5/4 Update!:

You Know You've Been Doing Too Much Bio When...

...the first thing you think about is a certain protein used in recombinant DNA that makes C. elegans glow prettily in the lab.

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5/1 Update!:

Premed Boulevard presents With One Test

With one test,
I kissed the A goodbye
With one test,
Adieu to five point oh
I can study my heart out
With one test
My fate and class grade is sealed

With one test
I'm the good student
Or the slacker who doesn't work
When I study I'm hardcore
I can take any test

No words can tell the stories psets tell
Watch me when I work, you can't write that down
You know I tool, it's there in black and white
When I take a test, you'll give me a A

Yes, with one test I am so ashamed
Just one test sets my head inflamed
Silent music starts to play
One test just today makes my world so gray

With one test my world's upside down
I feel like I'm gonna drown
To GPA yet to come
Still out there yet to come...

Silent music starts to play
One test just today makes my world so gray.

With one test I am so weary
I'll return to my tooling hell
I'll say, "I'm not gonna sleep!"

This time I have failed, I have failed for good
I am back to having all those B's
With one test, I will flee!

ps. I've been taking a class this semester where the semester grade is comprised of 4 exams. I've been getting A-'s in the exams in that class, but for some really dumb reason, I lost a bunch of points on this last (3rd) test, and now I absolutely need an A+ on the next test to bring up the average. And if you're at MIT, you know that "getting an A+" is not something you can say you want to do and achieve with complete ease. Oh well :(

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4/29 Update!: Since I don't anticipating photoblogging MUN till after my LAST EXAM before finals (YESSSS) next week, this blog will have to be the outlet of my ramblings till then =p

Just like last year, I went today to help stuff the i3 DVDs into the booklets that ya'll who committed (if you haven't - seriously - just do it. One small click of your mouse = 4 years of joy* and jubilation*. Guaranteed.)

* Conditions apply. Effect reported for a significant cross-section of the population but may not entirely apply to each individual in the sample size. The claim is reported for a 95% confidence interval only. However, the author makes no guarantees on the confidence interval or whether a survey was conducted to assess this statement. Experiences may also vary across time intervals. Statistical studies have shown that said effects diminish rapidly after fifth week of term, although demonstrate a statistically significant increase during Orientation, CPW, and long weekends. Generally speaking, effect studied shows a global positive level throughout duration of study.

Just kidding 'bout the disclaimer - MIT is really awesome, even though sometimes you might have to pull all-nighters for some exams...cough cough*

.... AND I just realized that I never finished the first sentence 3 paragraphs ago. So much for going on tangents. =p

but ANYWAYS! lookee -

The 2009/Class of 2013 Guide to Residences were packed with the i3 DVDs (student produced DVDs with a 5-minute interactive introduction to each dorm) today and will be sent out with the May Next Big Mailing which would contain everything from academic information, various paperwork, and also instructions on setting up your Kerberos ID! (MIT username =p) Remember, you're not fully a MIT student until you send out your first email through mit[dot]edu! :D

But yup yup. Just to give you a peek of the visual goodness that is always contained in these dorm booklets -

Enjoy!~

And to those that haven't committed yet - commit already! What are you waiting for? ;)

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Originally posted 4/24: Adding on to recent "bloggets" - this is going to be a super short blog.

I have a lot to write about - no really, I do - but the fact that I'm writing this on a Friday night when there's AXO Lip Sync (or Youtube AXO Lip Sync to see what it usually entails =p) and the DTYD party - just shows how incredibly hosed I am. ARGHHHH >____>

Oh well.

I really just want to fulfill this small promise, so here it is =p

At the CPW Festival, you may have seen me holding a "Carmen Sandiego" sign and pubbing for AIRMUN. One prefrosh recognized me from the MIT blogs, and since I was pretty surprised and you were the first to do so, I said that I will have a little present ready for you at Meet the Bloggers. Actually, I did have that ready for you, but I don't think you came. :( Since I don't know your name, if you read this and email me at ask-oasis [at] mit dot edu - I'll mail it to you! :)

But I feel that this isn't exactly relevant to MIT Admissions - so I'm going to post the 2009 iHouse i3 video! (I'm going to do anyways later, but might as well do it now =p)

Soon, you'll be receiving a booklet with Housing Information and a DVD introducing you to all the dorms (this will come with the Next Big Mailing that you'll receive in May after you matriculated!). If you want to see some samples from last year's - click! Basically, your DVD will contain over a dozen of these videos - one for each dorm - introducing you to MIT dorms! =p (these videos are called i3 videos because their official name is Interactive Introduction to the Institute)

Granted, they're probably not random as this year's iHouse i3 = =" heh.

And also, since this is going to be my "mind dump" entry -

I just got confirmed to be in San Francisco this summer from the middle of June till the middle of August! I will be working in a community health clinic in Oakland, CA that provides health services to Asian immigrants, especially those who do not possess adequate language skills to go to a English-speaking hospital when they are sick.

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be going into public health in the future, so I thought this internship would be excellent in providing an introduction to the "domestic side" of public health.

On the side, I'll be living at Berkeley and prepping for MCAT. Any suggestions on what I should do in San Francisco/Oakland/Berkeley? (for fun and FOOD places, haha =p)

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

Good luck for the MCAT, Chris! I'd just say let your hair down (figuratively!) and enjoy your summer in San Fransisco!

Posted by: Ahana on April 24, 2009

Just one more thing: "Creating Governing Dynamics" from A Beautiful Mind in the background?! LOL!

