What's your contingency plan??

[HomeGrown]

If you don't get accepted anywhere, what is your plan?

 

I only applied to 3 schools so it's definitely within the realm of possibility that I get into none of those schools. 

Do you have a strategy?

[MammaD]

I applied to one school (two different programs).

If I get rejected from both, my plan is to sleep (after graduating in May with my Master's) until our savings run out, then find a job before we all starve. It's actually sort of an inviting option.

Edited January 14, 2013 by MammaD

[RubyBright]

I only applied to four schools, and I'm pretty sure I've already been rejected from one (I didn't get an interview invite). If the remaining three are also rejections, I'm planning to get a job in my other field for a year - it pays reasonably well, even if it's boring - volunteer at a local lab, and then reapply the following year. I think. If I don't get in THEN, I may just give up and get an MA in the aforementioned other field. I love psychology, my primary interest, but I don't want to spend several years of my life waiting to get into a PhD program. The other field was my second major, and I could live with it if psychology never pans out.

Anyway, not getting in for a year lets me save money so that I don't live entirely on Ramen while in grad school. 

[Vincenzo]

I'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts.

[alf10087]

I'd finish the MBA and open a restaurant using my savings for grad school. I would keep my current job in order to not depend on the restaurant, and be able to make it financially sustainable in 2-3 years.

 

The other plan is to buy a small piece of land in one of the rural areas of my country, dedicate myself to cultivating cassava, and live a frugal and quiet life until I die.

[Willows]

Try to find a program to enter for the fall. Deciding which 2 year program to enter into is the big question still for me.

[Allouette]

I'd finish the MBA and open a restaurant using my savings for grad school. I would keep my current job in order to not depend on the restaurant, and be able to make it financially sustainable in 2-3 years.

 

The other plan is to buy a small piece of land in one of the rural areas of my country, dedicate myself to cultivating cassava, and live a frugal and quiet life until I die.

 

Your plan sounds wonderful, alf10087! Well, except for the cassava. But thats just because I can't stand cassava. 

 

If I don't get in, I'll probably do fieldwork for a year, hopefully with my intended study animal, and hopefully hammer out at least one more publication during that year. 

[Tabes]

Cry.  Find a job, work for a year, apply again.  Consider becoming a muppeteer.

[alf10087]

Your plan sounds wonderful, alf10087! Well, except for the cassava. But thats just because I can't stand cassava. 

 

If I don't get in, I'll probably do fieldwork for a year, hopefully with my intended study animal, and hopefully hammer out at least one more publication during that year. 

 

Thank you ! Cassava is mostly because it is the most cultivated product in that region, and it already has a consolidated export industry

[Tabes]

...turns out it'll probably be harder to become a muppeteer than it will be to get into grad school.  I don't know if that's comforting or discouraging.

[Datatape]

I shall give myself over entirely to the drink.

 

Oh, wait, I was going to do that anyway.

[practical cat]

The White House.

I'm not entirely kidding. I would go the politics route. I want to be a strategist/campaign manager or a tv critic if the grad school thing doesn't work out. I'm thinking the politics bit is the only plan I have that even approaches realistic...

[HomeGrown]

The White House.

I'm not entirely kidding. I would go the politics route. I want to be a strategist/campaign manager or a tv critic if the grad school thing doesn't work out. I'm thinking the politics bit is the only plan I have that even approaches realistic...

 

Grad school was my way into politics.  Maybe I can do it without the gradschool route. 

But you guys have some great plans.  Anyone think taking non-degree courses is worth the price?  Especially if you're mostly broke lol

[BuddingScholar]

I applied to 9 schools, but am pretty confident I will be rejected accross the board.  So I am planning to study and increase (considerably) my GRE scores, learn a new language (German), be published at least a couple of times, and present more papers, volunteer at a museum, and move to NYC.  Aahhhh... I will certainly be done with my application well before the deadlines also. Voila!

[Mecasickle]

I'll already be doing a paid internship at Virginia Tech as I wait for results, so worst case scenario, I stay there more time and then write a book.

