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inkofamethyst · 4 years

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April 17, 2020

Other than the ridiculous stress that came with having three exams this week, I had a really good week, I think.

Day 109 of the cute campaign: Not today, I’m afraid. It was a pyjamas day which means that I’ve got to take a shower tomorrow. Yesterday was a really cute day though.

Day 37 of quarantine: As I’ve said before, school online sucks, but one good thing did come out of it yesterday.

Alright, Thursday was a really good day for me. I had my math quiz cancelled, I played TheWikiGame with my friends for 45 minutes (I couldn’t stay long because I had to study/prepare), and I had, like, two advising sessions that I was actually looking forward to. First was the advising for my humanities program with the incoming director, and that was really just a casual 20-minute Zoom chat about how the transition was going and also I told him that I was planning to switch from biochem to bio/anth. You know what he did? Later that afternoon he sent me an advertisement he saw for an online discussion panel with anthropology professors from different universities! How awesome was that?! So that’s what I’ll be doing with my Monday evening!

About two hours later I went to the Zoom version of an event that got cancelled which was basically supposed to be a gathering event for black girls in the honors college. I had been really excited about it when I was on campus, and I was thrilled to receive the invitation to the Zoom meeting. And guess what? I was only one of three people there: Me, the associate director for the honors college (a black woman, in case you weren’t sure), and the rising senior who organized the event. Now, you might be thinking along the same lines as my parents: “That’s awful!” Well! You’d be absolutely incorrect! Because I was the newcomer, I got waaaayyyy more personal attention than if I had been one of, oh, a dozen or so others. And you know what that’s done for me? The Associate Director of the Honors College told be that I could absolutely come to her for a letter of recommendation. Oh, and honey, that’s not all. I also told her about my plans to change my major (she sounded really excited about the combination I’d chosen and the reasons why I’d chosen it) and demonstrated that I had been putting a lot of my time toward this idea of getting involved in something I’d never done before, and she a) told me she’d recommend me a contact at the university (which she did later that day, and I’ll be emailing him tomorrow probably), b) told me that she’d look into recommending me as a driven student for a new university task force that was in the works (I won’t say much about it here, but it sounds really cool), and c) told me she’d see if she could get in touch with a student in a similar situation to mine to meet! I got so much more out of that experience than I had ever anticipated, and the only thing I could have done to “be more prepared” was have a list of faculty in the bio/anth departments in whose research I was interested (of course, that would’ve required a ridiculous amount of foresight, and I’m sure the offer to help me make contacts still stands). And I got some wisdom out of the student, an info sci/journalism double major herself, as well. She told me that I should use my uniquely combined majors as a selling point. They demonstrate my drive and passion, and could even make up for being a little unqualified for a job/internship/opportunity.

So yeah! Thursday was great! I also think that I’m going to take an anthropology class over the summer to lighten my eventual load, allow me to take classes I’m really interested in during future semesters, and earn some gen-ed credits that I need.

And you know what? Today was a pretty good day too! Took my orgo exam and got a ninety on it which brought my lecture grade up to an 85% (meaning that a B+ isn’t out of reach). Just finished up my anatomy practical and I think I’ve gotten somewhere in the realm of an A, though I know I lost a few points on spelling in some places. Found out that the girl I was thinking about rooming with is planning to get an apartment instead which... okay. Wasn’t meant to be; I don’t really mind. Also, there are still a decent number of spaces left in all of the sections for classes that I want to take. I’ll be up at 8 am 3 days a week (one of them for a lab, mid you), but I don’t think that my days will feel crazy long, so that’s positive. By the way, I was right about the anthropology class with the 8 am lab filling up much slower than the others. I’ll keep checking back to see if I can switch to the section I prefer, but two hours of class on Mondays is pretty appealing, I won’t lie, so I won’t sweat it if nothing changes. Waitlists are already forming for those sections anyway, so I’m not expecting much. The literature class that I want to take (as opposed to the dance one which has been a really popular section for my humanities program over the past few years) seems like it’ll be really fun, and I’m ready to get back into reading good books again! Also the professor is an anthropologist, so I can totally pick her brain on the subject. Orgo and bio are... well, orgo and bio. The bio class is technically a freshman level one, so it shouldn’t be too much of a challenge at all. ~And then I’ll be able to declare my maaaaajoooorrr~ (or at least apply for it, anyway).

