Tuesday 24 June 2008

Viva was a bum!

Doesn't really matter what the border was... the chances are i havn't passed it.. as it went terribly badly..!! so its just a matter of waiting now ..only 7 days left and 19 hours~!!!

The viva voce really isn't something i could have revised for, and i sort of regret not going out to dinner with friends on the sunday night now, as the questions asked in the viva were just mind boggling... whilst my friend who also had a viva today had a nice easy question about alpha helices and beta sheets.. i had some guy drawing a squiggle on a piece of paper ...and telling me to pretend it was a protein, and then questions came firing in all directions, and well... it really wasn't pretty!

just as i got away from talking about antibodies, we were onto PI3 Kinase..my face lit up.. i was so enthusiastic.. but only for one minute or so..as the stop clock had finish running and my time was up...akkk... why couldnt the examiner have skipped the whole crap about antibodies and jsut asked me about PI3 kinase.. i wouldn't have minded spending the whole damn time talking about that... just not his stupid questions for some of which ive never even heard of!

the thought of poly and monoclonal antibodies, how they make flourescent secondary antibodies, and continous and discontinous epitopes will now haunt me for as long as my memory still functions!

Thursday 19 June 2008

which degree classification?

At least when we get lost, we can grab a map or look for road signs, for which the council, county and even country borders are clearly marked and visible to all those approaching..

...yet ..having received a phone call this morning, and notified of my borderline viva voce this coming tuesday, i don't even have a clue as to where i may be standing on the scale of things..!

With the borderline vivas dished out to students with either 39.5/49.5/59.5 or 69.5 ... i can take a shot and guess i should be on the 2.2/2.1 borderline with the 59.5 average.... yet i really do hope that perhaps a miracle occured during the summer examinations and i could have a shot at getting a 1st, and be sitting on 69.5 ... so its either a great chance to get a 1st..or a desperate attempt to clutch onto my chances of getting a 2.1, and hopefully applying for medical school next year..

the prospects of not getting a 2.1 is rather scary, especially with my offer confirmed and accepted for my MRes course next year, not getting a 2.1 now, could potentially mean that i will have nothing to do next year, and a frantic rush to apply for health related jobs, and perhaps the need to sit the gamsat.

Ahhh...either way, the viva voce will be my final opportunity to go up a grade ... so regardless to which borderline i may be sitting on.. im going to have to give it a shot!

(bearing in mind.. on 20% of the year get a viva, and only 2% passing and getting the higher class... goes to show that i am extremely unlucky >.< !!!!!!!)

Sunday 15 June 2008

Post-exam relaxation

So exams are over, and its just a matter of relaxing for the next remaining 3 days until borderline viva period which runs between the 20th-25th of june, with the 18th being the first day people get notified of vivas.. so its going to be an uncomfortable week with everything crossed that i don't get viva-d, followed by silence until july the 2nd... in 17 days time!

On a happier note, my offer from IC has finally updated on their self service tracker website, and although i have not heard back from ucl or kcl yet, i have already accepted the IC offer, as i trully think its what i would like to do; even if i was lucky enough to be given offers from the other courses at the other institutions, i think i will still choose biochemical research. On a "not so happy" note, the accomodation offered for post-graduate students are either a complete rip-off.. with rooms up to 220pounds+ a week at least 4 stations from the SK campus... or... less than a 100 pound a week..but all the way in zone 3, and situated next to a cemetry with most rooms facing it.. and approximately 15 minutes bus journey from a supermarket... so i may just stay put where i am.. and live with sharing my room next year... hai...

Summer thus far has been a bit boring... i sort of wish i had something to do.. and i should really ought to sort out a summer job of some sort..but my attempt today was put off when i saw the traffic today.. so i just went to tescos to do some grocery shopping.

I took my dog for a nice walk today to kenwood, and he had a nice 30 minute swim playing with the other dogs..and even when most of the dogs had left ..he was reluctant to come out of the water.. and decided to stay in it for a lot longer.. so i just sat and watched him swim around.. he finally got bored and i managed to get him home, give him a shower, and have a sit down with a nice relaxing drink...of pimms and lemonade! one of my favourite summer classics!

I was surprised to find the canned version and couldn't help but to buy 2 cans and give it a try.. i chopped up some orange, cucumber and apples.. and struggling to find a glass large enough to fit my generous amount of fruit.. i ended up having to serve it in a oh so unsophisticated south park plastic mug, one of those old school mugs with a middle layer filled with water, so when u place the mug in the freezer, it freezes and keeps your drink cold...


......... though my second attempt using a nice tall glass did make it look a lot nicer!



Thursday 5 June 2008

Summer Plans

Well exams are now officially over, and just a horrible wait until july 2nd - 3pm!
But until then... its plenty of forms to fill in and a look around for something interesting to do over the summer!

KCL Graduate Screening Scheme for 2009 entry is up and running again.. so have downloaded the application form and have partially filled it in.. on a whole i don't really make an impressive applicant..but there is no cost in trying..and at most.. i only lose a few minutes for filling in the form.

Unsure with what i want to do next year .. although i have the offer for the MRes in Biochemical Research next year.. im not too sure if i really want to do it.. it is really interesting..and i really enjoy lab work... but im not sure if i would prefer a more laid back lecture based masters in neuroscience instead... so just to see what my other options are.. i finally managed to persuade my referees to take their words to action and actually write them references for me!

Gathered my references from my 2 referees and have my ucl and kcl applications for MSc neuroscience sent in today as i walked to the post office.. so its going to a worrying wait again..as its very late in the application cycle.. and i only have myself to blame for not chasing my referees earlier!!

Summer will just be a laid back relaxing one, hopefully will fit in some paid summe work, the ukcat test, preparation for bmat, and just personal statement writing for UCAS application 2009.