Want to scream!!!

Oh why oh why does the process have to be so long?
I'm not even the one applying to these stupid medical schools - however I'm more nervous and anxious about the crap than he is. GGGRRRR

I will graduate in June with a BA in German. German is worthless unless you want to teach - and I've learned (the hard way) that I don't want to do that. Translation companies are RARE on the West Coast and so if we stay here I'll be going back to school for a degree in psych (to fufill a life-long dream of becoming a doctor). HOWEVER, if we move to the East coast (where schools #2 and #3 are) my German will be more readily used and I can apply to graduate school and see where that takes me.

BUT I CAN'T DO ANY OF THIS YET. We don't know where we're going. I'm so freaking frustrated.

Don't get me wrong, I love my husband to death and I know that if he could make this process go quicker he would ... but I cannot stand not knowing what I'm going to be doing with my life in the next few years.

Portland, Oregon, Rochester, New York and Philidelphia, Pennsylvania ... where oh where will we end up?

/rant

(Thank you for letting me vent!)[/i]

[PrincessFiona]

Hey now...german is NOT worthless

It sounds like you have a very good idea of what you are looking for. I feel your pain on that because it is very difficult moving and not knowing if the town you will be living in will offer what you want to study or not. Then if they do, there is the added problem of getting accepted in the program at that school. Are you interested in Clinical Psych, or are you willing to do counseling psych, etc? I know that the Clinical programs are much tougher to get into....

I have to say that for me it became a matter of taking life as it came...which was hard at times. It is kind of...an adventure! I have my ugrad degree in biology and german...when we moved to PA I had hoped to go to Penn State for psych...but it was a huge drive, they didn't have a master's program and we wouldn't have been there long enough for me to finish. I ended up doing what was available..I went to our local state college and did a post-bacc in biology....at one time I had been pre-med (many moons ago, and so this seemed like something fun to do).

When we moved to Fl for my husband's fellowship program, I entertained all kinds of things...but again...I took what I got. I knew I could only enter a master's program because I wouldn't be there long enough for anything else (and I had small children) so I entered one of the only master's programs that they had in the sciences....molecular biology...not my first choice (I would have loved to do environmental science or marine science)...but at the end of the day, it has taken me to where I am now....I let life lead me instead of fighting the uphill battle...and I'm happy with where I am now....

I would suggest researching the diff. schools that he has applied to as well as all grad programs associated with them....Apply (if you haven't missed the date?) to all programs that you can....and consider that you will only be there for 4 years and will likely need to do a master's before going to get our phD...

This is so exciting...Good Luck..and ENJOY dreaming about/planning for the future!!!

oh, do i understand

my friend, i'm so so with you. we're waiting too, as is apparent in my other posts. portland's on the list too... ohsu for you as well? i don't know if there are any others, so i thought i'd ask. i'm of the teaching tribe, so i need to find a job out there, wherever there is, and pronto. but i don't know where. every day i count on my fingers, almost unconciously, the days until may fifteenth. even then we still may not know. waiting lists. screw waiting lists. arg. arg arg arg. i want to do my master's as well... i've got mine in english, which is beautiful and wonderful and fabulous and equally as worthless. i'm comfortable with my knowledge of the ins and outs of the language, but what does it get me in this waiting game? blarg. i know you know the feeling. i can't apply anywhere either. i'm consoling myself with my plans to get my emt and ride the rigs for a while... i'm calmer and more centered in emergencies than most other times, really. so we'll see. but man, i feel you. i feel you. how long ago did you graduate again?

I know how you feel. My husband waited until the last possible second to apply to med schools, and he did on a whim. We both found we were able to graduate in three, but would stay for four if he didn't get in. So we waited and waited, he got wait listed and so we waited more. We were getting married, I wanted to look for a place to live, a place to apply for jobs. Frusterating does not even begin to describe how I felt. But I guess its good practice for the match. But speakin of wait lists, my husband and I have a friend who ended up being Number 1 on the wait list the year my husband started school. He came out (he was from CA), found a place to live and his wife found a job. He was told he was the first on the list and someone almost always drops out during the first two weeks, and in that case, he could have that spot. Nobody did. He got a job in research and it will probably help in the long run, but talk about frusterating! He had to reapply the next year.
Gravity, a cousin of mine just moved out to Portland and got a job immediately. I don't know if there is much truth behind it, but I've always heard teachers trained in the midwest are sought after. I also don't know if that means anything to you, but she had absolutely NO problems finding a job. Hopefully thats good news.

Well, if you all end up in Portland OR let me know!
re: teaching jobs -- the Portland Public Schools have (had?) a great reputation BUT there have been some looming funding issues there so I don't know what the job situation is like. They have a fantastic website (from a parental perspective, anyway):
http://www.pps.k12.or.us

This waiting game doesn't go away. It's the same for residency and fellowship. One of things that helped me was to research each of the potential locations. Look at what kinds of corporations are there, is the state capital there (gov't job), that sort of thing and look at on-line job listings. And just research anything else that interests you, hobbies, etc. That way at least you get a feel for the place you might be moving. Just don't fall in love with one particular location!

