Today was a pretty big day for me in the world of science, and hopefully my future career. Not only did I realise how far my practical lab skills have come in the past 3 years while doing my project, but afterwards I went to a postgraduate fair and talked to university representatives about the future. It was pretty intimidating at first but toward the end I was just getting excited and grabbing at all the information I could. I also got a pretty big haul of prospectuses; as you can see. I have no idea where I'm gonna keep these bloody things, I only need about 3 pages out of each one. I just like having them, reminds me of being in 6th form and applying for uni all those eons ago!
Another cool thing, I had a massive moment of realisation while doing my dissertation project today. I managed to do 3 serial dilutions and 6 miles-misra counts (not important what they are, just a technique used to estimate the number of bacteria in a liquid) in under 2 hours, where it took me 3 hours to do one in first year. It really is a great feeling when something like that hits you, sort of like a "bloody hell look how far I've come" kind of vibe. I also have sick pipette skills nowadays. Like, mad tricks.
The fair was actually a lot of fun(subjective), and I've now got more of an idea of the direction I want to go and what universities offer what I want. Some of the big contenders for me are Liverpool, York, Sheffield and Manchester. They're all relatively close to home and offer top class facilities and research opportunities (especially York and Liverpool). Liverpool really caught my attention, it had a massive range of Bioscience choices, and on top of that all the subdepartments work together, it just sounds like a really pleasant experience (obviously taken with a pinch of salt, the rep was bound to be biased). It probably helped that the guys from these universities were willing to talk and help. Oh, and I applied to Australia for shits and gigs You never know though. It'd be a sweet adventure.
One of the main concerns of applying for postgrad stuff is funding (Austrailia is funded for you, score one for down under). I still have major concerns about that but the reps reassured me that if I'm choosy with what I apply for funding shouldn't be a problem. So that's a big ole weight off the chest.
Apparently a lot of students are skipping doing masters degrees this year due to the price, moreso than any other year according to the lovely rep from York (who didn't have a broad yorkshire accent, thankfully, so communication wasn't a problem!). I hope it doesn't increase competition too much, or make it hard to get on something I'm really keen about.
Of course, this is only the start. I've got the obstacle course of interviews, rejections and the pressure of doing well in exams. But this was the first step into my career, and it was exciting for me, so I guess I just wanted to share it.
Any of you guys going through the awful process of postgrad applications?
