Quick Update

Hi all-
This semester has been wildly busy, despite taking as few credits as I ever have. Between a thesis and research, traveling to grad schools, and general coursework, I haven't updated in far too long. So here's what's been going on:
I've been accepted to the math departments at NCSU and RPI, the applied math department at CUBoulder, and the physical oceanography department of the MIT-WHOI Joint Program. I was turned down by UChicago, Brown, and MIT (math). Harvard, Columbia, NYU, and UMass haven't given me decisions. I have travelled to MIT, NCSU, and CUBoulder. I am leaning toward MIT-WHOI right now, in part due to finances, but it is also a very flexible and prestigious program with excellent researchers doing very interesting work and happy students. NCSU is my second choice at the moment- they are extremely supportive, and their students were super happy and friendly; I'm just not sure about moving so far.
I also attended a good chunk of the APS March Meeting in Boston. It was fun; one of my colleagues from Lehigh presented our encapsulation work. I went to quite a few talks on granular materials and fluids (wetting is an interesting problem I hadn't considered before, as well as simple swimmers). It was nice to catch up with people from Lehigh, as well as see some big names (ala Granick). One of my favorite talks was by Erik Demaine of MIT on extreme folding (origami through algorithms, as well as folding glass and steel).

I also just heard the results from the Putnam Exam. The Putnam is a national undergraduate math competition. It consists of 12 problems, 6 in each of 2 3-hour sessions, which ask for a proven answer. I have taken it now 4 times. Each problem is scored out of 10, and the median score is usually a 0, although usually someone gets a perfect score of 120. The first two years, I did not score. Last year I earned 10 points, and this year I earned 1. All the same, Skidmore's team placed for the first time EVER in the top 150 school teams this year, coming in at 99th. I enjoy the Putnam; I'll be sad to not do it competitively in the years to come, although it is possible to get the problems later and try them.

I hope everyone out there is having luck with their research and other endeavors!