The good thing about Philly is that there are lots of universities there increasing your chances of finding the right program for you and gaining admission.
Have you looked at online freelancing websites for jobs translating german? You wouldn't have benefits and steady employment and all those goodies, but you would be doing something you like. Just a thought.

Hang in there. And let us know where you end up going.

PrincessFiona, my German isn't going to help me out career wise right now though and that's my "German is worthless" statement. The German program at Oregon State is HORRIBLE and I hate it but I love the language too much to give up.

Regarding the psych stuff I am really interested in working with adolescent girls who have deallt with all forms of abuse and eating disorders. I guess that is on the "counseling psych" side of things ... which helps since it might be easier?? Let's hope!

"Taking life as it [comes]" scares me. I have always been a planner and it's tough to just sit back and let life happen now. I'll get through it - I have to - but it's tough nonetheless.

I have been reasearching the towns where we COULD be and have found that each has at least one good psych university that I could do my post-bacc work in and then see what happens after that. I have also been looking for work because I'll be wanting a full-time job next year while not going to school.

Gravity, I'm glad to know that I'm not alone. I hate this waiting game but it's the price we pay for those we love. OHSU is Bobby's first choice of medical schools and I will definately keep you updated on the status of the application there - wouldn't it be funny to have met here, moved cross-country (for you?) and then meet in person!?!?

Of the teaching tribe, eh? I suggest looking into a PRIVATE school out here in Oregon otherwise your job security is zill to none. Good luck and if there's anything that I can do search-wise let me know and I'll be more than willing to help!

I graduated HS in 2000 and will graduate from Oregon State with my BA in German in June. I am so ready to be done and move on but I don't know what I'm moving on to!

Shella, my husband waited until the last minute, too. I hate that about him ... he waits for the last minute with EVERYTHING and he always manages to come through squeaky clean. I am such a planner and it really drives me totally insane. You said it so vveerryy right with "frusterating does not even begin to describe how I felt." Oh so very true!

NMH, are you in PDX now? I'm in Corvallis if you are ... this could be interesting! I think that private school teachers are better off in Oregon right now than any public school just for job security reasons but I'm not really "up" with the primary education sector of my state. Go me.

The waiting game doesn't go away? *bawls* *hides* *never comes out* I hate this. I really do. I have always been a planner and have always been incredibly independent, too. Waiting on my own goals is frustrating enough but now I'm waiting on someone else's goals and it's making me nutso! I am taking your advice and looking at the cities we could be moving to just so that I am prepared for whatever happens. Thanks for the suggestions outside of job stuff - I didn't even think about just things that "interest" me. I know I'll find SOMETHING where ever we go ... just getting there will be the tough part.

I am going to look for freelancing websites for German and stuff to see what I can come up with. Sadly I hadn't thought of that before your note and am feeling kinda stupid about it now. Thank you zillions for that idea!!![/b]

We're not in PDX yet (someone else who understands the PDX abbreviation!). We're moving at the end of June for DH's residency at OHSU starting in mid-July. We'll be living in the SW area.

A few years ago, a friend of mine moved to Portland looking for teaching jobs -- she found that there were very few in the public school system. Guess it's still the same situation?

NMH, I love to be able to use PDX without the fear of someone thinking I'm specifically talking about the airport.

SW PDX is beautiful. We have been looking at apartments and such just to keep our options open and I have found some really nice places for good prices, too.

I don't know much about the public school system in PDX right now but if it's anything like the teaching situation in the rest of Oregon, no, public school doesn't look good right now. Guh. Good luck looking around for job stuff. Check out http://www.craigslist.com and look in the Portland section - there might be stuff up there for you.

We have yet to hear back from OHSU. We are still on the waiting list at Rochester and at Drexel but we want so badly to hear back from our number one. I am so tired of waiting ... and I fear it will never end. Oh well - life will move on![/b]

We're excited to be in the SW area and it's close to OHSU which is nice too. Thanks for the craigslist recommendation -- I'm not really sure what I'm doing work-wise.
Hopefully the public school situation doesn't become too dire. The one near our house is supposed to be great...hope so.
Let me know if your DH gets in to and decides to go to OHSU (is that your first choice?).
I hope you hear soon.

Let me know if your DH gets in to and decides to go to OHSU (is that your first choice?).

Yeah, if we get in there that's where we'll be going. That's been his number one choice for YEARS and so he's excited that he's even being considered at this point.

Nothing in the mail from any schools today.

We're supposedly going to know by the end of the week. We have three mail-days left this week. Damnit the mail needs to hurry up!

::gags::

p thinks that we'll hear next week, if decisions are supposedly out at the end of this week. perhaps it's some sadistic way of making people be really sure that they want this... at any rate, i ask every day if he's gotten any mail (we don't live together yet). every day the answer is 'no, sweet, but you know you'll be the first to know'. sigh.
so i have a question, m'dear: when did your husband do his interview at ohsu? what was his name, if i may ask? p wants to know if he met him