What if what I'm doing is not enough? HELP!

[youngcharlie101]

Hi, everyone.

 

I'm having a bit of a panic attack. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

I spoke to my professors at school, and they agreed to write me strong letters of recommendation for a PhD in anthropology.

 

I'm just worried that my CV isn't good enough. My thesis was a semi-finalist at a competition, and I have presented many papers. I have over 80 hours of volunteer work at a school where I served as a teacher to young teens and children. I just graduated in May with my MA in anthro from Columbia with a 3.9 GPA. Still, I am not published, and I have minimal research experience.

 

I have a solid research proposal, and I studied the faculty at each school I wish to apply to. I am arranging campus visits next week and I am reaching out to the people there.

 

I took a Manhattan Prep course for the GRE, and I take it in a month, but my math sucks--and the clock is ticking! I'm really nervous about this exam because I did terribly on it before: 153 Verbal, 144 Quant, and 5.0 Writing. I need to get those scores up because I am a horrific test taker.

 

There are just so many factors weighing against me, and I'm worried that I won't be competitive enough. I took this year off school to hone my application and get healthy, but I feel as if I'm being counterproductive. I have a severe anxiety disorder that hospitalized me twice.

 

What else can I do to make this application cycle stronger for me?

[VioletAyame]

Well first of all, I'd say your mental health is important, so have you done anything to help with the anxiety disorder? Have you seen a specialist and/or got some therapy or medication? I think that would help with the test taking as well - and yes your V & Q scores right now need improving - so I feel like that would be killing two birds with one stone and wortk looking into.

 

The rest of your profile looks great to me. Perhaps someone from anthropology would be more knowlegeable, but I don't think having publications as you apply for grad school is very common. Also I'm just curious, how could you present many papers and have minimal research experience at the same time? Aren't those two things related?

[GeoDUDE!]

If it's not good enough, then you wont get in. If you aren't prepared to get rejected by graduate school, you should not apply. Graduate school is full of failures. If you can't handle failing then you cannot make it through. 

[youngcharlie101]

Well first of all, I'd say your mental health is important, so have you done anything to help with the anxiety disorder? Have you seen a specialist and/or got some therapy or medication? I think that would help with the test taking as well - and yes your V & Q scores right now need improving - so I feel like that would be killing two birds with one stone and wortk looking into.

 

The rest of your profile looks great to me. Perhaps someone from anthropology would be more knowlegeable, but I don't think having publications as you apply for grad school is very common. Also I'm just curious, how could you present many papers and have minimal research experience at the same time? Aren't those two things related?

Thank you. Yes, I'm on medication and attending therapy once a week. It was really bad at one point where I had to go to the hospital. But I'm taking this year to reapply and get healthy.

Thanks so much for helping me out. It means more to me than you know! I just gotta study for the GRE a bit more.

[bsharpe269]

You are a great candidate and will be an even better one if you get that GRE up. I think that most people applying feel exactly what you do. I know that I personally keep having moments where I realize 'wow, I am really going through this doing this.' I feel scared that I will go through all of this and will not get any offers. We all do and its normal! You know that you are doing something important to you when you are scared though. You want something bad enough that you are this nervous that you will not get it! Thats how you know that you are on the right path. Keep studying for the GRE and apply! Some of us will definitely get rejections across the board but it is a risk worth taking and you can always apply again next year. Goodluck!

[youngcharlie101]

You are a great candidate and will be an even better one if you get that GRE up. I think that most people applying feel exactly what you do. I know that I personally keep having moments where I realize 'wow, I am really going through this doing this.' I feel scared that I will go through all of this and will not get any offers. We all do and its normal! You know that you are doing something important to you when you are scared though. You want something bad enough that you are this nervous that you will not get it! Thats how you know that you are on the right path. Keep studying for the GRE and apply! Some of us will definitely get rejections across the board but it is a risk worth taking and you can always apply again next year. Goodluck!

 

You're amazing! Thank you so much.