Ok, I will be wishing you luck, but as a courtesy, I'll give you some insight to how ours played out.
They explicitly told us that there needed to be some extreme circumstances involved to receive an exemption from the lotto, e.g., you help take care of a sick family member in Des Moines. Having a spouse, house, or even children was not supposed to qualify us for exemptions. Some people complained loudly enough that they were given what they wanted regardless of not having met the predetermined criteria. I don't imagine they're gonna let that fly again next year.
Start researching sites now and try to figure out where you wanna end up so that you have time to structure a good personal statement -- you can be chosen by a site that way. Maybe this will give you a chance to throw in some shadowing at a site you're interested in to grant your plea more weight?
Anyways, it was a crap show for us, so I'm hoping it all turns out better next year for you guys.
ALSO, good luck on exams this week!
You're near the finish line of MS-1.