Someone open a window so I can jump through!!

When I look back over my academic life. the first very obvious thing one sees is the fact that none of what I've done followed any real fluid pattern. I flunked out of undergrad, went back as a double major but graduated with only one degree because I didn't want to stay that one more semester to finish the second degree (and Gainesville, FL was NOT a "place to be" in the early 90's IMHO). 3 years later, I finished that science degree (Chemistry), then moved to another state to complete preqs for graduate studies in Chemistry (while also taking pre type classes like Anatomy and Physiology). I finished grad school (MS in Chemistry), got accepted to a 3rd tier MD/PhD program but decided not to matriculate because my Dad, who had lived with us following his hemmoraghic stroke while I was in grad school, was now terminally ill with 2 forms of cancer.

Moved to metro DC, spent a couple years at the NCI doing cancer research, earned a second MS in Pharmacology, and now here I sit almost a year after I officially finished that program (I was delayed because the classes I took in the med school weren't accepted my the grad school) contemplating my next move. And in usually "I didn't see THIS coming, ain't life something" style, I will soon have to make a decision that will probably end up being one of those fork in the road of life decisions.

If given the opportunity to start a FULLY funded with stipend PhD program at my most recent alma mater this coming May, do I take it? ALL of my previous coursework would transfer, I do NOT have to retake the GRE, and I could possibly transfer to the MD/PhD program after my second year/qualifying exams. In other words, back door my way into the combined MD/PhD program.

Now I know what some of my serious type A readers are saying, "Hey, you're trying to back door your way into the program" to which I respond with "ya' damn right, I'll take it ANY way I can get it", LOL!!!! Back door, side door, basement, if my goal is to get into the program, I don't really give a $hit HOW I get in as long as I do. More than that, I've NEVER seen a CV which read Jane Doe, MD/PhD from the back door program in my entire life, so me AND my ego would be all good!!! Anyway, it's just an idea which presented itself in the past 24 hours but you can be damn sure I'm going to follow up with it!

And speaking of following up, I decided to spend this week working through the Princeton review MCAT verbal reasoning book and so far so good! I liked the one by EK for problems to work through, but this is has so many more in depth analysis of problems that I think it's going to be a perfect compliment to the EK passages book.