We've got a winner!

I will be attending the University [school name redacted for privacy] this fall and I am extremely excited about it. I think this school with be a good fit for me academically and financially. I also think the transition for my daughter and myself will be pretty easy, and for me the easier the better! I've been informing friends and family of my final decision and they have been helpful with directing me to people to help with moving, babysitting and any other out of the way need that may come, so I'm feeling very blessed to already have some sort of network.

My daughter is very excited about everything as well. She has been there for almost every envelope opening and each time she would say, "Mama, everybody wants you. It's because you're a really smart girl." I figure if anything, this journey I'm taking both of us on will instill in her the importance of having an education. As a first generation college graduate, I wasn't exposed to college campuses, I didn't have any immediate family members who talked about going to or graduating from college, and I have had to navigate my way through undergrad and to law school through trial and error mostly. She's been with me since day one and she knows that college isn't an "option" it's AUTOMATIC!

Right now I am working on finishing a scholarship application which is due on March 2nd! Once that is finished and sent off, I will be sitting pretty for the next two or three months. Then comes the pre-work, if you will....finding a place to live, enrolling my daughter in a new school district in a new city, MOVING, argh! Wish me luck!

Admitted Students Day

Admitted Students Day presents the opportunity to visit the schools you've been accepted to in order to determine if you are ready to take the next step of forking over the cash necessary to reserve the seat offered. At this point I realized that somehow I miscounted the schools to which I have applied, (it was nine instead of 8...weird) but even with this oversight I'm still pretty set on which school I plan on attending. Although my "choice school" has not yet scheduled its Admitted Students Day, I know I will be one of the first to register.

Meanwhile, I'm starting to notice a trend with some of the schools and their Admitted Students Day. Schools are offering travel stipends and reimbursements to perspective students. So far it's ranges from $75-$250 for one or two days. It's nice to see these schools realize the cost associated with visiting a school, especially if you are attending out-of-state. I'm on the fence about whether I will take advantage of the offers, mostly because I don't want to waste my time or anyone else's if I'm not totally sold on the school. On the other hand, you can't really tell what a school is about by just looking at their viewbook. Furthermore, if time (as opposed to a lot of money) is all I have to give up in order to make the best decision about where to spend the next three years of my life, and most importantly, where to begin what will be the foundation of my career, it's worth serious consideration. At the very least, it will get me out of this cubicle for a couple of Friday's next month. Who could ask for anything more?

CLEO

I decided not to attend the summer institute. While I understand it would give me a six week head start on my first year, it would then leave me stressing over my finances. If given the choice, I would rather stress over law school, figuring it out as I go, than stress over my financial situation. At least the stress over law school can be alleviated with the help of professors, classmates, law school staff, or even a little exercise. Financial stress is a beast all its own and since I have no one I can call my own personal ATM, it just wasn't practical to give up the 2k for the seat and the additional income on the back end for something I can surely figure out on my own.

I sent a very gracious email thanking them for the opportunity, but declined due to financial reasons. I do still hope I can go to one of their weekend programs. Last year's was SO fun!

**Update** A couple of days ago I received a letter offering a seat in this Summer's AIE program, so I'm super excited about that!**

Credit Cards, Taxes & FAFSA's Oh My!

At this moment, I am pretty much focused on taking care of as much financial stuff as I possibly can. I filed my taxes over the weekend, and filed my FAFSA on Monday. Though doing both of these things is somewhat time consuming, I figure the earlier it's done the sooner I'll have tax refund in hand, which will go straight to credit card balances. As far as the FAFSA is concerned, I have alleviated some stress in that department as I have notice that some schools have a deadline as early as March 1st. Also, having these two items complete means that I have a couple more components needed to submit external scholarships, should I choose to do so.

And that leaves CREDIT CARDS! Right now I considered them to be the devil! I can admit that in the past I was an avid credit card charger and I liked having those pieces of plastic at my disposal. I must also admit that as a full time undergraduate student, a parent, and an employee at a job that just barely allowed me to make ends meet, the cards supplemented my income. I can recall many of the items I purchased and feel that most were justified, but once I decided that law school was going to be the next destination in my life, it became quite obvious that I needed to get rid of this awful debt. So far I have gotten off to a really good start paying down my balances and hope to have it all credit card debt zapped by this summer!

Momma, I'm sick...

