I did it!!!!!!!!
So... I totally forgot that I was going to visit a college campus this morning. Luckily I remembered last night before bed :P So... I woke up this morning, babysitter got here on time... and the hubby and I went to visit California State University Dominguez Hills. The drive was quicker than I thought it would be (good thing too. While the babysitter was on time, we were not on time getting out the door :P) It was really easy to find too so that's always a plus. The campus was small than I expected, but it was very well kept and there were a lot of small areas that made things feel more private than they actually were.
The thing is, I really just wanted to go because they were doing a same day admissions decision if you brought your transcripts. So I did. I am applying to three different colleges. CSUN is the closest to me, but it would only be for 2 years. I would be working there to get my Bachelor's in Child Development and then I would have to transfer away to another school that has an Occupational Therapy program.
Loma Linda offers a 5 year program, so I could transfer in this year and start working immediately on my OT degree. The problems being that 1) it's I think about 2 hours away from me so that would mean moving for all of us. 2) I just learned about it so I would be killing myself to get all their prereqs done before Summer started. So.. it's a long shot and i'm not sure what to think about it. It would let us live in a less expensive place and I would be closer to my family.. but still a whole new start for all of us.
Cal State Dominguez Hills has the OT program I want, but not in the 5 year option like Loma Linda has. However when I talked to them at the Academic Fair today, the Child Development major has a 'pre-OT' track. It would probably mean moving but my husband would still be able to commute to work. It would just be the kids and I uprooting ourselves.
The thing is, I really liked the campus. I still want to visit CSUN and Loma Linda, because I know the others will have impressive campus' as well... but CSUDH just felt good to me. I don't know why. Just... maybe it felt like a good fit.
Anyway... we got there and did their generic tour of the campus. I feel like they need to have a "freshman" tour and a 'transfer" tour because I really didn't need to spend all that time talking about how you shouldn't spend your financial aid money on something other than school as soon as you get it. Other than that though, the tour was fun.
It ran later than I thought it would so I missed the financial aid workshop they were doing, but when I got there for the last 15 minutes of it, they were just talking about how to fill out the FAFSA forms, and I did that last year. No real surprise that I need to do that again this year :P
After that my hubby had to go to work. So I walked him back out to his car and got back with plenty of time to get to the Academic Fair. A lot of people and I snagged paper from a lot of places (as well as a few pencils and pens and things :P) and then headed to the student union to grab something to eat. God... it was like going back in time... sitting at a student union by myself, reading (they had a financial aid magazine that had some new info).
After that I headed to the Same Day admissions. Got there at 12:30 when it opened up and it was a total clusterfuck! They didn't have the decisions made yet. So we all just waited around and every few minutes someone would come around with a handful of decisions and they'd call out the names.
I start getting antsy because they aren't going to accept me. I started worrying about my previous college experience. 15 years ago I was a bad student, a theatre major. So I started worrying about them looking at that GPA. Then I started worrying that maybe they wouldn't accept the Math and Language classes I had taken there (which the community college accepted). Finally, someone calls my name and tells me to go to another room, because I have issues.
Like I don't know that :P
Anyway... I go. By this time I'm also thinking about that time 7 years ago I decided to take classes. Not so good on the GPA either because I was just going for fun. Did great in the pottery and Cultural Anthro class i took, but not so good in the computer programming class. ( I used to love working in HTML.. who knew I would hate C++ with such a passion?)
By the time the guy calls my name, i'm convinced i'm never going to get into a 4 year program (let along a grad program to become an OT like i'm dreaming of). I go up and of all things he says "OK... you don't have any math. What are you doing about that?"
Math. MATH??? REALLY??
I told him I already took Math 115 and he said it was basic and didn't count. I told him I was taking Math 125 now and will be taking Statistics in the Spring. He asked me to show him where on the transcripts and we realized what had happened. They saw my current classes for one college, not both. They looked at the college i'm taking only one class at, not the one I take the majority of my classes. Understandable the way they'd thrown all my papers together, but I was all ready to think I wasn't getting in.
The guy starts making notes on my paperwork and he reaches over to shake my hand and says "Congratulations. I don't have a certificate for you today, but you'll get something in the mail in the next few days."
I'M IN! I actually got accepted to CSUDH!!! WOOHHHOOO!
And since I didn't really care about it the first time I went to college, this is a much bigger deal to me than that was. I feel like I really earned it this time, like I really worked my ass off to get something and I did! SO YEAH!
I'm still going to have to figure out what to do, still applying to the others... but I have a college! I have an option!!! WOOHHOOO!