...and taking names

I had a phone call with one prospective PhD advisor this morning. At the end of this week, the total number of such calls will be three. That number seems small, but considering the amount of work that it takes for me to prepare for these calls (mostly involving trawlilng the professor's website and reading their papers), plus time for the actual call, plus nervousness at speaking to these important people who might play large roles in my future, it adds up to quite a bit of mental energy spent.

I think today's call went well. The professor seemed enthusiastic about my joining his program and encouraged me to speak to lots of other professors, which I liked. It didn't come off in a "you should really work with someone else" kind of way, so I feel that he was truly trying to be open and flexible in recruiting me to the program.

There are still seven PhD programs that have not responded. I keep checking my email and logging on to application status sites in the vain hope that one of them will contact me. That's another big drain on mental energy, because I've got this question ("Did I get in, or not?") constantly on seven backburners. It's getting hot back there.

It's not like I have the mental space to spare, either. I have a paper to submit by the end of next week! Onward and upward to experiments!