grad school

one of the objectives of this blog is to document my progress toward my ultimate goal of becoming a scientist.  in that vein, i’ve had several breakthroughs recently:

1.  i have compiled a list of schools and they are the following:  university of iowa, university of wisconsin-madison, university of california-davis, duke, rochester, and maybe purdue.  i picked many of these schools because i know people who have attended them.

2.  i have signed up to retake the GRE physics subject test twice this fall, and i’ve had a lot of success studying for it.  i reworked a lot of homework problems and reread some of my text books and it makes more sense to me the second time around.  i’m confident i’ll do well on the test and in my coursework as a graduate student.

3.  i have had small victories in making personal contacts with people at these schools who have been very supportive and enthusiastic about my application.  this has generally boosted my confidence and relieved my anxiety over attending a school and getting an advisor that don’t suit me well.

4.  marty said he will follow me wherever i go, and i will be very greatful to have him with me.

i’m glad i took this much-needed time off from school, and i’ll be a better student as a result of it.  i just hope the admissions committees agree because i am so excited to be going back to school.