Going Crazy...

[gradgirl]

Is anyone else trying to do a Masters thesis during all this? I feel like I'm pulling my hair out. My thesis deadline is in about a month, and meanwhile, my future is completely indeterminate. I guess an awful lot is going to be settled in about a month, but the waiting is making it IMPOSSIBLE to focus on work. You'd think having a thesis to do would keep me busy enough that it would take my mind off the "not knowing" a bit... sigh..

[iheartphilosophy]

Is anyone else trying to do a Masters thesis during all this? I feel like I'm pulling my hair out. My thesis deadline is in about a month, and meanwhile, my future is completely indeterminate. I guess an awful lot is going to be settled in about a month, but the waiting is making it IMPOSSIBLE to focus on work. You'd think having a thesis to do would keep me busy enough that it would take my mind off the "not knowing" a bit... sigh..

Wow, I don't know how you are doing it, but it sounds like you've definately got what it takes to get into a PhD program. Keep going...you'll be fine. I postponed applying until a year after undergrad because I refused to apply to PhD programs and complete my yearlong honors thesis simultaneously. More power to you! You're almost there!!!!!

[Guest Sara]

Is anyone else trying to do a Masters thesis during all this? I feel like I'm pulling my hair out. My thesis deadline is in about a month, and meanwhile, my future is completely indeterminate. I guess an awful lot is going to be settled in about a month, but the waiting is making it IMPOSSIBLE to focus on work. You'd think having a thesis to do would keep me busy enough that it would take my mind off the "not knowing" a bit... sigh..

I am :-(...and my dealine is also in about a month, and if I don't finish it I'll have to complete it in summer. It's all a vicious circle, I keep on thinking about my applications, then I think about working on my thesis in the summer and on and on. Do you think it would matter in any way if I can't complete my thesis and would have to complete it in the summer?Sigh.....

[Guest]

I am :-(...and my dealine is also in about a month, and if I don't finish it I'll have to complete it in summer. It's all a vicious circle, I keep on thinking about my applications, then I think about working on my thesis in the summer and on and on. Do you think it would matter in any way if I can't complete my thesis and would have to complete it in the summer?Sigh.....

Yeah, I've been really worried about that too. I keep telling myself that finishing over the summer is NOT an option, that it HAS to get done if I want to go anywhere at all this fall, etc. And, I keep telling myself that it won't matter where I get in if the thesis isn't done in the first place. I don't know what will happen if I don't finish this month and have to extend through the summer... I'm scared to think of it. Last weekend I mapped out the dates I need to have chapters done if I'm going to make this happen, and I'm going to try to stick with it...sigh.

On the bright side, at least the period of trying to work on application stuff in addition to the usual workload is over, right guys? :wink: Although, I think I was probably getting more work done then than I am now sitting around waiting and checking the mail 17 times a day... :roll:

[gradgirl]

Oops, that was me....forgot to log in.

[Guest Sarah]

Yeah, I've been really worried about that too. I keep telling myself that finishing over the summer is NOT an option, that it HAS to get done if I want to go anywhere at all this fall, etc. And, I keep telling myself that it won't matter where I get in if the thesis isn't done in the first place. I don't know what will happen if I don't finish this month and have to extend through the summer... I'm scared to think of it. Last weekend I mapped out the dates I need to have chapters done if I'm going to make this happen, and I'm going to try to stick with it...sigh.

On the bright side, at least the period of trying to work on application stuff in addition to the usual workload is over, right guys? :wink: Although, I think I was probably getting more work done then than I am now sitting around waiting and checking the mail 17 times a day... :roll:

Gradgirl,

Suppose I have to delay it for the summer , will this have any effect on my prospective PhD school? It shouldn't, because I will be done before I get started there,right? What do you think?

Thanks a ton

[gradgirl]

Gradgirl,

Suppose I have to delay it for the summer , will this have any effect on my prospective PhD school? It shouldn't, because I will be done before I get started there,right? What do you think?

Thanks a ton

I really don't know... it seems like it would be ok, as long as you're done before fall... but I really have no idea. There's no easy way to ask that question to anyone who WOULD know, either, because of course you don't want to look like someone who can't meet deadlines as planned or something. And if you ask your advisor for his/her opinion, he/she might start expecting you to work through the summer whether or not you end up really wanting/needing to.

I don't know what to tell you. In my personal situation, I'm not going to a top-ranked school right now so I'm feeling extra pressure to continually prove that I can exceed the minimum requirements for my program so I can hopefully get in somewhere better. That's why I think it's really important for ME to get it done this semester--just to show that I can. And usually, feats of great strength and endurance can be accomplished with a little coffee and a lot of sleep deprivation

One thing, though... you might check and see if you can get a deadline extension without having to work through the whole summer. I don't know if this would give you enough time or not. I know my school "frowns upon" not having your thesis in by April 10, and they act like it's a hard and fast deadline, but last summer I worked in a department office and there were at least 3 grad students who missed the deadline and were able to get a month's extension or so without having to enroll for another semester. Then you'd be able to still graduate on time, maybe.

