Non-trad w/ kids how are you doing it?

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Ebete

Ebete

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I just don't know where to start!
I decided to start my quest to go to medical school about 7 years ago. During this time I have worked in a hospital, completed the pre-reqs. plus a few extra grad level courses, got married, had 3 kids (now 5 y/o, 3y/o and a 7 mon. old) purchased a home, oh and took the MCAT twice:oops:. Since the last baby I have been a stay at home mom, and hoping to hit the books again, but the only hitting I'm doing is to clean the dust accumulating on them. Time just seems to be passing me by, I love taking care of my kids but believe it or not when I sit and study I ctually enjoy that time and look forward to it. But now it seems almost impossible, with the 3 kids, well... 4 with the hubby:) BTW the oldest 2 are in daycare 3x/week.
Has anyone been or is in the same position? How are you handling/scheduling things? As far as help, I'm pretty much relying on my husband's help, my mother every now and then, she lives almost 2 hours away. We are actually looking into selling our home and moving closer to my parents and my (hopefully) school of preference.
Please feel free to pm me with any stories of your own and/or suggestions.

Thanks E
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Ebete said:
I just don't know where to start!
I decided to start my quest to go to medical school about 7 years ago. During this time I have worked in a hospital, completed the pre-reqs. plus a few extra grad level courses, got married, had 3 kids (now 5 y/o, 3y/o and a 7 mon. old) purchased a home, oh and took the MCAT twice:oops:. Since the last baby I have been a stay at home mom, and hoping to hit the books again, but the only hitting I'm doing is to clean the dust accumulating on them. Time just seems to be passing me by, I love taking care of my kids but believe it or not when I sit and study I ctually enjoy that time and look forward to it. But now it seems almost impossible, with the 3 kids, well... 4 with the hubby:) BTW the oldest 2 are in daycare 3x/week.
Has anyone been or is in the same position? How are you handling/scheduling things? As far as help, I'm pretty much relying on my husband's help, my mother every now and then, she lives almost 2 hours away. We are actually looking into selling our home and moving closer to my parents and my (hopefully) school of preference.
Please feel free to pm me with any stories of your own and/or suggestions.

Thanks E
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Yeah it's difficult with the kids and I sometimes have to stop myself and ask whether in some ways I'm doing this to "get away " from them a bit more often...

My wife is an O.T. so it has fallen upon me since she was earning more to be the one who is with the kids most of the time. My mother fortunately is here 8 months out of the year ( rest of the time in Florida) and when I was doing my clinical work in Phlebotomy I had the kids in the Hospital sponsored day care center...

I'll be doing a Post Bacc in the Fall and I am going to be putting the 3 year old in an On campus Pre School of sorts which will be good for him anyway... The baby ( 6 months ) will stay with my mother and I'm really trying hard to get myself into a MWF schedule.....

The days when I could do the spread out 5 day a week class schedule are long gone and I wouldn't feel right leaving him there more than maybe 4 hours 2 days a week at his age...

The spring will be more difficult b/c my mother spends her time In Madeira and basically rolls out on my January 1 every year .. not to be heard of again until the summer <g>
 
Your mother spends time in Madeira?... are you a chop?:D
 
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Ebete said:
Your mother spends time in Madeira?... are you a chop?:D
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Sorry that one flew right over my head.. lol.. what's a chop? A shoobee? Like we call them at the Jersey shore? A snowbird?

Not really sure what ya mean by the word.
 
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I am married 3 years with a six month old. During most of that time my wife was a full time student and i was either working full time or almost full time and taking post-bacc classes part time, MCATs, etc. We planned it so I am starting when she finishes ( though that was dependent on me getting in ) and we were hoping to get into a local school so that we didnt have to move ( my parents and siblings, grandmother all live in the neighborhood and its made things muuuuchh easier ). As it turns out we have to move about an hour and a half away so we lose that convinience and my wife will be working. Luckily it is a state school ( Stony Brook ) so tuition is much cheaper and they have a great onsite day care. My biggest problems have been getting increased financial aid ( she wont be working until my second semester ) and health insurance. The school has a plan but it is not cheap and the finaid dept doesnt really like giving more than the minimum out so I have to figure this one out. I have to say my biggest dissapointment ( and i have heard this echoed by friends, relatives in med school ) is the health insurance issue. You would think as future doctors, bastions of the health care, etc, the schools would be able to offer us better plans and not charge two arms and a leg.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ebete
Your mother spends time in Madeira?... are you a chop?


