Best news ever today!

I was starting to get a little annoyed with Western. At our interview, we were told that we should have letters in the mail by or on the 15th. Somebody from the student doctor network called them and found out that they weren't going to mail letters until the 15th. Well, they sent out emails today, and I'm in! I'll be moving to California this summer! I have been in a constant giddy state all day, and I'm hoping the hubby will be home soon so we can go out and celebrate.

Reasons why California is going to rock:

Western U's problem-based-learning curriculum

Students are in the clinics from week 1

High # of surgeries done during school

Exposure to a large number of practices, and different ways of doing things

A "systems based" curriculum

Warm weather year round

Within driving distance of the beach, the mountains, amusement parks, pretty much anything

Trader Joes

Citrus trees

There are a bunch of guitar builders and luthiers out there - The hubby can probably find a job building guitars again.

I've got so much I need to do. I need to get through biochem, fix up the house so I can sell it, get my tattoo finished, sell a bunch of cars (definitely my hearse, but possibly my cavalier and hubby's truck too), find a place to live, pack, move cross country with 2 dogs and three unhappy cats, and figure out a way around a whole new city.

I can't wait!

The wait is killing me

When I interviewed at Western, they told us that we should hear about acceptances/rejections by March 15th. After staking out the old threads from previous years on the Student Doctor Forums, it looks like I could hear as early as the 12th, or as late as the 19th. I could potentially know by Friday!

I don't want to get my hopes up too high, 'cause I don't want to be crushed if I end up at KSU, but I just want to know! This application cycle has really tested my patience. I just want to start looking for a place to live, and make plans to move, but I won't know for at least another week where I'm moving to this summer.

I'm also stressing out like crazy over other things that are kind of related to going to vet school. My acceptance to KSU is contingent on passing all the pre-reqs, and biochem is killing me. I'm not doing well and I'm terrified that I'm not going to pass it. (Please, a C is all I'm asking for.)

I'm also starting to stress out about money and moving. My student loans will probably run out in April, and classes don't end until May. I'm only getting 8-12 hours a week at work. How am I going to afford to move, and put a deposit down on a place to live? I also need to start fixing up my house I'm renting from my mom so she can either sell it or rent it. On top of that, I need to get my hearse fixed so I can sell it, 'cause I doubt I'm going to be able to afford a place with enough parking spots to keep it. Even if I could find that place, I don't think it would make that long of a drive without breaking.

It begins

After days of stalking the mailman, the letter finally came. A large, yellow envelope with "K-State" on the return address. I'm in!!!!!

I won't hear back from Western for another month or so, and should hear back from Wisconsin in a week or two.

I'll just flat out say it. I'm not as excited as I should be. When I interviewed at Kansas, it was like 3 below zero, the town was disappointing, I missed the tour of the school, and I just didn't like it there. The thought of having to live there for 4 years is a bit of a downer.

When I interviewed at Western U, I had the opposite reaction. I fell in love with the school, and the area around it. When I was reading online, I was warned about how terrible Pomona was, but after driving around in it, it didn't seem bad. I was expecting something like the bad part of Denver, or Oakland or something, but it seemed fine. It was snowing at home when I left for the interview, and I got there, and it was pouring rain and 60 degrees. It was beautiful. Everything was so green! At the interview, all of the students and faculty were so enthusiastic, and I thought that their problem-based-learning curriculum would be an amazing fit for me.

So, I get to wait a month to hear back from them. I think I'll be pretty crushed if I don't get it, but even if I don't, I've already gotten into one other school. The important thing is, in four years, I'm going to be a veterinarian!!!

Starting in the middle

Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but I thought I would start a blog about getting through vet school. Why is that overly optimistic? I haven't been accepted anywhere yet.

I applied to 7 schools back in October. I was rejected pretty quickly from CSU, my in-state school, OSU, WSU, and I've never heard back from Penn one way or another, even though I'm pretty sure they've sent out all of their interview invitations, and I've got a snowball's chance in hell there.

That leaves me with the three possibilities that haven't blown me off - KSU, Western U and UW-Madison. I've interviewed at the first two, and UW-Madison doesn't interview students. Now I'm just stuck in limbo, waiting to hear from these three, hoping that one of them finds me suitable for their school.

Of the two schools I've interviewed at, I loved one, and the area its located in, and was impressed with the other, and hated the area its in. I'm almost afraid if I say which was which, I'll jinx myself and end up at the one I hated.

I'll start this blog off optimistically, three possibilities, and hope that future blog entries are about my journey to a new area, and through 4 years of vet school. Hopefully I won't have to write about re-applying next year.