Visited the school Friday evening and have an update...

[Guest guest]

So many of you have replied that there is no way I can respond to

all of the messages. I just want to thank everyone for the great

posts and all the great input.

 

I visited the school I'm considering on Friday evening and they gave

me a tour of the campus. It is a lovely and tranquil place with

waterfalls, a koi pond, coffee shops, etc. Everyone there was very

nice and very helpful. It had, by far, the best academic

environment I have ever seen. I got to watch some classes that were

in session, talk to professors and students, etc. They even made an

appointment for me to go in for a free treatment!

 

What I did find, unfortunately, is that I will not be able to start

the program at the moment. I currently only have 65 hours of

college credit, and while only 60 hours are required right now, the

requirements will jump to 90 hours next term. If I were going start

this term, I would have to have all the paperwork done by Dec. 1st.

This is not impossible but what is impossible would be for me to

work full-time and attend school. The advisor was very honest with

me and told me that it would be too much stress for me to work full-

time and attend classes. She actually said that it would be nearly

impossible since many courses are only offered during the day. This

is very unfortunate because I currently could NOT survive only

working part-time. I have too many bills to be able to make it. It

looks like I will have to go to the local university another year or

two to get the extra 25 credits I need. Another downside is that

the Texas Board of Education (or whatever they're called) has taken

away the ability for OM schools to grant Master's Degrees for the

time being. Something about them not meeting different

requirements. The schools are all restructuring their

administrative areas (the problem was with the administrative part

of the schools, not the curriculum) and hope to be reaccredited very

soon. I'm sure everyone has already heard about this from other

members in Texas.

 

Now for the good news: when I do go back to the program with 90

credits under my belt, I will qualify for graduate-level financial

aid instead of undergraduate level like I do currently. The good

thing about this is that I can borrow more money, and will have

about $1000 per month leftover for living expenses. If I coupled

this amount with my income from a part-time job, I would definitely

be able to survive. Also, this gives me more time to research OM

and make sure that it is right for me. Also, hopefully, the

occupational outlook for OM practitioners will be much brighter by

the time I finish school.

 

So, that's where it stands for now. Thank all of you for your help

and I plan on reading the messages from this group daily