Today was the last day of Calculus for all intents and purposes (there's the final exam still, and one day after that). We got our second test back today, and I got a 100%, as expected. That doesn't say too much - the test was much harder than the first, and I only did well because I had three days to spend on it with my math book open. Still, this means I only need a 67% on the final to get an A- average in the course, which I would be very happy with. I'd be ok with a B+, thrilled with an A, and slightly disappointed with a B.
The final is this coming Tuesday, and I have a lot of studying to do for it. 67% sounds low, but depending on the number of questions, it could be easier to slip up badly than it seems. Especially since things have been getting notably harder lately. Making things worse, I showed up for every class but kind of let my brain take this last week off. While I'm a bit behind though, hopefully it's nothing four days of hard work can't fix.
Scheduling for Fall has been more complicated than I'd anticipated. I've had the last selection of courses as a non-degree student, which caused various complications. The only available Chemistry course had a lab that met on the only days the remaining Biology courses met. I stressed out over this - a lot, at first.
I got in touch with my premed advisers though (both at American and my alma mater), and both agreed that I don't have to take the standard order of courses so long as I make sure I can take Organic Chemistry next year. So what I did is switch things up and register for Physics and Chemistry in the Fall. I'm saddled with bad course times (the earliest possible start time, and late evening lab sessions), but other than that the courses fit together well. (Physics is right after my 8AM Chemistry course, I have my labs spread out instead of being stuck doing 6 hours on one single day, I don't have a morning course followed by a 4 hour wait before my next course, etc).
So, if I manage to get a 67% or better on my Calculus final, I'll be quite pleased with the way things are shaping up. If I manage to keep an A- or higher average after a year of Physics and Gen Chem, I'll be fairly certain that things will actually work out for me (and I might go get myself a real site to keep this blog up, and add fancy pictures, and ways for users to leave feed back, and a real domain name, and... such).
I had a daydream of getting back to Vanderbilt for med school today, after getting my second test back. It's ridiculously premature for that though. People with 4.0 averages who're coming straight out of college get rejected from there, and there's not a single reason to believe they'd let me in. That would be my ideal school though, I think. I really do have fond memories of it, and it has a world class hospital and medical school.