"Sorry that one flew right over my head.. lol.. what's a chop? A shoobee? Like we call them at the Jersey shore? A snowbird?

Not really sure what ya mean by the word."
End Quote by budhakOn




The island of Madeira is Portuguese... when 2 Portuguese people are talking to each other or about another "chop" they often use this word instead.
Sorry about that.

BTW Madeira is absolutelly beautiful!!
 
Kids. Well, I went back to school as a non-trad with ZERO family nearby, two kids, and a husband working really screwy hours. My son at the time was 4, my daughter 7. we put him in Montessori pre-school, she was in regular school. Undergrad wasn't too much of a problem. We arranged for neighbors to keep an eye on the kids when they got home from school on days I had lab until 5pm, but mostly I got home right around when they did. My husband arranged to work so he had off Sun, Mon, Tues., so whenever possible I scheduled any classes that went after 3pm on those days. When i came home from school, I was Mom. There was never a school play I missed, or a recital I missed, or a rehearsal I missed. I took homework to my kids' martial arts classes and did it there. I worked out proofs for math problems on the bathtub walls while I gave my son a bath at night. You make time.

Now med school, on the other hand, is a whole different ball game. Again, no family anywhere nearby to help out. My husband is now working graveyards and is low man on the totem pole, only 5 days off a year, and a really messed up work schedule that has his regular days off different every single week. The kids are older now (9 and 12), but with hubby working graves, he gets up when they kids come home. As SOON as my classes are done, I come home and put him to bed, make dinner, review homework, chauffeur to games, dances, practices, etc. I put kids to bed, get hubby up to get ready for work, make his lunch, clean up the kitchen, and I finally get some study time after 10pm. I study until my eyes fall shut by themselves, then go to bed just to get up at 5:30am to get the kids up and ready for school (and then me ready for school).

It's not easy. But doable. We are taking the maximum in FA allowed, but no extra supplemental loans. We're building an addition onto the small house we could afford to buy at the new med school locale, and the interior is getting new paint, new cabinets, new flooring, new fixtures as we can afford to do so. Vacations? what are those? I thought that was when you could afford to go to Lowe's and look for another tool... You get creative with grocery shopping. The purchase of a 25 ft freezer was so entirely worth it when we could buy a whole cow from the farmer at $3.50/lb for choice/prime organic beef rather than pay $3/lb for ground beef and $9/lb for steaks at the store (and that beef is full of steroids). We LOVE Sam's club. We make stuff from scratch whenever possible (it's much cheaper generally), and rarely eat out. We almost never call a repairman - tools and DIY books are cheaper.

With all our time taken up with house work, repairs, studying, etc., entertainment isn't a problem. We don't have time. Occassionally we'll rent a movie and have pizza in the living room.

It's been a long road. But finally (I made it through MSI year!!!!) it seems the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. And it isn't an oncoming train. :)

Good luck. It's doable. Time managment is SO key. Budgeting, too. And a healthy sense of humor is a necessity. Have faith in yourself. You can make it.
 
ShyRem said:
Now med school, on the other hand, is a whole different ball game. Again, no family anywhere nearby to help out. My husband is now working graveyards and is low man on the totem pole, only 5 days off a year, and a really messed up work schedule that has his regular days off different every single week. The kids are older now (9 and 12), but with hubby working graves, he gets up when they kids come home. As SOON as my classes are done, I come home and put him to bed, make dinner, review homework, chauffeur to games, dances, practices, etc. I put kids to bed, get hubby up to get ready for work, make his lunch, clean up the kitchen, and I finally get some study time after 10pm. I study until my eyes fall shut by themselves, then go to bed just to get up at 5:30am to get the kids up and ready for school (and then me ready for school).

