Someone is reading my application right now

[clarwyn]

34 minutes ago, DBear said:

That's too cute!! It's like role reversal, his revenge for all the times that you (presumably) asked as a kid "are we there yet?!" 

I now have an image of your whole family waiting by the door, bags packed and ready to go! I hope you end up somewhere the whole family will be happy! 

Haha, I'm going to mention that to him next time he brings it up! And your image is really accurate, because my sister and my semi-estranged husband are also planning to apply wherever I wind up. (Post-doc for her, undergrad for him.) Literally the whole family is waiting on this, which is just a LITTLE nerve-wracking! But, I'm really grateful they're all willing to pack up and rearrange their lives around my dream. I'm sure I could make this work without them, but it will definitely be better for everyone (especially my kids) if we stick together.

[DBear]

@clarwyn keep us posted!! This sounds like the storyline on an 80s family sitcom, like Full House, grad school edition! 

Anytime you get overwhelmed by all the people waiting on your results, just imagine you're in a sitcom

[PhDorBUST]

1 hour ago, DBear said:

@clarwyn keep us posted!! This sounds like the storyline on an 80s family sitcom, like Full House, grad school edition! 

Anytime you get overwhelmed by all the people waiting on your results, just imagine you're in a sitcom

 

LOVE THIS THREAD. I really do wanna know what happens with you @clarwyn

I might actually start running or exercising or something. Maybe I can tire myself out so much that I'll pass out...I mean, sleep.

[DBear]

@PhDorBUST tried the whole exhaustion method, no joy. 

For some reason, my brain has decided to rewind to June and replay my unsuccessful Fulbright interview over and over again. It's torture thinking of all the things I shoulda woulda coulda said... Hoping that will be the only rejection I get during this process hahaha.... Ha..a..ha...

[PhDorBUST]

Fulbright that sounds like one of those smarty farty things I never felt good enough for so I put it out of my mind.

Yeah I only started actually realizing I'm basically the smartest person ever about a year ago. I always talked a good game, but it was just really well disguised sarcasm lololol

[Yanaka]

I think Fulbright is for those who have rare languages? 

I'm really frustrated by their program, because I couldn't take advantage of the French propositions of the program since I have the US citizenship! And on the other hand, well French is not a rare language so Fulbright ain't buying it. lol

[stereopticons]

I think you might be thinking of the Critical Language Scholarship. As a US applicant for Fulbright, I think you can go to most any country with a suitable research proposal. It's super competitive through. 

[clarwyn]

Are you thinking of FLAS? I filled out something for that, since I am involved in critical languages. I didn't have any clue what they wanted, though; my half a page probably didn't impress them.

[DBear]

@Yanaka Fulbright offers different fellowships for different countries, and for Korea, it's available to Korean citizens studying anything useful/ preferably related to the U.S.

But yeah, regardless of the program, I don't think they offer any money to American citizens looking to study in the U.S. One of my friends who has dual U.S./ Korean citizenship wasn't able to apply because she wanted to pursue her studies in the U.S.

I always thought Fulbright was for super smart people and really fancy schmancy so didn't even consider it but my thesis advisor insisted I give it a shot. She was apologetic when I didn't get it and actually upset at the committee hehehe. It was helpful though, since I had to write a SOP and get together all my transcripts and stuff in June - so it really did save me time in November. 

[Yanaka]

Thanks for the info @DBear  

[nanthini]

Same with me. I'm spending my nights checking the application status and checking the results here, pocket and edulix. I am going mad waiting! :|

[DBear]

@nanthini oooh, what are pocket and edulix? I need new places to "stalk" lol

[nanthini]

@DBearNot pocket Yocket* autocorrect failed me!

 https://yocket.in and http://www.edulix.com are sites that I usually stalk!

I'm losing my mind waiting for these results!

