I got an email from DMU saying that my application status had changed to hold. It means, apparently, that the reserve the right to possibly interview me later but right now they have too many competitive candidates. Although I am not completely out of the running for a spot at DMU, I wouldn't hold my breath that I will get in there.

Meanwhile I made the difficult decision to drop 3 schools - Drexel, Creighton and the D.O. school south of here – Kirksville. The secondary application fees are high and we have simply run out of money. I will finish the Saint Louis secondary application when we get back from our Christmas vacation. They have a really slick application web site, the nicest one I have seen so far. Also, they have a survey that asks what I thought of the application site. That was a nice touch. Their secondary requires $100 and a picture of me. I will arrange to get a jpeg of me when I am on vacation, one of my close relatives has a digital camera.

I emailed my ochem professor on Monday morning, asking for my Final Exam grade. He replied that I had gotten 36 out of 50, for 68%. It brought my end grade down to 75.73%, I think. Then he went on to say that because I was always asking good questions, worked hard and stayed on top of things, he would be reporting a B for my final grade. Magnificent! I am very glad I have this particular professor - he has been great. I am already looking forward to taking chem 108 next semester with him.

I have not heard from any of the other schools except Iowa. They have emailed me to say that my application was complete and I should here next from them by mail. Nothing else.

Because DMU has put my application on hold I am not very confident that I will be able to get into an M.D. school, either. I was a bit downcast at first, when I found out. I called my wife and told her the bad news – she did not sound very happy either. DMU was our fall back school and despite my low MCAT score I felt that I would at least be able to get in there. My wife called me back a few minutes later and told me that she had gotten a great feeling of reassurance when she thought of our situation – not an assurance that anything specific would turn out for us but that we would be taken care of nonetheless. This was nice for me to hear.

I have now begun considering the possibility of needing to take the MCAT again and re-apply to our schools in the summer. There are a lot of advantages to this approach so if I do not get accepted to medical school this year then it will not be completely a bad thing.

I took the ochem final on Tuesday. 52 multiple choice questions. 156 points possible out of a 150 total - theoretically I could pull my entire grade up by one percent simply by acing the final. My chances of that were slim and none, not necessarily in that order.

By Saturday evening my goal is to finish the remainder of the secondary applications and send off the remaining letters.

I won't be able to find out my final exam grade until Monday or so. With that I can calculate my final grade and figure out where I stand.

Next semester I will be able to spend a little more time and I will have improved my study habits, too. Hopefully I will get a grade closer to an A, if not an A.

Today being the Sabbath I don't normally study. Today I will make an exception because the final is coming up and I am worried that I will not do well enough.

I may also finish the two remaining letter packets so I can send them on their way.

I thought I might be able to enter a post on any given date and had planned on entering one for Friday. I don't, however, see any buttons or options to back date a post. I suppose then that this post will go in on Sunday, December 11.

I am still wondering if it wouldn't be better to publish my blog on our family server, the one that one of my siblings oversees.

Last night I went to the hospital to volunteer. I took cookies, they were quite a hit. It was a more interesting night than usual, though I could not say why. Privacy laws being what they are these days, it is very important to never share anything with anybody about what you see or here in a medical setting. On the one hand I think this is very commendable. Everyone has a right to privacy. On the other hand, everything is so very interesting. Really, people are the most fascinating of all subjects. Why has realizing this taken so long? I am really excited about the opportunity to go to medical school.

I hope that I get to go to an allopathic school. However, if the only school that accepts me is an osteopathic school then I will still go. I want to be a sugeon more than I care about the exact designation that I get to add to my name when I am done.

I have a final exam in organic chemistry on Tuesday, I need to get back to studying for it. I did well enough on my lab final (85%) that I think I will be getting an A in that, hopefully. I will need at least 83% on the lecture final to get a B in that class. The final will be multiple choice.

Back to studying!

Today I read a report that the terrorists that had kidnapped Ronald Schulz had killed him and it suddenly occurred to me that one of the hallmarks of a righteous cause is that it will not force an unwilling sacrifice. The cowardly murderers posing as insurgents have caused that another man should sacrifice for their cause and this makes their cause no cause at all but bloody and tragic stupidity.

What else is there today, after that? I noted to myself that yesterday was the anniversary of Pearl Harbor day. No one really mentioned to me.

Ronald Schulz was a Marine.

Although as yet unverifiable, after reading of death, much of anything else I could write would be very trivial.

We had a lab exam today. It consisted of two parts. The first covered methods, reactions and analysis in the lab. The 2^nd part asked questions about what we wrote in our lab books prior to and during each of the labs.

I got my test back from Monday: 65 out of 100. According to my calculations I need 100% on the final homework and about 83% on the final in order to pull a B out of the class. If I do well on the lab final then I will get an A in there. I would not be content with a B in the class but neither would I be really unhappy.

The final is on Tuesday late afternoon so I have awhile to work on it. Tonight I was going to watch a movie but it doesn't seem like a good idea after I have given it some thought. Need to study, instead.

If I can get enough studying done then I will be able to run for a ½ hour or so, and maybe do some writing.

Finally received confirmation from Harvard that my secondary application is complete. The email I got from Harvard explained that if I was selected to interview there they would notify me by the third week of January.

DMU has also notified me that my secondary application is complete.

I have several other applications to complete and three more letter packets to send out.

Tomorrow I have a lab final and next week I have the lecture final, for organic chemistry. Lot of pressure. I am holding up just fine!!

I am off to study for my ochem lab final. Good thing I have lots of Mountain Dew® on hand!