KieBelle Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Anyone else out there experiencing this? I am so sick of working on these essays and applications that I'm getting to the dangerous point of not caring. I'm ready to just submit all this stuff as-is and take my chances. I practically have my essays memorized! Ugh! Now that all of my supplemental materials have been submitted, these cursed essays are the only things left for me to do. It's sooooo tempting to upload them and hit "Submit". Then I'll actually be able to get on with my life, imagine that! But then the voice of reason speaks up and I realize that I will hate myself if I start half-a**ing this stuff come March when I start receiving rejection letters. Sigh. So I guess I'll go rearrange a few more sentences, scour the department website for some heretofore overlooked bit to include in the fit paragraph, and agonize for 20 minutes over whether I should use "chose" instead of "opted" or "corresponded" instead of "spoke". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a fragrant plant Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 I know how you feel. I'm editing my writing sample AGAIN! This is like the 10th edition... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tam Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Stick with it. It might not make a difference - maybe you'll get in anyway, or maybe you won't get in anyway - but you don't want to be in a position where you're wondering if that was why you didn't get in somewhere you hoped to go. Do your best! It's worth it for the peace of mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryLandis Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 I hear ya about the continual checks of department websites for more information about fit. The other day it actually proved useful, though, as I found out that one of my potential supervisors has a blog where she writes about her life as well as her job. Even had a post about what kinds of research proposals she finds annoying (I think this had more to do with her colleagues than what she might read in SOPs though). Well, it wasn't that useful - I wasn't sure what I would find from the website that I wouldn't find in one of her books, and besides I felt kind of creepy reading her personal blog. But the point is that no matter how many times you read the pages of a department's website, even when you've gotten to the point of memorizing exactly which link takes you where, there still can be more to find out! What drives me crazy about this process is that so much of it is in my control. I can always do more to improve my application. Makes me wish I could just submit a bunch of numbers and be finished with it! Fortunately (or, really, unfortunately) I have a long way to go on my writing samples, so I'm not tempted to push "SUBMIT." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexis Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 KieBelle I totally feel the same way! My strategy has been to completely ignore my applications for a week or so at a time (usually because other things are more urgent aka have to get done right now in school/life), then I can look at my statements again with fresh eyes. I'm at the point now though where like you, I just want to be DONE with it all! I feel like once they're submitted, it will be "out of sight, out of mind," and I won't have to worry about things til March. If you feel you've gotten your essays as good as possible though, and no amount of time will really make a difference, go ahead and hit that "submit" button! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryLandis Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 Just got off the phone with my parents a bit ago and my dad asks, "So, what are your thoughts about next year?" I said well, what do you mean, they haven't changed, I am applying to the same places I told you I would last week. Then he asks, "So, where are you going to be?" I replied that unfortunately, that's not really my decision at this time, and I'll have to wait and see. So then he asks, "Well, are you submitting applications?" Am I? AM I? Every other day I send my parents an email saying something like "These applications are killing me and I think I need to go murder a large number of people to deal with the stress...." People just don't get it. Although you'd think that having attended two graduate programs himself, my dad would! Nope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LateAntique Posted November 14, 2009 Share Posted November 14, 2009 I went through this exact same thing a few weeks ago. I decided a hasty submission would be a terrible idea. Once you submit it, it's out of your editorial control. I say go watch a movie or go run or something. Get your mind off of the essay and come back to it with fresh eyes. margaretlouise 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziz Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 Just got off the phone with my parents a bit ago and my dad asks, "So, what are your thoughts about next year?" I said well, what do you mean, they haven't changed, I am applying to the same places I told you I would last week. Then he asks, "So, where are you going to be?" I replied that unfortunately, that's not really my decision at this time, and I'll have to wait and see. So then he asks, "Well, are you submitting applications?" Am I? AM I? Every other day I send my parents an email saying something like "These applications are killing me and I think I need to go murder a large number of people to deal with the stress...." People just don't get it. Although you'd think that having attended two graduate programs himself, my dad would! Nope. LOL that happens to me all the time with my friends. "Have you heard anything yet?" I want to say "no, still won't know until March, just like I told you yesterday when you asked!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johndiligent Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 LOL that happens to me all the time with my friends. "Have you heard anything yet?" I want to say "no, still won't know until March, just like I told you yesterday when you asked!" I know. I hate being asked "So where are you going for grad school?" As if that's my decision! I usually answer, "Well, I'm applying to seven different places across the country, so... ummm... hopefully one of those." