My school ordeal

[jeffsg4mac]

Hey guys, just thought I would give you all an update on how my midlife career change is progressing.

After more than a year of getting all me prerequisites out of the way, I missed getting into the radiology program here at NHTI by 3 lousy points. The cutoff this year was 54 and I had 51. To make matters worse my academic advisor did not advise me on the best path to get the maximum amount of points. I took one class I should not have and there were two others I could have taken to increase my points. That is what I am most upset about

Anyway the next day after I found out I didn't make it, I started calling other schools. Only one other school in NH that has a radiology program and it is about an hour away in Lebanon NH. They had already taken their 20 students, but said if I applied right away I would be at the top of the waiting list. I applied. One week later they emailed me and said they had an opening and I needed to come in for an interview with the dean and the head of the rad program. Today I found out that I was accepeted and I will be starting in the fall. Yay!! I don't have to wait another year to apply again.

 

[stratman]

Congrats Jeff, I can't begin to tell you some of the "good" advice I got from some advisors back in college!

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Congrats Jeff, I can't begin to tell you some of the "good" advice I got from some advisors back in college!

Yeah that really, really torked me off. I could of had 55 to 57 points. Now I have to drive an hour to Lebanon. I don't mind the drive so much but it is going to cost in gas $ even with my corolla getting 40 on hwy. NHTI is only 15 minutes away. I should send NHTI the gas bill every month.

 

[Davemcc]

Congratulations!!! The education is definitely worth the extra drive even though it could have been avoided. I had to go to school seven hours away to take my program even though they had the same program at the U right here. I just didn't get accepted here. It's an inconvenience, but in the long run, it's likely you'll remember it as just a minor inconvenience once you are established in your career.

 

[jamie2112]

Hey there, best of luck to you and 1 hour is not too bad. I had to drive 2 hours to take a class 3 years ago that really advanced me in my field. You got yourself another chance congratulations......

 

[Jack Hammer]

I feel your pain. My second semester advisor put me in classes that counted, but I couldn't use towards a degree because I had already hit that category of requirement in the first semester. So I wasted my time with 3 of the 5 classes in the second semester (12 units wasted). After that I picked all classes myself.

Glad to hear you got into a school and luckily it isn't TOO far away. The drive should give you time to go over in your head what you learned that day and time to think about what you'll test on on the way in.

Jack

 

[Tarub]

This is my ordeal.....

 

[speakerman39]

I feel your pain. My second semester advisor put me in classes that counted, but I couldn't use towards a degree because I had already hit that category of requirement in the first semester. So I wasted my time with 3 of the 5 classes in the second semester (12 units wasted). After that I picked all classes myself.

Glad to hear you got into a school and luckily it isn't TOO far away. The drive should give you time to go over in your head what you learned that day and time to think about what you'll test on on the way in.

Jack

Very good advice Jack. I used to just put my books and notes under my pillow hoping it would sink right through to my brain..................LOL!!!!! Just Kidding!!!!! Sorry, just could NOT resist as it has been a good but rather long day.

 

[EJ1]

Haha @ Tarub. So true.

 

[Exit]

A trick colleges are playing is to make students and parents think they are going for a four-year degree, then provide a heavily loaded class schedule including going to summer sessions. They provide a list of required classes for the degree, but then fail to include class prerequisites which can significantly increase class load, sometimes requiring a fifth year to complete. A fifth year is a significant increase in costs too.

 

[cbraver]

What kind of gas milage do you get? The drive you'll get used to I'm sure, but, could prove costly if you aren't careful on the vehicle or at least the throttle. Maybe invest in a car stereo, to provide some enjoyment for the drives!

A trick colleges are playing is to make students and parents think they are going for a four-year degree, then provide a heavily loaded class schedule including going to summer sessions. They provide a list of required classes for the degree, but then fail to include class prerequisites which can significantly increase class load, sometimes requiring a fifth year to complete. A fifth year is a significant increase in costs too.

This is so true. Average graduation time for my program is 5 years. The people that do it in 4 years take on exceptional loads (making having even a part time job impossible, which is a problem for a lot of students) and often summer classes (costing extra).

 

[pzaur]

It's great that you found a way past the bad advice. I created my own program when I did my music ed degree. It was a little atypical, but, I finished in 4.5 years. It's also a 5 year degree. Nothing like taking 21 hours a semester for a couple years.

At least you won't need a passport when you head to Lebanon...probably a lot safer too!

-pat

 

[mudrummer99]

It's great that you found a way past the bad advice. I created my own program when I did my music ed degree. It was a little atypical, but, I finished in 4.5 years. It's also a 5 year degree. Nothing like taking 21 hours a semester for a couple years.

At least you won't need a passport when you head to Lebanon...probably a lot safer too!

-pat

I feel your pain, I went to school for music ed as well (to begin with at least) and after my 5th straight semester of 23 hours (average for a business major in my school was 16) I decided I had enough, changed majors to performance and got on with life. Now this isn't the normal 23 hours either, I had several classes that meet for an hour a day 3 days a week that I got 1 credit for (read instrument methods classes). It's kind of weird when you are in class 40 hours a week and only getting 25 credits for it. Colleges are so afraid of putting in their program guide that they have 5 year programs because of parent backlash and would rather the students bear the brunt of the anger when they can't, through no fault of their own, graduate "on time".

Mike

 

[Dan]

As the resident audioholic radiologist I welcome you to the most rapidly advancing field in medicine (someone's sure to chime in on that but it's true). There is a long way you can go and a lot of money out there for technologists who are smart, work hard and especially if willing to put in extra hours.

I've been doing it since the days of film and non spiral CT scanners. I've worked with a lot of student tech, techs learning new modalities and residents. Let me know if I can help in any way. I can suggest books or explain something if you're in a pinch.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

As the resident audioholic radiologist I welcome you to the most rapidly advancing field in medicine (someone's sure to chime in on that but it's true). There is a long way you can go and a lot of money out there for technologists who are smart, work hard and especially if willing to put in extra hours.

I've been doing it since the days of film and non spiral CT scanners. I've worked with a lot of student tech, techs learning new modalities and residents. Let me know if I can help in any way. I can suggest books or explain something if you're in a pinch.

Thanks! Coming from the IT world, I think I will like the mix of technology and the small amount of helping people. I don't have what it takes to be a nurse but I wanted something in the medical field. My wife (God bless her) is an RN and I could never do that job.

 

[Dan]

Your IT backround will be invaluable in moving up the ladder. Every radiology department now is totally enslaved to computers more than anywhere else in the hospital. PACS for images, voice recognition software for the reports. I spend a good chunk of my day on the 3D workstations for MRI, ultrasound and especially CT. We do virtual colonoscopy, CT and MR angiography, CT urography all 3D heavy. Many places have "supertechs" that do a lot of the reconstructions.

Best of luck and keep me posted.