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The waiting game: How have you been keeping busy?


KevinJHa

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2 hours ago, travelmug1Q84 said:

binge-reading fiction until 2am

This really helps though, doesn't it? It's one of the more pleasant side effects. What are you reading? I read Han Kang's the Vegetarian and am making my way through Marlon James's beautiful behemoth (over a 1000 pages), a Brief History of Seven Killings.

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12 hours ago, qeta said:

This really helps though, doesn't it? It's one of the more pleasant side effects. What are you reading? I read Han Kang's the Vegetarian and am making my way through Marlon James's beautiful behemoth (over a 1000 pages), a Brief History of Seven Killings.

 

I've been pounding Haruki Murakami books. Since December I've read Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage, 1Q84, Norwegian Wood, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, A Wild Sheep Chase, and Sputnik Sweetheart.  Non-Murakami reads: A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and So You've Been Publically Shamed by Jon Ronson.

I have to admit, it's been pretty fun to tear through these over the past two months.  Once an acceptance (hopefully!) comes, I'll probably start getting back into some more sociology text intermittently with the fiction. How is the Marlon James book?

Also, as a side note, we applied to almost all the same schools! Fingers crossed for both of us! :) 

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On 1/18/2018 at 8:06 PM, Merina said:

SAME! I actually unsubscribed from all Northeastern emails because I got tired of that feeling hahah

Such a great idea. Doing that right now.

On 1/19/2018 at 8:28 AM, pinoysoc said:

Just checked my application right now:

Submitted

I haaaaaate it. At least one of my apps is "ready for review", which I hate less, but still. If I could get some news, that would be amazing. 

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I’ve decided that the Yale application portal is the worst one. When I log in to check my status (wishful thinking!) it always says something like “you have started one application” so I always freak out that I forgot to submit it! However when I click through it’s clearly labelled as submitted ... but there’s always a moment of horror ...

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19 hours ago, travelmug1Q84 said:

I've been pounding Haruki Murakami books. Since December I've read Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage, 1Q84, Norwegian Wood, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, A Wild Sheep Chase, and Sputnik Sweetheart.  Non-Murakami reads: A Million Little Pieces by James Frey, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and So You've Been Publically Shamed by Jon Ronson.

I have to admit, it's been pretty fun to tear through these over the past two months.  Once an acceptance (hopefully!) comes, I'll probably start getting back into some more sociology text intermittently with the fiction. How is the Marlon James book?

Also, as a side note, we applied to almost all the same schools! Fingers crossed for both of us! :) 

Aww, thanks for the well-wishes! I hope you get into your dream schools too.

I have bizarrely fond memories of binge reading Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, given that it's hardly a pleasant book. How did you like it? The James book has some of the most beautiful writing and interesting characters I've read in a long time. My only complaint so far is that it depicts a very masculine world.

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8 hours ago, abenz said:

I’ve decided that the Yale application portal is the worst one. When I log in to check my status (wishful thinking!) it always says something like “you have started one application” so I always freak out that I forgot to submit it! However when I click through it’s clearly labelled as submitted ... but there’s always a moment of horror ...

Lol, I had the exact same freakout with ApplyWeb. I log on and it says I have one unsubmitted app--it's years old, but I always forget and think I didn't end up sending in one of my PhD apps. :blink:

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On 1/20/2018 at 12:27 PM, latemeg said:

Such a great idea. Doing that right now.

I haaaaaate it. At least one of my apps is "ready for review", which I hate less, but still. If I could get some news, that would be amazing. 

Today I actually got an email from Northwestern... about a completely different program (i.e., an ad for another program). Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhy.

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Nothing I do really fills the void of this limbo period any more. I can play all the Gran Turismo in the world, paint a dozen Bob Ross pictures, spend hours at the gym, but my mind is always on whether there's been any news, and my eyes are always on my phone waiting for that blinking notification light. I feel like I'm going crazy.

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2 hours ago, Merina said:

Today I actually got an email from Northwestern... about a completely different program (i.e., an ad for another program). Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhy.

Since we're sharing heart break stories I have another one today. I totally forgot I emailed Columbia's admissions last week asking about timelines, so anyway I almost FAINTED today when I saw an email from Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences this morning. :wacko:

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I'm already in survival mode and planning to retake the GRE in May. I'm not as confident as I would like to in hoping that my GRE scores will not be determining factor. Lol. I also want to move out of St. Louis it's so bad because this place broke me!

