How do you deal with the stress of waiting?

[Cornish]

The wait to hear if I'm accepted or not is just about killing me. How do you guys deal with it?

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[BostonLvr]

I have no fingernails, I've bitten the inside of my cheeks off, and I've played a ridiculous amount of cell phone Tetris...so, I guess I'm not a good person to ask.

 

[annaig]

Work an insane amount of hour and play burnout revenge in my spare time. I've beaten about half the game in oh... 4 days? yeah... I don't get much sleep.

 

[nyanko]

Echoing the fingernails, and my lips, I've chewed on them a lot.

But really, football has helped and then when football is over there will only be a week and a half left before I hear if I have an interview or not!

 

[VelcroSky]

It's a real conundrum. I'm still waiting to hear anything from any of the schools I've applied to. The worst part is that if I get an interview invitation, then I have a whole new thing to stress out about.

 

[fargeese]

Heavy drinking.

 

[Emio]

Heavy drinking.

muahaha. fantastic!

i think last year i kept telling myself that decisions werent made til march, so stop worrying about it til then. then my letter from tufts in january was a pleasant surprise

 

[banditalfi]

whenever i'm home i sit with the computer on my lap, pretty much constantly refreshing sdn. let me tell you something: people don't post enough! i've ventured into the pre-allo forum (they are mean and scary!) to help quench my desire.

 

[Cornish]

Its actually quite nice to know I'm not alone in my stress-fest. I find myself thinking about it all the time....even when I try my best to do other things that will distract me. The school I applied to is on vacation until the 3rd of January and when they return they will hopefully make a decision as to what do with me. I also have a chemistry test on the 3rd, so its either going to be the best or worst day of my life, (forced) lol...::sigh::

Since we seem to be the most stressed/bored people, do you guys work anywhere? I work at a large companion animal hospital as a Radiology/Nuclear Med tech. In time, however, I want to expand my experience to include food animals. Except the problem is that I live the heart of Boston. How on earth do you get food animal experience and live in a city at the same time. Any advice?

 

[Cornish]

I missed that...what is the "pre-allo" forum?

 

[philomycus]

Xbox 360 live.... Halo 3

 

[rexosaurus]

Check the mail like a rabid dog everyday. Work like crazy (research tech on toxicology studies----> drug research). Try to go out, read, whatever. But I am also finding that I have more heart palpitations, get less sleep, etc

 

[VelcroSky]

Xbox 360 live.... Halo 3

Yes, my squirrelly friend! Except I've moved on to Call of Duty 4. Haven't checked out the new maps on Halo though - are they any good?

 

[rexosaurus]

I missed that...what is the "pre-allo" forum?

the med students (allopathic medicine = M.D.), they are ruthless!

 

[banditalfi]

the med students (allopathic medicine = M.D.), they are ruthless!

Yep! Now they're complaining/bragging (depending on the poster) about doing 250 hours of shadowing. Meanwhile I'm thinking... please... venture over to the prevet forum and then we can discuss hours in the thousands...

 

[Tiraka]

It's also funny seeing the pre-med attitude towards shadowing/volunteering. I think most on the pre-vet board will agree that actually spending time working/volunteering in a clinic is absolutely necessary to see if the veterinary profession is right for you. The pre-med students mostly seem to see it as just another hoop to jump through

 

[david594]

Yep! Now they're complaining/bragging (depending on the poster) about doing 250 hours of shadowing. Meanwhile I'm thinking... please... venture over to the prevet forum and then we can discuss hours in the thousands...

Another big difference is that for a lot of them their hours are shadowing and not actually doing anything. Based on what people post it seems the pre-vet students actually get to do a significant amount more of hands on experiences than just shadowing. 1000 hours experience seems to be more middle of the road for those on the prevet side of things where for the pre-meds it looks more like 100-200.

 

[banditalfi]

Tiraka - exactly!

