Ivy League continued

Ok, for the earlier part of the trip, please refer to the previous post.

Saturday night: Dinner at the hotel with the faculty, current students, and recruits. Decent food, pretty good company. After dinner some students and the recruits went to a local pub (about the only one in town...and it was kinda higher class...not a typical college pub) for a drink. It was a pretty fun time. Back to the room and to bed.

Sunday: Catch the greyhound back to Manchester airport. Lunch at McD's (the only option there). Plane to Washington DC (Reagon National). Auntie Anne's pretzel and then about 1 hour layover. I could see the Washington Monument (that big tower thing) from the airport. Boarded the plane and flew back to Indy. My sister-in-law was kind enough to pick me up.

Overall Thoughts: I'll be honest, I had low expectations and a Ivy League stereotype going in (that I'm better than you attitude), but was pleasantly surprised. The faculty are very nice and have a similar collaborative attitude that I experienced at UCHSC. The new lab area at the Hospital was really nice. The clinical slant of research was cool, because it would allow me to use some of my pharmacy expertise. Downsides however are the lack of structure and signaling science (it is occuring, but not to the extent or quality that UCHSC). The cost of living would be really high and it is in the middle of nowhere and it is really really cold for a lot of the year. So for the most part, my complaints are not of the school (I think I'd get along well and would be successful), but more of the area (it is a 4+ year committment, so I need to like the area).

Current Ranking: UCHSC > Dartmouth > IU...keep in mind, I've only been accepted to IU, so we'll see what happens.