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Another day begins again on the east coast ... is it bad that I’ve memorised the time differences for each of my schools so I know when (in my time zone) the working day begins?

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1 hour ago, pinoysoc said:

I'm already in survival mode and planning to retake the GRE in May. I'm not as confident as I would like to in hoping that my GRE scores will not be determining factor. Lol. I also want to move out of St. Louis it's so bad because this place broke me!

I retook the GRE in November, prior to this application cycle; all things considered it went well, my scores increased 6pts on verbal and 4 pts on quant w/ a .5 increase in AW. Personally, I basically relearned math w/ Khan Academy videos, which was good, but I overlooked the fact that a majority of GRE math questions are about properties, not actual computation; just keep that in mind! 

Come out to Chicago! Friendly Midwestern city with a decent cost of living for such a great place. 

1 hour ago, abenz said:

Another day begins again on the east coast ... is it bad that I’ve memorised the time differences for each of my schools so I know when (in my time zone) the working day begins?

Lol. It's not a bad thing! We all have our application - checking routines. If I were on a radically different time zone I'd do the same. 

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Oof, y'all, I'm feeling the stress too, especially upon seeing the UNC acceptances come in-- that's the first I've seen from places I've applied. Sending positive vibes into the universe at all of you. Here's hoping we can make it through the next few weeks without completely losing our minds!

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Alas; another heartbreaking story. Got an email today that had the subject "Florida tech: graduate admissions". My heart DROPPED. 

Dont worry. It was just them telling me they finally received my last rec letter. That was 4 hours ago. My hands are still shaking. 

Anyone else might get fired from their job because all they can do is compulsively check their email, Grad cafe, and their application websites?

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I’m ready for the Wisconsin decisions to come out. If last year is any indication, acceptances should come out either the end of this week or the next week and rejections should come out about a week and a half later, 

 

It’s my top choice and I’m just so ready to know if I got into my dream program or if I’m fated to schools out of the top 30 that actually study what I’m interested in. 

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1 hour ago, ARemi4 said:

 

Anyone else might get fired from their job because all they can do is compulsively check their email, Grad cafe, and their application websites?

LMAO I was thinking this yesterday. I was so anxiously checking every and any outlet I could for information regarding decisions. I must have blown off hours of work.

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1 hour ago, KevinJHa said:

LMAO I was thinking this yesterday. I was so anxiously checking every and any outlet I could for information regarding decisions. I must have blown off hours of work.

Me right now ? I even said to my coworker today "I really hope IT doesn't monitor our computers or they will have known I've gotten nothing done in the past week" haha. 

One of my applications has said it's in department review SINCE DECEMBER 15. December 15 people. I'm going nuts. 

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Also, saw a big packet in the mail yesterday. Without even reading it I ripped it open so eagerly. Turns out I accidentally opened my neighbors W-2. Oops. Probably should have been less frantic and read the name on the front, haha. He wasn't too happy. 

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I haven't really been freaking out that much because I've been sure of getting rejections the whole time. But knowing that Berkeley released decisions today last year has me frantic. It's my top choice (as it is for many others, I'm sure). I only today realized that this rejection will come first and be absolutely crushing.

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57 minutes ago, ARemi4 said:

One of my applications has said it's in department review SINCE DECEMBER 15. December 15 people. I'm going nuts. 

My UW-Madison app hasn’t had any status updates sine Dec. 15 either. My advisor, who went to the program, said she imagines that they just started reviewing apps since they got back from break today...I’m a bit skeptical that no one at the program has looked at the apps they’ve had for over a month. 

 

Going stir crazy waiting. 

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On 1/19/2018 at 9:28 AM, pinoysoc said:

Just checked my application right now:

Submitted

For what it's worth, I've been accepted to UNC Chapel Hill and my application is still classified on the portal as just "Submitted." I have a feeling that portal updates might be administrative formalities that are taken care of on the back end of application season rather than immediately upon acceptance... But that's just a theory based on the data set of Me. :) 

In the meantime, I'm still looking for ways to direct my overactive anxiety brain towards more productive endeavors. What are your go-to brain ticklers for when you want to channel your mental energy into something other than the "what-ifs" of the application season?

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12 hours ago, abenz said:

Another day begins again on the east coast ... is it bad that I’ve memorised the time differences for each of my schools so I know when (in my time zone) the working day begins?

Haha same problem here. I am on pins and needles with checking my emails till 8pm as Berkeley is 3hrs behind the current time in my city. It's incredibly stressful!

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