Well, folks, that’s been today (and yesterday, though technically two days ago from the time I published this).

Today I’m thankful for my Orgo Exam grade!!!! My exam average has been an 82% so far, so a 90% really is a big improvement! I definitely still need to work on the study habits, but they’re improving little by little.

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docandprof · 6 years

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Why Did This Week Suck and Not Suck so Much?

Salutations good sir!

Man this week was a rollercoaster of emotions. Honestly probably one of the hardest weeks I have ever endured. But before that, lemme take a hot sec to answer some of your questions and comment on you. First and foremost, I'm SUPER proud of you and how much of an adult you are becoming! Your life seems, if not more than, as crazy as mine does. It always brings a smile to my face when you tell me how you are breaking out of your shell in more social and professional environments because when it’s us and the gang, you are more than sociable, so I see it as more the world is getting to see the true version of you, a dorky pensive goofball. Even though this wasn't in your post, because we talk outside of said blog, I was really happy that Lyss was able to go see you two and spend some time with ya. I can’t wait to see you all for Thanksgiving, which is just a few short weeks away!! Also, when are you coming home for that? I'm gonna be in Iowa from that Tuesday until maybe Friday morning so I wanna see you when I can before I have to leave again. You might have to share me with Jaynie at that point because I'm not gonna have tons of time to see everyone. Ummmm your question for the week was kinda hard because I would want everything to be magical. Buuuuut, if I had to choose, I would probably go with something inconspicuous like a magic watch that when you open it or interact with it in whichever way the player sees fit, a portal opens from which you can pull/store anything like Hermione's bag. Or it’s imbued with some sort of element and you can get creative with what it can affect, like you click it and you turn into a flame-man or different parts of you take on the characteristics of the different elements a la Ben 10. So yeah, something like that.

Now for my week in retrospect! Let’s see, Halloween here at school is more of a big deal on the weekend (Halloweekend is what they call it) because that is when all the parties are, so I stayed in and studied and did work like a good lil noodle. I did dress up in my Superman onesie while I did work so that was kinda in the Halloween spirit. So lemme just preface what my academic week entailed and then we can get into it. Monday: 3-4 page Spanish paper was due, Tuesday: Orgo lab report due, Wednesday: Test corrections due for my Bioclocks test, Spanish essay test, History of Warfare test where like every subject involved some iteration of Charles, Frederick, Philip, Henry or some Pope, Friday: massive Orgo test, big project due at midnight for my Brain Damage class, and another assignment for said class. And inbetween all of those things, I had to study for all 3 tests, perform a continuous sleep study on myself, help mediate/console 2 friends who are dating/like each other but being stupid so I'm being the good friend who listens and tries to help, AND still dealing with my own emotional shortcomings. Ok got the picture? Simple enough? Good. OH! And I planned out the rest of my classes for the rest of college in order to be prepared and efficient for class registration, which is tomorrow for me.