.
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Wow, I don't think I could handle that schedule.

I have two kids, a 2 y/o and a 4 y/o. I just finished my M1 year. We have the kids in daycare during the day from around 8am-6pm. I don't usually go to class. I study at home and go to whatever afternoon activities are scheduled at the school. I usually spend one weekend day at the school studying and the my hubby takes the kids to his parents the weekend before each test.
It worked fine for me first year adn hopefully will be fine next year as well. Third year and residency will likely be more difficult but I'll handle that when I get there.
 
Wow...my wife and i are in this same boat. We have 3 kids that are 1, 3, and 7 and I will be starting my MSI in August. We have been getting through undergrad fairly easy with my working as I have been able to work weekends and evenings and go to school during the day. However, med school is scaring us as I will not be working at all. I guess the scariest thing is getting out somewhere so far from where we've ever been before. We both grew up in the town we live in now and have family here. Granted sometimes they help with the kids but often we are doing things for them so getting away will has both positives and negatives. I am worried that we will get down there and I will be studying/gone all of the time and my wife will have no one. We are banking on the hope that we will make some great friends who are in the same boat as we are and in the process be able to lean on each other through this process. There is nothing I want to do more in the world than become a doc. I'm anxious about getting down there and getting started. Leaving in 3 weeks...uh oh;)
 
It is so nice to hear how everyone else is handling it. My husband is a dream. He works for his family company so has a ton of flexibility and has absolutely no desire to have a life outside of family. I wake up with the kids in the AM and get them ready for school (they are 5, 4 and 2) and then he comes home and drives their carpools. Morning is my only required time with them. After my husband brings them to school I can go to class and study until however late I want. My cousin, who lives down the block, comes over when they get home from school and watches them and makes them dinner. My husband comes home around 5:30 and does bath and bedtime. I try to come home for dinner but when I am taking exams I stay out till all hours studying. My cousin is like another mom to the kids and the kids are turning out really well. I do no work on Saturday and I spend the entire day with the kids - even during exam times. I am committed to that day with them. I am not in medical school but I am confident that this schedule will work when I get to that point. My cousin will not move with us when we go to medical school, but the kids will be older and will go to schools that have a longer day. Also, if we move, my husband will go to business school and will schedule his classes around their time. I am so lucky that my dream is their dream and that my husband is so supportive of me becoming a doctor.
 
For pre-med I was a stay-at-home mom with no childcare help beyond the husband. I had an 8 month old when I started and then had another. They are now 3 and 18 months. Lowpoint was studying for the MCATs while taking physics, volunteering and tending the newborn and jealous 18 month old big brother. Very lowpoint was when the 18 month old special needs son wound up in the hospital nearly brain-dead a couple weeks before the MCATs. They time it that way on purpose, dont they? I watched the kids by day, class in the evening after he got off work, kids in bed by about 10 and then study until 1 or so. Volunteered on Saturdays. Husband constantly complained about how messy the house was. (Might have thought his hands had fallen off if it weren't for all his hours of video game playing...)

For med school my mom is moving in with me and the kids (husband no longer living with us), so I'm set during the week. The weekend will be a battle as I am sure I will need to study and will endure previously mentioned whiny husband.

I've been lucky to not have another job beyond motherhood. Well, I have been a nanny for the past year, but I was pretty close to done with schoolwork at that point. My hat is off to moms who work, go to school, and raise little ones. :thumbup:
 
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Personally, I'm happy with my decision to go to medical school. But, there are other options out there that offer what I was looking for in medicine. Medicine is a bit of an "extreme" in some ways. It's by far the longest road of any career path (PhD's being a close second in most cases). If you factor in the length of time, and the amount of time spent working in residency, it's just pretty hardcore.

