A fork in the road...

I never thought for one second that I would even consider declining an offer to grad school, especially without a backup plan in place, but here I am, struggling with the possibility. A school in New York has offered me a position in their DPT program. After the party balloons and confetti fell to the ground after that news, I was left with a decision I would really rather not make.

You see, the real snag here is that this school in New York has given me only 4 weeks to decide if I want to go there or not. That decision, coupled with a check for $1,000 they are asking for, has left me feeling rather ill about the whole situation. New York is kind of far away. It probably would be a cool place to be for a little bit, but it is far away. And it's expensive. It would probably amount to about 20k or more in debt above what most other schools would cost me. Did I mention New York is kinda far away? I'm a homebody....

Another thing that is slowing me from throwing a grand at this school was the absolutely amazing interview I had at another school in Pittsburgh. The actual interview part went well I thought, but everything about the school just really felt right to me. It seemed like a place that was a really good fit for me, and I could totally see myself being a part of that program. The city and the school were both great. I think that the interview went well, but who is to say that I was one of the top 36 people they want for their school? I had a good feeling, but I'm not sure it was good enough to not accept the offer to the school in NY. I can always rescind my offer, but then I'm out $1,000. Probably not a huge deal in the long run, but a big enough deal to put me in this predicament.

I still have 5 or 6 schools that have not contacted me yet, so there is still quite a bit of hope that I could get into somewhere else, but the 3 rejection letters I got also drag a little bit of that hope away. The school I was accepted into in NY has a larger class size (70 people) and a slighter lower minimum GPA, sooo...I don't know. Just a lot of things to think about. I never thought being accepted into grad school could be so stressful!

My solution for now: Call the Pittsburgh school tomorrow and see if they are willing to give me an expedited answer. That would really ease my mind. So, for anyone who is still reading: I could use some advice as to what I should do. Or maybe, you just have an extra G lying around you could donate? :) Either way, I appreciate the responses and readers!

Peace.

The First Green Light

After a few weeks of waiting sprinkled with a some (3) rejection letters, I can finally report to you faithful blog followers some good news! Next, Saturday, November 19th, 2011 I will be heading to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for an on-campus interview for the physical therapy school at Chatham University.

Chatham University is in Pittsburgh, PA and home to 2,200 students. The undergraduate portion of the university is exclusively women, but graduate programs are all co-ed. Rummaging around some random physical therapy student forums, it seems that all the students that are at the school really love it. The campus looks really nice from the pictures I saw on the website, and Pittsburgh seems like it could be a really cool place to spend 3.5 years of my life (and it's only about 5.5 hours from home, which isn't that bad at all!)

I'm pretty nervous about the interview, but really excited to have the opportunity to move on to the next chapter in my life. Undergrad is getting tiring, and I am truly ready to be focused on things that I want to be doing the rest of my life. So, next Saturday, my parents and I (maybe Holly, too) will be hitting the road to check out the school and hopefully wow the interviewers!

If you've got any interview tips or just kind words of encouragement, I'm always up to hear them!