Feeling Inadequate Already

[Pretty_Penny]

So I have been accepted into a PhD program for the fall, and have been communicating with my advisor by email about working on an NSF proposal. When I visited at the end of May she gave me an idea for a topic. I have communicated with her twice since then, the first time to clarify the idea she had suggested and the second time to present some thoughts I had on the topic.

I am concerned because her response both times has been to tell me to read some papers, which I have done several times. I get the feeling she thinks I haven't, and that something about what I'm saying reflects that. My parents, on the other hand, think I'm being paranoid and that she probably just keeps forgetting she told me to read them and she hasn't even looked over what I sent her since she is technically out of town from now till early July.

I don't know what to think but I do know I am majorly stressing about getting off to a bad start with this.

[danieleWrites]

She's "technically" on vacation until early July. Ask yourself this: Would I want to be bothered by something that's not a crisis issue for me while I'm on vacation?

 

The answer is no. It may be very important to you to get this done ASAP, but to her, it's just not that much of a priority.

 

Schedule a meeting with her in mid-July. If you can't go to her office because you're not there, schedule some phone time or some Skype time. Don't try to read between the lines via email, it's self-defeating.

[ak48]

Sounds like a classic case of Imposter Syndrome:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome

 

Looks like nothing really serious is going on in your situation, and you're just overanalyzing everything. Relax!