mudgean

Emily, I love it! I had the instinct to clean and organize too last week, after a lame rejection. I should have acted on that, but instead got lazy and have since been stewing in reflections and murky plans. I only applied to three MA (in English literature) programs. One admit, one reject and I'm waiting on one. I'm realizing now how competitive everything is and that my applications really should have been stronger. For example, the schools asked for a 20 page scholarly essay, and I submitted a 7 page analytical essay. It was a really good paper, but not near enough. Also I emphasized my high school teaching experience in my SOP, but I may have sounded out of touch with academia, which I am. I should have had a professor or two read mine. I'm probably going to stop with an MA, but if I ever get the urge to go for a PhD I have a better sense now of what it takes. As for age, I know some nice success stories. My aunt decided at age 54 to become a psychologist. She took all the prereqs, got her Phd and now has a very successful practice in Washington state. Another woman I know decided to become a lawyer in her 60's!! Now in her 70's she too has her own practice of some kind in Canada. Sure your career might be shorter than some, but it might be way more fulfulling and productive. Also, people change careers now all the time, so who is to judge anyone for how long they may or may not have a career. Oh..and my sister is living in a treatment center for bipolar disorder and there is a really nice older gentleman there who is a grad student/employee. This man is in program that draws on buddhist doctrines. I imagine his age and experience are only assets to him in that environment. I hope no one gives up their dream because of age or because of rejections this year. It's a really tough year.

I'm no Susy Orman, but I know a few things being somewhat older. 1) Separate out some of the issues here and tackle them one at a time. You are different from your mom and your frustrations with her don't have to affect your financial life. 2) Your friend's advice to go the bank and get a credit card is good. Even a secured credit card is a good starting point. You are young! People don't expect you to have much more than that. Get the card, start using it. After a few months of not EVER overdrawing on your account, ask them for a modest amount of credit, maybe 100 or 500 dollars. Use that credit, but only as much as you are responsibly able to. Pay every month ON TIME! This is so important. Credit is so sneaky and tricky these days. Pay on time. On time. Did I mention to pay on time? 3) From there you will be able to get other credit cards, but don't go crazy. Just because you have credit, don't start maxing out or even getting close to maxing out. Just use a small amount of credit available to you and PAY IT OFF each month. Don't get a huge revolving debt, which is the problem possibly your mom and so many other Americans have. 4) You are paying your rent on time. Excellent! You didn't use your mom or anyone else as an excuse, so you are in better shape than you think. You are taking personal responsibility and that's more than a lot of people. Keep paying your rent and utilities on time. That's keeping important dings off your credit history. Without a job, you may need to keep having co-signers but that's okay. Once you have an income, people will rent to you and can build up more credit that way. 5) Get a Susy Orman book. She has a lot of good sound advice that's easy to understand. If AIG and other banks followed her simple rules, this country wouldn't be in the mess it's in...but I digress. 6) Don't panic; you're doing many things right already. Pay your bills on time. Don't get into debt. The basics will get you a long way.