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Anyone else losing their damn mind?


gradorbust

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I hate weekends :D It gets utterly boring as you know all the BING BANG BOOMz coming from your inbox are either advertisements or the girlfriend :))

 

(I'm sure your girlfriend appreciates that. :P) I was excited for Monday. Then I realized that it's a holiday and all of my schools are closed. Now I can be excited for Tuesday!

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(I'm sure your girlfriend appreciates that. :P) I was excited for Monday. Then I realized that it's a holiday and all of my schools are closed. Now I can be excited for Tuesday!

 

I'm right there with you.  It's been a while since I've found myself anxious for the weekend to be over.

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Does anyone else feel sharp pangs of anxiety every five minutes when the thought, "WHY did I ONLY apply to super competitive programs? Did I really think I could get into any of those places?" passes through your mind?

 

Interviewed 3 places before applying because the PIs knew my UG thesis advisor and were available when I emailed at beginning of semester.  Haven't heard anything since and I'm getting very, very worried...maybe my app was garbage, destroying all good will from academic nepotism.  Please lord, no.

 

Wanna really hate life? Go back and read your SoPs.

 

ShootSelf.gif

 

I read my first few... and then I wrote a letter of apology, which I mailed... to myself. And then I tied me to a mule and let it drag me around town.

 

Dear Vin, I'm sorry about those SoPs. Clearly November was the wrong month to quit smoking crack. Better luck next time, fool! 

          Sincerely,

          Your-whole-damn-stupid-Self.

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On Friday, I found myself rereading an " your application is complete" email. I noticed that it said "Please note, only applications that are complete by the deadline are guaranteed review." Now, while I had everything in days and days in advance (confirmed before I got that email), I got that email the day after the deadline. I started a reply email asking if my application would still be reviewed but saved it as a draft because I didn't want to come across as an idiot...

 

I'm losing my mind, right? There's no way I can control when they process my stuff. As long as everything was there by the deadline, I should be fine, right?

 

Someone alleviate my fears, please :(. 

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On Friday, I found myself rereading an " your application is complete" email. I noticed that it said "Please note, only applications that are complete by the deadline are guaranteed review." Now, while I had everything in days and days in advance (confirmed before I got that email), I got that email the day after the deadline. I started a reply email asking if my application would still be reviewed but saved it as a draft because I didn't want to come across as an idiot...

 

I'm losing my mind, right? There's no way I can control when they process my stuff. As long as everything was there by the deadline, I should be fine, right?

 

Someone alleviate my fears, please :(. 

 

You're fine. As you say, you had everything in ahead of time. On more than a few of my applications there were little complications getting things in at just the right time and the admissions folks were all cool about getting stuff worked out. They're used to having to scramble after the fact to try to get everything completed, so they love good folks (like you) that actually do it before the clock stops. And you have clowns like me around to make ya look good too.

 

So now you only have to worry about whether or not they like you. And I can't help ya there. :P

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Wanna really hate life? Go back and read your SoPs.

 

I read my first few... and then I wrote a letter of apology, which I mailed... to myself. And then I tied me to a mule and let it drag me around town.

 

Dear Vin, I'm sorry about those SoPs. Clearly November was the wrong month to quit smoking crack. Better luck next time, fool! 

          Sincerely,

          Your-whole-damn-stupid-Self.

 

No kidding.  I worked on mine on and off for a couple of months and they seemed so great to me in when I submitted them in November.  Works of pure genius.  Now reading them 2 months later, I'm banging my head on the wall and wondering what on earth I was thinking.  Sigh.  

 

If only we could all get 1 acceptance soon so we can stop doing this to ourselves.

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No kidding.  I worked on mine on and off for a couple of months and they seemed so great to me in when I submitted them in November.  Works of pure genius.  Now reading them 2 months later, I'm banging my head on the wall and wondering what on earth I was thinking.  Sigh.  

 

If only we could all get 1 acceptance soon so we can stop doing this to ourselves.

 

When I submitted my SoPs I was all like, I'm Awesome...

 

Now I go back and read them and I'm a Creep...

 

 

 

...but I'm awesome.

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Well, I should at least hear something tomorrow. My status still says incomplete so I emailed to make sure my recommendations and transcript made it in. How sad is it that it will be the highlight of my week when she gets back to me?

Edited by misskira
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(I'm sure your girlfriend appreciates that. :P) I was excited for Monday. Then I realized that it's a holiday and all of my schools are closed. Now I can be excited for Tuesday!

 

Same goes here :) I didn't know about Monday being a day off till Monday morning and puffff so disappointed :D

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1:49 in the morning.  I've read dozens of posts.  I'm convinced that we are all in an asylum.  The only question is: are we the keepers are the patients?  I really believe I will hear something good tomorrow.  Well, it is tomorrow. Okay... I believe I will wake up to a good email!  Thinking good thoughts for you all!

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1:49 in the morning.  I've read dozens of posts.  I'm convinced that we are all in an asylum.  The only question is: are we the keepers are the patients?  I really believe I will hear something good tomorrow.  Well, it is tomorrow. Okay... I believe I will wake up to a good email!  Thinking good thoughts for you all!

 

 

Brain : Hope for the best plan for the worst

 

Heart: o0 Brain just Shu* the F* up ... let's be optimistic

 

Me : :|

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You think you should have applied to more? *looks at own signature* Why in the world would I convince myself to only apply to the schools with the exact programs I wanted to do this year? Future me now hates past me.

 

Yeah, the problem is I could have applied to two more universities that had POIs whose work I liked, but I didn't have the money. Somehow I regret that I didn't starve or something, so I could save up for two more. Ah, well...

