The Long Version:
It's Sunday night, the first Neuroscience Practical is in 5 days (on Friday) and Mini 1 of 2nd semester is in 8 days (next Monday).
I've talked about some of the things I've been doing this semester that I wasn't doing last semester, but I've adopted something else recently.
My normal, self-imposed schedule keeps me on campus from 7:00am to 5:30pm. There's some breaks in between, like for lunch or anything else I need to get done, but for the most part, my butt's in the chair. When I get home I usually try to get at least 1 or 2 other things done before I go to sleep.
This past weekend I've been on campus from 7:00am-11:00pm on Friday, 7:30am-1:00am on Saturday, and 7:30am-5:30pm today on Sunday, and I think I'm going to continue doing this from now on. Right now it's Sunday night. I'm trying to do as little as possible and I'm going to sleep early just so I can do it all again starting on Monday, getting ready for the first set of exams.
It's kind of nice in and around campus on the weekends because there are a lot fewer people there. The study areas are quieter and the lines for the vendors (the ones that are open) are all short. Plus, there's always at least a couple people not doing anything (or studying all day) and are free to do dinner (or whatever else).
(I'm probably going not going to stick to this weekend schedule on the first weekend after each Mini. There just isn't as much to study after only 1 week of lectures and plus... sometimes you need a break.)
The Short Version:
Padres lose, Giants win, Braves lose, Dexter season 5 premiere is tonight, and I just studied for 44 hours in the past 3 days. It's not so bad, yeah? Oh yeah, and I'm $125,000 in debt. That too.
If you didn't know this about me before, MLB.tv keeps me sane at night. A 1 year subscription for $100 is the best $100 I've spent here on the island. Surprisingly, I actually do have interests other than medicine.
Note: I have many thoughts as to why it takes me so long to study, but I really don't want to say any of it out loud until the first Mini is over. Many other students (including all of the other people who are in the classrooms with me on the weekends) probably study as many hours as I do. But there are many other students who study much, much less and are already in 3rd and 4th semester. But only when they send out the official scores for Mini 1 will I know if what I'm doing is actually working or not. It will do little good to self-analyze right now.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Weekend Confirmed
Labels:
2nd semester,
neuroscience,
student loans,
the grind
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2 comments:
Why are you $125,000 in debt after only 3 semesters? I assume some of that is undergrad right? How much in loans is required to fully finance Ross U. per semester (including rent, food, etc)?
Hi Paul,
You're right, it's ballooned to $125,000 because of my existing debt from undergrad. When first starting at Ross I don't think anyone really knows how much to borrow.
Most people apply for the full recommended amount, according to the Ross default recommendations. That recommendation turns out to be roughly $25,000 per semester.
Tuition per semester is roughly $15,000. Round trip plane tickets vary, depending where you're coming from, but it turns out to be $1,300 for me, from San Francisco. My rent is $650/mo ($2,600 per semester). I use air conditioning all the time and I spend about $250 on electricity. I think I really don't spend as much as a lot of other students when it comes to creature comforts and food. At the end of each of my 2 previous semester I had about $5,000 left over. So that means I've only been spending $1000 on food for 4 months.
After my first 2 semester I had $10,000 left over from loans, but I went ahead and borrowed the full $25,000 again, this 3rd semester. I'd rather have more than less.
I'm also keeping in mind that on my next break I'm going to have to buy a full set of professional dress clothes, which I'm going to pay for in full from my loan money.
If I keep building up my leftover cash, I'm going to start borrowing less and less.
-Jonathan
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