I personally am considering it, but please feel free to discuss the topic outside of my context.
I'm a second year, and applied for transfer to several schools for Fall 2009, most of which I did not get into. If I were to stay enrolled at my current university, I would probably be taking 2 classes. Long story short, I received 'academic priority' to choose classes for my fall schedule and this translated into me getting an extremely late appointment at the end of the semester. Organic, calculus, and several other science classes are completely full (school has 40k+ undergrads), and the ironic part was that academic priority status was irrelevant, and no overrides are available for any of these classes.
Only a few days did I receive an acceptance letter from Emory (and an art school, but that's a whole other story...), and I'm sincerely at odds as to what I should do. Bottom line: I received no financial aid (partly due to late FAFSA), and this school isn't cheap. I've only just applied for a bank loan that will be processed within 3-4+ weeks (Emory starts on the 27th, and I still have no plans for housing, etc. which costs thousands as well). If I took out a loan, my mother would have to take a parent plus loan, which I know she absolutely cannot afford. We have quite a lot of debt, and my mother is a single parent working as a teacher (also paying off medical bills left by my father, who did not take life insurance).
I am able to defer my acceptance in the spring, and this will likely cause me to stay an extra semester or two past a typical graduation date. The catch is that I would be allowed by Emory to take a maximum of two courses as a non degree-seeking student (not at Emory itself, but my home institution), and basically do whatever else I would like (work, volunteer, etc.). This is more or less a 'semester off'. Will doing this have any negative repercussions in the future? Am I eliminating my chances of getting into top med schools (JHU, ivies, etc.)?
Any relevant stats of mine: Science and liberal arts double major, ~3.9 GPA, and 2Ws.
An extremely long read, I know, but I'd appreciate any thoughts or advice. I apologize if I come off as clueless or pretentious, but... that is why I'm asking you all 🙂
I'm a second year, and applied for transfer to several schools for Fall 2009, most of which I did not get into. If I were to stay enrolled at my current university, I would probably be taking 2 classes. Long story short, I received 'academic priority' to choose classes for my fall schedule and this translated into me getting an extremely late appointment at the end of the semester. Organic, calculus, and several other science classes are completely full (school has 40k+ undergrads), and the ironic part was that academic priority status was irrelevant, and no overrides are available for any of these classes.
Only a few days did I receive an acceptance letter from Emory (and an art school, but that's a whole other story...), and I'm sincerely at odds as to what I should do. Bottom line: I received no financial aid (partly due to late FAFSA), and this school isn't cheap. I've only just applied for a bank loan that will be processed within 3-4+ weeks (Emory starts on the 27th, and I still have no plans for housing, etc. which costs thousands as well). If I took out a loan, my mother would have to take a parent plus loan, which I know she absolutely cannot afford. We have quite a lot of debt, and my mother is a single parent working as a teacher (also paying off medical bills left by my father, who did not take life insurance).
I am able to defer my acceptance in the spring, and this will likely cause me to stay an extra semester or two past a typical graduation date. The catch is that I would be allowed by Emory to take a maximum of two courses as a non degree-seeking student (not at Emory itself, but my home institution), and basically do whatever else I would like (work, volunteer, etc.). This is more or less a 'semester off'. Will doing this have any negative repercussions in the future? Am I eliminating my chances of getting into top med schools (JHU, ivies, etc.)?
Any relevant stats of mine: Science and liberal arts double major, ~3.9 GPA, and 2Ws.
An extremely long read, I know, but I'd appreciate any thoughts or advice. I apologize if I come off as clueless or pretentious, but... that is why I'm asking you all 🙂
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