Application Frenzy

As I may have repeatedly complained about already, I am joining the quixotic yearly quest for internships once again this fall.

I was originally going to wait yet another year, but that plan went by the wayside. So I'm applying to 14 different places, which is a heckuva lot. For most applications I have to include a cover letter, resume, transcripts, letters of reference, and a 30-page intricate standardized application about exactly how many hours in the past five years I spent doing what kinds of therapy with what kinds of clients.

Some sites have additional things they want, (more forms and so forth) to boot. I have been prepping this stuff for the last 5 or 6 weeks. Most applications are due November 14th, with a few stragglers due earlier or later. The least desirable sites (think: "Government Military-Related Place, downtown BigCity") have late-December due dates so that people who didn't get anything else can still go back and apply.

So now that it is down to the last carefully-orchestrated minute, several things have gone wrong this year that went fine last year.

One reference letter-writer thought I said I needed the letters on the 11th, when
in fact the first ones are due ON the 11th, so she had to scramble to get them all done last night.

Another letter-writer thought I had printed the entire addresses of the recipients on the envelopes, and so posted them all to those people instead of giving them to me to include in my application packets (they'll be back in his mailbox sometime soon, no doubt). He spent some time today photocopying a letter of reference for me, and I hand-wrote out all the previously neatly printed envelopes again!

And finally, I apparently neglected to give yet another person two of the printed envelopes, so I have to drive out there to get those today before I go home.

To top it all off, my 14 transcript copies that I ordered online still don't appear to be ready to pick up, as they should have been yesterday. Now I'm trying to figure out how to get the two sent today that must go out.

Furthermore, I was in such a hurry to get here this morning with all my stuff printed out (no printer at school office) that I left my phone at home AND forgot to brush my teeth.