We just had visit weekend for prospective first-year PhD students in Bioengineering at UCSD, and I must say that the weekend really is a nice annual event (except for the extremely bad weather) that is almost Christmas-like in how it forces all of us in the department to think about the year we've had, and almost New-Year-like in how it makes us reflect on the program as a whole and think about changes to be made for the future.
As a first-year myself, it has allowed me to look back at my decision to come to UCSD, and I'm happy to say that I made the right decision. San Diego has more of the elements I was looking in a top-notch program, like a structured curriculum, excellent research and medical affiliations, and had the bonuses of promoting cameraderie with other first-year PhD students, excellent weather, and Jen, of course!
Now to just pass quals and settle into a lab...