Feeling Burnt Out - Should I Wait to Apply?

[burningout]

I have been slowly burning out for the past 3 years. I know that grad school is definitely something I want and need to do, but like many others, applications are freaking me out.

I've been ridiculously busy for the past year, and will continue to be ridiculously busy until next summer. I don't have enough time to study for the GRE, and I don't have a real writing sample.

Literally the only main motivation I have to applying now is because I don't want to be stuck with nothing left for next year, and I don't want to lose strong letters of recommendation (I just worked with one professor, and the others are retiring in a year, so I need to get them now.)

However, I'm tempted to just ask them to put their letters in my school's recommendation service database (even though that'll cost me a ridiculous amount of money - like $10 every time they send a letter) and wait until next year.

I'm burnt out as it is, and I feel like I'll never catch a break. I don't mind working at a "menial" job as long as I can pay rent in a small studio and get internet in my house. I'm mainly worried that it'll just look bad on future resumes, and that it'll hurt my application.

Any advice or recommendations? I feel like I'm slowly going crazy.

[Usmivka]

Time off sounds necessary, but I understand the time pressure the other way. Can you get accepted and defer for a year? This may be less common in the humanities, but in the sciences advisers sometimes will even want you to defer based on their funding schedule.

I don't think a reference in a database is a good idea--the reccs can't be tailored to the places you eventually apply and may not hit points that you think are particularly important for a given application or prorgam.

Edited September 10, 2012 by Usmivka