Yesterday afternoon I received a phone call from my daughter's school nurse. Apparently my daughter wasn't feeling well. Symptoms were headache and vomiting. Great! Luckily, I have enough sick time (although sometimes I wish they would give a separate allowance of time specifically for use for the children) and the call came towards the end of the day (and I was really ready to go home). What struck me about the whole situation is that most of the time I found myself thinking about how I would feel if/when this happens while I'm in law school. Overall, it's not a huge deal because my daughter is my number one priority and she'll be taken care of no matter what I have going on, but I just thought it was funny that my head was in that particular place.

So far, so good!

The last couple of days have been very interesting and have produced many new developments. First, I received a phone call from one of my school choices advising me that I have been offered a seat for the Fall semester. EXCITING! Honestly, at this point the acceptance was merely an ego stroke, because I think I know where I will be attending law school (approx. 90% percent sure).

Second, I toured the campus of my 90% school and was BLOWN AWAY! The city is quaint and has everything you need. If you like to shop, the mall is nice. If you like nature, there are plenty of walking and bike trails. The cost of living is extremely affordable. The public school system is excellent. The campus was bright, clean, and modern. Add to this the fact that the students and faculty were all very welcoming. It just so happened that one of the Student Ambassadors I met with has a 5 year old daughter. Apparently they were running late and were unable to get the tike to daycare, so while I'm in the admissions office, in walks this cute little girl. All of the adults greet her by name and immediately offer her candy and a drink. It was really refreshing to see the exchange because it showed me that I didn't need to feel uncomfortable about bringing my little girl into the admissions office if I ever needed to. At this point, I don't have any reason NOT to attend this school, however I hold out the 10% because I believe that you can never be 100% sure about any decisions made in life.

Third, I received a letter in the mail from CLEO, advising of my acceptance into the CLEO Summer Institute. The program boast of a scholarship upon completion (ranging from 1K-5K), which is matched by my 90% school. Also, it is an excellent opportunity to get a head start on the teaching methods used in law school and while I am happy that I got accepted, I'm bothered by a few things. First, I have to pay a total of $2K by February 23 in order to hold my seat. I have the money, but it is money that is set to go towards my credit card debt, debt I'm trying to rid myself of before I move on to law school. Second, it is going to require me to be out of state for six weeks. This is a problem because it means I would have to quit my job 9 weeks earlier than I initially planned. Quitting my job earlier would take a huge chunk of money out of my pocket, further hindering my ability to rid myself of credit card debt. You may say, but you'll get a scholarship, Milla! True, but because I am not considered low income, the most I could hope for is 1K from CLEO and 1K from my school. At that point I've only recouped what I paid to reserve my seat. On the other hand, if you look at from the standpoint of gaining the knowledge and what it's worth- I've already located a program that teaches the same thing for 1/6 of the time, 1/2 of the cost, and is scheduled during the period AFTER I plan on resigning from my job.

So now I wonder how other future 1L's made the decision about which school to choose. How do you know when you've found "the one"?!

And, if anyone has an opinion about the my CLEO debacle, please feel free to share. I would appreciate another perspective.

All it takes is a little effort!

Yesterday evening I attended an online chat with one of the schools to which I have applied. It was an opportunity to ask any questions I thought I might have and to also get $50 bucks off my seat deposit in the event I was accepted and decided to go to this particular school. I have attended several chats with a few schools and it never ceases to irritate me when folks sign on and ask questions that are specifically answered on the school's website. Usually, when those questions are asked, the moderator will say....go to this link-it's on our website! How much thought have you truly put into attending a school if you haven't even glanced at their website??? Then I begin to wonder what the moderator (usually an admissions director) thinks about one's lack of preparation for something as simple as an online chat? Do they correlate that to the effort one might put forth in law school? I doubt it- but I'm sure at the very least they, like me, feel some sort of irritation.

Meanwhile, I received a very nice, personalized, hand-written letter from my 80% school. I especially appreciate the personalization. I was reassured that I wouldn't be the ONLY single parent on campus AND the other parents provide support for each other with things like babysitting! Music to a mother's ears! They put forth the extra effort and it really makes me feel that they truly want me to attend. I think the only reason I haven't totally committed is because I have yet to receive any scholarship information. Supposedly I should know something by mid-February.

I have planned a campus visit for next Friday and it's possible they can convince me without the scholarship information. ;-)