So, I'm a moron

I should amend that TB test requirement in my post below. You need the TB test WITHIN 6 months of registration, which, in retrospect, makes a lot more sense, though to my credit, the travel nurse read it the way I did.

On the health note, make sure you get your student health insurance forms in. For some reason, it's considered to be part of your financial aid package. I can't give any advice on which to get since I haven't completed mine or sent it in yet, because (see title of entry).

In other news, the status of my GradPlus loan is listed as pending, while at the same time, the school mentions my approval for said loans on the finaid website, which I don't believe for a second. In other words, the school has approved me for the $40,333 (good freaking god that's a lot of money), but the loan company still has to APPROVE it.

What does this mean? It means I am having a drawn out stroke/panic attack that ends with me sleeping in a gutter in ten years croaking "If only I'd been approved for a GradPlus loan, I'd be a doctor" through my beer soaked breath... either that, or I go back to living in a beige cubicle nitpicking other people's work for a living... which may be worse.

I am also aware that this is needless worrying, I'm likely to be approved, and have a number of other options available to me were I not, and my credit isn't bad (praise be to creditboards), but I like to nurture my ulcer. What's the point in clogging my arteries with samosas if I can't screw with the other aspects of my health?

I also talked to my financial aid counselor. Unlike my admissions counselor, who, during my admissions process, I believe was about to take out a restraining order on me, my fin aid counselor is a real sweetheart and has a lot that's helpful to say.

I learned three important things concerning my financial aid:
1. You must speak with your financial aid advisor as an official counseling session (can be done by phone), whether you've borrowed before or not. This takes 10-20 minutes and is quite helpful.
2. Even if you have borrowed federal loans before, you must still sign a Master's Promissary Note for your Stafford loans (can be done electronically with your federal pin), which is not something that I knew, and is now done.
3. If your expected family contribution is higher than you'd have expected (which it always seems to be, since I know damn good and well I don't have 9 large to fork over nor do my RN mother or my social security dad, it *may* cost you the subsidized Stafford loan (or a portion of it), but you can still get the full $18500 per academic year (SGU divides its four physical years into five academic years for loan purposes, so PLEASE stop asking why it takes "five years to graduate from SGU". It doesn't) by upping the amount of your unsubsidized Stafford loans (meaning that interest is accruing while you're in school). The TOTAL available Stafford loans is $18,500, so even if you get nothing in the way of subsidized loans, you can still get the whole $18,500.

That last one may be boring to you guys, but is a critical point when you think that due to your EFC, you're going to wind up 10 grand short a year. That's a lot of money.