Well, I did it. I survived Ochem 1, and got out with a B+ for my efforts. Ochem 2 is in the fall, but before that, there's a whole summer of no-classes. This is my first summer off in seven years, and I do plan to enjoy myself quite a bit.
I've started looking at schools, it's actually rather enjoyable. Mr. Crazy has endorsed the plan to sail off into the sunset WITH me, which is actually a change from what I expected. So, between the two of us, we've been doing a lot of broad-strokes of rejection to potential schools - too far! too south! too west virginia!
In all seriousness, there's a lot to consider as I narrow down the list. I started by gathering all the schools in the surrounding states, and then knocked out any school more than 300 miles away from the 'burgh. Last October, I made a declaration that Family Crazy does not drive more than 300 miles, because longer than 6 hours in the car is insufferable.
The next thing I did was pull the rankings from the US News page, and start to rank schools into "safety/good shot/long shot" categories. The Student Doctor Network forums gave me another good list of things to consider - required lectures? Hospitals where clinicals are done? Hours spent in lecture? And other such assorted questions to consider.
I'm down to a list of about 22 different schools, spread all across the eastern seaboard, with a giant excel spreadsheet recording notable details. I figure this summer is a good time to narrow down the list, especially considering that I don't have to obsess over anything academic besides research.
Once I made the decision to go, the future has never been uncertain. For me, this is a certainty. But actually starting to think about where this is going to take place has given the dream a certain quality of realness that eclipses all other things I've done so far.
Well, I think my plasmid is done CIP'ing, so, off to purify some DNA...
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