Random non-MCAT and only peripherally related to the MCAT thread - Part 2

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Teerawit said:
This is kinda crazy. It just feels so weird being back in the USA again. Everything in my environs here seems like memories from a lifetime ago. Especially the materialism. I can't believe 6 weeks ago I was involved in expensive, lavish hobbies. Seeing pictures of friends on facebook worsen the situation. I suppose living in bare minimum conditions takes its toll on you. Most things in the US are entirely unnecessary for survival...

...sorry I just needed to get that off my chest.
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don't they call that Peace Corps Syndrome? I think it's pretty common for your experiences.. what you've seen definitely gives you a different perspective.
 
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Teerawit said:
This is kinda crazy. It just feels so weird being back in the USA again. Everything in my environs here seems like memories from a lifetime ago. Especially the materialism. I can't believe 6 weeks ago I was involved in expensive, lavish hobbies. Seeing pictures of friends on facebook worsen the situation. I suppose living in bare minimum conditions takes its toll on you. Most things in the US are entirely unnecessary for survival...

...sorry I just needed to get that off my chest.
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Try to look at it that you are extremely fortunate to be a 21st century American with the ability to choose whether to indulge in "expensive, lavish hobbies." You've seen how other people without that choice are forced to live, and you are aware of excesses in your own life that you can now decide whether to keep or not keep. This power of choice is the greatest thing that money can buy you. How you use it is entirely up to you.

When you feel up to it, will you tell us more about your trip and what you were doing there?
 
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Anyone ever make a really dumb research mistake?

Well on Friday I submitted a big analysis job to run over the weekend. Today I come in and the files are not correct. Come to find out I didn't have enough disk space to finish! Stupid....
Pretty much a wasted day having to resubmit the job.
 
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BrettBatchelor said:
Anyone ever make a really dumb research mistake?

Well on Friday I submitted a big analysis job to run over the weekend. Today I come in and the files are not correct. Come to find out I didn't have enough disk space to finish! Stupid....
Pretty much a wasted day having to resubmit the job.
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i have done something like that before. i lost a friday afternoon trying to transfer tons of video and images from a confocal for my project, and it decided it start transfering the files without telling me there wasn't enough disk space....so by the time i came back before i was about to leave it says not enough disk space... 😡

the worst part was i was on espn.com all afternoon doing nothing :laugh:
 
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BrettBatchelor said:
Anyone ever make a really dumb research mistake?

Well on Friday I submitted a big analysis job to run over the weekend. Today I come in and the files are not correct. Come to find out I didn't have enough disk space to finish! Stupid....
Pretty much a wasted day having to resubmit the job.
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That kind of stuff happens...it's frustrating, but you get over it.

I have 250 subjects to analyze for various things (autoregulation, postural balance control, etc.). The last time I got through almost all of them, I shared the data with our group, and then my PI decided he wants to include two more variables...which means I have change my program and run ALL of them through MATLAB again.
 
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The worst part of writing up my dissertation was having to go back and obtain missing data. I would do things like take a proton NMR but not a carbon, or take a low res MS but not a high res one. I didn't have any IRs (which I didn't need for my dissertation, but I did need for one of the journals where I submitted a paper). The worst thing is that a lot of the compounds were intermediates, and I didn't have them anymore because I had made them months or even years ago and used them to go on to the next step. So I had to remake several of them. 🙄

I told the younger students to write up their experimental sections as they go along. If you do that, you won't be scrambling to obtain missing data when your dissertation is due in a few short weeks.... :scared:
 
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ironmanf14 said:
ahhh goodbye AMCAS.......and goodbye $550
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I'm guessing you just hit submit on your AMCAS??? 😕 😕 😕

P.S. $550 is nothing compared to what you'll spend by the end of this cycle.
 
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gujuDoc said:
I'm guessing you just hit submit on your AMCAS??? 😕 😕 😕

P.S. $550 is nothing compared to what you'll spend by the end of this cycle.
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yep, submitted a little bit ago....

yea i am ready to get owned by plenty of schools that will end up rejecting me anyway 🙁 .......but that's the name of the game
 
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ironmanf14 said:
yep, submitted a little bit ago....

yea i am ready to get owned by plenty of schools that will end up rejecting me anyway 🙁 .......but that's the name of the game
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Why do you say that??
 
