sgaw10

My school is on the quarter system.

Finished my last ever assignment of undergrad. Feels strange.

Thanks. I think I'm just gonna give up on it 😕

Yeah, frustrating to say the least. I replied that she clearly does not understand after I told her repeatedly how she doesn't need to worry about me financially, and I have nothing to pay the university. I'm only viewed as a potential dent to my family's wallet. I'm so excited to be completely financially independent.

I feel the same. Hoping to make the move all by myself.

My mom is giving me such a hard time. I try to cut her some slack because my parents don't have college degrees and thus know nothing about academia. But I have clearly explained to her multiple times that my PhD program provides a stipend, health insurance, and tuition remission, and that a PhD is not related to becoming a medical doctor (i.e. can get a doctorate in any field, from philosophy, to economics, to chemistry, etc). Yet she insists on "figuring things out" for me and thinks I don't know what I'm doing. She only cares about financial logistics, never once having asked me what my interests are, and fitting her ideal mold (overheard a few years ago that she just wants me to marry a rich doctor). Then she has a popular Twitter account where she interacts with creepy male followers who apparently know about me, because she tweeted she was "upset" that she would no longer be in the city where I currently live and has to tolerate my next location. She then says that my next school is "not as good" as my current school yet uses undergraduate rankings as support. She rarely ever comes to visit and would never willingly interact with a black person or ride public transportation despite putting these cities in her bio. And it feels as if she is taking credit for my hard work. Dont get me wrong -- I'm thankful for my parents' financial support. But this is insulting. This is her most recent text she sent me yesterday. Maybe I'm being a bit overly sensitive, but this sort of thing has been going on for years. So frustrating.

I gave one of my letter writers his gift today and received such a kind response. I'm so emo :')

I am thrilled for you. I hope we are both incredibly productive on our BME PhD endeavors

You're not alone!

Good things unfortunately don't last forever makes you realize how fast time passes and that it can be difficult to leave a comfort zone. Enjoy your current program while you can. soak it up!

Is there any chance I could get by in St. Louis without a car? Coming from Chicago, I prefer not to own a car. But I realize public transit down there isn't so great.

I just won an Apple watch for giving $5 toward my class gift

I feel the exact same way. Penn and Columbia were my top picks going into the application process. They ghosted me for ages, and I still haven't even received a rejection from Columbia yet. I love their locations and think my research fit was spot on, but in the end I'm grateful for what happened. Once you're in the top 20 or so, there's not much of a difference. There are amazing resources at all of these institutions. And when it comes down to it, if you don't have a supportive advisor or the willpower to be productive during the PhD, then rank alone won't get you very far.

Oh, believe me, I do distance myself from my parents a bit for good reason I'm fairly independent, so it's all right. I appreciate your words!

Wow. At this rate they might have all of this cycle's decisions out by the deadline for fall 2020 apps...