I'm usually very encouraging. I believe that things CAN work in your situation. But, you'll need a lot of help. And, sacrifices will need to be made. I would be more inclined to enter a more lesser "extreme" career. I say this because you already have multiple children that are still pretty young. When you're working 60-80 hours during residency, you're going to miss a big part of their lives, it seems.

What about an anesthesia assistant? Look it up. Very cool option and friendly to non-nurses with pre-med backgrounds etc. How about a PA program. That's 2 years and you'll be making good money, and taking care of patients in a very real way. You'll be challenged to keep up with the literature, and will be in demand.

I don't want to discourage you, cause you can go to med school. But, at what cost? Only you can answer that question.
 
ShyRem said:
Kids. Well, I went back to school as a non-trad with ZERO family nearby, two kids, and a husband working really screwy hours. My son at the time was 4, my daughter 7. we put him in Montessori pre-school, she was in regular school. Undergrad wasn't too much of a problem. We arranged for neighbors to keep an eye on the kids when they got home from school on days I had lab until 5pm, but mostly I got home right around when they did. My husband arranged to work so he had off Sun, Mon, Tues., so whenever possible I scheduled any classes that went after 3pm on those days. When i came home from school, I was Mom. There was never a school play I missed, or a recital I missed, or a rehearsal I missed. I took homework to my kids' martial arts classes and did it there. I worked out proofs for math problems on the bathtub walls while I gave my son a bath at night. You make time.

Now med school, on the other hand, is a whole different ball game. Again, no family anywhere nearby to help out. My husband is now working graveyards and is low man on the totem pole, only 5 days off a year, and a really messed up work schedule that has his regular days off different every single week. The kids are older now (9 and 12), but with hubby working graves, he gets up when they kids come home. As SOON as my classes are done, I come home and put him to bed, make dinner, review homework, chauffeur to games, dances, practices, etc. I put kids to bed, get hubby up to get ready for work, make his lunch, clean up the kitchen, and I finally get some study time after 10pm. I study until my eyes fall shut by themselves, then go to bed just to get up at 5:30am to get the kids up and ready for school (and then me ready for school).

It's not easy. But doable. We are taking the maximum in FA allowed, but no extra supplemental loans. We're building an addition onto the small house we could afford to buy at the new med school locale, and the interior is getting new paint, new cabinets, new flooring, new fixtures as we can afford to do so. Vacations? what are those? I thought that was when you could afford to go to Lowe's and look for another tool... You get creative with grocery shopping. The purchase of a 25 ft freezer was so entirely worth it when we could buy a whole cow from the farmer at $3.50/lb for choice/prime organic beef rather than pay $3/lb for ground beef and $9/lb for steaks at the store (and that beef is full of steroids). We LOVE Sam's club. We make stuff from scratch whenever possible (it's much cheaper generally), and rarely eat out. We almost never call a repairman - tools and DIY books are cheaper.

With all our time taken up with house work, repairs, studying, etc., entertainment isn't a problem. We don't have time. Occassionally we'll rent a movie and have pizza in the living room.

It's been a long road. But finally (I made it through MSI year!!!!) it seems the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. And it isn't an oncoming train. :)

Good luck. It's doable. Time managment is SO key. Budgeting, too. And a healthy sense of humor is a necessity. Have faith in yourself. You can make it.
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Wow Shy... That's a crazy schedule. I'm impressed that you still make your husband lunch. I think that's cool (and not in a sexist way).

Also, I think you could start a side job of builder/remodeler. That, or start your own home improvement show. Like a reality show, or something.....lol
 
cfdavid said:
Personally, I'm happy with my decision to go to medical school. But, there are other options out there that offer what I was looking for in medicine. Medicine is a bit of an "extreme" in some ways. It's by far the longest road of any career path (PhD's being a close second in most cases). If you factor in the length of time, and the amount of time spent working in residency, it's just pretty hardcore.

