How Are You Coping With The Torture Of Waiting???

[PhDerp]

It gives me a glimpse into what it must be like for athletes going through draft day, except they know exactly when it will happen and can count down the days til their future is writ.

 

"writ"? Man, I love all you MFAs, teaching me every day!

[ssynny]

I've seriously turned into a mess haha. My body is so cruel and its latest way of dealing with the stress is every night having me dream about getting rejections and acceptances. They just feel so real that it's like a form of cruel and unusual punishment. I just got a a cat so hopefully that will hold me over :3

[Shushu]

Yeah, it could totally be automated so no one has to manually update it either. But maybe they want to cultivate patience and not obsessive checking of their websites!

What I wish schools would do is just be very explicit about timelines and when they make each wave of decisions. That's just good transparency considering the window for finding out is one to two months long! I can wait a few weeks but not knowing when official word comes down or when I can have enough info to make a decision for over a month is lame. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Agreed! Especially for international students or people who may have to move quite a long way! It would be nice to have a timeline so that I and others can start planning finances for moving and to pay for the school!

[elisewin]

I've seriously turned into a mess haha. My body is so cruel and its latest way of dealing with the stress is every night having me dream about getting rejections and acceptances. They just feel so real that it's like a form of cruel and unusual punishment. I just got a a cat so hopefully that will hold me over :3

 

I haven't been able to sleep properly for the last two weeks! I also have an eye twitch and feel completely exhausted at work! I really need this to end!

 

PS: Post a pic of your cat?

[meowth]

I got my first notice around Jan 23, my second one Jan 28, and no February there's been nothing. At this rate maybe I won't get anything until March.

 

On the plus side, they have to tell us SOMETHING by March 15, right? Doesn't feel that far away now... I say as I refresh my e-mail and the Grad Cafe at least once every few hours including middle of the night and on weekends.

 

I'm starting to assume that I'm just going to the one University that's accepted me, and started looking at apartments. Doesn't hurt to be prepared.

[seeingeyeduck]

Yeah, I'm just trying to nail down the pieces that I can, like transportation research and looking at the faculty's work. Also helps to apply to other things that I want to do in the interim and keep churning out the work!

[ssynny]

I haven't been able to sleep properly for the last two weeks! I also have an eye twitch and feel completely exhausted at work! I really need this to end!

 

PS: Post a pic of your cat?

Yeah I'm generally not an obsessive person, but this is just such a life changing decision. How can I not be freaking out haha. I tried to post a picture of the cat but I use this on my phone and don't know how. He's a black Siamese cutie pie who's actually wicked needy. It's such a good distraction! I recommend it

[ihatechoosingusernames]

On the plus side, they have to tell us SOMETHING by March 15, right? Doesn't feel that far away now... I say as I refresh my e-mail and the Grad Cafe at least once every few hours including middle of the night and on weekends.

 

Glad to know I'm not the only one who checks GC in the middle of the night! 

[psychologue]

I haven't been able to sleep properly for the last two weeks! I also have an eye twitch and feel completely exhausted at work! I really need this to end!

 

PS: Post a pic of your cat?

 

 i also have an eye twitch! my right eye, for the past few WEEKS. how annoying is that? i'm just waiting for one of my clients to notice haha

[CoolZero]

My biggest problem now is, not only haven't I got any updates on my application, but also I have seen all of these schools have sent their first wave of their admissions and even my friends have got admissions to them. So the torture of waiting is getting worse and worse  

I also work, but the time difference between my country and there makes this useless, because my work time starts from USA's midnight time until the morning. Also I am watching "Friends" for the 4th time video games also doesn't help. I am kinda getting the feeling, I am getting so irritating that my friends can't stand me

[DidacticPrinter]

On the plus side, they have to tell us SOMETHING by March 15, right? Doesn't feel that far away now... I say as I refresh my e-mail and the Grad Cafe at least once every few hours including middle of the night and on weekends.

 

I'm starting to assume that I'm just going to the one University that's accepted me, and started looking at apartments. Doesn't hurt to be prepared.

 

April 15, not March, is the date most schools give to respond by. One of my schools told me in an e-mail in early January that final notifications will be mailed on April 1. Whether positive or negative, it's just going to leave me wondering if it's all a big April Fool's joke! So very cruel.

[supaslim]

Also I am watching "Friends" for the 4th time video games also doesn't help. I am kinda getting the feeling, I am getting so irritating that my friends can't stand me

 

I'm right there with you. I played my way through the original Spyro the Dragon trilogy over the past two days just trying to distract myself. Except every time I hit a loading screen, I would go check my email in hopes that something came! And my contributions to dinner conversation are all along the lines of "so I haven't heard back from my grad schools yet..." They must be getting so sick of it!

[seeingeyeduck]

Lol, this thread is hilarious!

 

I've decided to just tell myself that I will hear about the funding and official acceptance in March right before the recruit days even though I have absolutely no reason to believe this. At least I won't worry so much in the present...

