Oh the life of an alternate. Currently going through the whole rigmarole of networking, emailing, calling....trying to find that magical person who will employ me. Part of me wants to get upgraded because of the wonderful experience, etc. but a growing part of me wants to get it just so I can push off all this stuff for another year, haha.
I was a finalist last year and we found out on May 15. Got disappointing news, but by that point I was just so sick of waiting that it was a relief to hear any news. We'll probably "hit bottom" in a couple weeks and then the truth will set us free