Monday 18 February 2008

A Year in study or a year in Personal statement building?

UCAS APPLICATION 2008 -- FAILURE ~

Had my last rejection after interview from Barts and the London yesterday, and with that came a lost of emotions.. wasn't very sad, just pondered on the question as to what i might get up to next year..

OK being very honest it was my last hope for 2008, and of course i am slightly unhappy that i'm going to have to at least take a year out after uni now before i get anywhere close to becoming a doctor, but the rejection isn't going to put me off applying next year, and on a positive note.. perhaps a break would be nice...

....that said i've already finished completing my application form and going to ask my tutor for a reference and have that form sent out asap for postgraduate studies.

Its silly to think.. but being out of education is something that scares me, because i don't quite know what i want to do with myself.. (i know i sound like a wuss/ a lazy student who doesnt want to face reality etc etc)

should i get a job purely to boost my voluntary work and work experience for next year..but ..what if i get faced with 4 rejections for the 2009 ucas round?

if i do a postgraduate course.. will i just be building up more debt for no reason if i do manage to get into medicine.. then the MRes will be pretty useless.... (well that is if i even get an offer for the Mres now... sigh)...

or..

should i be a complete doss about and take everyones advice and go travelling...? (this is a nice idea.. but i would hate to think i'd be going into more debt or spending my parents money for travelling because i couldn't get into medical school, didn't want to do a postgraduate course, and didn't get a job..)


....hopefully i'll be able to balance it out and have something constructive done next year, i guess things will work out one way or another when the time comes..


Having put my failed 2008 application behind me now, my goal is to graduate with a 1.1 ..this is going to be hard as exams are very close.. but im going to give it everything it takes.. and if i dón't get it..well then im going to look very silly/stupid..but oh wells, i can only try my hardest and be positive.

i wish everyone good luck for those who are still waiting to hear from their 2008 ucas application, and for those with summer exams looming... we can do it !

Will Be Working Hard for UCAS 2009!!!!!

Saturday 2 February 2008

After a day spent in the computer room having met up for a meeting with Dr C at the Waterloo campus, i decided to pop over to Cyber Candy at Convent Gardens to pick up a few things for my sweet (and caffeine addicted) tooth before i catch the tube home; and i think you can tell which item my dog liked best ^.^!




Its quite a pricey shop, but now and then its nice to have something different from the norm, and its definately going to be a long while before i pay another visit.
quick review of the items:
reese pieces (finished) - too sweet! i am quite a fan of reese's but this was far too sweet... so it only gets a 2/5


Penguin mints (had 3 mints so far) - surprisingly quite nice.. wouldn't expect chocolate mints to be nice.. but they will surprise you..and well the caffeine and low calories are always good too.. though the price is a big no no .. so it gets a 3.5/5


Jones Soda Carbonated Sweets (tried 2 from each packet so far) .. weren't that fizzy..and the taste is only so so .. the cream soda version wasnt very cream soda-ry and the grape one was slightly better .. only gets a 1.5/5
Mountain dew diet (1 can) - well i've had this before, not like its new, its quite a nice treat... gets a 3.5/5


Presentation has been arranged for tuesday...... (>.<) i don't particulary hate the idea of it..at least it will get me working.. but i would just prefer it if i didn't have to do it! (i don't ..it is not assessed...but my project supervisor wants to know how my results are going and what sort of research ive done around the topic... i wish he could just come into the lab and took a look or have just asked me instead!).


I was clearing out the cold room on friday as we were running out of petri dishes, and i had to grab my samples out anyways (they have been sitting in primary antibody overnight).. and i came across the MSc student's plates.... i was instructed to clean them out as she hasn't turned up to the lab for the last 2 weeks ...


Red goey crap was growing in two of the boxes, the milk in 3 of them had turned to the colour of mountain dew (which im drinking now), and 1 looked fine.. though taking no chances i chucked the contents into the waste bag and gave everything a good soak in a combo of hot water, bleach and fairy liquid!!


Though not the keen neuroscientist i looked on in interest whilst my lab supervisor was teaching the phD student how to disect a rat on the opposite side of my work bench. With a few props and a scalpel, the rat was clamped down with two bits poking up its nostrils, and the skull was opened with the brain in clear view. It was indeed very intersting.. though it left me questioning myself whether i would be able to do something like that if i ever had to face a similar project in the future... yet alone a part of the human body if i ever get to enter medical school.


Bioinformatics coursework is going slowly, i keep reminding myself how i should have chosen a different module, but realistically im glad i don't have to revise for another exam in the summer.


I have set myself the target to get atleast half of it done tonight so i can go out for lunch with friends tomorrow.... i am still on the first page..whilst my friend has already finished... with 34 pages.... i should feel shame.. but i feel sleepy more than anything!