 

 

I have written my birthday as in 2012 in one of the application  :wub:

 

Oh, I think they won't take this the wrong way. I mean, they're people, they understand the anxiety that prospective graduates feel while applying, it's not a big mistake.

 

I put in a wrong month for the beginning of my undergraduate studies. I put in June, because that's what it says in my student's book (I don't know how it works in the US, but we have student books that we get our grades and attendance signatures in).

After I submitted, I saw that my official transcript has September as the beginning. And this is, of course, for the school I want the most. After that, I decided not to read my submitted applications again :P

 

And then I did.

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I put in a wrong month for the beginning of my undergraduate studies. I put in June, because that's what it says in my student's book (I don't know how it works in the US, but we have student books that we get our grades and attendance signatures in).

After I submitted, I saw that my official transcript has September as the beginning....

 

Oh I sympathise with this! My University has an... let's call it, 'interesting' way of labeling start-dates, graduation dates, finish dates... etc We end up with multiple options depending on which form or certificate you choose to read. Going on my transcripts it looks like I took 6 months longer to finish my grad degree than I actually did :rolleyes: I'm choosing not to worry about this because, short of writing some long and technical email to admissions departments (which I'm not sure they'd appreciate at such a busy time!) there was nothing I could do.

Edited by Sio68
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UCSD has miraculously become my first choice. I was in this serene space of calmness when I submitted the application and now the fine reality of things has sunken in. I rate somewhere between a 7 or an 8 out of 10 on the Ph.D Stress-O-Meter. I have a lot of other things I have to be excited about and grateful for but this being my first year applying ever, and just wanting to hear back from someone, anyone. It def starts to make you think about everything in a consistent downward spiral.

 

What I do know is I studied meticulously, looking for program fit, right professors, funding, SOP, writing my scholarly essay, and all the other details. And given I really pulled this all out the crack of my ass. I'm pretty damn proud. Nonetheless exhausted, stressed, wondering, worrying, and trying to console myself knowing I put the best energy out there possible. This is all I can do. Now I have to see what comes back to me. 

 

Whether its your 1st or 2nd or more time applying, good luck everyone. May we all come out on the other side of this Higher Ed monster.

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Brain : Hope for the best plan for the worst

 

Heart: o0 Brain just Shu* the F* up ... let's be optimistic

 

Me : :|

 

This is exactly what I'm going through!  I keep telling myself not to get my hopes up too high...but my heart/gut is so optimistic, giving me visions and dreams (another one about Berkeley last night) of acceptance letters.  My mood changes from minute to minute these days.  Rating an 8/10 on my personal stress-o-meter. :P

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This is exactly what I'm going through!  I keep telling myself not to get my hopes up too high...but my heart/gut is so optimistic, giving me visions and dreams (another one about Berkeley last night) of acceptance letters.  My mood changes from minute to minute these days.  Rating an 8/10 on my personal stress-o-meter. :P

 

I flip back and forth from crippling anxiety to blissful excitement!  I keep thinking if I get too optimistic or pessimistic, that will jinx me.  I'm suddenly so superstitious. This may be the most stressful time in our academic lives.

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So far, I'm staying pretty mellow, all things considered. A few micro-heart attacks here and there, but I'm not anywhere near the stress or freakout levels of last year (mercifully).

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I keep thinking if I get too optimistic or pessimistic, that will jinx me.  I'm suddenly so superstitious. This may be the most stressful time in our academic lives.

 

^ Exactly!  I'm trying to stay as neutral as possible, hoping that neither my positive nor my negative feelings will "jinx" my applications! :P Can't wait till I've heard back from my schools - I just wanna KNOW something!

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I'm trying to be as negative as possible without being completely depressed. I got into one of my last choices, and I still have my job for next year so not getting in anywhere else isn't the end of the world, so I just assume that I won't. Then if I don't, it won't be as much of a blow to my confidence, and if I do, its a very pleasant surprise. Of course this strategy isn't working out too well for me, as I still keep surfing the website of my top choice with my heart all aflutter. 

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Well, I don't see a reason to apply to a program that you don't want to do. I think you made a perfectly rational decision.

 

I didn't know that astrobiology was a thing. How in the world did you get into it?

 

I really came across it completely by mistake before I started my undergraduate studies. I was looking at where I might want to go to graduate school and what I would be most interested in for biology and I found University of Washington's Astrobiology page. The idea of that being a topic took me by surprise so I began looking into it and became pretty hooked on the concepts. Its a fairly interdisciplinary field and, being in a college that only had interdisciplinary courses, it seemed like a natural fit for me.

 

There aren't any astrobiology programs by themselves at this point. Usually it is topics studied within microbiology (extremophiles), Earth Science (Early Earth evolution, planetary surfaces), Atmospheric Sciences, and Astronomy (planet detection). My top school actually has a program to get a dual-title PhD in my department and astrobiology. It requires you take course in another department and have at least one professor from another department on your dissertation committee.

 

And yeah, I keep telling myself that I wanted to only apply to my top programs this year and spread out next year if I don't get in. Still it gets hard when you are looking at statistics on admissions and waiting for the decision to be made. Rationality has no place in this purgatory that is grad school admissions.  ;)

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Been there, done that! I might be in Aber again next year and so I'm scoping out university housing (given to us automatically if we want it). My good good friend just got a two bedroom apartment and she has offered me the other room if I get in and chose Aber.

If I go to grad school in the US I'm getting a cat so I have looked at humane societies in the cities where the universities are...

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