Fantasize about plan B

[Yellow#5]

To take the edge off, wouldn't it be awesome to have something great to do -- just in case no one recognizes your awesomeness this year? I just heard about this program where you can spend a week at a resort near Madrid helping Adults improve their English skills. Your meals and hotel would be free, but you need to pay for the plane ticket to Madrid. The entire week is planned with activities and one-on one sessions with a Spanish person trying to improve their English, but it would probably be a pretty fun way to extend a vacation for a week, meet some nice people and learn about Spanish culture. Not a bad deal if you plan to take a trip to the area anyway.

Check it out:

http://www.morethanenglish.com/anglos/index.asp

[frankdux]

i did the 'teaching english abroad' thing last year. not as awesome as i hoped. and i think it actually hurt my application because my intended field of study has next to nothing to do with foreign cultures so i have a feeling it looks like i wasted a year of my life gallivanting around SE asia.

[GirlattheHelm]

I was thinking about doing an endurance horse race for my favorite charity (Habitat for Humanity!) and my own personal ego boost. It'd take my family's very green gelding, Mack, because for as young as he is he just wants to please; gentlest thing I've ever seen or handled in my life. And the stamina of an Arabian packed in the heft of a good little Paint gelding. God, I want to race him so bad it hurts...

Granted, that has nothing to do with anything on my applications or resume for that matter; but I think it'd be awesome anyway... and I'm so tired of trying to please some jack in an office.

Plan B: Drive truck, tend bar, and endurance race horses! It almost makes me not want to go to graduate school; but just not quite enough... Besides - if I could only get into UVM I could take Mack to the damn stables there.

[Dinali]

i did the 'teaching english abroad' thing last year. not as awesome as i hoped. and i think it actually hurt my application because my intended field of study has next to nothing to do with foreign cultures so i have a feeling it looks like i wasted a year of my life gallivanting around SE asia.

Yeah. The same goes for resumes. Lots of guides say that employers value multicultural experience but in reality many (recruiters at least) just see it as a year of lazing around on vacation.

[Yellow#5]

Frankdux,

That program in spain is very informal and can last from a week to several months as you choose.

It's just a way to get to spain and hang around a few weeks, eating someone else's food

[ElusiveMuse]

Want to hear something sad? I am a retired dancer (ballet/musical theatre, not exotic :!: ) and Art History is my Plan B. WTF is wrong with me? It may turn out that I go back to teaching ballet full time. Oh my hips cry at the thought.

[mylstisr]

i am already starting to seriously consider my plan b school...

it looks more and more appealing every day as the waiting continues

[was1984]

There is an in state school that is top 100 in my area that has a May application deadline.

That's my plan B.

[Jakrabite]

rape.pillage.plunder.repeat.

[psychdork]

I seem to spend more time thinking about plan B than I do about getting accepted...

Anyway, I plan to take some time off from this whole thing (like a week or two, not too much, just enough to mope for awhile and then regroup), celebrate my upcoming undergrad graduation, and then hit the ground running again by re-taking the GRE and continue doing research to get another conference presentation (or ideally a publication).

[BigCheese]

become an overly paid lobbyist in Washington D.C.. (lmao)

[ridgey]

just today I saw an exciting job advertised across an ocean fromhere, fortunately in a place I can get a working holiday visa. It's right up my alley AND would (I think) make me a more competitive applicant in a couple of years.

In general, my Plan B is some combination of work/travel/community service. It's almost as exciting as grad school!