How did you guys stay sane waiting to find out if you got in?

[GoRiceOwls]

I'm curious because even though I'm not applying this year...I think it would weigh on me a lot to just not know! So what did you do to manage the stress?

I think it'll be hitting the gym for me!

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[Hifey]

I'm curious because even though I'm not applying this year...I think it would weigh on me a lot to just not know! So what did you do to manage the stress?

I think it'll be hitting the gym for me!

Live life normally...go to class, studying, volunteering, gymming, shopping whatever. Life moves on. It's when you have nothing to do ( or if you're applying to Drexel) that it seems ( or actually takes) forever. Don't worry you'll find something to keep you busy.

 

[Sammich117]

Most people DON'T stay sane - hence half of the threads here. haha. I was going bananas personally. It's a really trying process. Everyone finds their own personal ways to cope though.

 

[bearforce]

Staying sane was next to impossible for me. especially because i was around friends and family who bring up medical school all the time. , but previous posters are right. get engrossed in something so much that you think about it less. Try to pull yourself from SDN or buy a really good video game or download a SEGA emulator and Sonic 1-3 Roms for your computer.

 

[GoRiceOwls]

good joke. try to pull yourself from sdn. hahahaha

 

[UnlonelyRoad]

I wrote a thesis.

So I was up late wondering how I was going to get it done, instead of where I was going to end up going!

 

[swamprat]

plenty of beers... and women.

 

[Narmerguy]

Live life normally...go to class, studying, volunteering, gymming, shopping whatever. Life moves on. It's when you have nothing to do ( or if you're applying to Drexel) that it seems ( or actually takes) forever. Don't worry you'll find something to keep you busy.

I agree. Have other things in your life that demand your attention and that need to get done. I imagine having to finish a thesis like a previous poster mentioned is a good thing to engross yourself in. Take on some massive project

 

[elektroshok]

plenty of beers... and women.

This

 

[applying2010]

I'm on SDN right now because I should be finding out whether or not I got accepted to my top choice this week and I'm stalking the thread waiting to see if anyone has heard something today. Lol. It is a really long process full of waiting and worrying but we will all survive it. Good luck!

 

[Geekchick921]

I'm applying this coming cycle, but I wasn't sane to begin with.

 

[auburnO5]

I'm curious because even though I'm not applying this year...I think it would weigh on me a lot to just not know! So what did you do to manage the stress?

I think it'll be hitting the gym for me!

I've tried just about everything, yet I am still going crazy. If I don't hear anything soon I think I might be too crazy to even go to med school if I get in.

 

[illegallysmooth]

By realizing that what's done is done. There's nothing you can do now to change it. Don't bother worrying.

 

[TakeMe]

I trained for a marathon. I feel like I am still going crazy.

 

[auburnO5]

I'm curious because even though I'm not applying this year...I think it would weigh on me a lot to just not know! So what did you do to manage the stress?

I think it'll be hitting the gym for me!

Honestly the best advice I can give you is GET OFF SDN!!!! It really drives you crazy and makes the wait seem so long.

 

[IDoIt4Love]

keep busy. as tempting as it is, do not wait around your inbox, phone and/or SDN for new updates. if you need to, call and bug admissions offices, send letters of update, interest or intent to schools you're very interested in, but once you've done what you can, move on and do other things. staying busy helps the time fly by so much faster!

 

[TooMuchResearch]

I don't usually worry about things outside of my control.

 

[jboz]

I don't usually worry about things outside of my control.

This. x1000

Not only should you apply this way of thinking to the situation at hand, but also to life in general. You'll be happier and live longer-less depression and constipation(jk)

 

[girlofgrace7]

Staying sane was next to impossible for me. especially because i was around friends and family who bring up medical school all the time.

That is the worst part of the process. When family and friends continually ask where you're going to go to med school and try to comfort you by insisting that you'll get in, you reach a point where you start getting really snappy at them. The process is nerve-wracking enough without people constantly reminding you that four (or more) years of work comes down to a few pieces of paper in the hands of the adcoms.

That being said, keep your mind off of it as much as possible. Don't keep checking your statuses at schools, don't talk to other people applying about where they have or have not received secondaries/interviews/acceptances, and don't check SDN unless you have specific questions you need answered about the process.

 

[justdoit31]

I just kept living life- school, work, volunteering, family time, etc... and I spent a ton of time doing Bible study and it was a huge faith builder for me. I was blessed to get an acceptance at my top choice early on and I am not sure how well I would have dealt with it if I had to wait til spring.

 

[runawayclock]

Working on 3 papers at a time on 3 extremely disparate subjects (behavioral genetics, neuroethics, victorian lit) helps keep my mind off things...

 

[Mandiblespeaks]

we didn't. you won't. Don't try or you will make it worse.


Apply...MCATwaitsecondarieswait somemore........zzzz....zzz......interviewswaitlistsmore interviewsmore waiting .......zzzzzzzz.....and more waiting and more wwaitlists/waitingand acceptanceand financial aid package waitingYAAAAYYYY YOUR ARE GOING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! now what

 

[auburnO5]

we didn't. you won't. Don't try or you will make it worse.


