Does anyone out there NOT have a Plan B?

[esotericorigin]

plan a: get into a phd program.

plan b: uhhh, apply for masters programs to be more competitive in phd admissions? then return to plan a.

 

i'm glad i'm not the only one without a real plan b. i hate when people try to act encouraging and say i can find something else to pursue. no way!

[AnthroPerson]

So glad I'm not the only one without a REAL plan if this doesn't work.  My life plan has been "become an academic" for so long that the question "what if you don't get in?" is pretty much a life ruiner.  Um, if I don't get in anywhere I will have to completely reevaluate my plan for my entire life because that would kind of be the end of my careers goals.

[AKACaz]

*raises hand* No real Plan B here. I've spent most of this year out in the workforce moaning about how I now realize I need to be in school for the rest of my life!

[pears]

no plan b here either! (though i don't suppose i need one now..) i'm lucky to work in a field that allows me to hop around every few months for work, so that's exactly what i've been doing since i graduated. i love having an excuse to travel! granted, i can't remember the last time i had a net monetary gain of more than a couple hundred bucks at the end of a job, so grad school will make my wallet ache a bit. the experience is worth it- coming out of an MA program with a few years of work under my belt would be fantastic- but now that my current job is going to give me some supervisory experience, i'm about ready to move on.

 

basically, i've been of the "grad school or bust" mentality since square one. having an MA shatters the glass ceiling in archaeology, so it's worth the cost, and now that i'm starting to get a better sense of what my research niches/personal interests are, i'm ready to leave general work experience behind and wade out until i'm waist-deep in the murky waters of personal professional goals and academia instead. 

 

(admittedly, i'm super intimidated by it all, but i'm excited, too! and it's nice knowing there are lots of folks who post on here with similar worries.)

[reggie]

plan b: move to south america, learn spanish, find a beautiful lady, tutor students for TOEFL/SATs, make music, disappear

[PatrickCassidy]

plan b: move to south america, learn spanish, find a beautiful lady, tutor students for TOEFL/SATs, make music, disappear

Amen.

[quilledink]

Plan B? I've been so focused on worrying about not getting in that I hadn't even thought about what I'll do if I don't. Crap. I guess it'll be something like...

 

Dream plan B: Find out it was all a grave mistake and I actually got in.

Real plan B: Live at home (and go insane) and work a grunt job, then reapply again next year. Or something.

[jmu]

When I was talking to professors about applying to the graduate program at my current school I was told that I would be pretty much guaranteed to be accepted and funded but that I should apply to bigger name programs as they would be more challenging to me. So my Plan B is to get in here and try again after completing the master's portion of the degree.

[ACM88]

Up until three days ago, I definitely didn't have a Plan B. That's when I found out that I got into my first choice school (hooray!) and it almost makes a Plan B a moot point for me... I wish. Now the problem is that my partner didn't apply to any schools in that area (I had doubts that I would get in, so we didn't really have a plan for that scenario) and I still have 6 other schools to hear back from with more overlap with my partner's schools, so I'm still in "wait and see" mode.

[aldero]

I also don't have a good plan B. I'm working right now but I don't really like the job. I really think that I have a lot of potential, yet I have had not so many chances, where I can show it. This makes me kind of sad. I really wish to get admitted to some uni, but I'm kind of pessimistic right now. 

 

I went also all-in with the applications and I doubt that I will be able to apply once again.

 

So, - no plan B. Just keep doing what I'm doing right now. 

[CP3]

Yeah, if this were a poker game, I pretty much put all of my chips into the pot---

-I've spent all the money I had on apps, bills (could've bought an old used car by now!)

-moved into a relatives house last August to save money on rent (going insane living here!!!!),

-haven't had a honeymoon yet, gave up my gym membership (put on 15 lbs, was really fit, not anymore!!!)

-cancelled my satelite service (now I watch antenna, 5 glorious channels to watch)

-drink everyday (used to drink ONLY on the weekends)

-working a dead-end, part-time job (so I could have the time to do the applications!)

