Wednesday, July 2, 2008

An Offer I Can't Refuse?

Today was "begging day," aka the day I email the 3 med schools I'm wait listed at telling them I'm still interested in attending their med school in the fall. About 2 minutes after I sent my email to MCW I get a reply from their director of admissions.

All it said was basically "When you get a chance call me at your earliest convenience." This could've been either good or bad and I felt that rapid heart rate thing going. I hesitated for about 20 minutes. Then I called, only to get an admissions personnel who said he had stepped out for a moment and that he'd call me back. So another 10 minutes or so of waiting and then he called.

First he told me the current situation - that practically no one has dis-enrolled and there was no movement on the wait list. Sigh. Then he said he they're starting to move people off the wait list as it seems like they won't get to many of the applicants. But this doesn't affect me because I'm at the very top. Yay! And because I was an applicant they "didn't want to lose," he made me a special offer on the spot.

Basically, his offer was that if I didn't get in this year at MCW, he would automatically enroll me for the following year of 2009 as "delayed matriculation." I wouldn't have to submit another secondary (or primary, I think), and I wouldn't have to re-interview; I would just have to submit whatever I would have assuming I got accepted anyway and a form on the AMCAS website. My spot in the entering 2009 class would be guaranteed at MCW if I wasn't able to matriculate in 2008. One way or another, I got into medical school today.

I didn't see this offer coming, it was not among my predicted possibilities. I had been preparing myself mentally for weeks at the prospect of not getting in this year and doing my MPH for the next 2 years. This upsets everything. I had (very) briefly considered asking him to defer my "acceptance" another year so I could finish up my MPH; but then I'd be old, haha. Since this offer is literally an acceptance, and I had given MCW my letter of intent, this would mean that if I took the offer and if another med school offered me an acceptance this year, I would have to turn them down. It's okay, I'd rather go to MCW anyway of the 3 places I'm wait listed at. I had been looking at 1-year public health degrees or programs for about an hour. But now I think I might do something different in my year off if I don't get in this year.

Here's my "ideal" thought. I'd stay at my current university and get a full-time lab technician in either the biology department or the medical school. This would mean I'd have to look for housing soon I suppose. I could ask my PI for a letter of recommendation as her recommendation would almost secure me a position, provided that the position exists in the first place. Also, I'm sure several of my professors would be willing to help me out in finding such a job as well. So I'm not overly concerned. I would work basically from either September or October until end of June, then take the month of July off and enroll in August. During this year I might also consider taking 1-2 undergrad (or grad) courses a semester - courses I had wanted to take but wasn't able to before I graduated. This would also keep me continually studying at a slower/more relaxed pace, so I wouldn't "forget" how to study before going to med school. I could use that month of July to travel and such, which was what I had originally intended on doing this summer (that didn't pan out).

Other possibilities include, of course, finding a 1-year program or certification for public health somewhere. I could also stay at home with my parents and work. This way I could save a lot more money than if I worked elsewhere, but it'd also mean I'd be at home and I think I would go insane after 3 months. I could go to Milwaukee or even MCW and find a job there, so I'd already be there and pretty much set come time for med school. And lastly, I could work for a biotech company in California or something. That might be cool, but it'd be a hassle to move my things there and back.

Those are all the current possibilities in my head right now. Any suggestions or comments? Really, I think this is an offer I can't refuse. I have until the end of the day on July 15th to reply back to him with my decision.

2 comments:

Mike said...

Congratulations on getting into MCW!!!

I am not the best one when it comes to giving advice, but it seems you have thought everything out, so it is a matter of deciding now, which is the hard part!

Zee said...

Congrats and good luck.

Everything works out for the best i guess.