After my "Technology" post, I logged off and logged into the WGU student portal to find that transcript #5--the only one coming hard copy via mail--had arrived. I thought about updating the post, but then I had the whole chest pain thing. By the way, the pain is gone so it's likely GERD.
I called my enrollment advisor today to introduce myself, talk about the program and my goals, and to see what my next steps are.
I learned my materials have been reviewed and I have been officially admitted. I didn't expect to be rejected, but it's always nice to have things official.
We discussed the education program and why I wanted to pursue a MSN in education. I admit, a lot of it has to do with my own experiences in ADN school. Not that it was horrible--not in the least. But there was some things in the classroom that I felt could have been improved on. I also felt that the staff/CIs could have been more supportive of us during clinical experiences. I frequently felt like we were left to fend for ourselves for a lot of it, with support hard to come by as criticism flowed easily.
That's why I have a soft spot for students doing clinicals: I want them to have a better experience than I had.
The competency-based way of doing things seems to be interesting. It's going to be quite the shift adjusting from the "must get an A" mindset. I was concerned about having access to resources should I not already have some competence in an area, but they do provide the, as well as access to instructors to help me.
She explained that they have redone the program to make it more competitive, including the field experiences and the capstone. I was reassured to hear that they have contacts in the Southern California area who will help me in establishing a site and the projects. So I'm not entirely on my own trying to find a school/facility in which to do the projects, designing and setting up the projects, etc.
I also wanted to notify her of my planned start date: July. The
deciding factor was that if I were start in June, I'd have to fill out
two FAFSA forms. Filling out one was bad enough because I had to dig up
old tax forms. To go back and do it again but with digging enough
another year's old tax forms...that was a bit too much.
So my next step is to get a background check done. Because July is still a bit out, there's not much more I can do right now. Once May hits, I can start applying for scholarships and checking off other things that need to be done.
