UVA Interview!

Yesterday was my UVA interview :) It went very well. It was a very relaxed, laid-back day. There were 6 of us there to interview, and we had a group orientation and a talk from the director of the admissions committee about the school, then lunch with 2 fourth-year students, a tour of the medical center and the school, and then two half-hour interviews. I got lots of good info and it gave me a better idea of the sorts of details that I should be looking for when I'm checking out schools. The interviews themselves were very conversational - I didn't feel intimidated or anything - and I think I delivered my answers well, without a lot of "um"s and "uh"s :) I liked a lot of things about it, though coming from little bitty Gettysburg, I have to say I was a little overwhelmed by the size of UVA. It really is a small city, with its own bank branches and churches and delis and police force, etc. SO big. I'm sure that I'd get used to it though, like anything else. There were several perks that got me excited about the school, but I kept having to remind myself of how far away I was from home! It was good to find out, though, that there are several defense contractors and several Northrop Grummans in the area, so if I absolutely HAD to go there, at least we know that Ben wouldn't have too much trouble finding a job. There are certainly drawbacks, like the parking situation, the cost ($42,650 a year, just in tuition and fees!), the distance from home (about 3 hours), the traveling to other hospitals for clinical clerkships (Fairfax, Roanoke, and others)... but it seemed like a very laid-back, pleasant place to go to medical school, with lots of camaraderie among the students and the faculty, lots of regard for the quality of life of the students (they're not out to drive their students to the end of their pitiful ropes, it seems), and they're building a new medical school building too. Anyway, there's a lot to think about, and I don't plan on ending up there unless everything else I visit totally sucks, but at least now I have some idea of what to expect on other interviews and what to look for in other schools - something to compare to.

Next up is Mount Sinai, but that's not til October 16th, so I won't worry about that one for a while. My boss finally submitted his letter of recommendation last week, so all of the schools that were waiting around for his letter can start evaluating my application now that it's complete. I'm hoping to start hearing from other schools soon, hopefully within the next few weeks. I got all of my other materials submitted in freaking mid-JULY, so my application SHOULD have been at the top of everyone's stack, but I'm sure that the lateness of this letter set me back a bit. Which is irritating, since med school admissions are rolling, so the earlier you interview the better chance you have of being accepted. In any case, I won't get interviews everywhere (at least I hope not - I can't afford to travel to all of them!) - it's so competitive. For example, I found out yesterday that UVA gets about 4300 applications per year, interviews about 500, and admits about 250 to fill a class of 142. YIKES. I'm just dying to hear from Hopkins, Maryland and Georgetown. I need to know that I have a chance at at least ONE of them! I just got an e-mail from G-town saying my application is now being reviewed, so let's all pray for a quick response on that one! One of my friends here in the lab applied there and already got an interview and we have fairly comparable applications, so I have hope!

No big news on the wedding front. We booked our string trio for the ceremony - got a pretty good deal so I'm excited about that :) And I've decided to be a bridezilla and have my bridesmaids dye their shoes to match their dresses (evil, isn't it?). I just can't bring myself to be satisfied with any other color combo. I've tried! I guess I should send an e-mail about that before you all read it second-hand on my blog!

Ben and I are leaving for VA-CAY on Saturday! WAHOO! We're going to Myrtle Beach with Darlene and Rich - did I mention that already? Anyway, we'll get back into the wedding planning mode when we get back. I plan on setting up our tastings and our cake design meeting and stuff in the next few weeks. The FUN stuff :) And our STDs have arrived, so we'll be sending those out relatively soon. They don't really need to go out til December - that would be 6 months - but I'll probably send them in mid-October. If I can hold myself back that long. I just want the world to know! Speaking of which, our engagement announcement ran in the Carroll County Times last Sunday :) So cute!

Alright, back to work.