{"id":354,"date":"2010-02-12T10:39:23","date_gmt":"2010-02-12T15:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/?p=354"},"modified":"2014-08-13T15:34:32","modified_gmt":"2014-08-13T15:34:32","slug":"test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\/","title":{"rendered":"Test anxiety? What test anxiety? (or Part Two of "How I Found Myself to be a Doctoral Student")"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once I secured the internal commitment that I was going to pursue a doctoral degree, I had three main questions that came to mind.<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Where do I want to go?<\/em><\/p>\n

When it came to deciding where I would apply to grad school, I had a few main criteria. \u00a0First, I would not apply at the institution for which I was currently working and from which I held two degrees. \u00a0I wanted the benefits of a fresh start and a new perspective. \u00a0Second, I focused my search regionally in the northeastern \/ mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. My wife and I both have family in that part of the country, and it was important for us to be able to take a day-trip home to visit. \u00a0Third, I applied mainly to institutions in metropolitan areas. \u00a0With my wife also being a student-affairs professional, we wanted to maximize the chance that she would find a new job in close proximity to where I was going to school. \u00a0Fortunately not every institution has doctoral degrees in higher education, so by narrowing down my focus in this way a manageable number of institutions made my short list.<\/p>\n

You know how shopping for cars online can be tough because every car company has an amazing website with awesome photos of their products? \u00a0My grad school search was kind of like that. \u00a0From a distance every programs looks like an amazing opportunity (and they are, for students who are a good fit there). Of the four programs that I ended up applying to, we visited two and met with faculty there. \u00a0For me, this was critical. \u00a0I wanted to get a feel for the culture of the department, and meet some of the people who I would be working closely with. \u00a0Of the remaining two schools on my list I met with faculty from one at a conference, and applied to the fourth one blind.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0How do I make sure they will take me?<\/em><\/p>\n

To be honest, this one is a bit of a crapshoot. \u00a0Only faculty members and admissions offices know what really goes into this. \u00a0Philosophically, I decided that all I could do is present myself in the best possible way, and that the details would work themselves out. \u00a0If an institution didn’t want me, I probably didn’t want to be there either (in the long run).<\/p>\n

With most applications being due January 1, I took the GRE on September 18 (the day before my brother’s wedding . . . the test is not administered in my town, so I would have had to hit the road anyway). \u00a0In the interest of full disclosure, I love taking standardized tests so I did not have the usual bout of test anxiety that a lot of people struggle with. \u00a0I prepared for the GRE by purchasing the\u00a0Princeton Review<\/a> book, reviewing their suggestions (particularly for the writing section), and trying to relax. \u00a0I was not prepared for the Pentagon-level security and secrecy at the testing center, but once I began the test it went well. \u00a0I was pleased enough with my score that I decided not to take it again.<\/p>\n

I relied on some close friends for feedback on my personal statements (some who had written these types of things before, and others who were simply great writers). \u00a0I wrote a unique statement for each institution I applied to, which was manageable.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0Am I going to lose my mind managing all of these different applications, their respective timelines, and the handful of individuals who are kind enough to write recommendations for me?<\/em><\/p>\n

If I had anything about the application process that I would do differently if I had it to do over, I would have been much more organized with this aspect of the application process. \u00a0There had to be a better way of keeping track of things, as compared to my endless stack of papers and the random calendar reminder.<\/p>\n

I gave individuals who were writing my letters of recommendation a lot of notice about what was going on. \u00a0I asked for letters by the end of September, knowing that applications would typically be due on January 1. \u00a0I \u00a0was fortunate that most of my letters were returned pretty quickly, but I have heard horror stories from other grad students who had to follow up a lot. \u00a0Be prepared for this. \u00a0Another tip is that if you can make a connection with the staff assistants in the departments where you are applying, that can be a really great help. \u00a0I got to be on a first name basis with staff assistants at two of the schools I applied at, and it made it a lot easier to get things done and get questions answered.<\/p>\n