So I did what I had to do and I buckled down, studying and working on everything while trying to be a good friend for these two love birds. Now I think the earliest I ever got to sleep this past week was 3 in the morning, and I woke up at 8 every day, so my body was really pushing its limits. I didn't really feel stressed out in the beginning of the week, which is normal for me. You know me better than anyone, so you know that I'm pretty calm under pressure and don't panic, which I just consciously realized is all God. I always knew that everything I did wasn't by my own strength and that I am extremely blessed and favored, but it never really registered in me that the reason for my stress-free life is because I have faith in God that he will take care of me and everything will work out in accordance with his plan and if God provides for the birds, why would he not provide for his own beloved children. So that was pretty cool to actively know that. Now back from my sermon of the week to our previously scheduled programming. Totally ok during the week, and then Thursday hit. I was feeling like crap, like actual crap, no figure of speech there or excuse to include some profanity, I was really not feeling well. But I had already asked Nidhi if she wanted to go get breakfast that day at 9 because I haven't had a real breakfast in forever. I ate like 3 bites before I started to feel worse. So we do breakfast and then move to go do work. Standard stuff, studying, tried to eat a lil something for lunch, couldn't. So I went back to the house and kept studying until I finished the notes and felt like I had an ok grasp on the material. Later that day, my friend Jordan came over and we were studying together and she would ask me a question about something, but I just had no idea how to answer, so we moved on to the practice test which we both usually do pretty well on. But we couldn't even make it past the first question without having to look everything up and I was getting really frustrated at that point because I had been studying for over a week. Now at this same point in time, in addition to the friends in love problem thing, I was getting frustrated with myself over this whole Jaynie situation because I'm me and I haven't told her how I feel and it has been eating at me for a bit and she has been busy so we hadn't been talking a lot and you know how I get attached to the people around me, so not talking to one of my favorite people was pretty frustrating. And we were talking at the time of my failure to even attempt the practice test and I was telling her that I was getting frustrated amongst other things. She asked me what was wrong and if I wanted to talk about it, and I said yes and no because it’s complicated and I wanted to tell her everything but it’s hard to tell her some of the reason for my anxiety was because of her and my feelings for her so that worsened things on my end because she could tell I was losing it, so she used my own advice I gave to her earlier that week against me that I needed to talk to someone and not internalize my feelings. So at that point I kinda just lost it and left the house to go on a walk. I was gonna call you because I tell you everything, but it was like 1 in the morning at that point and you were asleep, and I was gonna call my dad because he and my brother have a close relationship and I know that he will always be up and willing to listen and give me some advice, but I didn't do any of that. Instead I called Jaynie. I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew that I had to hear her voice. Luckily she answered, and I was initially just gonna call and say thanks for helping me through it and that I was gonna call my dad afterwards, but I never did and we ended up talking for a little bit and it felt really good. She knew that the best way to calm me down was to ask me about other stuff like the crappy dodgeball game and some other stuff to get my mind off things and it was really just what I needed. We didn't really address anything else major, even though I really wanted to bring us up, but I didn't and after we were done on the phone she sent me nice text telling me that I always had someone to call and that I don't always have to be perfect. So outta my ashes of a first mental breakdown came some solace and some good in that one call. But yeah, that was my week.

As for this upcoming week, I'm pleased to announce that Jaynie will be coming back for the weekend because I invited her! Nidhi is dancing in the Diwali showcase on Saturaday, which is an Indian festival thing and she is super excited to do it, so I figured it would be a nice surprise if her best friend came into town to see her dance. But we are ALSO going to another concert after Nidhi’s dance and that is gonna be fun because we know the band personally. More on them later in the recommendations. And so we had this all set up to surprise Nidhi, but things kinda got twisted around logistically, so we had to tell Nidhi about it since Jaynie is gonna be staying the weekend with her and she didn't wanna just blindside her like that, so I told Nidhi what was going on and she was so happy, so I'm pretty excited for this weekend for 2 reasons, which are pretty obvious and need no further words ;). The only thing I have to get done this week is to write a research paper for Friday, but I think that’ll be ok. Life is on the upswing right now.

Ok recommendation: this band we are seeing is called Arlie, and the guitarist was the RA of the floor my friends and I hung out on all the time last year in Memorial and we are good friends with him. But they just signed a record deal, and they have their single out on Spotify right now and it is actually decently popular with like over a million listens already, so check out Arlie and their single because I think you would enjoy it. Question of the week: have you ever thought about watching Silicon Valley on HBO? I have seen the first episode and am wondering if you would like to watch with me? Oh, I also have watched all of the Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3 play throughs on IGN, so praise the sun for that!! Now that I have once again plot dumped on you, I bid thee farewell.

