Leaving for China in Feb.

[ThisIsYourLife]

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Hey everyone,

I am leaving for Hong Kong on Jan 31st and returning Feb 20th.. if I don't have an interview or acceptance offer before Jan 31st what should I do? What if a school contacts me while Im in HK? I wont have a phone cause my number wont work in HK.. i can check email sparingly probably.. but what do I do????? Do I call all schools beforehand and let them know? Do I try to call schools to check status while there (I dont want to use too much phone money since Im staying with bf's family and I dont want to run up their bill).. ?? help!! im really worried about it.

 

[mastamark]

Maybe you can just do a weekly status check at each school. Let them know your situation and just phone away. You may also try and get them to notify you via email if at all possible.

Good Luck

 

[Bacchus]

Hey everyone,

I am leaving for Hong Kong on Jan 31st and returning Feb 20th.. if I don't have an interview or acceptance offer before Jan 31st what should I do? What if a school contacts me while Im in HK? I wont have a phone cause my number wont work in HK.. i can check email sparingly probably.. but what do I do????? Do I call all schools beforehand and let them know? Do I try to call schools to check status while there (I dont want to use too much phone money since Im staying with bf's family and I dont want to run up their bill).. ?? help!! im really worried about it.

You will be able to check e-mail while in Hong Kong considering there is probably an internet cafe every few blocks (yay urban development). I would let the schools know of your plans semi-soon so that they can either review your application sooner or postpone an interview until after the 20th. The schools will work with you if you let them know what's going on.

Check into the billing rate for Hong Kong --> US for cell phone providers, it may not be that expensive. (You could always buy a phone card too)
I just looked for ATT and it was $1.99 / min. That is expensive, consider the calling card.

 

[g8trdrkmk]

Hey everyone,

I am leaving for Hong Kong on Jan 31st and returning Feb 20th.. if I don't have an interview or acceptance offer before Jan 31st what should I do? What if a school contacts me while Im in HK? I wont have a phone cause my number wont work in HK.. i can check email sparingly probably.. but what do I do????? Do I call all schools beforehand and let them know? Do I try to call schools to check status while there (I dont want to use too much phone money since Im staying with bf's family and I dont want to run up their bill).. ?? help!! im really worried about it.

Why not leave your phone and email info with a responsible person who can notify you of any updates.

 

[Saregamapadanis]

Hey everyone,

I am leaving for Hong Kong on Jan 31st and returning Feb 20th.. if I don't have an interview or acceptance offer before Jan 31st what should I do? What if a school contacts me while Im in HK? I wont have a phone cause my number wont work in HK.. i can check email sparingly probably.. but what do I do????? Do I call all schools beforehand and let them know? Do I try to call schools to check status while there (I dont want to use too much phone money since Im staying with bf's family and I dont want to run up their bill).. ?? help!! im really worried about it.

Once you send in the secondary and your application is complete, it is better if you could e-mail your schools and tell them that you are in china and that If they want to schedule an interview, you can only schedule it after January 31st.

You could also tell someone (your relative? parent? neighbor?) to check mail for you every week so that if you get any offers, they can contact you in Hong kong and tell you so that maybe then you could send an e-mail conformation or let them call for you and tell the school that you will be attending the interview.

 

[Yourmother]

Hey everyone,

I am leaving for Hong Kong on Jan 31st and returning Feb 20th.. if I don't have an interview or acceptance offer before Jan 31st what should I do? What if a school contacts me while Im in HK? I wont have a phone cause my number wont work in HK.. i can check email sparingly probably.. but what do I do????? Do I call all schools beforehand and let them know? Do I try to call schools to check status while there (I dont want to use too much phone money since Im staying with bf's family and I dont want to run up their bill).. ?? help!! im really worried about it.

Hey, Since you'll be over in China. My five year old little cousin has a bunch of toys that were made with lead paint and we need to return them. Can we just send you a big box and then you can.............

 

[EEL08]

Hey, Since you'll be over in China. My five year old little cousin has a bunch of toys that were made with lead paint and we need to return them. Can we just send you a big box and then you can.............

OP I must admit I'm jealous you get to go to China. I would love to go someday! Ahhh the motherland. 😍 Anyway, you could contact each of your schools and let them know. Depending on how long you've been complete maybe you can find out if they plan on offering you an interview and maybe you can get them in before January 31. I don't think it hurts to check into it.

 

[ThisIsYourLife]

Thanks guys.. all great advice.. im going to let everyone know by the beginning of dec. time to be complete everywhere (as i haven't sent 5 out yet.. but have sent 14 so far) and time to let them know far enough in advance.. and honestly i hadn't even THOUGHT of leaving my phone and email info with someone.. i guess i will leave it with my sister/mom and they will for sure take care of it for me.. THANK YOU GUYS!! i think i was so frazzled worrying about this i forgot to think CLEARLY!

 

[ThisIsYourLife]

Hey, Since you'll be over in China. My five year old little cousin has a bunch of toys that were made with lead paint and we need to return them. Can we just send you a big box and then you can.............

lol. def. made me laugh😛

 

[seoulsister]

I'm actually living in South Korea right now so I completely understand where you're coming from. Although I would say being over here has probably made the application a bit more difficult, it is by no means impossible. I would definitely suggest letting all of the schools know and hopefully you can get in some interviews before you leave. As far as contact with the schools when you are in Asia, I would say e-mail is by far the easiest. Calling is difficult mostly because of the time difference, but again, it's not impossible. I would suggest a calling card or Skype if you have internet access where you can use a microphone and headsets/speakers. I actually have a US number through Skype that the schools can call and talk with me/leave me messages at. I think you have to pay for a year at a time, so this probably wouldn't be worth it for you, but you may be able to set up a voicemail account for less - I'm not sure though. I still use my parent's address as my permanent address, so they have been very helpful in going through my mail, etc. Everyone's suggestions, especially about having someone you trust be your eyes and ears back home, are spot on. Great job guys! 😀

Hope this helps. Let me know if there are any more questions I might be able to answer for you.

 

[seoulsister]

I just looked at Skype's website and you can get a SkypeIn number for 3 months for $18. Not all that cheap, but if you want to hear from the schools yourself, a good option. With this you choose a US number (I chose a number that is a local call for my parents - so it's free for both of us when they call me). The schools can call this number like any other US number and leave you a voice-mail at any time. Then, when you log in you can play any messages you have (so you would need internet with speakers/headset). If you were logged in when they called you could actually talk with them (for no extra charge), but this might be difficult if you are at an internet cafe. It also appears that there is a way to set it up so you are charged local rates when you use your cell phone, I'm not familiar with this, but I do know many US cell phones don't work in Asia so I don't know if this is even an option.

Also, when you contact the schools you may want to give them the names of anyone they can give information to.

 

[xcrunner]

i know a girl who just left for Iran with no interviews lined up. (granted she has a 4.0 and 36MCAT from a top 30 school) But she plans to just put the interviews off until she gets back in early february. Plus, she contacted all the schools that she applied to and told them what she was doing.

 

[PeepDoc]

SKYPE!!

Its the best way to communicate overseas and super cheap. Check it out www.skype.com With work we are doing a major project in Hong Kong, we use it everyday. When i was over there i was able to talk to my family every day for almost half an hour at a time, and i onyl spent less then $5 in skype calls. Check it out, you wont regret it. 🙂