A few weeks back, 17-year-old Mini-Me said, "Mom, how come you don't ever get overwhelmed?" I just laughed and set her straight.
Just yesterday, my mother-in-law let me know that it would be really nice if I would put together an electronic photo album to be included in a slide show at the up-coming family reunion. I knew that one of the other daughters-in-law had committed to doing the slide show and I vaguely promised to get some pictures together sometime.
As the reminder statement turned into a reminder paragraph, my "overwhelmed" leaked out. I began my apology, "I'm sorry that I really haven't made it a priority to do that yet. You see, I've been fairly swamped with more pressing things such as the remodel of the duplex we are trying to sell before we move out of state which is already two months behind schedule and working with a loan officer out of state trying to figure out what type of loan we can qualify for and researching the schools for the children while taking the biochemistry class that was fortunately graded on a curve so that my failing grade was bumped up to a B+ and a few projects at work that have seven people's jobs riding on them as well as the recent diagnosis my 14-year-old received a few months ago and trying to juggle his medical appointments for his chronic condition while trying to get some loose ends tied up such as getting Mini-Me started with an orthodontist who is located close to the campus she will be living at when she starts college this fall and trying to convince her that it really is time to get registered for classes and she is just so nervous but really doing so well (did I mention she just took her AP calculus test?) and I really wanted to reward her with a trip to DC as a graduation present but for some reason I'm not sure how comfortable I feel leaving behind the rest of my kids with your son who seems to be increasingly resentful that I am excited to go to school out of state since that means it will indeed require effort on his part to look for a job when the guy really isn't comfortable putting himself "out there" but, you know, I am planning on quitting the second week of July and that really only leaves me with less than three weeks to move and get settled in a new city with a household of kids while my husband continues to reside and work in the city where we currently live since there is no way on earth we can afford for him to just quit his job and hope for the best considering we are moving to a "metro" area about one-quarter the size of our small city."
She smiled and said, "Well, just get the pictures to So-and-So when you can."
Today, there was a message in my in-box from said daughter-in-law joking that "all you procrastinators" really needed to get these pictures in ASAP since the reunion is now a month away. Funny, only the women in the family were carbon-copied on that email. No men. None of the brothers. Sigh. Seeing as it is after midnight and all is quiet in my house and I am actually on the computer with the photos saved to the hard-drive, I managed to overcome my procrastinating tendency and send her a file with the requested photos.
Yep. I am so pumped for this reunion.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
The Shuffle
Medical school applicants cannot hold more than one acceptance past May 15. Before that magical date, you can sit tight, waffling back and forth, filling out pro/con charts, and otherwise hem-and-ha over which school is right for you. Once accepted applicants are forced to take a stand, the flood-gates open, so to speak, and there is pretty active movement happening on waitlists throughout the country. Schools suddenly find themselves with openings and there is a rapid shuffling to fill them. My husband was hoping that tomorrow might bring an acceptance for me from my state school. Considering that I withdrew my application from them a week ago, it is highly unlikely.
So why did I do it? I'll spill the beans. Out-of-State University of Awesomeness is a Texas school. Have I already sung the praises of Texas medical schools? Let me tell you, they are fantastic! You see, Texas is pretty darn picky with their out-of-staters. State law requires that at least 90% of students are Texas residents. Some admissions offices set that number at 95%. That said, many applicants don't bother to apply to Texas since (1) the chance of getting in is so low and (2) Texas has its own application system for its eight medical schools. [FYI: Baylor is a private school, but it does receive some state funds and shows a preference for Texan applicants. Baylor uses the national AMCAS application.] Though I wasn't a fan of sending transcripts and entering data into an entirely separate and time-consuming database (TMDSAS), I was very pleased with the entire application process. My state school interviews many, many, many more people than they intend to offer positions to. Roughly one-quarter of interviewees are offered admission. Some schools offer admission to about half of their interviewees. Texas schools tend to do a more thorough screening prior to interview. That means that some schools extend acceptances to nearly three-quarters of the applicants that they interview. Got multiple Texas interviews? There is a good chance you'll get in to at least one of them.
Texas does a Match Day for med school that is similar to residency matching. As an out-of-stater, I did not go through the match process, but found it fun to follow on applicant forums. Even without applying early decision, Texas residents (as a whole) were more likely to know where they would end up significantly earlier than the typical med school applicant. Out-of-state applicants are offered admission on a rolling basis. My acceptance came three weeks after interviewing at one school.
But I really haven't gotten to my favorite part. Texas is affordable! The tuition at Texas medical schools is some of the lowest in the nation. My in-state school has a rate of $35,000 per year. Out-of-state tuition at a Texas school is lower than that. Tuition for Texas residents ranges from about $15,000 to $18,000 per year. If you are awarded a competitive scholarship as a non-resident, you may qualify for in-state tuition during your first year. Unlike many states, you can establish residency during your first year and be reclassified. (That is, if you actually meet legal residency requirements.)It's pretty amazing. I am planning on a career in family medicine. The affordable tuition in Texas really makes it possible to pursue that path without feeling over-burdened with debt.
There are other reasons why I am ready to move to Texas. Lots of them. But the freedom of moving into a new career relatively late in life without much debt is one of the greatest feelings imaginable.
So why did I do it? I'll spill the beans. Out-of-State University of Awesomeness is a Texas school. Have I already sung the praises of Texas medical schools? Let me tell you, they are fantastic! You see, Texas is pretty darn picky with their out-of-staters. State law requires that at least 90% of students are Texas residents. Some admissions offices set that number at 95%. That said, many applicants don't bother to apply to Texas since (1) the chance of getting in is so low and (2) Texas has its own application system for its eight medical schools. [FYI: Baylor is a private school, but it does receive some state funds and shows a preference for Texan applicants. Baylor uses the national AMCAS application.] Though I wasn't a fan of sending transcripts and entering data into an entirely separate and time-consuming database (TMDSAS), I was very pleased with the entire application process. My state school interviews many, many, many more people than they intend to offer positions to. Roughly one-quarter of interviewees are offered admission. Some schools offer admission to about half of their interviewees. Texas schools tend to do a more thorough screening prior to interview. That means that some schools extend acceptances to nearly three-quarters of the applicants that they interview. Got multiple Texas interviews? There is a good chance you'll get in to at least one of them.
Texas does a Match Day for med school that is similar to residency matching. As an out-of-stater, I did not go through the match process, but found it fun to follow on applicant forums. Even without applying early decision, Texas residents (as a whole) were more likely to know where they would end up significantly earlier than the typical med school applicant. Out-of-state applicants are offered admission on a rolling basis. My acceptance came three weeks after interviewing at one school.
But I really haven't gotten to my favorite part. Texas is affordable! The tuition at Texas medical schools is some of the lowest in the nation. My in-state school has a rate of $35,000 per year. Out-of-state tuition at a Texas school is lower than that. Tuition for Texas residents ranges from about $15,000 to $18,000 per year. If you are awarded a competitive scholarship as a non-resident, you may qualify for in-state tuition during your first year. Unlike many states, you can establish residency during your first year and be reclassified. (That is, if you actually meet legal residency requirements.)It's pretty amazing. I am planning on a career in family medicine. The affordable tuition in Texas really makes it possible to pursue that path without feeling over-burdened with debt.
There are other reasons why I am ready to move to Texas. Lots of them. But the freedom of moving into a new career relatively late in life without much debt is one of the greatest feelings imaginable.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)