[Guest Boat Meadow]

Ok, this is no fun anymore. I still haven't heard from any of the 3 schools I applied to. My wife is ready to move out, my dog keeps barking at me, my cats know to stay out of my way, and I am able to get sooo much work done (not). I wish they actually posted the date when they would decide and stick with it - I would be much more relaxed if I know I was going to know something on (fill in date here). I know, I know - April 15th...

[gradgirl]

And, thus draws to a close yet another day of business hours right about.........now. Sigh. :cry:

[Guest Twister]

I just found out today that I got rejected from both WUSTL and MIT today:( Adding that to my Stanford rejection a while back, my top 3 choices are gone!!!! WHY WHY WHY I've worked so hard and wanted this so badly, but it's not materialising into anything...so hurt right now, don't really know what to do now, and how am I supposed to concentrate on school now??? I still have 3 schools that I haven't heard from yet...but things aren't looking good at all, and who knows, maybe they already sent out rejection letters by now! Since both letters were both dated back in mid Feb....I'll just go crawl into a corner and cry now...

[Guest Sara]

Twister,

Don't lose heart...a lot of people are in the same situation as you...just hope for the best...this is not the end of the world, just cheer up and look at the brighter things in life

[Guest Twister]

Thanks, Sara. Well, I just found that I've been rejected from UCSD, unofficially, so..that leaves 2 more schools. I'm counting on Carnegie Mellon now (they said they will let me know before March 8...) so I'm crossing my fingers for that.

Sigh...I really hope we all get into somewhere here! I think we deserve it just by the torture we've been through..

[Guest]

So I've been biting my nails for two months waiting for some kind of response from ANY PhD program in English...I finished my applications last October, well before the deadlines, and I have a fiancee who is patiently waiting to find out if she'll have to quit her job and move to some new, strange place...I recall that when I was applying to MA programs, I didn't get a positive response until mid-March (of course, there was no funding attached, but then, the department to which I'd applied doesn't have any money). Is it unusual to have to wait this long for a response? I've received one letter (from Columbia) dated 2/27 which let me know in no uncertain terms that I didn't make their cut. Is anyone else out there waiting for a response from the English departments at:

Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL)

University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)

New York University (NYU)

Boston College

It would help to know if other people have received replies of any kind from any of the above programs.

[rising_star]

Is anyone else trying to do a Masters thesis during all this? I feel like I'm pulling my hair out. My thesis deadline is in about a month, and meanwhile, my future is completely indeterminate.

My senior thesis is due April 10. I have written very little and this week my advisor told me I needed a different approach to the material. If I don't turn it in, I don't graduate at all. :cry: AKA, I feel your pain.

[gradgirl]

Anonymous said:

So I've been biting my nails for two months waiting for some kind of response from ANY PhD program in English...I finished my applications last October, well before the deadlines, and I have a fiancee who is patiently waiting to find out if she'll have to quit her job and move to some new, strange place...I recall that when I was applying to MA programs, I didn't get a positive response until mid-March (of course, there was no funding attached, but then, the department to which I'd applied doesn't have any money). Is it unusual to have to wait this long for a response? I've received one letter (from Columbia) dated 2/27 which let me know in no uncertain terms that I didn't make their cut. Is anyone else out there waiting for a response from the English departments at:

Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL)

University of Pennsylvania (UPenn)

New York University (NYU)

Boston College

It would help to know if other people have received replies of any kind from any of the above programs.

I am also still waiting on WUSTL and UPenn. WUSTL's deadline was in January, so I'm betting that's why we've heard nothing from them as of yet. As for NYU, I believe they called admits this past Sunday; I didn't apply there, but I gathered this info from people over on the who_got_in LJ message board.

I'm pretty anxious to hear back from U of Penn....I think everyone is. They've already let a round of admits in, according to internet gossip. Meanwhile, I'm also having fits waiting to hear a decision from Penn State and to hear funding decisions from Syracuse. We shall see, I guess. Best of luck. What's your area?

[Guest Paddy_Conscience]

Crap. NYU was my first choice and, in the immortal words of Senor Cardgage, "I don't see nobody taking me to Chik-Fil-A." Well, fingers crossed, right?

My area is 20th-century Irish, mostly drama. Yours?

[Guest]

Crap. NYU was my first choice and, in the immortal words of Senor Cardgage, "I don't see nobody taking me to Chik-Fil-A." Well, fingers crossed, right?

My area is 20th-century Irish, mostly drama. Yours?

