Sorry for not updating the past two weeks. Things got kind of hectic (FDA work, MCAT prep, etc) and I kind of put this blog on the back burner. I definitely should keep it up though, I think writing out daily (almost daily) does actually help.
So the big things now are the end of my internship at the FDA and my preparation for the MCAT, both of which will occur two weeks from now.
FDA work is going really well. We designed our model and are now in the process of validating it with existing data. It’s a somewhat painstaking task, and it really doesn’t involve much ingenuity. Just extracting data and plugging it in to our model and seeing what happens. But we are finding errors with our model this way, and it’s a good experience in design review. I’m sure it’ll help later on (with design projects for BME, etc).
The cool thing is that our division is considering keeping us on board throughout the year!! Of course, we would be volunteers/independent consultants who will not get paid. But our boss is contacting Cathy* (BME administrator — *thanks for the spelling check Paras) and seeing if this would count as independent study/research! I hope it does, cuz that would mean potentially one less class to take in the fall!
Fall schedule is looking to be a bit tough now. Since I transferred in to BME end of freshman year, I never got the chance to take the freshman Modelling and Design course, which is required for all BMEs. So, I have to take it this fall, with a slight variation: as a lab assistant (TA) instead of a student.
From what I here, that means less work (yay!) and the chance to possibly mentor some freshman (yay!). Still, it’s an extra 2 credits and putting me over my desired work load, and so I may drop another class. We’ll see.
The other big news is that I decided to take the MCAT this summer. I had registered for it back in July, but wasn’t sure if I would go through with it. I spent some time studying over the past few weeks, but only a couple hours a day. I really went in to MCAT mode for the past few days and spent 4-8 hours each day studying for it.
Yesterday was the last day I had to cancel/postpone my August 24th test and get (most of) my money back. So I took my first practice MCAT yesterday. And it went okay. I think if I put in the same effort for the next two weeks, I can hopefully score somewhat decently on this test. Gonna be taking a practice test every other day from here on out.
In other news, Gilman Hall finally opened again!! It’s been closed for the past two years that I’ve been here, and I’m really excited its open! I’ve been exploring it a lot the past few days, and well, let’s just say it’s exciting enough that it will warrant its own post in the next couple days.
Stay tuned.