<p>I know I am not unique in my situation but let me expound upon it anyways: appetite is gone, sleep is hard to come by (can't sleep when in bed, limited time in which I can sleep, and so on), irritable, anxiety-ridden (stomach pangs, shakiness, and so on), and a general sense of unease.</p>
<p>Applying to all of these graduate programs is really getting to me. How do y'all keep sane at this time? Any tips for taking care of yourself? I know this should be obvious stuff but I'm about to go crazy right about now haha.</p>
<p>Haha, well, I was apparently the only person in my grad level course to get an A, and it’s directly in the specialty I want to go into, so all the studying was definitely worth it. And now I have time to finish everything. :)</p>
<p>But I have to wait until I go home to finish my next application because my parents have to fill out the proof of residency section since I’m still a dependent.</p>
<p>And of course everything has been put on the back burner to my thesis for a while now. I can’t believe how quickly senior year is going by!</p>
<p>I thought I would have at least 2 weeks after submitting applications to not worry about it and concentrate on finals… but someone on this forum already got an interview invite to a program I applied to.</p>
<p>And now I get to panic, refresh CC continuously, and dream about rejections every single night.</p>
<p>Same. But I’ve devised a new strategy. When I see something distressing, I give myself 20 minutes to be upset/worried/anxious and that’s it. Then, while I still think about grad apps throughout the day, it’s nothing that I worry about. For the past few days this has worked wonderfully.</p>
<p>Any emails/phone calls/invitations would be considered bonuses because I am not expecting anything. When you expect stuff, you get into trouble.</p>
<p>I know how you feel! I’m going through the same process and it has gotten me all stressed out to say the least. That’s also not to mention all of the usual stress which comes with final exams. I’ve decided that these December 15th deadlines are to blame! haha</p>
<p>Find something that distracts you from the anxiety, and do that:</p>
<ol>
<li>Start an exercise routine.</li>
<li>Read that book you always wanted to read.</li>
<li>Go for a walk around the block; breathe in and out slowly, and take in the scenery.</li>
<li>Text a friend. Call a friend.</li>
<li>Give yourself 30 minutes of Facebook time.</li>
<li>Drink a cup of chamomile tea while doing nothing else.</li>
</ol>
<p>And other things like that. Give yourself a little break, a little downtime. Exercise and walking are probably the two biggest stress relievers; they also give you more energy to get through the day.</p>
<p>Hey thanks for the suggestions and comments everyone. I see a lot of threads with questions about this and that but I thought it would be nice to have a thread so we can support each other through this process and just let folks vent a little.</p>
<p>I would add that sleep is really not worth sacrificing just to get a little more done.</p>
<p>I think that after submitting application, there’s nothing else one can do. therefore, I don’t think it’s worth to worry or get anxiety because some phenomenal people got interview early. you’ve done all your best.</p>
<p>I have all but one of my applications done but I think I need to sleep now or I might mess something up. It’s a paper application anyway so no reason to have it done tonight…</p>
<p>I freaked out when my recommender sent his letter late, which was not my fault. but now since I’ve sent all my application, I try not to think too much about this anymore. plus I’m applying for engineering program and the deadlines for most schools are early January, so I don’t think interview will be offered until the end of January. so…I will enjoy christmas and new year first before freaking out later :D.</p>
<p>Dude, think about this: you’ve already submitted your grad school applications.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Your GPA doesn’t matter any more; the adcom will make its decision without seeing any more of your grades.</p></li>
<li><p>Your thesis doesn’t matter; the adcom won’t get to see how it ends up before they make their decision.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>You have to make a stand and limit how academia encroaches on your life. Give yourself a set amount of time to work on something and then give it up. Get 7-8 hours of sleep each night, even if it means not completing assignments (see #1) and take fewer hours in the future. Do the minimum amount of work necessary to get the grades you want.</p>
<p>Think about this: during your PhD you will work on a small project that is a small part of your PI’s lab. It takes the PI a lifetime of research to make a small contribution to his field. Your undergrad thesis, and dare I say, you and me, are pretty meaningless in the grand scheme of things. You have to decide to be happy and make time for yourself first of all.</p>
<p>Umm… who ever said doing my thesis isn’t what makes me happy? I don’t care that adcoms aren’t going to see it, it’s my thesis and I’m enjoying doing it. And why wouldn’t I want to still try as hard as I can to learn as much as I can in my classes? I’ve never given up sleep and I don’t know where you got that impression. I do get at least 8 hours of sleep every night. I’m not even worried about my GPA at all at this point…but that doesn’t mean I should aim to get C’s in every class when A’s are within my reach. Academia isn’t “encroaching” on my life- it is my life and I’m happy with that thus far.</p>
<p>Saying my life is meaningless is really encouraging. Well, I for one haven’t given up on life and I want to learn as much as I can and accomplish as much as I can. What would you suggest I do when I “make time for myself”? It seems counterproductive to slack off and not learn anything in my classes solely because adcoms won’t see them when I’m primarily taking them at this point because I want to learn the material, not to impress adcoms or whatever. Sure, sometimes it’s stressful but I’m rarely happy if I’m not working towards getting something done. It’s just how I am.</p>
<p>And aside from that, I do need my undergrad thesis done in order to graduate…which I imagine would affect being able to go grad school in the first place…</p>
<p>I’m still applying to one more PhD program and deciding between two MS at this time. I’d say do something aside from academic-related stuff that you enjoy (listen to music, play video games, whatever) for a little while then continue working on your application. </p>
<p>Also realize, worst case scenario, there’s always next year and a lot you can to do to improve yourself while waiting.</p>
<p>Not sure who your post is directed at but personally, I don’t mind, as long as it isn’t all of the time, sacrificing my body and mind for success. So I rarely get 8 hours of sleep but I also don’t need 8 hours to function or even to function optimally. I get on average about 6 hours and that is fine with me.</p>
<p>And I’m not sure what is with this business of taking sleep over finishing an assignment? Again, as long as it isn’t every night, I don’t see the problem. If one wants to succeed, one must sacrifice right?</p>
<p>coolmint- having to wait another year…THAT is a horrifying prospect my friend. Horrifying, terrifying, petrifying, you get the point.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t think I’m going to have much of a Christmas this year. I might take the 24th and 25th off but other than that, I’ll be working on apps this entire month and even into January.</p>
<p>D is mostly finished with her apps, but a couple weeks ago encountered a problem someone here may be able to help with. Some of the schools with a deadline of 12/31 or later will not permit her to upload her UG transcript because it exceeds the size their upload allows. she has tried PDF, grey scale, zip, to no avail. None will accept anything by snail mail. Any suggestions?</p>