[bluecheese]

I hope that I'll get in somewhere. If I don't, I'll have to get some sort of job that pays a decent wage.

[shadowclaw]

I'd make a wonderful Dread Pirate Roberts.

Yes!

 

Cry.  Find a job, work for a year, apply again.  Consider becoming a muppeteer.

I love this.

 

In all seriousness, I am hoping that if I don't make it into a PhD program (applied to 5, rejected from 1 and probably rejected from another), that I will get into a Master's program. I've applied to one, and am in the process of applying to a second, and plan on applying to a third when I get more funds. I feel confident that I can get into one of the master's programs. The biggest obstacle is that I was several different majors before studying biology, and had messy academic record during that time (some awesome semesters and some really cruddy semesters). My grades as a biology major are almost perfect, so I'm hoping that will overshadow the past grades. I can also afford to pay my way through my Master's at a state school if I don't get a TA or GA. The only part I dread about that is that I will have to keep working, and I really really don't want to stay at my job for another two years. I can try to find another one, but I would much rather devote the next several years to study!

 

In the event that I can't get in anywhere, I guess I seek out a job and hope I can find somewhere close to home!

[w8inggame]

I applied to 6 programs, already 1 rejection. If I don't get into anything, I won't be able to give my current boss the big F U on my way out. I'll need her to find another job, hopefully with better pay. Then repeat this process all over again, more embarrassed and less confident to my recommenders.

[OctaviaButlerfan]

Currently I am in an M.A. program. Recently I qualified for numerous scholarships (based on credits earned). I will also be applying for at least one outside scholarship. If I don't get accepted anywhere this year, I will be continuing with my M.A. (I will probably only have a class or two left to go anyway). Then I'll most likely reapply next year.

 

Alternatively, I am a certified teacher, and I've applied for some temporary positions, as well as to a visiting social activist program.

 

 

[sansao]

Probably jump back into accounting, and try to pick up a middle management position along the way. Not the best ending to the story, but I could focus on music and friends again. After paying down my school loans for a few years, I could have a decently comfortable life with my partner.

[The Whistler]

I've applied to six schools but my chances are kind of meh, since they're all excellent schools, and I feel VERY insecure about this application.

 

I'll continue working as a translator, take classes in an additional language, work on improving my application, and reapply.

I guess I'll retire by the time I get accepted anyhere, so I should also be working on my retirement plan.

[iloveyourneighborhood]

Travel all summer, and maybe into the winter, then maybe into next spring. Live out of a backpack and live like a bum. Why not?

[bamafan]

Probably drink a quart of hydrogen cyanide.

[kglad]

Interesting contingency plans! Well, except for drinking a quart of cyanide. That sounds unpleasant...

 

I applied to 7 and have 1 left to submit for PhD programs for Fall. I'm currently in a Master's program and taking nearly double full-time credits (11 this semester) so I can take final thesis in the summer and graduate in August, before I - hopefully- start in a PhD.

 

If rejected across the board, I'll try to work or do an internship in the summer (and take a breather!), do the thesis in Fall 2013, and reapply to PhD programs for Fall 2014. Would try to work Spring and Summer 2014.

 

Further contingency- for Fall 2013, also get a 200 hr yoga teacher certificate and plan to teach yoga. Nice thing about that is it can be done around other schedules in the "in between" times to fill in, earn some money, and do some good in the world while de-stressing.

 

Might also take the GREs again, since my scores were ok, but not great. V 160, Q 150, AW 4.5. The scores are in line with admissions statistics for my intended PhD program, so I don't technically need to retake it, but I know I can do better. Increased chance of funding would also be nice.

 

Last, if rejected by all 8, I could research recipes high and low and write a fabulous book on Ramen. I would call it the Ramenomicon: A Cornucopia of Easy, Nutritious Recipes for College Students Living on the Cheap, complete with complimentary coupons for a few key ingredients, like Sriracha and frozen peas.

[child of 2]

^{I try not to go there... scary ...}