And you had to hear them tear the dental profession apart! "When you actually help someone let us know" (have you ever had a cavity? they're horrible), but I think they're just jealous that dentists can work so little and make so much.

OH! And they also said, to a pre-dent, "be happy your job isn't so prestigious otherwise it would be a lot harder to get into school!" Yeah, yeah, yeah. Vet school applicants apply to med school as a backup.

So, they get me frustrated, but for some reason I always go back!

 

[banditalfi]

Another big difference is that for a lot of them their hours are shadowing and not actually doing anything. Based on what people post it seems the pre-vet students actually get to do a significant amount more of hands on experiences than just shadowing. 1000 hours experience seems to be more middle of the road for those on the prevet side of things where for the pre-meds it looks more like 100-200.

True, but I still think shadowing a doctor could give you a lot more info than just taking classes. Today I spent literally 4 hours on the phone with tech support trying to get our systems up and running - if I wasn't there the doctor would do it himself. Anyway, what I'm trying to say (so ineloquently) is that medicine is not only about treating patients, but running a business (or dealing with insurance companies, or talking to difficult clients, etc etc etc).

 

[lailanni]

the med students (allopathic medicine = M.D.), they are ruthless!

No kidding! The more pre-meds I know, the more I wonder about the future of human medicine.

If pre-meds had to pick between getting a 4.0 or punching their Grandma, there'd be a lot of punched out grandmas. Seriously, they're an intense crazy lot! I'm sure some are nice. I haven't met them.

I have also often wondered why the pre-meds don't have a huge requirement for experience/shadowing, etc... Really, extensive experience will tell you if that's how you want to spend the rest of your life - and pay for a decade or so of school/intern/residency.

I'm always impressed with how many (as David 594 said) hundreds, if not thousands of experience hours pre-vets have. On top of getting the nice grades and all that. Nice work everyone!

And if any pre-med wants to give me crap about experience hours, I've had 350+ hrs of hospital volunteering - and that was long before I started getting into vet med. It helped me decide people med wasn't for me.

--- Ah, how I deal with the stress of waiting: I make chocolates! Yep, handmade, homemade truffles : ) and all that good stuff. I don't really eat a lot of them, I give them away. They make me happy, and they make everyone else happy. So it's good karma, eh? And Burnout3 -Takedown for Playstation! Good times, good times.

 

[TractorKid]

Hello All!
I have made the new year's resolution to finally join student doctor network! I have been an avid reader for about 6 months and finally have broken down and joined. I wish you all the best of luck in getting into the vet school of your choice.

Also: I deal with the stress of waiting by reading SDN all the time and watching TONS of cr@ppy television. ANTM marathon anyone?

 

[ShelterGirl]

Welcome TractorKid!

Can't say that I'm coping all that well - losing sleep, actually The other night I dreamed I got a Penn interview on the 18th (wishful thinking, I know) but that a coworker had already requested that day off and my manager said I couldn't have the day off. She's notorious for only allowing one person to take any given day off.

 

[adOggy07]

my stress relievers: cooking. napping. guitar hero-ing.

 

[rexosaurus]

ANTM marathon anyone?

hahahahaha!!!! this is my guilty pleasure, and my SO hates it! I'm glad I'm not the only one!

 

[JerseyisCutest]

..

 

[Pigsfoot]

for the first time in my life i have experienced real anxiety and insomnia. to try to make these better i have been doing a lot more yoga, getting massages now and then, taking a lot of relaxation time and trying to have fun with my husband.

 

[Pigsfoot]

woops double posted...

 

[pupsforseeing]

When I am at school, I generally stay too busy to spend too much time worrying about it, or if I do start obsessing over it, I can quickly convince myself that if I keep obsessing and not studying, I'm going to fail some test fora pre-req and then surely I won't get in Now that fall grades were *finally* posted for us yesterday, I can breathe a little easier in that regard.

