Now I Know

The envelope I’ve been waiting for finally came. I’ve been accepted to the UPEI BBA program.  But…

We’re not going.

The transfer credit calculation was the deciding factor. Because it’s not an apples to apples transfer in terms of my major, I’d be losing a year’s worth of credits that I’ve already earned at my current school and from my previous studies. I knew this was a possibility when I applied given that the program I’m in and the program at UPEI are not identical. This means that I’d be studying 2.5 years with a full course load (5 or 6 per semester) in PEI as opposed to 2.5 years I have left with a partial class load(3 classes per semester) here. The difference? I can handle paying tuition on a part-time basis without going into debt because I can still work full-time. If I start studying 100% full-time, I’d be taking on more student loans because I wouldn’t be working. Thus, it’s just not practical. I was willing to do it for a year, but 2.5 would be a lot of debt that we don’t need, especially when I’ve already earned equivalent credit elsewhere. It’s pretty complicated, but in the end it boils down to this: it’s just not worth it for us at this point.

Am I disappointed? Yes. Do I wish it would have worked out? Absolutely. Is there a part of me that’s a little bit relieved? Definitely.

Not going eliminates the stress of having to deal with either selling or renting our house, it eliminates the cost of moving, the stress of trying to secure a home and employment across the country and it frees up the small stash of money we started saving for the move for other things that we need it for (a vacation, new shingles for the roof, etc). Don’t get me wrong, if it had worked out with my transfer credit, I’d be willing to handle all those things and I’d be really excited to do it, but there is that small part of me that’s breathing a sigh of relief.

I’m not going to lie, I’m really disappointed. We were really excited for the possibility of this adventure, for the change, but I know that everything happens for a reason. For now, I’m just going to concentrate on getting through my degree here and then we’ll see what happens. Maybe we’ll move out there when I’m ready to apply for grad school? Who knows… we may still invade the east yet!