-wife is getting tired of my anxiety etc etc. 

 

Ummmm.... anything else??? If I don't get into a school, I guess I'll work at WalMart with a Masters Degree

 

Sorry for the rant, now I feel better:)

[ACM88]

Sorry for the rant, now I feel better:)

 

Good! This is a commiseration forum; rant on! But seriously, I really hope that things pan out for you and everyone else on here. This is probably the most difficult waiting period I've ever experienced; it's like being told to learn how to swim without any instructions, lifeguard, or a life vest. Flailing and staying afloat, it's all we can do.

[CP3]

Thanks, yes, the swimming analogy sums up this intense, nuerotic nerve-racking experience!!

[Linelei]

I did actually have a Plan B, which I forgot about with my acceptance: play Princess Leia at Disneyland. Because, after all, she's a Disney Princess now, and I could disappear behind those hair buns.

[ZacharyObama]

Yeah, if this were a poker game, I pretty much put all of my chips into the pot---

-I've spent all the money I had on apps, bills (could've bought an old used car by now!)

-moved into a relatives house last August to save money on rent (going insane living here!!!!),

-haven't had a honeymoon yet, gave up my gym membership (put on 15 lbs, was really fit, not anymore!!!)

-cancelled my satelite service (now I watch antenna, 5 glorious channels to watch)

-drink everyday (used to drink ONLY on the weekends)

-working a dead-end, part-time job (so I could have the time to do the applications!)

-wife is getting tired of my anxiety etc etc. 

 

Ummmm.... anything else??? If I don't get into a school, I guess I'll work at WalMart with a Masters Degree

 

Sorry for the rant, now I feel better:)

 

Stop Drinking for awhile. You'd probably feel even better

[StenderB]

Like others, glad I'm not the only one without a solid Plan B lol Although even compared with some of you, I still only applied to 1 program compared to the min. of what seems to be 4 ::YIKES::  

The only state-side school I applied to was San Jose State because of its awesome MSW program coupled with potentially being able to live with my parents rent-free so I can stop worrying about that huge chunk of money every month while I'm working on a Master's.  Working multiple jobs, paying bills, etc. while getting my bachelor degrees was stress enough.

I did apply to 4 Swedish University programs as well though but only 1 wanted a letter of intent, the rest go on "quantity and quality of undergraduate studies" aka my transcripts... so that's slightly daunting not being able to add any personality to my academics which were at least good in and of themselves.

My only "Plan B" is husband getting into a nursing program in Sweden where he won't have to pay tuition and then I will just go with, learn Swedish and apply to schools there again once I become a resident so I don't have to pay tuition either.  We'll see what happens.... first round of notifications won't happen until March for both the Swedish schools AND SJSU.

Edited February 10, 2013 by StenderB

[SIOOC]

my plan b involves jumping off something really tall

[stephb343]

I am glad everyone else is in the same boat as I am. Everyone keeps telling me that I will get in somewhere, or I will find something to do in the meantime until I can reapply. They don't understand that my dream is to teach at the university level, which definitely requires graduate school. My life is riding on me getting into graduate school. If I don't, I feel I am just wasting a year out of my life before I reapply, and who knows if I would get in the second time around. There are a lot of people that don't understand why I am under so much stress lately.

[CP3]

I am glad everyone else is in the same boat as I am. Everyone keeps telling me that I will get in somewhere, or I will find something to do in the meantime until I can reapply. They don't understand that my dream is to teach at the university level, which definitely requires graduate school. My life is riding on me getting into graduate school. If I don't, I feel I am just wasting a year out of my life before I reapply, and who knows if I would get in the second time around. There are a lot of people that don't understand why I am under so much stress lately.

Same here, my wife and in-laws get it. They all went to grad school. My parents didn't go to college, they have been very supportive, but they are getting impatient with waiting on me to have kids. I'm not having a kid until a few years into my PhD, but if I don't get in this year, that will postpone having a family even longer