WINE, WAIT, AND WHINE THREAD

[sjoh197]

I certainly don't study it.... But my brother is a young athlete and one of the biggest problems his coaches say regular people have with exercise is doing it incorrectly. Running without the proper shoes or braces, lifting weights in ways that strain rather than build your muscles, not easing into your workout regimen causing injuries, etc.

Also, I know for myself, I can't sustain high impact workouts because I've injured my joints (knees, hips, ankles) from running and hiking with improper footwear. I still enjoy backpacking/hiking now.... But I also have $300 shoes and all of the right equipment.

[123hardasABC]

7 hours ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

I didn't know /r/gradschool was a thing. WHY HAVE YOU GIVEN ME ANOTHER SOURCE FOR ANXIETY

@Foreveronward

 

/r/gradadmissions was what I previously browsed. Sigh.

[artsy16]

Thanks for that! Makes a lot of sense. 

 

And thanks  Now waiting to hear if I'm accepted will be just as agonizing as it was to wait on interview invites!

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

1 hour ago, gingin6789 said:

First day of the new semester for me... All I'm doing as a Master's student (in her final semester) are thesis credits, but as a TA for the Intro to Soc class, I get to meet my students today! :-D

So late in the month too! Good luck

 

[hippyscientist]

17 minutes ago, sjoh197 said:

I certainly don't study it.... But my brother is a young athlete and one of the biggest problems his coaches say regular people have with exercise is doing it incorrectly. Running without the proper shoes or braces, lifting weights in ways that strain rather than build your muscles, not easing into your workout regimen causing injuries, etc.

Also, I know for myself, I can't sustain high impact workouts because I've injured my joints (knees, hips, ankles) from running and hiking with improper footwear. I still enjoy backpacking/hiking now.... But I also have $300 shoes and all of the right equipment.

Oh yes, absolutely. I train in an S&C gym at my university and we have the elite athletes (Olympians) training alongside joe public (admittedly most are better than joe public). You see some horrible mechanics going on. I have a terrible habit of gait analysis too, so I can walk behind people and spot the muscle imbalances/injuries going on. It's gotten pretty bad! 

Unfortunately people think they can get away with winging it, or "just trying it out", but without proper instruction and/or kit you can do some lasting damage. Everything should be eased into slowly! Okay I've rambled on enough now about training and sport - it's a great distraction while waiting for grad school notifications!!  

[anthrostudentcyn]

@gingin6789 It was my first day of school yesterday as well. 

 

Unfortunately after missing class last week, there aren't many open courses for me to enroll in. 

[123hardasABC]

I'm having the hardest time writing my thesis. My mentality is that I have an outline already and I just need inspiration. Last-minute inspiration.

 

God help me, this senioritis is real. 

[hippyscientist]

@123hardasABC put some music on, and just write. Anything. Seriously.

The protein moves like this, and crosses that and this is where i'm going next and i know this paper is important so i'm now going to summarise it.... then when you have words with fill-in-the-blanks you reward yourself with a drink (tea/coffee/beer/wine/tequila your preference) and then get on the reading/related papers. At least that's what works for me

[raaawr]

hi everyone  i have a question, do you think it's weird for me to reach out to alumni or current students of the program i'm applying for? i have been looking for people to talk to about my program but I feel alone cause no one seems to be applying to my school or my program. lol. I'm just wondering if it's stalkerish if I just randomly facebook message an alumni and asking about the school and program. What do you guys think?

[rosali]

16 minutes ago, raaawr said:

hi everyone  i have a question, do you think it's weird for me to reach out to alumni or current students of the program i'm applying for? i have been looking for people to talk to about my program but I feel alone cause no one seems to be applying to my school or my program. lol. I'm just wondering if it's stalkerish if I just randomly facebook message an alumni and asking about the school and program. What do you guys think?

Maybe try emailing them? Often current grad students have their emails listed on the program website. I feel like that would be a lot less stalkerish than FB messages, and probably happens to them fairly often.

[RCtheSS]

Alright, third day in a row working from home. NOW I'm getting stir crazy from the admissions' waiting game.

 

21 minutes ago, raaawr said:

hi everyone  i have a question, do you think it's weird for me to reach out to alumni or current students of the program i'm applying for? i have been looking for people to talk to about my program but I feel alone cause no one seems to be applying to my school or my program. lol. I'm just wondering if it's stalkerish if I just randomly facebook message an alumni and asking about the school and program. What do you guys think?

As rosali suggested, I would look into the admissions website to see if they offer contact resources for prospective students to communicate with current students. As I was applying, I received emails from some programs directing me to current students I could reach out to if I had any questions. If you can't see any specific area on their site dedicated to this, then you could reach out to the admissions' office to ask to put you in contact with someone willing to answer your questions. 

[raaawr]

8 minutes ago, rosali said:

Maybe try emailing them? Often current grad students have their emails listed on the program website. I feel like that would be a lot less stalkerish than FB messages, and probably happens to them fairly often.

 

2 minutes ago, RCtheSS said:

Alright, third day in a row working from home. NOW I'm getting stir crazy from the admissions' waiting game.

 

As rosali suggested, I would look into the admissions website to see if they offer contact resources for prospective students to communicate with current students. As I was applying, I received emails from some programs directing me to current students I could reach out to if I had any questions. If you can't see any specific area on their site dedicated to this, then you could reach out to the admissions' office to ask to put you in contact with someone willing to answer your questions. 

That's sounds like a good idea. thanks @rosali and @RCtheSS

[Neist]

9 hours ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

And the same with you. The same with all of you, really. I like looking and seeing when you guys add a few more "greens" or "blues" into your signatures. I'm on this forum so often that I've sort of memorized who's gotten in where... so sad

That's okay! I'm sure most of us who chime in here are probably on these forums far more than we should.

