UTMB Recruitment Weekend! For those who don't k now it, The University of Texas Medical Branch has a top notch medical school and school of nursing and is home to one of the BEST graduate school programs for infectious diseases in the world! After 12 interviews, yes 12 between two programs I was offered a fully funded graduate assistantship in molecular biology. This weekend was the recruitment visit where everyone extended offers was brought in to show off the school, tour the island and get to know some of the people involved.
Pictured: DoubleTree by Hilton 1702 Seawall Blvd
First stop the hotel! Flew into HOU with Christopher then I met up with some of the other prospective students while he took off to meet with the crew from Bill Young Productions. I think we were all a bit nervous on the charter bus so of course my big mouth had to break the silence. Got to the hotel and the rooms weren't ready so we all went for lunch. A few of us decided to brave the cold and walk for some fish and chips. Obviously, the Uber group was waiting when we got there lol but it was a nice getting to know some of my potential cohort and see the island a little. Things are definitely colder and a bit more of a grey sky than home but the salt air is nice and the room view is certainly nothing to balk at. Headed from here to dinner with department heads in a wine and dine and wow the food at Fisherman's Wharf was great! I was shocked how much the department head actually knew about me too. After dinner, in a very non recruitment sanctioned way, a few of us went downtown to meet up with some grad students and check out the night life. Seriously, this might have been the best decision all weekend. I heard all kinds of info on which labs have funding or bad mentors vs great ones, how people actually interacted rather than the brochure view- I could really be happy here.
Pictured (left): Biochemistry and Molecular Biology prospective students. (Right): All department recruits pictures with Trea Smith, Elizabeth Hileman, Tracy Tolliver, and Dean Sheffield-Moore.
Morning of day 2 was a hotel breakfast then off to drive the island before meeting up at the school for a tour. Well the drive was quick and that is definitely the fastest trip down Seawall Blvd in the history of ever. We got to see all kinds of microscopy and proteomics equipment. While I can't say that staring at a machine is the most exciting thing, there are some incredible resources I'd have access to. In terms of research, it would be a dream. At UF we have to send things to other campuses! We had a nice luncheon where the food was quite good and we met some other key people in the program. I am really impressed with some of the writing resources that are offered. Starting to really understand exactly why this school produces such excellent researchers.
Day 3 while most people went home, Christopher and I stuck around to check out things out in more detail. He walked all over the island while I was on campus and the we met up for some more exploring. The real estate agent I spoke with from Florida was a little unreliable so we met with the listing agent from one property who then showed us as many places as possible. I have learned, this grad student is not living on Stewart Rd., Cove View anything is much too far to commute and well, there are some really nice people around the island. Leaving today with 1 potential property, the agent's listing lol. It's priced too high and it needs some work but has a lot of potential and the neighbors were awesome. All and all, it has been a great trip, it will be really hard to turn down this school. Is it horrible to hope I don't have to make the decision?
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