Guest Author - Stephanie A. Allen

So, now that all of your graduate school applications are in and graduate programs are finally making decisions, how are you dealing with the stress of possible acceptances and rejections? To be sure, in some programs, only about 10-12% of all applicants are accepted into graduate programs, ensuring that most applicants are more than a little concerned about their chances at being accepted into their top programs. Additionally, in economic downturns people go back to school, a phenomenon that in all likelihood increases the applicant pool. So, what’s a stressed out graduate school hopeful to do?

First and foremost, stop speculating about your chances of acceptance. You’ll only make yourself crazy, and still won’t know either way until you get the letter in hand. Have confidence that you have submitted the best application possible, and that your chances are as good as anyone else’s. The decision making process is completely and utterly out of your hands at this point, so stop wasting precious energy worrying about things you cannot control. Obviously, this is easier said than done. However, you must try to find ways to take your mind off of your applications. Exercise, reconnect with friends and family, start a new hobby, anything to distract yourself from worrying about your graduate school applications.

However, if you must obsess over your applications, there are several online communities that will welcome you into their folds. Thegradcafe.com is one such online community where graduate students and graduate student hopefuls come together to discuss the application process, balancing graduate school and life, financing graduate studies, and more. More importantly, they are a source of support during this extremely stressful process. Potential graduate students are able to share their application experiences (nightmares) and get advice from current graduate students who have already gone through the process. To put it more plainly, it’s a place where you can rant and obsess with people who are going through the exact same experience as you.

Even though the application process is stressful, the waiting period is even more nerve-wracking. As a graduate student hopeful you are about to embark on a journey that may take you thousands of miles from home, challenge your intellect in ways you never thought possible, and give you entrée into a community of scholars who will become your mentors, colleagues, and friends over the coming years. You are standing at the steps of the ivory tower, waiting (not so patiently) to get in. But have faith, graduate school hopefuls! Application deadlines have passed and admissions committees are in session. Any day now you will be notified of your program’s decisions, and regardless of the outcome, the waiting will be over.