When's it going to stop raining?

We haven't seen the sun in, like, 5 days, and I don't think we're going to until the weekend. So I got up this morning at 5 am & schlepped my way over to the Upper West Side for an interview w/Columbia. It's a good thing I left early, because it was pouring outside - pouring when I took Fluffy out, pouring when I drove to the train station through flooded streets, pouring when I got off @ 168th & Broadway, and pouring all the morning as I went to class w/the Columbia students.

My interview was at 8 am & I got there at 7:30, so that was good. My interviewer was a distinguished older gentleman who really had a lot to say. I could tell he had read my application carefully, though. That was nice, even though we didn't end up talking about much of the stuff on it. I hope I did okay. I know P&S (Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons) likes to take applicants who are well-rounded. I said I liked to read & was a fan of cinema, but during our conversation he asked me about a couple things & I had to say "No, I didn't read that" (Madame Bovary & The Dollhouse, an Ibsen play) or "No, I didn't see that" (Farewell My Concubine). Interestingly enough, he did ask me if I knew what Formosa referred to. Of course I said Taiwan, but apparently I was the 1st applicant he's asked who actually knew the correct answer. Ah well, we shall see...in like 5 months.

After the interview I got to sit in on a 2nd year immunology lecture and a 1st year lecture on the nervous system. I'm proud to say that I didn't fall asleep during either, which I take as a good sign for next year. Columbia definitely has a lot going for it--being in the city, the Dominican population in the Washington Heights neighborhood, the name (for residency purposes) of course--but the total cost is inching up to 60K per year. That's a frightful amount & almost seems like "pay-to-play" if you're talking about residencies. The ostensible reason many ppl go into medicine is to help others, but when the cost of training is so high, it begins to seem like it's more about me than it is about anyone else. What the heck is up with that, is all I'm saying.

I'm thinking of teaching MCAT for Kaplan. I have my 5-minute "audition" on Monday, so I have to come up w/a mini-lesson I can squeeze into that time limit. If I do end up teaching, I prolly wouldn't be able to take vacation (i.e. Japan) until end of March/early April. But I don't know yet. I could very well end up not getting the position, or decide it's not worth it since they're only paying $15 an hour. It would be more for the experience than anything else.