but not yay at the same time.... Obviously I had to tell her I would be leaving after ALREADY telling her I would be working for her for the next few years.

Anyway, Im just coming back from her office sitting in my lab chair feeling really depressed after telling her, she was okay, obviously disappointed with me but she knows its a good opportunity. So here I am feeling like a bum looking for condolence from you guys...

weh

[Tall Chai Latte]

Well, I think it's normal to feel depressed telling your supervisor that you will be leaving after all. Maybe deep down, you still want to continue working with her. Because if you didn't like it there you wouldn't have stayed for the last two years of your undergrad. I experienced the same 'depression' when I told my undergrad supervisor that I'd be heading off to another institute for my PhD, and it was a lab I stayed with for 3 years of my undergrad and 1 post-bac year! They will understand, and you won't be the last undergrad coming through the lab.

It's okay, you will be just fine. I'm sure the program you got accepted to is a good choice as well!

[Dal PhDer]

I think you are feeling what most people would feel in this situation. Tall Chai Latte has framed it really well. I think it's an emotional and stressful situation, and you are probably feeling the blow back from all those emotions! I get like that during situations like this, once I finally go through it, I feel exhausted and drained. Also, I think the dynamics between student/supervisor are at play here..you probably didn't want to upset/disappoint/anger your supervisor and you know, her just feeling a little sad is going to impact you.

It sounds like the situation went well, and everyone will just need a little time to move past it. In no time she will be happy and rooting for you. All supervisors want to see their students succeed!