MJD school update

Here's an update on what is happening with school for the fall. I received an email saying I was "deemed admissible" to the master's program in nutrition at the U, but that my application needs to be circulated to the faculty members to see if anyone has a research assistant position for me, or is willing to advise me without an immediate lab project. Only fifteen MS and PhD students, out of about 50 applicants, get accepted each year, but I'm sure some of those do not meet the requirements for the program and some end up going to other schools. So my chances are a little better than 15 out of 50. Another factor that might affect my getting in is how many people turned in applications before I did. They are looked at on a rolling basis, so if all the research assistant positions were filled before I turned in my application, then it wouldn't matter if I qualified for the program.

I'm not sure what I'll do if I get accepted with an adviser who isn't one of my top choices. I'll have to do some reading about the professor... maybe I'll realize he/she is a good match for me, but if not I suppose I'll apply again next year. I can't wait forever, though, and I'd hate to decline acceptance and then not get in next year, or have the same thing happen again.

I don't absolutely need to get into the program this year because I can get started on my dietetics certification without being a masters student. Being a certified dietician is much more important, in terms of job prospects, than having a masters. Having a masters without being a certified dietician is pretty much useless, as far as I can tell. If I get into the MS program, I will intermix the dietetics certification courses with the masters ones. If I don't get in, I have already been accepted in the undergraduate program, so I can start taking classes through that, and the upside is that I won't have to pay graduate credit!

So it looks like things are going to work out, even though I don't know which direction I will be going. The only snag will be getting into the classes I want. Registration has already started for returning students, so I'm worried some of the classes will close by the time I get to register. I don't know if spots are saved for new students registering late, or if I'll have finagle my way in.

Yesterday I went to the driving range and putting green at the U of M. I've never actually golfed before, even though I've done plenty of mini-golfing and went to the driving range once in high school. Driving was a bit frustrating when I kept swinging and couldn't hit the ball, but I think I made a little bit of progress. It was surprisingly hard, and I think getting anywhere at all will take a lot of practice to learn the technique and to build the muscles in my hands and arms. I want to keep learning, though, because I like doing the putting and it seems like it would be fun once I got past the difficult part.

This week is full of sports... I joined a kickball team and our first game is this evening. Then tomorrow I'm probably going to the twins game. It's so nice to finally be able to get out and enjoy the outdoors!