Now that I'm home on break, I've been staying busy working and hanging out with friends and sisters. My friends/sisters get sick of hearing about these sorts of things, so I try not to talk about it, which forces me not to think about it. At work is really the only time I sometimes obsess over it. I work at a large (22 Dr.) specialty practice. We have 10 vets there currently doing their internships and they're great at consistently reminding me to relax, have lots of fun now, and if I don't get in my first time around, it's not the end of the world. They all graduated with high ranks in their classes and many of them didnt' get in on their first try (one of them applied 7 times!).

When all else fails, I find myself obsessively running to the mailbox and checking my e-mail

 

[Catnapper]

I don't (deal): I check my mail & this site 300x a day, & declare stuff like: "I just wanna KNOW! Yay or nay??"

 

[zpinkpanther]

I'm pretty much not dealing myself. I've never been so on-edge in my life. I check my e-mail constantly, run out to the mailbox every day, etc. Work doesn't even take my mind off it, since I work in an animal clinic. One of the vets that I work with asks every time I see him if I've heard, and last week he said, "all this suspense is really killing me!" And I'm like, yeah, you're tellin' me...

Also, I've taken to putting my Tufts booklet/pamphlet/bulletin thing under my pillow when I sleep (Tufts is my first choice). I know it sounds crazy, but I figure it can't hurt, right? Unless of course they find out and decide I'm scary and they don't want to interview me.

 

[shuvball1]

I'm pretty much not dealing so well either. I am seriously obsessive compulsive when it comes to this stuff. I'm sure SDN isn't helping cause I'm on here all the time! I've really been trying not to obsess over it so much, but my parents continuously ask me about it. I just had interviews at tamu and ohio and they make me relive them every 15 minutes. It'll be so nice when I get back to school, at least then they won't be questioning me about it so much.

 

[pupsforseeing]

Glad I'm not the only one with parents who ask about this stuff incessantly. I swear they've asked me stats on each school I've applied to, how I'm going to answer certain questions, how I rank the schools, etc. at least 4 million times. Oh well, only two more weeks and then I'll be back at school on the other side of the country...and probably missing all the glories of home (and the annoyances that go along with them!).

 

[shuvball1]

wow pupsforseeing, I know exactly how you feel. It's times like these that I realize why I went to school so far away. As much as I love home, I worry about things enough on my own, I don't need my parents multiplying it times 10.

 

[VeganChick]

I am so glad to hear that you all are as stressed as I am. My family doesn't seem to understand the insomnia and constant upset stomach. They also don't seem to understand how competitive it is. I find it more stressful when people who have no idea say "oh, you will get in." I try to explain that my grades are not fabulous, my GRE scores not as good as I would have hoped, and although I have vet experience, it is MUCH less than most of the folks on this forum (as a new member, this is scaring the bejesus out of me, but also making me more realistic about my chances). Anyway, I agree...just tell me and let me get on with things!

 

[clawsbeatskin]

I find it more stressful when people who have no idea say "oh, you will get in." quote]

The holidays are not a good time for this. Everyone in my extended family has said this to me at least three times each. Even my bosses and co workers have jumped on the bandwagon. Hopefully all of the hype won't prove to be premature...

 

[pupsforseeing]

I think the worst I've had is the people who say "oh, you'll get in unless you REAAALLLY screw up the interview!" Boy will I feel like a complete idiot when/if I have to tell them I got rejected after an interview!

 

[Rebeki]

I'm glad I finally read this thread!! My husband totally does not get the stress associated with waiting for a decision. I was just telling him this morning how stressed I am. He tells me not to worry I'll get in (I wish I could be that confident). Its like my entire future is in the air and in these people's hands - Why can't they just give me a decision already!!!! AHHHHHH

I loved everybody's responses, it made me feel a lot more normal (as normal as it is to obsessively check ones email, mail and SDN)

 

[heyday]

Man, I clean. My apartment is ****-and-span.

My roommate knows when I have hard tests because I'll be scrubbing the tile in the shower after I've studied myself into a frenzy.