Yeah, absolutely don't give up yet. I like to know what's going on from the survey here and stuff, but it's not over until I've gotten my very own rejection letter in the mail

It's so easy to freak out right now, though. But we all know that.

I'm doing early 20th century--mostly naturalism & Dreiser, but I want to be transatlantic and not bubble myself into "just American" or "just British" for a variety of reasons. I also applied to a few programs where I could be at home having a bit of an interdisciplinary approach (specifically, literature and the visual arts).

Anyways... good luck... today's another day! Mine looks like this:

8:00 am: Business hours open--everything's fair game, especially email.

10:00am-2:00pm: Mail arrival zone. After returning from mailbox emptyhanded about 17 times, the day's hope decreases by at least 50%.

4:00pm-4:30pm: Dad gets home--perhaps something was mistakenly sent to my permanent address? I sit by the phone waiting.

5:00pm: Business hours close yet again. Damnit. But wait--was that one school in a different time zone? Or, maybe they'll call after hours? A glimmer of hope remains. Frantically refresh survey, keeping phone handy all the while.

2:00am: Well, nothing today again. Sigh. Maybe in the morning... I'd better set my alarm for 8 just in case I've gotten email or something.

Somehow I don't remember this process sucking this much or making me this neurotic the first time around when I applied to MA programs. :roll:

[gradgirl]

Oops, that was me. I always get logged out and don't notice.

[Guest Paddy_Conscience]

I wish I had a class today. I know I'm just going to spend my day sitting in front of the computer with Outlook open, occassionally getting up to bug my roommate for the key to the mailbox, all the time shaking and feeling like I'm going to vomit. I thought I was made of sterner stuff than this...the idea of another rejection letter turns my knees to Jell-O.

[Guest Twister]

Well...this is it...I just found out I got rejected from WUSTL So there's only GeorgiaTech now, but I'm not holding out too much hope for that. My thesis prof suggested that maybe I can try the spring term next year, but I don't know..I kinda want to move on with my life..so, it's funny how life is, one admissions decision could potentially change the your entire career path...anyway, I guess I will start looking for jobs now because I don't want to be unemployed when I graduate. I don't really know what type of industry to go into though, so I'll probably take a few days to think about that, sigh..I wanted grad school so much...maybe I'll apply again, but only maybe, because I'm not sure if I can go through this entire process again anytime soon, but it will be so hard to come back to academia once I'm out...well. I hope everyone else here will have better luck with this..

[Guest Canny]

Twister,

I know what this whole process has been like - we all do -. We are tired and anxious. Hope seems to be fading away with each rejection that comes in. But I believe that some things are just meant to happen. As you say, "one admissions decision can potentially change your career and LIFE path", but who says it isn't for the best?? Hang in there. You have done everything you had to do, now it may be time to move on. There is still one admit pending, so don't lose hope, but in the end, if you need to wait a little longer before starting graduate studies, then just do it. If it is something you truly want, then you won't mind doing this all over again. There are thousands that have. It just seems unthinkable now because you are so tired, but give it some time. And don't feel this is lost. I believe there is so much you gain with this awful process, you really learn a lot, consider it an advantage!

Best of luck!!

[yin-bodhi]

I have three finals on Monday and I can't concentrate. I'm sick as well (my boyfriend thinks I got sick because I'm so stressed over grad stuff), so that doesn't help matters. I'm going to do a "Round Two" and send out applications to M.A. programs with later deadlines. I know, it's crazy to go through this all over again just to get in SOMEWHERE, but there are a couple good programs that have later deadlines and I want to make sure they get my application.

To everyone else stressed: you're not alone. We're all tired, sick, and stressed beyond belief. I'm glad we have a place like this where we can all come, vent, and comfort one another.

Oh look... Severe Thunderstorm Watches... yay! Maybe I can watch the weather and track that for a while.

[godwin]

I am an international student.

Here is my profile:

New mexico - accepted no funding

University of Alaska - accepted no funding

Washington University in St. Louis - rejected

University of Oklahoma - waiting

University of Colorado- waiting

Ohio state university - no word

Some schools tend to be active be4 you pay your application fee, when one pays the application fee , the tell you the recieved it and thats the end of the story. I applied for phd in chemical eng. at the ohio state university and up till date no word from them. I still hope to hear from them, but i always tell my self not to bother about crooks. I applied to CSU and up till now no decision yet , i am suspecting smth is not ok over there. I will like to know if there is anyone with similar case.

[rising_star]

Hey Godwin,

Have you checked the Ohio State website? I know I never actually got my admissions letter (and i'm in the US) but I found out online that I'd been accepted.

[Guest andrea82]

Anyone heard back from NYU Steinhardt as yet???? I applied for MA Speech Language Pathology... I have a feeling I'm waiting for a rejection letter...