I'm usually very encouraging. I believe that things CAN work in your situation. But, you'll need a lot of help. And, sacrifices will need to be made. I would be more inclined to enter a more lesser "extreme" career. I say this because you already have multiple children that are still pretty young. When you're working 60-80 hours during residency, you're going to miss a big part of their lives, it seems.

What about an anesthesia assistant? Look it up. Very cool option and friendly to non-nurses with pre-med backgrounds etc. How about a PA program. That's 2 years and you'll be making good money, and taking care of patients in a very real way. You'll be challenged to keep up with the literature, and will be in demand.

I don't want to discourage you, cause you can go to med school. But, at what cost? Only you can answer that question.
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trust me when i say this...having kids that are currently almost 8, 4 and almost 1 myself....that med school, rotations and residencies are NOT something that is taken lightly or without serious discussion.
i myself looked into evry possible option out there for me and found they were all lacking something that i wanted in a career...every path kept leading me back to medicine. i took almost a year to do this investigation then there was another 3-4 months of discussion between my husband and myself as to what we would do and how we would handle it.
i was fortunate to get a brief taste of it in a smp....yes it was difficult, yes there were sacrifices...but at the end of the day they were ALL worth it. just as the difficulties and sacrifices that will undoubtably be made when i gain admission into medical school will ALL be worth it because at the end of the day i will be doing something i LOVE. and what better way to inspire my children than to show them that you are never ever too old to relaize a dream or that everything you do is worth it in pursuit of your passion and to never give up??


to the op....i am fortunate enough to live under a mile from my parents who help by picking up the older two from daycare if i am running late from a lab class/etc (youngest is close to me). having a second source of support nearby in addition to a very understanding hubby at home has been vital.
i think the hardest thing for me was to not obsess about how my dh did things....i had to let go in many aspects and let him do it his way...so what if the dishes were not loaded the way i would load them, or if dinner was tv dinners, or if the laundry was not put away in the places i put them away...it was done and that is all that mattered. i would take an afternoon (usually sunday) during breaks and before semesters to make a large batch of chili, spaghetti sauce/etc...things that i could freeze in single serve portions (for the family) that could easily be dethawed and made during the busy times.
 
my children are 7.5, 4.5, and 3. connor's almost 8 and he lives with his dad and spends his vacations with us, so most of the time it's just the younger two with us. i was a sahm until the youngest was 2.5 i finished my AS online through SUNY's excellent system. then i put the kids into daycare and returned to campus full time; my financial aid pays for tuition, books, and daycare so it didn't impact us financially. they're usually not there for more than 6 hours, though, as my schedule works out nicely (so far). my husband is active duty military and transfers certainly prolong finishing school. i'm hoping to enter med school in 2010. we still have another transfer before i finish my BS :rolleyes:

we have no family closer than 6 hours away, but my husband is marvelous. his work schedule isn't bad, and he loves taking care of the kids. he'll often whisk them away when i have an exam to study for. they're really great kids, too. he also does all the housework, but i cook dinner most of the time. i'm extremely lucky. the only really difficult times are when he goes to sea, but in 1.5 years his boat's going into shipyards and he won't be going to sea anymore. when i start med school, he'll be switching to shore duty, so it should be a regular day job. he has to go back to sea when i go to residency, but the youngest will be 10 by then, at least ;) and my mom is open to coming to stay with us when he goes to sea, if there's an on-call situation to deal with.

and when i finish my residency, my husband will be ready to retire so i'll be the only working parent :) i think everything will work out.
 
Thank you all so much for your rpls.

Its somewhat comforting to know I am not alone. It just seems so hard to make a little time for me these days, things can get a bit overwhelming at times.
My husband and I were talking about how we are going to do this and came up with a non-definitive plan, but still a plan.
1. we are going to pay off all our cc debt
Meanwhile my eldest will be in Kindergarten, my 4 y/o in daycare (3x/wk) and the baby stays with me at home. I will continue to make time for the MCAT (while the house cleaning will have to suffer a little). I wanted to take the MCAT this year but realized that the last test date is in Sept; so I will have to wait until Jan 2008 and therefore apply for the 2009 school year. Which is probably the best thing to do since I prefer to send the baby to daycare after she turns 2. I also get more time to study.
2. sell the house and move closer to my parents and aunt
3. Start medical school (that's if ALL goes well & get accepted) in Aug 09
Once there we'll figure out another plan:)

We can do it all, just not all at the same time!

