We are trying to figure out what our next step is. We need to do so relatively fast. We need to start looking for housing, jobs. I need to pick a state to get licensed in so I can take my boards. We need to start thinking about plane tickets since my sister is getting hitched in 3 months. What do you think we should do?
Here's the run down.
Zack was going to start grad school this fall, meaning that we would've known where we were headed right about now. Due to a complicated mishap which I will not go into on here, he needs to postpone starting grad school until January. Our lease ends at the end of May, after which we will have 6 or 7 months until we will be moving on to another place for grad school (or staying here for grad school, as the case may be).
We can't decide what to do with that time.
Here are the options.
#1- Stay put. We would have to find another apartment of course, but we would just stay in Philly while Zack figures out grad school stuff. The pros: Zack already has a job here, it is in the field he wants to work in, and even if he wanted to find another job, he would have some connections. We like Philly. We know the area. Cons: There's no secret that the nursing job market in Philly sucks right now. When I went to a career inservice at school the other week, they told us to move if we can. That's not to say that I can't find a job. Just that it might take quite a while, which isn't really sensible since we don't really have a long while. We can't live on Zack's income alone. Rent is expensive here. We have been relying on the generosity of parents and student loans to date, but the time for that has ended. If I don't find that job pretty speedily, we could be in big trouble fast. Other considerations: Zack may choose to go to grad school here, so even if we chose to leave, we might end up coming right back in a few months. On the other hand, the grad school here does have an exclusively online option, meaning he could complete the program from anywhere. I don't think that's his preference, but it's possible.
#2- A hiatus in Utah. The pros: We would get to spend some time with our families. We would not have to fly to Utah twice this summer for my siblings to get married. We could live with either of our parents for free. The cons: We would not be staying in Utah for any substantial amount of time, no matter how you slice it. There is no grad school program there. If we pick this option, we will be moving to Utah and then moving away again near the end of the year. We have to move no matter where we go (since our lease is ending) but it costs a lot more to move across the country than it does to move across the city. Neither of us has a job there. We could hopefully get one, but Zack's might not be in the field he wants to work in, and I don't know really know what the job market in Utah is like for nurses right now. Other considerations: Zack doesn't love the idea of living with parents (although we love our parents dearly).
#3- We are young and free. We could pick a city that is one of our top choices for grad school (Austin is the city we're thinking about right now) and just take a gamble. We would move there, not yet knowing if Zack is accepted to the grad school. Pros: How fun would that be? This is really the only time in life that we could get away with a thing like this. Before too long (but not too soon either), there will be children and other life responsibilities mixed into all this, and an option like this would just be unrealistic. We would get a change of scene. It is cheaper to live in Austin than it is here. I hear things are much better there in terms of the nursing job market than here. Even just looking online, I have found many more opportunities there than here. Oh, and it's warm there (82 right now... only about 58 here and in Utah). The cons: Again, we don't already have jobs. Although I feel more optimistic about finding one there than here, I don't know that it'll happen instantly. As with Utah, Zack may have some difficulty finding something in his field of choice. We might end up there with both of us jobless. In the Utah scenario, that'd suck but it wouldn't kill us for a short time since we could mooch off our parents. In this scenario, we'd be high and dry. It is expensive to move. We don't know if Zack will get into the school. If he does not get in, or chooses to go somewhere else for school, we would have to move again (just like the Utah scenario). Other considerations: Even if Zack did not get into UT Austin, the option still remains for us to stay there (aka not move again) and he could do the online program. Neither of us have been to Austin. Maybe we'd hate it.
Some final thoughts: It is still 2 1/2 months until the move. If we picked a place now (and we need to really soon here), we could be looking for jobs in that time and hopefully have something lined up by the time we move.
Even though Utah and Texas would involve long/expensive moves, the cost of those moves would ultimately be offset by the potential lower cost of living (free rent with the parents, cheaper rent than Philly by a couple hundred dollars in Austin)
I know that no one can decide for us, but I am interested in what others think. I will be bored by those "any of them sound good" kind of answers. Gimme something I can work with people. We're looking for some outside perspective.