Apply...MCATwaitsecondarieswait somemore........zzzz....zzz......interviewswaitlistsmore interviewsmore waiting .......zzzzzzzz.....and more waiting and more wwaitlists/waitingand acceptanceand financial aid package waitingYAAAAYYYY YOUR ARE GOING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! now what

lol, and if you're lucky enough OP, you can do it all again next year!! Noo... it won't make you crazy at all!

 

[jboz]

we didn't. you won't. Don't try or you will make it worse.


Apply...MCATwaitsecondarieswait somemore........zzzz....zzz......interviewswaitlistsmore interviewsmore waiting .......zzzzzzzz.....and more waiting and more wwaitlists/waitingand acceptanceand financial aid package waitingYAAAAYYYY YOUR ARE GOING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! now what

 

[azrael87]

It wasn't so hard for me. I have a pretty strong philosophy of not worrying about things once they're out of my control unless they're life and death level situations. Since the worst case scenario of the cycle was simply having to reapply next year after improving my app, I just kept on with life as usual.

 

[Hifey]

I don't usually worry about things outside of my control.

this for me as well. I can't drive myself crazy over things I have zero control over for weeks on end. I always got really anxious like the week of or two days before kind of thing where I would start checking my email compulsively but it's not healthy to obsess for weeks. It makes you useless for anything else.

 

[metallica81788]

It might sound weird, but I tried to concentrate on school like my fall semester grades still mattered. It helped out a good bit since I was occupied with schoolwork (and a job) and life seemed normal.

The week leading up to October 15th was anxious, and I was always itching to check my email.

It's really hard to get things out of your mind. As the cycle goes on, interviews stop and decisions are made, so you get sane again. Unless you're waiting for your top choice that has either waitlisted you or not given you any indication of when they will decide your fate.

 

[BlueElmo]

I ate good food.

 

[metallica81788]

I ate good food.

I did, too.

Now that I think about it, I spent a ton of money last semester (and not just on interview-related expenses). I wonder if it has any correlation.

 

[marele86]

You gotta give your brain something else to obsess about. During the fall semester, I wrote a (lousy) novel. That took a lot of time and gave me something else to do. During the spring semester, I started a new workout program (P90X), which required a lot of research and time.

I really advise doing something borderline crazy. Applying for med school is like the most intensive hobby of your life - you have to replace all of that time with something, or it's just going to be devoted to hitting 'refresh' on your e-mail. Just 'hitting the gym' may not cut it. I had a friend who trained for a marathon while waiting to hear back from grad programs, and another who Netflix-ed the Top 100 Films of All Time. I don't like running and can't concentrate through long movies, so I knew I couldn't expect those to work for me - you've just got to find your own borderline obsessive new hobby.

 

[CarlATHF]

You'd be surprised how easy it is to forget about med school when you're at a strip club.

 

[jtdallas]

I'm curious because even though I'm not applying this year...I think it would weigh on me a lot to just not know! So what did you do to manage the stress?

I think it'll be hitting the gym for me!

I was sane before the process and now I am not. In my opinion, that's just inherent in this process. Sorry, gotta go guys, back to my game of cards with Elvis Presley.

 

[boaz]

How did you guys stay sane waiting to find out if you got in?

I didn't.

 

[SteinUmStein]

You'd be surprised how easy it is to forget about med school when you're at a strip club.

But seriously, you do just have to distract yourself. You won't just be waiting for an acceptance... you wait for secondaries, for interview invites, for holds and continued statuses, for waitlist movement, for financial aid packages, and on and on... the waiting doesn't end until day 1 of medical school starts.

 

[BlueElmo]

I did, too.

Now that I think about it, I spent a ton of money last semester (and not just on interview-related expenses). I wonder if it has any correlation.

Yeah, it makes you feel hella good.

 

[Sammich117]

Staying sane was next to impossible for me. especially because i was around friends and family who bring up medical school all the time. , but previous posters are right. get engrossed in something so much that you think about it less. Try to pull yourself from SDN or buy a really good video game or download a SEGA emulator and Sonic 1-3 Roms for your computer.

haha YES. I think I played the sims 2 a ton.

 

[johndoe3344]

I stopped going to class. I stopped hanging out with friends. All I do now is constantly refresh my email 348374903 times a day, walk to check my (snail) mail, and constantly refresh SDN so I can see other people getting their acceptances.

Don't be like me.

 

[mvenus929]

Honestly, the waiting wasn't what bothered me. I had too much else going on to really notice time go by. What got to me was everyone asking about it. My schwan's guy, my mom, all the people at work (especially after I got in, they keep peppering me with questions to find out where I'm going, if I've heard from other schools, etc), and on and on. That's what drove me crazy. I want to share my news with all them, of course, but I don't want to be constantly asked about the process.

 

[Toketa]

Honestly, the waiting wasn't what bothered me. I had too much else going on to really notice time go by. What got to me was everyone asking about it. My schwan's guy, my mom, all the people at work (especially after I got in, they keep peppering me with questions to find out where I'm going, if I've heard from other schools, etc), and on and on. That's what drove me crazy. I want to share my news with all them, of course, but I don't want to be constantly asked about the process.

I recently bought a boat and have been getting it ready for the summer. Getting excited about a personal hobby or activity really can take your mind off of the waiting game.