What to Do Now... Need Some Advice

[dgmarma]

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Hello Everyone,

Monday afternoon, the day before I was supposed to start my pre-reqs my husband's company announced a reduction in forces and his job was eliminated. He is an IT Application Architect and should not have too much trouble finding a job. He was just too expensive for his current company.

SInce I hadn't officially started my program yet, I decided that it was in my best interest to drop the classes that I had registered for and take a leave of abscence from school for Spring 09. Though, I may have been able to make it work... I feared that I might have to leave mid-semester (relocation, longer commute, possible return to work???) and didn't want to risk a semester of W's and the financial loss. I have some GPA damage control to do and didn't want any additional flags on my transcript.

I am hoping to now get started this summer or possibly in the fall. I have been a SAHM for the last 8 years and I was just starting on my journey into medicine. This semester, I plan to continue volunteering at the hospital and I was thinking that I would try and get a part time job. Other than living on the SDN boards (j/k) Can anyone else think of anything productive that I can do to better my chances in this time? Should I consider taking the CNA class and trying to work a shift or 2 once classes start in the fall?? Any must read books you can think of??? Anything???

I was SOOO gung ho and ready to get started, I want to keep this momentum going!Thanks for any guidance and suggestions. Best of luck to the rest of you!!

 

[envirodoc]

maybe try to do some volunteer research work. If you plug away part-time for a few months in the right lab you might be able to get published, and regardless it will give you different exposure than hospital volunteering. Then if you have to move or circumstances change, your volunteer work can be dropped without any consequences (as long as you're clear about your situation to your PI!)

 

[doctor712]

Hi there!

Sorry about your husbands' job, it's certainly a familiar story during these times. I think one idea comes to mind when I read your post.

First off, you really seem to plan well and think things through. Many of us, myself included, did NOT do just what you did, that is take a semester off to think straight and clear in order to make certain that grades didn't suffer regardless of the personal reason. For me, one instance comes to mind, my son was born on the first day of Anatomy class. (Not like I would redo my son's birth, but PERHAPS I would redo the quarter) 😀 I didn't get an A in that class. Would it have been better for me to postpone until summer time, YES. Would my GPA, and transcript have one less blotch, yes. Did I want to postpone, NO, never, right? However, hindsight is 20/20, so kudos to you for good planning.

I think one thing I would look at to make sure your world plan comes to order, is investing some time in reviewing topics that you will take in Summer or Fall. That could be, in some cases, as valuable as a wonderful shadowing experience. For all your shadowing experiences, FEW are going to get past the computer cutoffs in the admissions offices with poor grades and stellar ECs. Of course the goal is a nice combination of both, but when it comes down to it, that balance should start with good grades. The rest of us, again, me included, need to do some repairing AND shadowing.
Shadowing is fun, repairing is not.

Having said that, if you feel extremely comfortable with taking Bio or Gen Chem in summer, or fall, shadow away, get some research work in there, and enjoy your time. But to BETTER your chances, which is your goal and your question, I would really spend some good time (especially if you've been out of HS or Undergrad for a while) reviewing and reading ahead. I can say that my reviewing and reading for the current semester (that began 1st week of Jan) started around Thanksgiving. So, that's one month. And has it paid off? Well, exams are Monday so we'll see, 😱 however, I already know it's paid off. I was ahead of the curve on day one and WAY ahead of what the class was learning yesterday. 1/2 the problem in these courses is just that, staying ahead. Just yesterday we covered the topic of Moles. When, in fact, I had been running Mole problems via the web and with a wonderful SDNer (who knows who he/she is) and it's not even a "concern." Other students are still wondering how H2O can be 1 mole of H2O with 2 Moles of Hydrogen. I did that wondering in December. So, can't stress this enough, prep ahead of time. Include it in whatever you ultimately decide to do this summer. Balance equations, do things that you don't really need a Prof to explain, it's on the web when you use reliable courses.

The rest is gravy. Primary concern = grades.

Good luck!

D712