Five stages of losing your mind

Guys I am officially losing my mind. I’ve gone through what I think are 5 stages to “losing your mind during the post application submission waiting period.”

It starts with relief, where you think hah, I got it done before everyone else (EA/R1 pseudo-superiority complex).

That is followed by doubt, where you second guess every comma and period in your essays. Did something slip through the cracks? Should I have waited, like the rest of the sane people out there?

Next comes the numbness. You hit submit and it’s gone into the black hole of admissions and there’s nothing you can do about it. So you tuck it away in the corner of your mind and try to move on with regular life. This doesn’t last very long though.

The closer the notification date is, the closer comes the next phase: preparation. You prepare yourself for every outcome as you veer between outrageous optimism and resigned pessimism, although you try to condition yourself to expect the worse because that way, it would hurt less. The glimmer of hope is always tantalisingly close though, my preciousssssss. This is where I’m at right now.

I think the fifth stage, which I hope to reach soon is that of mental peace. I want to know that I’ll be content with the outcome, either good or bad because it isn’t the end of the world nor is it the means to an end.

I’m waiting on Fuqua and Yale now. 7th of October for Fuqua and around the same time (I’ve heard) for Yale. Let’s see how that goes!

I hope GMAT/essay prep is going well for everyone! The blogosphere has been a little dead lately (understandably of course), so I hope all you lovely people are doing well. Keep us posted.