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Teerawit said:
This is kinda crazy. It just feels so weird being back in the USA again. Everything in my environs here seems like memories from a lifetime ago. Especially the materialism. I can't believe 6 weeks ago I was involved in expensive, lavish hobbies. Seeing pictures of friends on facebook worsen the situation. I suppose living in bare minimum conditions takes its toll on you. Most things in the US are entirely unnecessary for survival...

...sorry I just needed to get that off my chest.
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Oh man do I ever know where you are coming from. And I was just moving home from Western Europe. I will tell you this though: You will never be the same. You will always feel different when you talk to people from home. But that isn't a bad thing, you've learned, you've grown and that's the most important thing to take away from an experience like that. It helps to try and get involved with something on this side of the ocean that connects you back to your experiences abroad. Try to find a group that advocates for the underserved and impoverished. The clinic I volunteer with really saved me from depression after I moved back to the states. Also, I know it seems hard, but try not to judge people for materialism, most people haven't had that experience to open their eyes to the true nature of life in the rest of the world.

I hope you find a good place to share your experiences (that helps in the adjustment as well) but if you don't, feel free to share them here. I'm sure everyone really wants to hear about it. 😀
 
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Brett: I was a meteorology major but I switched out Soph year. I still chased for awhile but I don't have the time now (takes 12 hrs to drive to any prime chasing territory - Mushy, I am so jealous of where you live).
 
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Anastasis said:
Brett: I was a meteorology major but I switched out Soph year. I still chased for awhile but I don't have the time now (takes 12 hrs to drive to any prime chasing territory - Mushy, I am so jealous of where you live).
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Here's another reason to go to IU. Plenty to chase here! 🙂
 
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EddieIndy said:
Here's another reason to go to IU. Plenty to chase here! 🙂
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Hee hee - should I include that in the letter I'm sending to them outlining my ties to the state?

"Not only do I have extensive family ties to the state of Indiana, I have grown quite attached to your weather."

:laugh:
 
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Anastasis said:
Hee hee - should I include that in the letter I'm sending to them outlining my ties to the state?

"Not only do I have extensive family ties to the state of Indiana, I have grown quite attached to your weather."

:laugh:
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:laugh:
 
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Anastasis said:
I don't even want to total it all up because I sent two waves through AMCAS and TMDSAS was another 115. Ugh. No fun things for Ana this fall. 😛
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Ana: how much does TMDSAS cost? I'm trying to investigate the UTMB/UT-Austin MD/PhD program...and I also need to find out from them if it's a state-specific program (most of the MD/PhD programs don't give preference to in-staters specifically).
 
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I know that if you apply to all TX schools it is 115 total. I'm pretty sure it doesn't go below 80 but I'm not positive. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the MD/PhD using a d ifferent app system but I could be wrong.

Are you sure it's UT-Austin? There's no med school in Austin.
 
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Anastasis said:
I know that if you apply to all TX schools it is 115 total. I'm pretty sure it doesn't go below 80 but I'm not positive. I also have a sneaking suspicion that the MD/PhD using a d ifferent app system but I could be wrong.

Are you sure it's UT-Austin? There's no med school in Austin.
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Right, from what I understand the way their program works is you do the MD part at UTMB in Galveston, and then you do your PhD at UT-Austin. Here's the site: http://www.mdphd.utexas.edu/training.htm
 
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Teerawit said:
This is kinda crazy. It just feels so weird being back in the USA again. Everything in my environs here seems like memories from a lifetime ago. Especially the materialism. I can't believe 6 weeks ago I was involved in expensive, lavish hobbies. Seeing pictures of friends on facebook worsen the situation. I suppose living in bare minimum conditions takes its toll on you. Most things in the US are entirely unnecessary for survival...

...sorry I just needed to get that off my chest.
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I've always wondered about that .... I'm sorry you're having a difficult time. There are many who go through it though. Were were you for 6 weeks?
 
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scentimint said:
Eddy, what's Indy like? And how is the BME program at Purdue? I've never been there...
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Well, it's very nice here in the fall (the only season with normal weather), with highs in the 50s and 60s. In the winter it doesn't snow much (about 20-30 inches), but wind chills can drive the temperature to -20F. Spring is when it gets nasty, with severe thunderstorms and tornadoes all over the place. I can't say there were any particular live-threatening tornadoes here, but weather takes over the news quite often.
Summer is fun and warm (80-90F highs).

The BME program is pretty good. Very interesting classes with plenty of research opportunities. Since I have only finished my second year, I have only had biomeasurements and biomechanics, but next year my whole schedule is pretty much BME...