Posted by: Ahana on April 24, 2009

It's all about Oakland and Berkeley. You don't even need to go to San Francisco to find stuff to do. If you like food, there's a really cool place in Berkeley called Trumpetvine Court. It has a place called Cafe Panini that makes awesome (but overpriced :() paninis, but it's only open from like 11AM-2PM on weekdays (for the local high school lunch rush). The Court also has other venues (a pizza and beer place). The Court is literally a hidden gem of Berkeley. Not many people know about it because they're so fixated on SF and UC Berkeley, and the entrance is hidden in the side of a building, so the stores are inside a street block and surrounded by other stores. You have to look really hard to find the little faded sign that says "Trumpetvine Court," but it's totally worth it. UCB is always really vibrant (lots of student activities). I don't know about the summer, but in the schoolyear, on Saturdays, the ballroom dancing club always has open practices outside, if you're into dancing. But yeah, that general area of Downtown Berkeley (and Downtown/Uptown/Chinatown Oakland) has ton of stuff to see and do.

Posted by: Connie '12 on April 25, 2009

Applying the Hamiltonian operator on the eigenfunction of the pedal, yields an unlimited amount of energy... LOL

H(phi)= E(phi) if I remember correctly. Highly reminiscent of Schrodinger's equation.

Posted by: 0 on April 25, 2009

We'll miss you in Dubai, but have an awesome time!

Posted by: Karen on April 25, 2009

Living at Berkeley while working there...? Interesting! I hope you enjoy your summer work!

I really did mean to meet you at Meet the Bloggers, but I didn't have the opportunity to go to it... and I didn't know that you lived at iHouse, else I would have taken a break from Random to visit!

Posted by: Narce on April 25, 2009

Haha. Good luck with MCAT

Posted by: Shruthi on April 26, 2009

This just makes me want to apply to MIT eve more.
"We've brought pedal power to Peru. Now let's party!"

Posted by: Liz on April 26, 2009

There is a really good bakery at UC Berkely. It's pretty hard to find, but if you ask around most people will know where it is.

Posted by: Anon on April 26, 2009

Vik's on Allston in Berkeley- amazing Indian fast food, if you're in the mood for it-

Posted by: mom out west on April 27, 2009

MUN Photoblog! NOW!

Posted by: Albert Wang '12 on April 30, 2009

...it's you! The Carmen-Sandiego-sign quizbowl-playing Mandarin-speaking guy at FIREHOSE!

Posted by: 0 on April 30, 2009

CRI MOAR.

****ing premed...

Posted by: 0 on May 1, 2009

Ehhhh... sorry about your last test!

Posted by: Narce on May 2, 2009

COOL!
In the second video, one of the guy's was wearing a MARLINS shirt... very COOL

GO MARLINS!!!

Posted by: Hermeda on May 3, 2009

Oh yeah GOOD LUCK on your Test

Posted by: Hermeda on May 3, 2009

Green Fluorescent Protein = Win

PS: I like how C.elegans sounds.

~Julio ('14?)

Posted by: Julio ('14?) on May 4, 2009

Oh My God, that poem was amazing - elegant construction and apt usage of repetition and alliteration. I love science!!!

Posted by: Azeez on May 4, 2009

IRONY ... we are using GFP to make E. Coli fluoresce green under UV light in my biotechnology class !! Sweet!

Posted by: Next Year '14? =) on May 4, 2009

Great post and updates, the poem was awesome.

This whole 'mind dump' style of blog posts seems to have caught on and is pretty neat, but when the comments come in it's a total mess. There's no way to know which update the comment corresponds to unless you go and read very carefully all the previous posts. There should be a way to seperate the comments for the relevant posts.

That might be a little difficult because some posts may correspond to more than one blog update.

Just a thought.

Posted by: Labib ?14 on May 5, 2009

Oops one more question - I guess you're a suitable blogger to ask this: Like you I am a US citizen growing up abroad and haven't been back in the US for a long time. I know MIT prevents intls from applying early, but does the same ban apply to me as well?

Posted by: Labib ?14 on May 5, 2009

@ Anonymous
Hee, I think that *is* the most simple-looking form of the Schroedinger equation - time independent, anyway.
Kind of like the Einstein equation G = kT, which looks totally harmless until you realize that G and T are tensors :D

Ah physics, continually hitting me in the face with a mathematical frying pan. How could I not love you.

Posted by: Reena on May 5, 2009

@ Labib -

As long as you have US citizenship, it doesn't matter where you have lived in the past - for college admission purposes (this is true with any college), you're considered to be in the same pool as someone who was born, raised, and never left the US. =p

Posted by: Oasis '11 on May 5, 2009

I shouldn't double post on my own blog, but just to add to the top (too lazy to go edit comments now)

DON'T put down that you're an international student, cuz you're not.

Posted by: Oasis '11 on May 5, 2009

i wanted to ask a question:-
I am from India , and my dad is in the defense(Army):
long and short of it, we roam too much and i have never been admitted to a good school(though i really liked all the schools i studied in)
so now i dont have much of EC experience.
Now the point is,
does building hovercrafts and stuff like that count as EC's cuz i love doing stuff like this.
plz reply

Posted by: Rohan Saini on May 6, 2009

Thanks Oasis. Funny now I realize that my criticism about how mind dumps work was out of place. System works well and is convenient for bloggers.

I don't know why I'm making a big deal out of this, but being in Bangladesh and unable to visit, these blogs are what make MIT real to me so I'm kinda hyped on them.

Ok I sound wierd

Posted by: Labib ?14 on May 6, 2009

Wow, bio!!! The AP Bio exam is coming up, lol. I live in San Francisco. Maybe I can visit you.

Posted by: Alex on May 6, 2009

Comments have been closed.