[Forest Owlet]

2 hours ago, DBear said:

@nanthini oooh, what are pocket and edulix? I need new places to "stalk" lol

Exactly my thoughts! Then I was like.. I'm already wasting enough time on gc  

[DBear]

@Forest Owlet good point................ 

[DBear]

New neurosis that has set in today - 

I check my application status once a day and until today, I did it without thinking there would be any changes. However, even though I know there won't be any updates until next month, most likely, I found myself fearing that I'd see the words "rejected" or "declined" when I opened the online applications today. Now that it's January, people may really be reading my application and now I fear that they'll read the first line of my SOP or look at my transcripts and just immediately press the "NO" button..GAH... 

I'm lucky enough to have lots of things to do to occupy my time, but still having these episodes of despair!

[ruilinch]

Just got an email from one of the programs that I am applying, saying that their professors have already started to review my package. 

I mean, sure, this is what I would expect. I have submitted my materials for more than two weeks, but receiving the email still gives me goosebumps. 

But again, worrying about it does not really solve anything. After the submission, there is very little thing that I can do. So I have been reading and doing new projects instead. 

I have had a short vacation, apparently. I went to Bangkok for one week to relax and shake off the anxiety. But after that, I have been forcing myself to go to library and read. It is not enough to just get admitted. On the contrary, getting admission is only the starting point of another five or more years' tortuous research experience. Should always be prepared!

[GeorgeC07]

2 hours ago, ruilinch said:

Just got an email from one of the programs that I am applying, saying that their professors have already started to review my package. 

I mean, sure, this is what I would expect. I have submitted my materials for more than two weeks, but receiving the email still gives me goosebumps. 

But again, worrying about it does not really solve anything. After the submission, there is very little thing that I can do. So I have been reading and doing new projects instead. 

I have had a short vacation, apparently. I went to Bangkok for one week to relax and shake off the anxiety. But after that, I have been forcing myself to go to library and read. It is not enough to just get admitted. On the contrary, getting admission is only the starting point of another five or more years' tortuous research experience. Should always be prepared!

=。= Gee You must be Chinese, all those bicycles. I submitted some of my materials a month ago, and I'll have to wait for another month for the first result to come, which I'm pretty sure will be bad news since I know what my chances are. I'll be home for the spring festival so at least mom's dishes will comfort me.

[DBear]

@GeorgeC07 same here, I finished submitting my applications exactly a month ago even though some aren't even due yet. The anxiety of having an unsubmitted SOP in my laptop was killing me and I thought I'd be relieved to submit the documents and put myself in a position where I had nothing left to do. Hahahaha.... I just ended up replacing one source of stress for another. Hope Lunar New Year home cooking helps! 

[GeorgeC07]

6 hours ago, DBear said:

@GeorgeC07 same here, I finished submitting my applications exactly a month ago even though some aren't even due yet. The anxiety of having an unsubmitted SOP in my laptop was killing me and I thought I'd be relieved to submit the documents and put myself in a position where I had nothing left to do. Hahahaha.... I just ended up replacing one source of stress for another. Hope Lunar New Year home cooking helps! 

Of course the home cooking will help with the anxiety, but it also helps with gaining weight during winter. Guess I'll just add losing weight to my new year's plan like last year and the year before that. Gee I'm starting to wonder when I'm gonna find a girlfriend just like my parents do.

[ruilinch]

20 hours ago, GeorgeC07 said:

=。= Gee You must be Chinese, all those bicycles. I submitted some of my materials a month ago, and I'll have to wait for another month for the first result to come, which I'm pretty sure will be bad news since I know what my chances are. I'll be home for the spring festival so at least mom's dishes will comfort me.

Actually, this picture was taken in Copenhagen, Denmark. But yes, I am Chinese. And, yes, there are bicycles everywhere you look in the campus. 

I am still not very clear about my standing in the application pool because of my interdisciplinary background, but again, it is not like I have looked hard enough to assess my position anyway. I think of it as even more of a waste of time to gather information about potential competitors and where everyone else is applying than, for example, to post in this forum and seek random chats. 

