Being optimistic for a moment...

[MDLee]

Here I sit. It is the end of February and my string of rejections (that were coming almost daily for a couple of weeks there) has dried up and I've heard nothing for nearly 10 days. I am daring to imagine that somewhere out there there is a school that is genuinely interested in my work and really thinks that despite my fallings (there are a couple) I am still a good candidate worthy of funding.

So, being optimistic for a moment...

Those of you who have been accepted...anywhere. What was your reaction when you first got the notification?

Those of you who haven't...what will your reaction be when the notification arrives?

I imagine I will do a happy dance by the mailbox...then I envision myself dancing like Jim Carey through the cul-de-sac to my house...then perhaps taking the rest of the day off of thesis writing.

I know we're all stressed and waiting...but let's be positive for a minute. Couldn't hurt. :wink:

[GirlattheHelm]

Amen!

[[???? Insert the Hallelujah chorus here!! ????]]

I haven't gotten any news on any front as of yet. Nothing. Not even a bird dropping hurled at me from afar after my audacious attempt to even apply to these places. But, as the long and short of it is, I am excited to think of getting even a rejection. I know, I know - it will hurt like hell - but to know that I will NOT be going somewhere gives me an idea of what the future holds and begins to reveal whatever grand or abysmal happenings which are to be...

On the other hand, any acceptance means the adventure is grander and even more unknown than before. It will be delightful and interesting to see what is revealed from there on out.

And, in the end, I had a great undergraduate run that I can now relax and reflect upon in this time of waiting. I have to do nothing but wait...

Glorious is a life of leisure.

[MDLee]

And a round of celebratory drinks for the GradCafe!

[fuzzylogician]

My reactions vary. For most of them I was initially very excited (heart beating fast, jumping up and down and doing a little dance in my room) followed by a celebration in the evening, reading everything I can find about the university and the town during the night, leading to a sleepless night of me imagining myself at the university. With my last acceptance (today!) I was so shocked I screamed when the person on the phone told me I was admitted and proceeded to say things I now think were sort of embarrassing to the point she had to lol .

My friends think I'm still in shock because I didn't sound excited at all when I told them I was accepted, even though I've wanted to go to this school for like three years. I did go out to celebrate though, and I think it's safe to say that alcohol is the one constant factor involved in all of my acceptances..

[HisRoyalHighness]

I was so excited and to top it off after re-reading the acceptance letter three hours after getting it I discovered I'd received a $10,000 a year scholarship! I felt like Sally Field when she gave that Oscar speech: "You like me, you really like me!!"

Now I wish the other school would hurry up. I'm becoming resentful waiting and am already imaging myself at the school which accepted me. I've already decided if I'm wait-listed that I'm going to reject it.

[katanianQ]

well i'm more or less 0-7 right now.. only a few schools left and am finding it hard to be optimistic.

but i have promised myself that if i get rejected across the board, i will spend 2 months in greece while deciding what the hell to do with the rest of my life.

i figure that'll cushion the blow somewhat.

[Leahlearns]

The waiting (after one rejection that came a month ago this week) is killing me. I felt far more optimistic about my chances prior to that first letter. I don't know what the realistic way of thinking about all of this is supposed to be. Sure, I could still get in elsewhere. But somehow I find myself thinking about the odds that I won't get in anywhere far more often these days than I did prior to that rejection letter. I want to hear news and it often worries me that I still haven't heard anything from any of the other schools, but at the same time, for whatever reason, at this point I have a hard time imagining that news being positive. The first emotion an acceptance letter would trigger in me at this point would probably be disbelief. Ecstasy would, of course, follow. But opening e-mail and checking mail these days has become a task that requires first mustering up courage.

[dragynally]

I was down earlier this week but all of a sudden I have a burst of optimism. No good reason why just feel better. I wish us all luck!

[californian girl]

When I received my one and only offer so far I was thrilled!

I called everybody to tell! And made my mother happy (as she saw me really happy), although she did not agree with me applying and leaving the country!

Of course I read the acceptance letter uncountable times, searched everything about the school and did not sleep the first night....

The important thing that I am dreaming...day or night, wherever I am, from the bus to the bed of course...

I am never bored...

[was1984]

I haven't received any notices yet. I assume my reaction will vary depending on where I get in and what (if any) package I am offered.

Hearing good news from a safety school with a package will probably allow me to relax a little bit, but I doubt I will do any celebrating.

Hearing good news from one of my top choices will probably cause me to annoy everyone I know with repeated phone calls.

Hearing I was accepted without any package will probably cause me to weep a little inside, because any chance I had at financing my own M.S. went away with my job. (See my other thread )

[WindWhisked]

I find myself fortunate belonging to the undergraduate population of the graduate school I have my heart set on. I know many of the graduate students there and they know full well I intend to join their ranks. One person today saw me mulling over a homework assignment and asked me if I had heard yet. I told him I hadn't and I would let him know. He said he had tentatively good news - he had the dubious honor of helping the secretary send out rejection notices this week and I was definitely NOT on the list. My heart skipped a beat! I started dancing up and down the hallway. I would've belted out a song from Singing In the Rain but I didn't want to interrupt classes!

Now, he cautioned that he didn't know who was accepted - I might very well be on a waitlist. But just to know that the people I've worked with did not throw out my application before they had even looked at it is gratifying. If professionals in my field didn't need a master's to practice, I would be satisfied just with that kind of positive feedback. Now I'm crossing my fingers and hoping beyond all hope!

[MDLee]

What's really funny is that when I first got my acceptance (to a master's program w/o funding) I was like "Whatever" then when they upgraded me three days later to the PhD without funding I was like, "Carrot-and-Stick routine people!"...the day I got the email about my funding I was sitting in the grad assistant office thirty minutes before going in to defend my thesis. I screamed my head off and printed the email out for my committee chair who promptly took it around to every open door in the department to tell them that I had made it in with funding.

I guess she's kind of proud of me

April 16 was a good day.

[belowthree]

Congrats... that story reminds me of my undergraduate application process when I got offered winter admittance without my major, housing or the college I wanted to enter and then they contorted themselves around afterwards and offered me all of that with regular admission and then casually sent me a letter telling me they were placing me into their honors program...

Admissions processes are crazy. Congrats on funding!