Wife wants to go to school.... Questions??

[A+]

<solid barg>Wife just completed her bachelors graduating Summa Cum Laude while working full time. I think I'll keep her.</solid barg>

1up.
Wife just completed masters at SMU and just got accepted to PhD program. Ill be retiring soon.....

She's pretty set on being a teacher now.

Jared, how many hours is she sitting at now? What's y'alls plan for the college when you move to Co? Kind of personal, you can PM me if you want. Just curious.

[Treasure Chest]

I doubt any college is going to freely give out those statistics.

That's not a statistic that they hide.
TCC outlines their selective admissions policy, and states that you can only apply to two selective admission programs a year.

She needs to go and talk to the department heads for the programs she's interested in. If she's leaning toward anything in allied health, there will be small class sizes and a lot of competition. If she has no prior college classes, she'll be below the curve, and she may not be eligible to apply next summer, as her admission would be contingent upon her completing micro after the application date. The earliest she might be able to apply would be Fall 2013, unless they have a fast track program for her A&P next spring. These are things she needs to speak to an advisor about before choosing a major on a timeline. Also, those $50-60k estimates are averages with experience and shift differentials. She'll probably come out closer to $40-45k.

They also don't say much about it , but acceptance and jobs come easier if she can align herself with a hospital (or dental practice, depending on her career choice) while she's in school, working on her pre-reqs.

[Sean88gt]

No culinary degree?

[jluv]

That does suck. Sorry to hear. Often working in the field will help your application. If she has all those classes done, has she thought about nursing? The easiest way for her to do it would be jump a job at a local hospital. Most offer their own group of nursing students that goes through El Centro in Dallas. You can be any employee in the hospital from housekeeping to a patient care tech. They only select from hospital employees. Its almost a guarantee in into nursing. Also, a guaranteed job

She's pretty set on being a teacher now.

[dblack1]

I know a dental hygienist that applied three times before being accepted. She actually finished a four year degree while waiting to be accepted at the programs recommendation. She has no problem staying busy by working shifts at two different offices and makes good money per hour with no benefits.

There is no way you will be done in a two year time frame. It will take three years.

There is nothing wrong at the moment with a job in the medical field, but I feel they are pumping too many people out of these programs. The school I graduated from has doubled the output of the RN program in the last 6 years, and they are graduating 200% more than they were 10 years ago. On top of that, every CC now has a LPN to RN program, rad. tech, RRT, PTA, OTA, etc. They are steadily churning out new grads every day which will eventually suppress wages/wage growth. I have a friend who has seen wages on contract PTA work go down every year since she graduated in 06.

The education bubble will eventually cause problems we cannot foresee. I think with all the unemployed going back to school that things will not be rosy. Starting wages locally for a RN are the same as when I graduated in 05.

[CJ-95GT]

My wife left a 6 figure regulatory job for a lesser paying/demanding job. She is much happier with what she does now. "That being said", let her decide what she wants to do and don't base it on income. Lots of people have degrees that they don't use.

[8mpg]

She made A's in all of her courses including those, chemistry, microbiology, etc, and still didn't make the cut. It ended up being a waste of a lot of hard work, money, time, etc. No doubt it's insanely competitive, and she had to learn that the hard way.

That does suck. Sorry to hear. Often working in the field will help your application. If she has all those classes done, has she thought about nursing? The easiest way for her to do it would be jump a job at a local hospital. Most offer their own group of nursing students that goes through El Centro in Dallas. You can be any employee in the hospital from housekeeping to a patient care tech. They only select from hospital employees. Its almost a guarantee in into nursing. Also, a guaranteed job

[jluv]

There is no secret into getting into these programs. They are GPA/test based or points based. You get ranked on an excel spreadsheet you they pick from the top of the applicants. To be competitive for most programs you need a 4.0 in ALL your prereqs. On the TCC side, people often retake Anatomy and Physiology I and II multiple times to receive an A.

She made A's in all of her courses including those, chemistry, microbiology, etc, and still didn't make the cut. It ended up being a waste of a lot of hard work, money, time, etc. No doubt it's insanely competitive, and she had to learn that the hard way.

I've seen several jobs list an Associates as a requirement, but they are usually somewhat generic jobs, and I think the hiring company is using it to weed out the moron quotient that applies. A lot of City jobs seem to be going this route.

[slow99]

I've heard anecdotes that are similar to jluv's regarding dental hygienist and respiratory therapist programs. Makes sense to me that supply would far exceed demand when you can earn $60k after a 2 year program ... You'd need to be at the top of your peer group. Maybe look at paralegal or court reporting. I knew a girl who was pretty stupid and in court reporting school. On a side note, I have never seen a job that lists an associates degree as a requirement. I didn't even know for sure what an associates degree was until a few years ago. Not saying they aren't valuable per se, just saying I've never personally seen the value add.

