Asking for some advice...

[KellyyyB22]

I was wondering if any of you guys would be willing to give me some advice. I was never expecting to get into grad school let alone 2 different schools. I accepted to minot state and it looks amazing in the sense that it's small which I like and it's extremely cheap. However, housing is outrageous. The faculty that I have spoke to are super awesome and it's been really quick and easy to enroll in all my classes.

Well, now I just got accepted off the waitlist at idaho state and I am so confused. I would love to be in idaho as it is wayyy closer to my home in washington. However idaho state seems like there will be a lot more hoops for me to jump through. I have to take three different classes as pre reqs where I wouldn't have to do that at minot. I won't know classes or even my ID number at idaho until later in June.

I'm just really torn. I would much rather move to idaho than all the way to North Dakota. But minot is only 5 semesters compared to 6 at idaho and I have to take more classes at idaho. Any advice would be really helpful!

[FCP]

If you want to go to the one that is closer to you, than do that. Listen, it's your life, that extra semester is your choice to take (and might not really matter in the long run that you had to stay an extra semester longer). 

 

Go with whichever program is the best for your career choices. 

[Jay's Brain]

Try speaking with the people that are currently attending those schools. See what their opinions are of their programs, and the prospective career outlooks when you come out of it. Your choice currently is between proximity and length/content. 

Is it worth to invest an additional semester if Idaho will give you the right opportunities? On the other hand, you also see Minot as a better option, the only problem being distance and housing. If the latter is a better fit for you, then the only hurdle you're crossing is distance. For the former, you have to worry about whether the academic conditions are ideal while knowing you're closer to home.

Choose which one you prioritize more, and go for it! 

 

[jpiccolo]

It's also worth looking into externships and what options you'll have there. One of the reasons I like and chose Utah State over University of Utah was that at USU I will have two full semesters out doing externships and those can be anywhere in the country whereas at Utah I'd have to take classes EVERY semester including the externship ones and that basically requires you to do externships in Utah. I'm far away from home right now (and have been for 6 years) but I really only have 1 year, 4 months, doing classes/clinic in Utah, and then there's about 8 months (next summer and spring '17) where I can go almost anywhere. 

 

Moral of the story, see if either of them have better locations for externships that will be closer to home. That way if you choose Minot, you might be able to spend at least 1-2 semesters closer if they have good externship possibilities. And a year, year and a half won't be that long really away from home. I realllllly wanted to be closer to home too for grad school, but I went with the cheaper option that allows me some awesome opportunities for externships (among other things). In two years, I think we'll all have the pick of places we want to live.