BMAT HELL + bloody uni work load!

BMAT WAS HARD TODAY .. i dread to see my results in about 3 weeks time... !
section 1 - ok not too bad
section 2 - rushed it, did no calculations random guesses
section 3 - utter failure!

thats adios to ucl... and nervous wait for the rest as ive not heard anything yet... !

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on a nice note.. its reading week next week, so i've got some time to catch up and work...
all the following due before end of semester A...eek!

practical write up x 1
- protein structure and design (10%)

essay x 3
- bioinformatics (20%)
- protein structure and design (20%)
- free radicals in health and disease (30%)

assesment x 1
- biology of cancer (5%)

so in a nutshell... its going to be a tough reading week!

October Update on the application side of things:

5/10 - Form sent
8/10 - Manchester confirmation
11/10 - Ucas welcome letter was received
12/10 - BSMS asks to see a copy of my transcript
15/10 - Ucas deadline
17/10 - UCL confirmation
19/10 - Sent my transcript to BSMS via recorded delivery
22/10 - Royal mail delivered my transcript to BSMS
25/10 - Barts confirmation
31/10 - BMAT test

WESTERN YAY~

An international student friend of mine recently added: "Voice broken" to the end of his msn nickname.. im not sure if i should tell him that usually refers to the onset of puberty in boys, as he seems to have mistaken it, thinking it means he has lost his voice after having the flu for a while now.. it is slightly rude for me to point it out .. so i havn't told him yet.. and he has been using that in his nickname for the past week now... maybe he'll change that soon as he gets better.

Finally got a western blot to work!!! SO HAPPY with the results as its taken 6+ attempts to get this right! Hopefully this won't be a one-off, and i'll have some others working so i can get some good results for my final year research project dissertation!

Left - immunufluorescent image @600nm

Right - B/W scan

(i prefer it in B/w!)

Waiting...

ucas deadline was yesterday, so am set to hear from unis soon (i hope)....
waiting and frantic ucas track checking begins today!!

To Send or Not To Send... THAT IS THE QUESTION!

Was checking my mail during my bioinformatics workshop.. i know i should have been working on the bioinformatics rather than checking mail.. but i was so stuck and there was a sea of waving hands in front of me.. and as i was sat one of the back rows.. i thought i'd check some mail...
Received mail from bsms, so i thought it just going to be another "welcome" or "confirmation" email like the one i received from manchester.. but instead it read:

"Thank you for your application to study medicine at the Brighton & Sussex Medical School.
It might be to your advantage to submit directly to our admissions office a copy of your full degree transcript. This is the document recording the names of the courses or modules that you have taken (or taken to date) and the mark or grade awarded for each. Copies of degree certificates are not required at this stage.
We would appreciate receiving this information as soon as possible, but in any event within one month. "

....so... with emphasis on the "...MIGHT be to your advantage.." are they trying to imply that it might also be to my disadvanage??!!

EEK its quite scary as things seem to be progressing very quickly.... i didn't even expect to hear from any unis in regards to confirmations etc till at least after the 15th october.. but it seems like unis have already started going through their applications...

So...... TO SEND OR NOT TO SEND MY TRANSCRIPT ??!!!
if i don't send they may think i have something to hide from them....

ARGHHHHHHHHHH so.. TO SEND OR NOT TO SEND??!!
-----------i'll probably ponder on the question for another half a week or so ....

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update: i decided to send it in at the end ~ bloody hell it cost me £6.50! ..i hope its going to be £6.50 well spent... ><

McDonalds

An interesting fact i picked up on a little fact sheet from last years open day tours... was.....

King's College London is the only university with its own McDonalds on campus..

and yep.. i can confirm that theres a door which connects the student union to mcdonalds, and flashing student cards entitles us to a free mcflurry/cheeseburger/hamburger when purchasing a meal... ok...
....to cut it short.. i have had more mcdonalds since starting uni this year compared to my entire summer..... (i went twice in the summer, once to take the kids i was volunteering with to treat them to a sundae, and second was a treat from a friend who just decided to treat me to ..yes.. sudae... ) ... and it is incredibly bad for me..and throws the idea of healthy eating out the window!!!
..and ..yes i had McD again for lunch TODAY ...

another random fact... the vending machine is 25% more expensive at waterloo campus compared to the vending machine at guy's campus...

ok im starting to sound very unhealthy now.........

hopefully i won't have to eat so many "fast meals" next semester!

UCAS FORM SUBMITTED

"Your application has been processed by UCAS. You will be sent a welcome letter containing your application number to enable you to log into Track. You will be able to use the username and password you used when making your application"

...now the waiting game begins

When i logged into track today to see if my tutor has finally sent it or not (its already been almost 2 weeks since i sent it to him!), i was happy to come across the above passage!
Though at first glimpse it did send a shudder down my back as it indicates how close its all getting...
...... interviews, offers, rejections, all of which could be arriving in the post sometime soon!!!

finished 2nd week of lectures of the 3rd year....... times just flies by.. i still remember enrolling on my first day of uni...

ah perhaps its more appropriate for me to leave the sentimental speech when i finally graduate.. its a bit too early, and i don't want to get my hope up high... as the worst thing that can happen now.. is i mess up my exams and repeat a year...HORROR! or even worse... i graduate with anything less than a 2.1 !! that would definately throw all plans out the window!

Going about look up on how and when i apply for masters, i want to keep my options open in case i get 4 rejections this year, then at least i can spend a year doing a mres/msc. Not going to apply for a phd as i don't want to commit myself to 3 years study just yet...
i think the mres is perfect as it gives me another year to apply for mbbs, and i also get to up my credentials. Will give some time for me to do some more work experience and perhaps get some hands on experience as a part time HCA would be good, but theres no time for that this year.. !

lucky ucas apply hasn't given me my track details yet.. as i would be obsessive checking it 24/7 already even though i know the unis don't even get the form till the 15th...

well its fingers and toes crossed...
let me wait patiently for a response wether it be good or bad...

...now.. its .... note writing time! yes on a friday evening.. i am sad.. at home finishing some notes on vitamin e and other low molecular weight antioxidants .. so i can dedicate my weekend to biology of cancer... meh >.<

Western Blotting Ghost

Behold.. the western blotting ghost is haunting the labs of the wolson centre at guy's campus...!!!

i fell victim to it today as i spent 6 hours to totally mess up my experiment, break 2 glass plates, waste 10 litres of running buffer, and end up losing a lot of the samples!
So in the matter of the 6 hours ( i woke up especially early in hope i would get there early and finish early so i can get home to walk the dog.. !) i ended up where i started and left the labs having finished just preparing two more gels and leaving them in the cold room until i go back next time.... WASTE OF TIME!

ARGHHHHHHHH!!!!!

*ahem*

Finished writing up lecture notes for the first 2 lectures of the free radical module, and i have this coming weekend to make sure i'm up to date with other courses and i don't end up falling behind like i did last year.... must make all my notes before christmas!!!

tutor has finally touched my ucas form..but he still hasn't finished it yet or even sent it.. i hope he does it soon as the deadline is looming!!

on the whole.. im quite tired..but slowly getting use to uni lifestyle again, and should be well adapted soon... !!