For next week: \u00a0How I spent my time waiting for responses, what those responses were, and other adventures in limbo!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once I secured the internal commitment that I was going to pursue a doctoral degree, I had three main questions that came to mind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctoral-study"],"yoast_head":"\nTest anxiety? What test anxiety? (or Part Two of "How I Found Myself to be a Doctoral Student") - Higher Ed Career Coach<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Test anxiety? What test anxiety? (or Part Two of "How I Found Myself to be a Doctoral Student") - Higher Ed Career Coach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Once I secured the internal commitment that I was going to pursue a doctoral degree, I had three main questions that came to mind.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Higher Ed Career Coach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cookcoaching\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-02-12T15:39:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-08-13T15:34:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bryan Koval\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bryan Koval\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bryan Koval\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/staging\\\/2913\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/09416d7b4f5a46211ed8f333d737b8b2\"},\"headline\":\"Test anxiety? What test anxiety? (or Part Two of "How I Found Myself to be a Doctoral Student")\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-02-12T15:39:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-08-13T15:34:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":826,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/staging\\\/2913\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Doctoral Study\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\\\/\",\"name\":\"Test anxiety? What test anxiety? (or Part Two of "How I Found Myself to be a Doctoral Student") - Higher Ed Career Coach\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/staging\\\/2913\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-02-12T15:39:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-08-13T15:34:32+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Test anxiety? What test anxiety? (or Part Two of "How I Found Myself to be a Doctoral Student")\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/staging\\\/2913\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/staging\\\/2913\\\/\",\"name\":\"Higher Ed Career Coach\",\"description\":\"Intelligent Career Strategies for Higher Education Professionals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/staging\\\/2913\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/staging\\\/2913\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/staging\\\/2913\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Cook Coaching and Consulting LLC\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/staging\\\/2913\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/staging\\\/2913\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/CLogo75px.png?fit=61%2C75&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/CLogo75px.png?fit=61%2C75&ssl=1\",\"width\":61,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Cook Coaching and Consulting LLC\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/staging\\\/2913\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/cookcoaching\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/seanccook\\\/inspiration-for-student-affairs-professionals\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCDiLIG-tr5KxhtTLuy8V0FA\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/seanccook\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/staging\\\/2913\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/09416d7b4f5a46211ed8f333d737b8b2\",\"name\":\"Bryan Koval\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2ffc19cd68406c08bb95ff6fee8d5b1cb61db175e6f8a71b68520950ff84a35d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2ffc19cd68406c08bb95ff6fee8d5b1cb61db175e6f8a71b68520950ff84a35d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/2ffc19cd68406c08bb95ff6fee8d5b1cb61db175e6f8a71b68520950ff84a35d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bryan Koval\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/higheredcareercoach.com\\\/staging\\\/2913\\\/author\\\/bryan-koval\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Test anxiety? What test anxiety? (or Part Two of "How I Found Myself to be a Doctoral Student") - Higher Ed Career Coach","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Test anxiety? What test anxiety? (or Part Two of "How I Found Myself to be a Doctoral Student") - Higher Ed Career Coach","og_description":"Once I secured the internal commitment that I was going to pursue a doctoral degree, I had three main questions that came to mind.","og_url":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\/","og_site_name":"Higher Ed Career Coach","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cookcoaching","article_published_time":"2010-02-12T15:39:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-08-13T15:34:32+00:00","author":"Bryan Koval","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bryan Koval","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\/"},"author":{"name":"Bryan Koval","@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/#\/schema\/person\/09416d7b4f5a46211ed8f333d737b8b2"},"headline":"Test anxiety? What test anxiety? (or Part Two of "How I Found Myself to be a Doctoral Student")","datePublished":"2010-02-12T15:39:23+00:00","dateModified":"2014-08-13T15:34:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\/"},"wordCount":826,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Doctoral Study"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\/","url":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\/","name":"Test anxiety? What test anxiety? (or Part Two of "How I Found Myself to be a Doctoral Student") - Higher Ed Career Coach","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/#website"},"datePublished":"2010-02-12T15:39:23+00:00","dateModified":"2014-08-13T15:34:32+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/test-anxiety-what-test-anxiety-or-part-two-of-how-i-found-myself-to-be-a-doctoral-student\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Test anxiety? What test anxiety? (or Part Two of "How I Found Myself to be a Doctoral Student")"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/#website","url":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/","name":"Higher Ed Career Coach","description":"Intelligent Career Strategies for Higher Education Professionals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/#organization","name":"Cook Coaching and Consulting LLC","url":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/higheredcareercoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/CLogo75px.png?fit=61%2C75&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/higheredcareercoach.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/CLogo75px.png?fit=61%2C75&ssl=1","width":61,"height":75,"caption":"Cook Coaching and Consulting LLC"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cookcoaching","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/seanccook\/inspiration-for-student-affairs-professionals\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCDiLIG-tr5KxhtTLuy8V0FA","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/seanccook\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/#\/schema\/person\/09416d7b4f5a46211ed8f333d737b8b2","name":"Bryan Koval","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ffc19cd68406c08bb95ff6fee8d5b1cb61db175e6f8a71b68520950ff84a35d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ffc19cd68406c08bb95ff6fee8d5b1cb61db175e6f8a71b68520950ff84a35d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2ffc19cd68406c08bb95ff6fee8d5b1cb61db175e6f8a71b68520950ff84a35d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bryan Koval"},"url":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/author\/bryan-koval\/"}]}},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgIUuj-5I","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7429,"href":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions\/7429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/higheredcareercoach.com\/staging\/2913\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}