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/NEWS01/60402009
 
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Anastasis said:
Brett: I was a meteorology major but I switched out Soph year. I still chased for awhile but I don't have the time now (takes 12 hrs to drive to any prime chasing territory - Mushy, I am so jealous of where you live).
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Hey feel free to come and visit. I want to do a storm chasing tour ... Meteorolgy is way too hard. Too much math for me. 🙁
 
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Yeah I don't have that in me else I really would consider it. I looked into it last year but honestly medicine would be much easier :laugh: Well not really but still ... you know what i mean. Imagine 4 years of calc then all the other math classes. :scared:
 
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EddieIndy said:
Well, it's very nice here in the fall (the only season with normal weather), with highs in the 50s and 60s. In the winter it doesn't snow much (about 20-30 inches), but wind chills can drive the temperature to -20F. Spring is when it gets nasty, with severe thunderstorms and tornadoes all over the place. I can't say there were any particular live-threatening tornadoes here, but weather takes over the news quite often.
Summer is fun and warm (80-90F highs).

The BME program is pretty good. Very interesting classes with plenty of research opportunities. Since I have only finished my second year, I have only had biomeasurements and biomechanics, but next year my whole schedule is pretty much BME...

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060402/NEWS01/60402009
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Cool deal. I'm also looking at Purdue for MD/PhD...that's why I asked. Do you know anyone in the program?
 
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gujuDoc said:
Why do you say that??
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it's not that I am not confident that I will get into a school, it's just that I know for a fact that I wont get into all of them, or even the majority of them.....so it's frustrating knowing that you are potentially throwing away hundreds of dollars.....i guess it's not throwing it away....or is it?

need to stop thinking about it and just keep moving :laugh:
 
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ironmanf14 said:
it's not that I am not confident that I will get into a school, it's just that I know for a fact that I wont get into all of them, or even the majority of them.....so it's frustrating knowing that you are potentially throwing away hundreds of dollars.....i guess it's not throwing it away....or is it?

need to stop thinking about it and just keep moving :laugh:
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You'll be fine! NO ONE gets into every school they apply to. But you don't know which ones are going to accept you until you go for it. Hindsight is always 20-20. 😛

I think you will do well this app cycle. 🙂
 
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BrettBatchelor said:
Anyone ever make a really dumb research mistake?
Click to expand...

Like every day of my life!

My own personal favorite is when I had some lung sections cut, H+E stained, and put on slides. There were three sections per slide. I thought the three sections were from different animals (giving me a large n! yay!) but really they were just serial sections from the same animal. 😳

Please don't tell my pathology program this story. :laugh:
 
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Anastasis said:
Hee hee - should I include that in the letter I'm sending to them outlining my ties to the state?

"Not only do I have extensive family ties to the state of Indiana, I have grown quite attached to your weather."

:laugh:
Click to expand...

Indiana weather is the worst in my limited experience. I have only driven through there 3 times and those were each the 3 worst blizzards of my life, hands down. And I used to live in upstate NY and Montreal.
 
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scentimint said:
Cool deal. I'm also looking at Purdue for MD/PhD...that's why I asked. Do you know anyone in the program?
Click to expand...

I seem to have some vague impression that Indiana University and Purdue share some medical research stuff - they call it IUPUI. I have no idea how this relates to the MD/PhD program.
 
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beary said:
I seem to have some vague impression that Indiana University and Purdue share some medical research stuff - they call it IUPUI. I have no idea how this relates to the MD/PhD program.
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IUPUI is a university. It is both an IU and a Purdue campus in Indianapolis, which is where I go to school and where the central campus of IU medical school is located (+3 major hospitals at least).
 
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EddieIndy said:
IUPUI is a university. It is both an IU and a Purdue campus in Indianapolis, which is where I go to school and where the central campus of IU medical school is located (+3 major hospitals at least).
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Yes!!!!!!!!!!!! Ukraine made it!!! With the way Italy is playing, the might even make it to the semi-finals 🙂
 
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mshheaddoc said:
how much is it to apply to one school? 😳
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one milllioonnnnn dollars!

on amcas? i dunno--seemed like it started at $150 for one school then $30 for each additional school. i added a school today actually. $115 for all the texas schools ana--that rocks!
 
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BrettBatchelor said:
That's such a crock.
The Swiss were one of the best teams in the World Cup.
They hadn't had a goal against them.
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But they couldn't score one today either (at all!).

(Oops, I quoted myself and answered you, sorry 😀 )
 
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