This weekend was our department’s second prospective recruiting weekend of the spring.
What does this mean?
- Thesis? What thesis?
- Implementation of the hangover cure.
- Thesis? What thesis?
Lovely.
Confused? Fair enough. Let me catch you up. First, let me give you a bit of background. Here is roughly how the admission process goes for us (and many other Chemical Engineering departments as far as I know)…
- Students apply for admission during the fall of their senior year (or after). Applications are due at some point in December if my memory is correct
- The admissions committee looks through applications, dumps about 3/4 in the trash and sends out acceptance letters to the remaining 1/4 lucky winners by the beginning of February (Note: these are totally RE numbers, but for the sake of this description that should be good enough. Second note: RE = Rectal Extraction.)
- Students who are accepted are then invited to attend one of two visit weekends to meet with the department faculty and graduate students and get a flavor of the campus and city. These weekends take place in March. (DING!! DING!! DING!! They were this weekend!!)
- April 15th arrive and triggers have to be pulled. This is the date set by all (or most?) departments by which students must make their decisions of where to go (if they are so lucky as to have more than one offer).
- We all live happily ever after.
- Until the fall.
- 1st year, 1st semester = welcome to hell.
As one of the few females in our department I was shackled and dragged had the opportunity to attend many activities that were put on for the prospective students. We went to lunch together in small groups, had casual informational interviews, went to dinner and enjoyed 324 glasses of wine too many shots and subsequent arguments with my adviser a few adult beverages consumed responsibly and stimulating conversation, and then went out to the piano bar but could only stay for a short while thanks to the aforementioned wine indulgence. Not bad for a Friday.
Saturday morning on the other hand…
Hangover cure = water, Bolthouse Farms mango juice, toast with LOTS of Nutella. 🙂
But there is no rest for the nerdy wicked. Saturday morning starts with more interviews followed by brunch and then an afternoon activity. Dinner is in small groups again at some of the nicer restaurants in town and then it’s off to see some stand up comedy at Comedy Sports. (Note: if you live in the MSP area and have never been to Comedy Sportz you must have absolutely no sense of humor or are unbelievably lazy or are very ill-informed regarding one of the funniest places in town. EVERYONE should check out Comedy Sportz.) Now this is when the official activities of the weekend end. However, there is this little bar called Legends that we just can’t pry ourselves away from. After the comedy is finished we load up the students and head for the basement of Legends…think cement floor, 2 for 1 drinks with a college ID (yes, many of us are almost 30), pool, darts and booty dancing to the Top 100 and the absolute best tunes of the 80’s. There is something about this trashy little gem that keeps us coming back for more.
After a few hours at Legends 2 am rolls around we are all ready for bed White Castle! (Disclaimer: by we I mean all of the idiots that think White Castle is a good drunken choice at 2 am. White Castle is never under any circumstances a good choice.) The majority of the group, current and prospective students finally actually truly close down the weekend with a few (Note: a few = too many) White Castle sliders.
And then it is Sunday and you wonder why your thesis hasn’t written itself, why the laundry isn’t done and how the hell did my heals get that dirty?!?! Maybe it’s just me.
Crazy? Totally. Worth it? Totally. I’m oddly kind of going to miss this crazy shit come next year. 
The next few days of thesis writing are going to be a bit too reminiscent of item #7 in the list above I’m afraid…
DrTrot 