Lifesaver

How are your classes going? Are you learning anything? Do you like your professors? Assuming your next field placement goes well, can you see yourself being productive at this school for the next two years regardless of this mishap? It's still early in the semester and everyone is trying to adjust. Including the faculty. I think you ought to muscle through the semester and re-evaulate then. If worse comes to worse and you need to re-apply elsewhere and transfer, so be it. But don't pull out and lose an entire semesters worth of money.

I'm not entirely sure what Hunter finds most important. My stats: 3.83 GPA from masters degree program, low undergrad GPA, 3.5 years volunteer experience, 8 years professional work experience, several FEMA certs, and whatever else went into the packet. They were the only school to reject me. I assume it was due to my low undergrad GPA (sub 3.0). I don't think being young will hurt you with that much experience on your resume. Some people apply and their only work experience is waiting tables. I can only speak for my own experience. Hopefully a few of their accepted students will share their stats. Hunter's application is expensive, but if you really like the school or are a NYS resident it's probably worth it to apply.

Contact the admissions office. They are the ones who will give you the best answer.

As everyone else said, go to class. And make sure you're taking strides to get your anxiety/mental health under control. You will do better and appreciate the experience more if you're not in such a fragile state when you do eventually begin your program.

I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and get a cheap hand-written planner for my assignments. Filofax refills are going to cost me double if not more, and I've found that inputting assignments into my phone as they come won't work because I can't use my phone in class. And I'm a little too scatterbrained to remember to go back to all of them and input them later. Thanks for the input, folks.

There is no set right amount. It is entirely dependent on your grades/resume/appliction package, budget, needs, wants, etc. If it helps, I applied to 7, was accepted to 6, and received scholarships at 3 of them.

Waking up at the crack of dawn for class is killing me. Or maybe it's my thyroid making me SO daggone exhausted and making me legs hurt/swell. Sitting still for six hours a day, I'm sure, doesn't help the issue. Apparently I was beyond spoiled in my first masters. Three classes per semester (that was full time, folks!) and all were night classes from 6pm-9pm. This one here? Not so much. I'm hoping the adjustment period won't be too long. I'm tired. Grouchy. And have a headache. That's my venting recap of today.

What will you do if you drop out and go home? You said you don't like medicine and I'm assuming that means you don't want to practice. Are there other opportunities for you back home right now? I'm not entirely sure what kind of expectations you had. An MPH program is not anything like being an MD intern. They really are two worlds apart. Even in the area of exams. Being in another country is certainly hard and I can appreciate your homesickness and being annoyed by the cost of living. However, you spent a good chunk of time, effort, and money in order to apply to schools, apply for your visa, and then again to move. Are you really willing to lose all of that? The program is only a year long; are you sure you can't stick it out? The beginning of the semester (especially the first semester of a new program) is never really enjoyable for anyone. It's a big adjustment. Everyone is unfamiliar and uncomfortable, and the work isn't challenging yet. It won't be like that for the whole year. And even on the off chance that it is, what's 12 months in the grand scheme of your lifetime? I hope you decide to continue. Good luck with your decision.

We haven't started yet. We have a meet and greet on Monday evening, orientation all day Tuesday, and class starts on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to it. I'm going to get my notebooks and everything situated tonight. On a different note, I spent the night in the hospital two nights ago with symptoms of a heart attack/congestive heart failure. Turns out my heart is fine but I have Thyroid Disease. Needless to say, I feel like crap, still. I couldn't get an appointment with a GP til next Thursday, so I won't have meds until at least Thursday night. I'm hoping I feel a little better by next week so I don't have to start school on a bad foot.

Two whole days back in New Orleans and I already had to take myself to the ER. Considering I never ever go to the ER, this trip was a big deal. Thyroid Disease, you picked a great time to randomly show up to the party. Thanks a lot.

