Thanks museum_geek and smg -- super reassuring on both counts! I'm perusing the research assistant options at the moment, so that will certainly help if I can get something nailed down!
I wasn't expecting to go through this twice, but frankly, it's going to be a very good thing. I have a track record of making questionable application decisions (that have all worked out, thankfully), so I'm sort of excited to give this another go!