Trying... and succeeding, I'd say... to enjoy life while waiting to hear back from these two other schools, Roswell Park and Loma Linda, of late. The interviews were... good. The Philadelphia one really seemed like a formality... pretty standard school interview questions, most or all of which I was totally prepared for. I am now on the waitlist there and have until mid-September to find out if someone drops out of the program (which has only accepted seven students). Needless to say, not getting my hopes up. Not to mention the fact that they (and the UAMS program) want me to take 2-3 more classes this summer on the off chance a spot will open up. I've put some thought into this one and I think I'm leaning towards not trying to cram classes in by September, because I really doubt either of these waitlists will come through, and if I had the choice I'd want to spread the classes out a bit, not rush to get them done. I -am- slowly warming up to the idea of being here another year (hopefully not more than that) and going full-force into the (currently only loosely developed) "if I don't get in anywhere" scenario(s) described in the last entry, if it comes to that, sure. ...but it's not over yet. Still those two programs to hear back from. And again, still not 100% sure I won't take the classes this summer (for one thing, though, I think if I tried working, taking three classes and having buses and trains be my only means of transportation, I might spontaneously combust).
The Cleveland interview was alright. I met with an entire admissions committee, as opposed to just the one person the day before in Philly, and got a tour of the facility from one of the students (they do, by the way, only accept -three- at this program... eek). I got the impression they were looking for someone with just generally some more hospital experience... I was left wondering what said experience could be, as a physics major (as opposed to a radiation therapist, the candidate some of these programs prefer), and got an answer that made me tug at my collar when the student giving me the tour mentioned he was also a bachelor's degree guy... who had been to medical school. Granted, I'm not implying this is what it would take to get into the program but, worth noting. Still waiting to hear back from these guys as well but again, for all the reasons mentioned above, not getting my hopes up.
Anyway, it was good to go out and do the interviews, get the experience, all that... I feel better prepared for any subsequent ones, knowing what kind of questions they will ask, feeling like the Cleveland experience was perhaps my trial-by-fire. Roswell said they'd be in touch with me soon about "the next phase of our review and selection process" so I am conjecturing that means interview. We'll see. I'll be ready for 'em.
Cool ceiling light-y things at Chicago O'Hare airport.
The trip itself was interesting... surreal at times. Random thoughts/memories:
-I would travel everywhere by train if it weren't as expensive as it was (I took Amtrak from NYC to Philly)... safe, relatively fast, rigid timetables, comfortable seats...
-Lugging around my garment bag (which basically had my entire trip in it) everywhere I went, trying to keep my interview outfit(s) from wrinkling, for the better part of 48 hours, was -not- fun.
-Got guilted out of maybe $7 by (what turned out to be) a homeless guy who offered to show me the way to the Cleveland subway stop I was looking for... guess I'm still a bit of a suburbs kid.
-In the interest of saving some space in my carry-on bag I took the book "Freakonomics" with me in lieu of the Harry Potter-sized hardcover copy of "The World Is Flat" I had been reading and I must say, at only ~30 pages into it, Freakonomics is a really cool book (as many have already figured out).
-Ex-Brandeis-suitemate Leah nicely let me stay at her place in Philly Thursday night. Enjoyed some catching up over Turkish food and watched the movie "Romancing the Stone." So now I get that one Family Guy reference.
-Stayed at the Crowne Plaza in Cleveland, got a kick out of that... 17th floor with a view of Lake Erie and... the Browns' stadium?! Hehe.
-The ten-hour bus ride from Philly to Cleveland really wasn't too bad; aside from some nice phone conversations, I had brought a ton of reading material on dosimetry, radiation therapy, etc. to keep me busy.
-Turns out my apartment-mate Fitz and I were both at Chicago O'Hare airport within a day of each other, me returning from my Phil World Tour and him from a week-long trip to Germany. Aw, romantic!
-O'Hare is really a cool airport (among other things, there was a brontosaurus skeleton in the terminal I was waiting in). Just wish it wasn't so prone to flight delays.
Currently have Stevie Wonder's "I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever)" stuck in my head, thanks to the movie High Fidelity, and would love to try playing/singing it at the piano.
Had our second Taco de Mayo party this past weekend. The Jacobs' guacamole was amazing.
RCM 400 actually had a "practice" last week! Ha! Jacobs, who is famous for bringing over things like beer and/or pizza whenever he stops by, this time brought a plethora of musical instruments for the "band" to try their hands at. We worked on our new song "Real-Sized Boy," which is about a microscopic dog and the real-sized boy who loved him, and also tooled around with an old RCM 400 classic, "Space Baby," funkifying it to near Red Hot Chili Peppers proportions (thanks to Jacobs on bass). All with yours truly on... electric guitar, which was way too much fun.
Oh and, may as well plug Fitz' new blog here. The funny rantings of a recently unemployed twentysomething. Alright, enough yammering. Almost time for Golabki.