I chose social work because it is, as you stated, very broad. It seemed like every job application I had seen for months was for someone with an MSW. Counseling is restrictive to counseling. Social work allows you to counsel and do a whole variety of other things without having to go back and get another masters. I figured there would be more options for employment and earning power, rather than in a more specific field.

A) Handwritten planner Electronic calendar (which app?) C) White/chalk board D) I write on my hand E) Neither Just trying to decide if I want to order new 2014/2015 inserts for my filofax or if I should download a special app. Thoughts please.

YoungRebel has tons of money. He drives a Porsche, you know.

Some older man just wanted to fight me on the road because HE cut ME off. Makes sense.

I think the only residential high rise type buildings are dorms.

I'd do it. If you can get the PPE and be a counselor and start in the area you want to work AND have an entire career field to fall back on if you happen to get bored of advising... why not? Sounds like a win/win.

In my experience, the schools that had rolling admission and let me know quickly gave me a decent chunk of time to accept their offer. To the tune of a few months. The ones who wait will only give you about two weeks to make your decision, however they will gladly give you an extension if you're still waiting to hear back from another school.

I've been told and have read that doing so isn't suggested. I see an SOP as an opportunity to promote myself and my skills, not somewhere to air my dirty laundry, per se.

Yep. I have excuses as to why I don't run. Turning purple and being in too much pain the next day which prohibits my returning to the gym... not good nor productive. I can occupy myself with other things. Not a big deal. There is also no way I can do 3 sets of 12 reps on the bench right now. I do 5 reps, rest for 20ish seconds (at the beginning), do 5 more. When I get towards the 40th rep, even 5 in a row gets tired. And I do space out my rests as it goes on. If I have the luxury of being in the gym when there are few people around, I'll work out a different muscle, but usually it's use it or lose it around here.

Since I've had a lot of spare time recently and an awesome gym at my new apartment, I try to go every day for an hour-hour and a half. I actually enjoy going, provided I'm doing things I enjoy while I'm there. I have bad allergies (to what, I don't know, can't afford to get tested) and asthma, so I hate anything that makes me feel like I'm suffocating. For the most part, that's just running. I also refuse to run because I get really bad shin splints almost instantly. So, as long as I stay away from the tredmill, I'm usually pretty happy. My issue is that I get bored easily. I enjoy biking, but it bores me to death and I don't want to spend more than 10 minutes on the thing. But I know I need some cardio in my life. I try to do 10 sets of 5 per machine that I use. Bench press included. I'm up to benching 40 lbs after three weeks. I will probably up it to 50 next week. My other issue is that I'm not seeing any results. I've been in the gym pretty religiously and trying to watch what I eat (I failed miserably at that yesterday, though) but I haven't seen any changes with my body. It's kind of disheartening. I really want to lose some serious weight.

Can I throw the BS flag?

Ooooh, I didn't even think to suggest familiarizing yourself with APA. That's some rockin' advice. We used MLA in undergrad and APA in grad1, and it ws not the easiest of transitions. My professors were extremely knowledgable about APA and could pick out the tiniest error from a mile away. Many also ran our papers through APA computer programs designed to pick out errors. And let me tell you, nothing got past those. My friend and I contemplated going halves on the program to have for ourselves, but we never got around to it. Anyway, definitely get to know it if you aren't familiar with it yet. Cooking will likely fall by the wayside from time to time. I worked full time through my first masters and went to school full time, in class. I ended up taking the three hardest classes in my program all at once during the same semester, and that nearly broke me. I ended up having to drop to part time at work temporarily just so I could get through the semester. I was getting very little sleep and definitely not eating very healthy. I definitely didn't have a spare minute to even think of going to the gym. I lived off of Lean Cuisines and mac n cheese. I've done a lot of crockpot cooking over the years, which I definitely suggest. You throw whatever you want in there in the morning and by the time you're home for dinner it's all ready to go. They even make crockpot liners now, so you don't have to sit there and scrub the thing afterwards for 20 minutes. You can use Pinterest for good crockpot recipes.