As of today I am working on catching up with all laundry and do a bunch of cooking this w/e. The house is clean and the hubby is in agreement with doing a lot of the house shores. If I do all the cooking on the w/e, dedicate the laundry to when the kids are around, and study while the baby naps and affter they are all put to bed...I should be OK! I'll have to sacrifice my Law & Order. Greys Anat., and House but in the end will have an MCAT score to make it all worth it:D
Keep your own suggestions/stories coming, and good luck to you all!

E
 
It is good to see you (Ebete) and your husband have made a tentative plan. Communication is key. It has been hard for us, and we only have one. I found out I was pregnant two weeks before the MCAT, puked twice during the exam, then went to school everyday throughout the pregnancy. I was at school on Friday, gave birth on Monday, and was back for a Biochem test on Thursday. I remember breastfeeding in the back of the class during review sessions.

I don't know how we will make it once I am in med school (next month:scared:). Our tentative plan is to have my husband get up with the baby in the morning and get him ready for daycare, then drop me off at school and our son at daycare. I will go to class or study until 5pm when my husband will pick up my son and I.

I admire you women with more than one child. I recently miscarried twins, and although I was devastated at the time, looking back I am not sure how we would have been able to handle three children under the age of two.
 
You guys have such inspiring stories. I just took the MCAT and will be applying for admission in the fall 2008 class. My wife is 7 months pregnant and works as a PA. We currently live in rural west texas and our families are in Kansas City and St. Louis. My question is this: is taking on the extra expense of going to school out of state (our current state of residency is TX) to be closer to our families worth it? I'm worried that if we go out of state and take on the all the debt associated with OOS or private school tuition that we're mortgaging our future... but it seems so daunting to have a little one and to be so far from family. On the upside, my wife should be able to get a job working 3 shifts per week at an ER wherever we end up, but we're worried about day care for those three days if we don't end up close to family. Plus, we'd like to have another child relatively soon after our baby girl is born. Those of you living away from parents and/or other family: if you could be closer to family, but it meant taking on 4-5 times the debt would you pull the trigger?
 
hawk126 said:
You guys have such inspiring stories. I just took the MCAT and will be applying for admission in the fall 2008 class. My wife is 7 months pregnant and works as a PA. We currently live in rural west texas and our families are in Kansas City and St. Louis. My question is this: is taking on the extra expense of going to school out of state (our current state of residency is TX) to be closer to our families worth it? I'm worried that if we go out of state and take on the all the debt associated with OOS or private school tuition that we're mortgaging our future... but it seems so daunting to have a little one and to be so far from family. On the upside, my wife should be able to get a job working 3 shifts per week at an ER wherever we end up, but we're worried about day care for those three days if we don't end up close to family. Plus, we'd like to have another child relatively soon after our baby girl is born. Those of you living away from parents and/or other family: if you could be closer to family, but it meant taking on 4-5 times the debt would you pull the trigger?
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if i had the option of having my parents nearby, i'd do it in a second and i wouldn't care how much it cost. yes, absolutely, it's worth it. it's priceless, especially if you have more than one child, and especially with how young they'll be.
 
hawk126 said:
Those of you living away from parents and/or other family: if you could be closer to family, but it meant taking on 4-5 times the debt would you pull the trigger?
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I would stay with in state tuition. We have four kids, and we lived away from family until just recently (my youngest is five). Honestly, it worked out just fine. We researched and found affordable, good quality day care facilities, and for the times that day care wasn't available, my husband and I always seemed to find a way to make it work. I will say, however, that my mom (while sweet) is not very dependable, so I've never really known what it means to have family support. If you are very close to your families and miss them, you might find it difficult to be away from them during the stress of med school.
 
