sgaw10

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...

Thanks. It's funny because I don't quite feel that I made many friends during my time here. It's the atmosphere itself that I will miss, and the professors especially. I think it's also overwhelming because my parents didn't go to college, so in a way I'm letting go of place that grew comfortable for me. And now I'll be stepping out of my comfort zone again onto the next "thing" in life.

That's awesome. I love tattoos so much, and I am definitely due for another

Thanks for sharing that. Fortunately my grad institution isn't too far from my undergrad, but it's far enough to make returning regularly a bit difficult. It's hard because my undergraduate community and city as a whole is the first place I've ever felt "home" in my entire life. To the point where I'm kind of considering getting a tattoo related to it, as cheesy as that sounds. I have heard that post-college depression is more common than people think. I hope that graduate school will distract me from that. Not that I would be using it as a crutch, but being in an exciting new community should help.

Neither have I, besides an interview invitation on Tuesday that was a "technical error." Wish they could at least send me a rejection, too.

Also just received it. I regret sending my application there.

I'm excited about graduate school, but I'm already starting to feel some extreme post-college sadness. I graduate in June. I love my undergrad institution to piece. I've already cried about it twice last weekend. I also wish my family understood anything about academia...

Congratulations! So glad it's worked out for you, and it sounds like they want you there for sure.

Yes, it's been a long 4 months of waiting and even longer of test and application prep. Time to relax before moving and the real stress begins. Congrats!

I didn't see a thread, so I decided to make one. I'll be joining WashU for the BME PhD program. Hope to connect with some people here!

Well, I had no luck getting off the waitlist at Rice. But now I don't have to stress about the process, since I am officially going to the only school that wanted me Headed to WashU this fall. Glad this process is over. Not how I imagined this to unfold. Sad to leave Chicago in a few months, but I'm gonna learn to like St. Louis. And I have a great pair of potential advisors, so I'm not worried about academic fit.

Just got my rejection from Rice. Hope was nice while it lasted. So much fun being played the past few days. Headed to WashU.

Apparently it was a technical error. Boo.

Lol Columbia just invited me to interview for their master's program ?

Program that waitlisted me said that waitlistees must wait for an interview, but someone was accepted late last week. I have a great school to attend if a miracle doesn't happen, but I'm going to see if anything happens tomorrow until the end of business hours. I'll probably call the department again despite no one giving me any answers this past month. Not going to expect anything, but I've waited this long, so I figure there's no harm in another 19 hours... And the process will all be done very soon, which makes me very happy.

If anyone reading this has an offer at Rice they'd be willing to pass up, I would appreciate. But needless to say, unless there's a miracle, I will be accepting my one and only offer from WashU on Monday.