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziz Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 I know. I hate being asked "So where are you going for grad school?" As if that's my decision! I usually answer, "Well, I'm applying to seven different places across the country, so... ummm... hopefully one of those." Even worse...just wait til February/March comes around and the chorus becomes "have you heard anything yet?". I know they just care, but if I get rejected everywhere, I'm not sure I'm going to want to broadcast it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coyabean Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 Just got off the phone with my parents a bit ago and my dad asks, "So, what are your thoughts about next year?" I said well, what do you mean, they haven't changed, I am applying to the same places I told you I would last week. Then he asks, "So, where are you going to be?" I replied that unfortunately, that's not really my decision at this time, and I'll have to wait and see. So then he asks, "Well, are you submitting applications?" Am I? AM I? Every other day I send my parents an email saying something like "These applications are killing me and I think I need to go murder a large number of people to deal with the stress...." People just don't get it. Although you'd think that having attended two graduate programs himself, my dad would! Nope. I discovered a weird brand of amnesia among academics. Perhaps its the trauma of the process, but all of them seem to forget everything about this process the minute the clear to the other side. It's kind of like childbirth. If people remembered no one would do it. I'm sitting here right now realizing that I can't decide if I should renew my lease, if its feasible to buy some new furniture or to get extensive work done to my car -- nothing -- because i don't know where I'll be in six months. I hate to buy stuff I'll have to move or be moving to a place where I'll get rid of my car or...etc. I can't do anything. I'm stuck. And I hate being stuck!!!!! It's almost worse after hitting send. I only have four or five apps I need to send some hard copies supplementals into and then I'm done. Then what? Oh sure I could focus on graduating but that's just a few minutes a day. LOL I hate this loss of control and inability to plan my life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryLandis Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 Yeah, my family moved a bit when I was growing up so we were always putting off making improvements until after the next move, so as not to get too settled in only to have to leave. Of course, we would end up living in that place for 5 years or whatever, never buying any new furniture because my parents thought we could end up moving at any time... it SUCKS. Being a student across the Atlantic is difficult because I can't buy anything I won't be able to bring back home with me in my allotted airline luggage. I absolutely cannot wait until I can live a normal life, and buy household items like nice kitchenware, artwork (nothing too fancy though, I'll be lucky to get a small stipend!), decent furniture, etc. I've been considering submitting a more recent, shorter, less relevant writing sample just because I can't really be bothered to rewrite my existing one. I honestly do not have the time. But I'll only do that as a last resort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahlan_amnell Posted November 15, 2009 Share Posted November 15, 2009 Anyone else out there experiencing this? I am so sick of working on these essays and applications that I'm getting to the dangerous point of not caring. I'm ready to just submit all this stuff as-is and take my chances. I practically have my essays memorized! Ugh! Now that all of my supplemental materials have been submitted, these cursed essays are the only things left for me to do. It's sooooo tempting to upload them and hit "Submit". Then I'll actually be able to get on with my life, imagine that! But then the voice of reason speaks up and I realize that I will hate myself if I start half-a**ing this stuff come March when I start receiving rejection letters. Sigh. So I guess I'll go rearrange a few more sentences, scour the department website for some heretofore overlooked bit to include in the fit paragraph, and agonize for 20 minutes over whether I should use "chose" instead of "opted" or "corresponded" instead of "spoke". When are your applications due? You shouldn't submit too early, but you shouldn't wait till the last moment either. There is something to be said for editing your essays as much as you can, but if you get to the point where you really think that you can't do anything else to them and are sick of looking at them, don't be afraid to just say you're done with them and submit them. (Don't do this on an impulse though. If you've thought about it for a day or two and think they are done, they go ahead and submit them.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzydrink Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 Oh, do I know what you are talking about! Why does it feel like getting into grad school is harder than actually completing a course?? I am so sick of my own SOP and questions of which spell checker to use and how an essay written on a European computer will print on a US printer and and and... Hang in there! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
workingonit Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I know the feeling of being torn between just wanting to hit 'Submit' and wanting to make ABSOLUTELY sure that your SOP/sample/whatever is perfect...but keep in mind that rewriting your material for the upteenth time runs the serious risk of making it read as overworked. Try to make sure that the enthusiasm you started with still comes through on the 15th draft of your essays...otherwise, you may never get your application off the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gurumaster8899 Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 just get it over with... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a fragrant plant Posted November 16, 2009 Share Posted November 16, 2009 I feel so sick of reading my writing sample again and again. I'm going to print it out tonight and post it with my transcripts tomorrow morning. Now I understand why it takes some people ten years to complete a doctorial dissertation. Some people just won't let go if there isn't a deadline. I'm glad that I'll be done with them next month! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnlikelyGrad Posted November 18, 2009 Share Posted November 18, 2009 Anyone else out there experiencing this? I am so sick of working on these essays and applications that I'm getting to the dangerous point of not caring. I'm ready to just submit all this stuff as-is and take my chances. I practically have my essays memorized! Sigh. So I guess I'll go rearrange a few more sentences, scour the department website for some heretofore overlooked bit to include in the fit paragraph, and agonize for 20 minutes over whether I should use "chose" instead of "opted" or "corresponded" instead of "spoke". My advice: give the SoP to a professor whose judgment you trust. If he/she says it's ok, submit it. You see, it doesn't matter what you think of the essay--it's what other people think that counts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lantern Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 I agree with all of you! It's like my entire life has been on hold. And that comment about agonizing over exactly which word to use cracked me up - so I'm not the only one who does that??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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