second school & random thoughts

I finally gave in and called Radford....after all my decision is due in less than two weeks to the school I've been accepted to.  The woman told me their decisions were sent out March 5.  I guess mine was lost in the mail?  Anyway, when she looked up my name, she said 'Oh....you haven't gotten that yet?' and I kind of laughed and told her no I hadn't received it, but that her answer sounded pretty discouraging.  She wouldn't give me a yes or no, but from her voice I'm pretty sure it is a rejection.  I'll be finding out through the mail soon enough.  It didn't really hurt my feelings, mostly because I hadn't really been considering Radford seriously.

I'm still waiting on one more school.  A 'no' from this one may hurt a little more, though ultimately I think going to Longwood (where I was previously accepted) will be my best decision.  My last school would decrease the amount of loans I will need to take out by quite a bit, but there are so many downsides to staying in this area.  For one, I know that I would probably try to continue to work at least one day a week and from what I've heard, I shouldn't.  Also I would probably try to continue with my girl scouts, which planning for and being with them takes up A LOT of my time, believe it or not.  And last but not least, all of my friends are here which equals mega distractions. I'll certainly miss all my friends & family while I'm away at school, but I think less distractions will be best for me in this program.

Besides, I kind of want the opportunity to move somewhere (though living in the middle of nowhere isn't exactly what I was thinking, at least the cost of living will be cheaper than a big city, which equals less loans!) and to make new friends.  I REALLY liked the sense of community in the program at Longwood when I visited, and how hard the faculty seemed to work at helping their students.  I think this program is the best fit for me, even if I did get into my last school.

I'll be attending another open house on April 13. I'm bringing my mom so that she can get a feel for the program, etc. as well.  Since I took half of my prereqs already, I need to discuss with the program director what my best course of action may be to complete the rest of them.  I don't have enough to start with graduate classes, but I won't be in the regular 3 year track either.  I'm kind of interested in how this will work, as moving to take 5 undergrad level classes within a year (when I could possibly take them online or in one semester) seems kind of silly, mostly when considering expenses.  I need to complete some observation hours as well, but I don't see why I couldn't get that done in the summer as well.  I guess we'll see what she says!