 

I've been keeping busy with my work but also checking GC too much while watching Law and Order. There's an episode of SVU that is the same plot as the indie movie Compliance, and it stars Robin Williams. Erm, does that count as learning something every day???

[ginagirl]

Just discovered how great jigsaw puzzles are as a distraction tool. It's not food, it keeps your mind and hands busy for a couple hours at a time, and you have something to show for it at the end. Highly recommend.

[teacherplease]

Got my first rejection a few days ago. I have to admit I liked the anticipation of waiting more than knowing I got rejected. I thought I was going to feel relieved either way when the decisions came out, but instead I'm just bummed. I'd like to think everything happens for a reason, and I really fell in love with the other school I applied to so I'm hoping that getting rejected from this first school is just a way of making sure I go to the school that fits me best.

[smpalesh]

I am currently in school completing my BSW so I am "supposed" to be waiting it out by studying for midterms and doing projects.  Instead I am somewhat studying for midterms while reading on here and watch Ellen videos on youtube.    Need to get back on track!  Studying for a class I totally hate is really not doing much to distract me.  I will know from one school likely by the end of this week (although it's not looking good because other people have already gotten acceptance emails) and the other one by mid-March at the latest so I don't have too much longer to wait but I almost think the wait will be easier than if I get rejected by both and have to reassess my future.

[AwesomeBird]

Sudden and intense anxiety over admissions, rapid over ingestation of sugar (via graham crackers) followed immediately by a necessary, sugar-induced nap = me coping. This will be the death of me... or at least the death of my abs. One word... and it will all be worth it.

[CardTricks]

Season 2 of House of Cards definitely helped the past week for me!

[DidacticPrinter]

Current distraction is grading TOK essays my students have turned in. Nothing makes you forget the pain of purgatory like the overwhelming desire to write heinous comments all over drivel turned in by high schoolers who want to sound "philosophical" but are fully aware that everything they're saying is complete BS. (They will freely admit it if you ask them. This isn't just me being mean. I mean, it's partly that, but mostly it really is fully realized BS.)

 

And then I take a break from grading and remember that a year from now I won't have to grade high school papers! And then it gets me wondering, again, just where I WILL be in a year from now...

 

Vicious cycles.

[FreeRadical]

It's the final week in February and I've only heard from 2 of 6 schools. I think I've gone through the stages of grief at least twice now.

 

Denial -- "Any school would be lucky to have me; I'm a qualified applicant!"

Anger -- "Why the hell haven't I heard from anybody yet? I'm a qualified applicant!"

Bargaining -- "I don't care about the particular school/research anymore; I just want to get in somewhere. Maybe I should email all of my POIs..."

Depression -- "Silence means rejection... I know it. My career is over."

Acceptance -- "You know, I've always wanted to be a professional photographer..."

 

I GOT ON A WAIT LIST!

 

Denial -- "Any school would be lucky to have me..."

[SLPosteriorCricoarytenoid]

I have taken it upon myself to engage in new hobbies; like compulsively checking the acceptance/rejection page, taking naps, and catastrophizing that I will be flipping burgers to pay for a seemingly useless BS in Psychology degree the rest of my life if I don't start getting acceptances to any of my neuroscience programs.

[CocoChanell_no5]

Working my 40+hrs a week job in research and then working out a total of 8 hours every week in an effort to convince myself eating my feelings out is not a valid way of coping.

[hugthepenguin]

I asked out the girl I've been interested in since app season started and she said yes. So hopefully I'll be kept busy for the next few weeks until I hear back from my #1 program.

[roguesenna]

I'm right there with you. I played my way through the original Spyro the Dragon trilogy over the past two days just trying to distract myself. Except every time I hit a loading screen, I would go check my email in hopes that something came! And my contributions to dinner conversation are all along the lines of "so I haven't heard back from my grad schools yet..." They must be getting so sick of it!

 

LOL. I've been playing SIMS 3 and I got the University Life expansion so at least if I don't get in, my Sim will. I know. I'm a sad sad dork.

 

 

 I will know from one school likely by the end of this week (although it's not looking good because other people have already gotten acceptance emails) and the other one by mid-March at the latest so I don't have too much longer to wait but I almost think the wait will be easier than if I get rejected by both and have to reassess my future.

 

same boat here. my 3rd school which I thought was my safety emailed me really really early to say they weren't accepting any students, so now its down to my two equally wonderful top choices. They're SO hard to get into though that I'm really afraid it's going to be the solid rejection all the way around.

Edited February 24, 2014 by roguesenna

[AwesomeBird]

Holy mother... I just got an email from UCLA and almost had a nervous breakdown. I could read the first line without opening the email and it read "I hope this message finds you well". My mind immediately went to... that's not how you begin an acceptance letter... it's a rejection. This is it. It's over... They were just letting me know they have my application and it is under review. The room is spinnig... I don't know how I'm going to deal when the decision is finally made. I think I'll most likely pass out either way. I have to go hurl now...