GREAT NEWS...and not so great news

HERE IS THE GREAT NEWS...

ROBERTO WAS ACCEPTED TO MEDICAL SCHOOL AS OF YESTERDAY! The school is in the Caribbean on the island of Saba.

Only our family knew that Roberto was applying to this medical school. We chose to keep it on the down low until we knew he was accepted. However, it's no secret that this is what Roberto has always wanted to do. We've been married for almost seven years and it seems we have been working at achieving this goal since day one. We've just been sidetracked for a while trying to figure out how to be good spouses and good parents and how to juggle a family and a home. This year, Roberto and I finally felt united and ready for the challenge of medical school, so we started discussing our options.

Roberto could either spend the entire summer studying for the MCAT, take the exam, apply to med schools here in the US and spend alot of money doing so, possibly be accepted, and not be able to start until 2010. That's only if he is accepted. If not accepted, he would have to wait one full year before he could reapply. Roberto will soon be 32 years old. He feels he doesn't have this kind of time to wait.

We've been happy living here in GA close to my family, but we always knew it would be temporary. I knew Roberto had the ambition to go to medical school and would not be happy staying here and teaching forever. I am so proud of him! He is so hard-working and I feel deep inside that he can do this. This is why I have chosen to support him. I want him to be happy and I want him to have the opportunity to pursue his dream.

We know two different people from Douglas that are in the Caribbean attending medical school. This is how we learned about Caribbean medical schools. Roberto knew little about them and was shocked to hear that some of the schools did not require the MCAT. At first, we were hesitant and saw this as a red flag. However, we have done alot of research and we feel good about Saba. It's in the top three med schools in the Caribbean, it's fully-accredited, the price is reasonable, and it seems to fit our family well. We are really excited and hope that Roberto can begin in September.

HERE IS THE NOT SO GREAT NEWS...

There is no Money!

The US loan market is in a crisis at the moment and student loans are not as easy to obtain as they have been in the past. Many loan companies are going bankrupt, withdrawing their financial aid to students, or offering lower amounts. If Roberto were to start in September, he could only receive enough money for him to go down to the island and live. There would not be enough money for the rest of us to join him. I would be left here in GA with my family and I would probably have to get a part-time job to cover our expenses until the government fixes this problem. Who knows how long this could take? The school says not long, but you never know.

The other option is for him to defer until January or May of 2009 to start, with the hopes that we can all go down to the island together. We really want to stay together as a family, but we understand that it may not be possible. We have some huge decisions to make. Roberto and I feel that him going to med school is the right decision, even though we are running into some barriers. We have become used to this. So, the next step is to decide when to start. We have to let the admissions office know by next Wednesday.

Does anyone out there have some words of advice to help us with our decision?