hawk126 said:
You guys have such inspiring stories. I just took the MCAT and will be applying for admission in the fall 2008 class. My wife is 7 months pregnant and works as a PA. We currently live in rural west texas and our families are in Kansas City and St. Louis. My question is this: is taking on the extra expense of going to school out of state (our current state of residency is TX) to be closer to our families worth it? I'm worried that if we go out of state and take on the all the debt associated with OOS or private school tuition that we're mortgaging our future... but it seems so daunting to have a little one and to be so far from family. On the upside, my wife should be able to get a job working 3 shifts per week at an ER wherever we end up, but we're worried about day care for those three days if we don't end up close to family. Plus, we'd like to have another child relatively soon after our baby girl is born. Those of you living away from parents and/or other family: if you could be closer to family, but it meant taking on 4-5 times the debt would you pull the trigger?
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I guess it depends on how your relationship with your family is. If you think they would be dependable and could give you the support then absolutely, otherwise I agree with the above poster. I guess there is always a way to make things happen.
I personally would not care if our cost increased because I really do have an amazing family, and it really pains me not to be able to see my mom in 10 min if I want to! Although she works f/t having my parents and relatives close by gives me a sense of security and comfort. I moved away from NJ in order to be able to afford a home and to give the kids a healthier environment (more rural, less city), but little did I know I would eventually become sick because of the move. We have lived in PA for 3 1/2 years now and I can't wait to go back. I am lonely, sad (very sad most of the days), I miss my family, I miss the flexibility of dropping the kids off at my parents to go shopping, or Barnes & Noble for a couple of hours... Sorry about the rambling, I'm a little down today...just found out we are going to have to stay here a little while longer, which brings me to ask: are there any accountants here who can give me some tax/real estate advise?
Thanks E
 
hawk126 said:
You guys have such inspiring stories. I just took the MCAT and will be applying for admission in the fall 2008 class. My wife is 7 months pregnant and works as a PA. We currently live in rural west texas and our families are in Kansas City and St. Louis. My question is this: is taking on the extra expense of going to school out of state (our current state of residency is TX) to be closer to our families worth it? I'm worried that if we go out of state and take on the all the debt associated with OOS or private school tuition that we're mortgaging our future... but it seems so daunting to have a little one and to be so far from family. On the upside, my wife should be able to get a job working 3 shifts per week at an ER wherever we end up, but we're worried about day care for those three days if we don't end up close to family. Plus, we'd like to have another child relatively soon after our baby girl is born. Those of you living away from parents and/or other family: if you could be closer to family, but it meant taking on 4-5 times the debt would you pull the trigger?
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Gosh, it seems like if it were truly 4-5 times the debt (could that really be?), you could probably hire a nanny for those few days/week. Otherwise, I don't think anything can trump family support, especially with kids (but, like jace's mom said, that can be relative). It's a tough decision man. You may have to sit down and do a cost/benefit analysis, cause, again, 4-5 times debt seems a little bit exagerated.
 
cfdavid said:
Gosh, it seems like if it were truly 4-5 times the debt (could that really be?), you could probably hire a nanny for those few days/week. Otherwise, I don't think anything can trump family support, especially with kids (but, like jace's mom said, that can be relative). It's a tough decision man. You may have to sit down and do a cost/benefit analysis, cause, again, 4-5 times debt seems a little bit exagerated.
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UTSA or UT galveston: approximately $12,000 per year (including tuition and books) vs. Missouri OOS $43,000 (including fees and books) or SLU approx $50,000 plus fees and books. 4x cost OOS vs. TX in-state is no exaggeration. Definitely thinking about cost/bene analysis... in fact have been thinking about it for about a year. Frustration from thinking that stuff over in conjunction with the wait for my MCAT scores... well, just saw this thread and thought I'd pose the question to hear about what others in similar situations have chosen. Thanks for the input everyone.
 
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