2 hours ago, sjoh197 said:

I certainly don't study it.... But my brother is a young athlete and one of the biggest problems his coaches say regular people have with exercise is doing it incorrectly. Running without the proper shoes or braces, lifting weights in ways that strain rather than build your muscles, not easing into your workout regimen causing injuries, etc.

Also, I know for myself, I can't sustain high impact workouts because I've injured my joints (knees, hips, ankles) from running and hiking with improper footwear. I still enjoy backpacking/hiking now.... But I also have $300 shoes and all of the right equipment.

I'm just a runner, so I can only speak from that perspective, but running shoes and technique is insanely important. However, what's a "correct" running shoe is sort of hard to define. A lot of shoes are perfect for a lot of people. In the case of running, if you slowly adapt your natural running style into another (which is certainly doable), your shoes will probably need to be changed as well.

I've actually been pretty lucky on the shoe front. More minimal shoes have treated me better than supportive ones, even though I do pronate slightly. I had a pretty severe case of plantar faciitis that lasted years and only went away after I switched to more flexible (but still cushy) shoes. I won't wear anything but these type of shoes now, even during backpacking. In fact, I wore a pair of fairly minimal trail runners during my scrambling trip this Sunday.

Shoes are kind of like booze. You have to try several types before you know what works for you.  

[sjoh197]

@Neist While at field camp this summer, we had a lot of people (most) who bought cheap hiking boots because they are from the flatland and have never hiked in their life. There were a lot of bloody blistered feet, hurting backs, and screwed up leg muscles... lol. People made fun of my lime green lowas until I was one of the few people with comfortable feet after hiking 10 miles a day for 6 weeks. 

[floatinggreenskull]

Well, I just got my first rejection. One of my "safety" schools too. 

[Lexie16]

50 minutes ago, floatinggreenskull said:

Well, I just got my first rejection. One of my "safety" schools too. 

My thoughts go out to you- I received my first two days ago, so I feel you on that front  Although, it just means we probably wouldn't have been happy there because it wasn't a good fit, right?

Also, ethnomusicology is intense, and I can only imagine how the music performance proficiency makes your application cycle even more intense. I wish you luck with your other schools!!

[hippyscientist]

Okay so I just had a look at the undergrad classes some of the departments I've applied to provide. Maaaaaan, okay! I can TA those now  I feel like I could maybe lead some of them and I don't have my masters yet!! Thank you UK education for (despite having horrible grading systems) teaching me awesome stuff. My panic about having to TA has just subsided dramatically! 

[floatinggreenskull]

Lexi16, thank you. ^__^ I don't think I would've been happy there anyway...but it still stings! Best of luck to you as well...I'm sure good news is just around the corner for us both.

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

54 minutes ago, piglet33 said:

Okay so I just had a look at the undergrad classes some of the departments I've applied to provide. Maaaaaan, okay! I can TA those now  I feel like I could maybe lead some of them and I don't have my masters yet!! Thank you UK education for (despite having horrible grading systems) teaching me awesome stuff. My panic about having to TA has just subsided dramatically! 

I had the opposite problem. Did a summer program at my top choice uni (Boulder) and I tutored a bit for some of the undergrad courses. It was embarrassing... I didn't know anything!!

[nevermind]

Every day that goes by without hearing anything is a day where I'm feeling slightly more nauseated. 

[nightfarmer]

Does anyone else get family/friends who advise you not to check grad cafe? At least for me, I'm going to be losing my mind with worry in the weeks leading up to decision time no matter what, so I might as well have some idea of what schools seem to be sending out letters, and chat with people going through the same thing. I see their point, but grad cafe has made the whole process a little easier in my opinion.

[med latte]

3 minutes ago, nightfarmer said:

Does anyone else get family/friends who advise you not to check grad cafe? At least for me, I'm going to be losing my mind with worry in the weeks leading up to decision time no matter what, so I might as well have some idea of what schools seem to be sending out letters, and chat with people going through the same thing. I see their point, but grad cafe has made the whole process a little easier in my opinion.

Why do your family/friends discourage you? I've been driving my SO a bit nuts talking about the admissions process. I think he's relieved I can take that energy and stress to GradCafe.

[sjoh197]

@nightfarmer I think using the site to obsess over your application and pour over everyone else's stats is probably why they are advising you not to be on here (Not that you do that... I don't know you....) but some/a lot of people do that and it can be stressful for them. 

Others, like myself, have no one to really talk to and it is nice to commiserate over what food we are eating, what netflix shows to watch, good news, bad news, etc. 

[bluefoxblue]

Yes. Absolutely. Especially since I lurk and panic. But I feel as though I lurk, panic, feel some sort of sad relief that others feel pain and I know the process better. Mutual pain is better than ignorance right?

Edited January 26, 2016 by bluefoxblue

[nightfarmer]

9 minutes ago, sjoh197 said:

@nightfarmer I think using the site to obsess over your application and pour over everyone else's stats is probably why they are advising you not to be on here (Not that you do that... I don't know you....) but some/a lot of people do that and it can be stressful for them. 

Others, like myself, have no one to really talk to and it is nice to commiserate over what food we are eating, what netflix shows to watch, good news, bad news, etc. 

Yeah, I think they worry that I'd just check it religiously or put too much stock into seeing that a school has accepted someone while I've heard nothing.

By the way, speaking of netflix shows, the movie they just put on called Uncle John is really good, I thought. A slow-paced indie film if you're into that kind of thing.