[8mpg]

My girl took all the necessary courses to get into the dental hygienist program at TCC, made straight As, and still did not get selected. The year before it was the exact same thing with the rad tech program. It's a fucking crock. The career counselors (at the Northeast campus) were absolutely no help. They finally told her she would have a better shot if she already had experience working in a dentist's office as an admin or entry level assistant, but that doesn't pay shit. Now she's decided to be a teacher instead.

She works her ass off to juggle work and school. I could never see myself doing that, but props to your wife for wanting to achieve something new.

Welcome to the real world..people dont realize the competition right now with people fleeing other jobs looking for the "easy" way out. When I applied to nursing school, 450 people applied for 50 spots

Anything medical field is in that realm but it it NOT realistic to even come close to being done in 2 years. If it was that easy, everyone would do it...wait, they are already trying to. Nursing, rad tech, respiratory, dental hygenist, etc are all 2 year degrees but VERY competitive. Stereotypically, you have 5-8 classes of prerequisites which takes 2 semesters, then 2 years of classes and co-requisites to finish the degree, then a state/national certification test.

My wife and I have been married 12 years now. We are both 32/33 years old and have 2 children. Because we started our family so young, she missed out on going to school and really having a real "career". She has been lucky and had decent jobs over the years, in fact she is currently a manager at the Stockyards in ft. worth. but its not great pay and its her dream to go to school and become something..

that being said, she is wanting to get into school and start something ASAP. We are wanting something where she can go to school for 1-2 years and come out making around $50-$60k a year.

Have been looking online at different options and came up with a Dental Hygienist. Looks like she could go to TCC for 2 years and get certified. Only problem is class spaces are limited and if she is not selected, we would have to wait an entire year to try again. Time isnt really on our side if she cant get in the first year or so...

Other option we found is a respiratory therapist. Schooling seems about the same and salary about the same. However, same deal... limited class space and may not get selected.


That being said, any of you know or have friends/family in similar situation? Ideally in a perfect world, we would like something where should could do some of the classwork online, schooling only 1-2 years, easy to get accepted/enroll and come out making $50-60k salary

any ideas?? thanks ahead of time

You can try any of the medical field jobs but realize there is competition for school, then competition after school. I graduated nursing school last year where the number of applicants keeps growing and the acceptance is the same. Then when you get done with school, pass your NCLEX, most hospitals are not wanting to hire new graduates because they dont know anything. The same goes with many of the other 2 year degrees. Also, they are pushing everyone to get their 4 year degrees (bridge over) so they can get magnet status. Hospitals are not hiring people unless they guarantee to start their bachelors degree within 6 months. Fields like radiology tech, MRI tech, etc are very competitive as there are tons of unemployed rad techs. This is a field where people with a certificate are doing the same job as someone with an associates. Having certificate based people are diluting chances of people with degrees to get jobs. Often certificate people will have lots of experience where new graduates with degrees get bypassed.

The only advice she received from the counselor was to go work in a dental office for a while, but that came after she wasn't selected. I don't know how much that helps, or what else to recommend, other than trying to do it in a smaller community where there aren't as many applicants.

Like I told her, why pigeon-hole yourself into one job like that? Why not just get a generic degree and see what good-paying jobs are available when the time comes, and choose from those? The dental hygiene/rad tech/nurse programs seem too specific, in my opinion, unless that is really her dream. What if she goes through all of that and ends up hating being a dental hygienist in a couple of years?

There is no secret into getting into these programs. They are GPA/test based or points based. You get ranked on an excel spreadsheet you they pick from the top of the applicants. To be competitive for most programs you need a 4.0 in ALL your prereqs. On the TCC side, people often retake Anatomy and Physiology I and II multiple times to receive an A.

[slow06]

Join date of 2002 and you still don't get it ... Astounding.

It made me laff as well...

[slow99]

You should only need a join date of 2011 to get that one.

Well also referencing general board sarcasm/humor as a whole.

[jluv]

this is what we are afraid of... any advice for helping get selected? Getting in at a dental office with experience would help I guess? Do you know how many people are selected each time, and how many apply?

The only advice she received from the counselor was to go work in a dental office for a while, but that came after she wasn't selected. I don't know how much that helps, or what else to recommend, other than trying to do it in a smaller community where there aren't as many applicants.

Like I told her, why pigeon-hole yourself into one job like that? Why not just get a generic degree and see what good-paying jobs are available when the time comes, and choose from those? The dental hygiene/rad tech/nurse programs seem too specific, in my opinion, unless that is really her dream. What if she goes through all of that and ends up hating being a dental hygienist in a couple of years?