So I am not sure what I am going to get, which is not so bad. At least it is possible for me to wish for the best, right? 

Taking vacations, getting your hands dirty by doing some projects. It helps to calm your nerves and hold you back from all those futile attempts checking your application status over and over again. (Sadly, this is exactly what I am doing now... 

[GeorgeC07]

@ruilinchI never bothered to find other applicants' info, but I did spend a whole lot of time in gathering information on the specific requests of every program and approximate dates when the results would come out. Turns out that in my area, the dates range from late January to early April, meaning that I've got more waiting ahead than I anticipated. Still, I always come up with new ways of torturing myself, so I no longer check the application status, just keeping an eye on the emails. I ordered a kindle today and finally I get to spend some time without worrying, at least not when I'm reading. Reading is healthy stuff, clears the mind. BTW I'm also Chinese, and to my knowledge, there're not so many Chinese on this forum.

[ruilinch]

@GeorgeC07 I kept an eye out for application-required information but I didn't find ways to know when I might be getting updates. In my recollection, only one university mentioned in their website the approximate dates that they will be sending out decisions. Did you get to know it via other informal channels, like this forum? 

What I had in mind is very much like your estimation, from late January to early April, but I just got to know, also in this forum, that one university has already sent out interview invitations. BTW, it is UPenn. I didn't apply to their program, but it is still no joy knowing that some of the interviews should start so early. I hope I wouldn't be getting anything during Spring Festival! 

It is always a pleasure to know people with similar backgrounds! There aren't so many Chinese? It is actually very hard for me to tell since i am pretty new here. Just got registered one week or so ago. 

Where did you apply? I am applying to Sociology programs, and I have to say there are so few Chinese students applying to PhD in Sociology! I haven't got anyone to talk to about my application throughout the process, which is pretty frustrating. 

[GeorgeC07]

2 hours ago, ruilinch said:

@GeorgeC07 I kept an eye out for application-required information but I didn't find ways to know when I might be getting updates. In my recollection, only one university mentioned in their website the approximate dates that they will be sending out decisions. Did you get to know it via other informal channels, like this forum? 

What I had in mind is very much like your estimation, from late January to early April, but I just got to know, also in this forum, that one university has already sent out interview invitations. BTW, it is UPenn. I didn't apply to their program, but it is still no joy knowing that some of the interviews should start so early. I hope I wouldn't be getting anything during Spring Festival! 

It is always a pleasure to know people with similar backgrounds! There aren't so many Chinese? It is actually very hard for me to tell since i am pretty new here. Just got registered one week or so ago. 

Where did you apply? I am applying to Sociology programs, and I have to say there are so few Chinese students applying to PhD in Sociology! I haven't got anyone to talk to about my application throughout the process, which is pretty frustrating. 

I'm applying to programs of Nuclear Engineering, and one of my classmates back in undergrad told me that Mechanical Engineering program at Purdue already sent out admissions. But I wouldn't worry too much about other programs since they don't review the applications together. One way of finding out the approximate dates would be the records from previous years in the results survey section. And of course you can email the graduate coordinators of your programs about the exact dates, although it still seems early for some programs. 

One of the schools I apply to may probably make the decisions next week so I'm quite nervous now. Nah I need more food.

[ruilinch]

@GeorgeC07 None of the universities that I am applying will send early decisions I think... Actually, I just don't think that I would be the ones getting these early decisions unless it's direct rejection. I pictured myself as being somewhat average and thus most likely to be waitlisted until second or third rounds. So, yeah, it is going to be a hell of a waiting ahead of me.

I signed up for a Winter School which will officially begin tomorrow. I just read the course material and already started to question why on earth would I get myself into such a trouble in the first place... That's how far I would go to keep myself busy. 

Not to sound negative, but I do feel quite bad about my application which I guess in many ways explains my anxiety. I am sure you are in a better position than me.