With all my love,

the doc

P.S. - don't forget to tell Dev happy birthday!!

#arlie #diwali #firstmentalbreakdown #itisdone

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innisffree-blog · 7 years

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2016

beginning: 2016 is shiny and new tommy and special k and liam--we drink tea and cuddle sem2 begins, ugh I dislike physics i dislike class idislike work (sorting leaves, grinding dirt) BUT there is late night penguin sliding in the arb, loitering about town, Sammy slamma jamma I grow closer to the mounge people we are so annoying and terrible as a group (sd io kds sm nm sp sb pl. nb. ss jp ck. ns sd sk sh ab. etc etc) but I like being a part of this and being emancipated from the cove, an increasingly toxic place Lovely lovely people but I think glory hates me and this is an internal barrier i hate physics i dislike class i hate work (I’m not getting paid for this shit wtf) but i keep going bc “It’s all about the experience.” -Sujay Sarah + wilbur, I do not like wilbur for many reasons. i start to feel weird about sarah, my sister figure. she didn’t even tell me. glory definitely hates me, no one wants to own up to it barrier grows: • the fucking tshirts • the special fucking breakfast club • the fucking group message barrier grows, I shrink. trying to claw my way out. took a risk, made a mistake (to be cont.)  soc anx creeps back in at increasing pace I am failing physics. v day song with Nathan is a seemingly insignificant bright point dark point=all the hours I spent sorting dirt in the lab and the horror and embarrassment that is being a lowly freshman in research time goes on soccer I want to be friends with grace and Hannah etc!! Talk with grace and jon before we all move out and they were like duh we felt the same about you and this makes me disappointed and pleased at the same time, there is hope for next year w these cool people (I’ve regressed to having friend crushes) passed physics, passed everything, survived the anxiety attacks, goodbye for now umich, lessons learned jeez sem2=done, year1=done bordines! I like it there, watering flowers and rescuing snails for money. FL Cameron hates me fr now. Still don’t know why. Picnic w Mack to get back in the groove of clarkston life, she has changed a bit ROCK CAMP ROCK CAMP ROCK CAMP  (june 10 - july 10) I meet ~22 strangers in an Ann Arbor ally and we depart for Wyoming. After 3 days of driving, we arrive as a family. I love it already, minus the altitudesickness. we laugh a lot and have a good time in the mountains. i like these people a lot but especially Brady and jack b and ***MERYN WHIMSY CAMPBELL*** she is a jewel, she is a ray of sunshine, she is a princess in overalls. why did I try to reject her at first? she is so generous with her love that I couldn’t keep her out. I learned the biggest lesson of 2016 from her and she doesn’t even know it. climb a giant loaf of bread in the middle of the night to see the moonrise, barefoot & blind & by myself, a “risky bitch” -Loafie Sutz I see my shadow miles away in the sunrise on that spire thing 3 weeks in: kinda blow up and leave, walk into the wilderness by myself (bad) and swim to an island where I climb a big boulder and make new friends. I calm down. The Grand Nips are the most beautiful place I have ever spent a month, but I never want to see another minivan in my life. I (Pepino) feel at home outside. Caterpillar fights, bfast burritos, stars. Don’t want to leave. back to Michigan to rot. Try to go to mopop with Alaina but sell my ticket to sean during unnecessary study visit to A2 for the class I eventually drop out of. Sushi with sarah (sarah - Wilbur = i’m so happy abt this event that breaks her heart, I am a selfish friend) Calc ii eats me alive, I give up. More rotting. pentwater w fam, Meryn shows up. golf ball incident: I let myself blow up at dad, but Lauren is there and Alan is there and I come back feeling stronger. more rotting in clarkston. sem3! year2! I’m a mentor! so good to see everyone, I begin to appreciate Nicco a lot, become good friends with kastriot (another jewel) and others (matt and jon, etc), trash candy in nicco’s room and HOLY SHIT I love Alex so much, she is another sister figure. It's foreign to have friends who are girls. so excited abt life in mrc, living with Sarah is good and bad. happy. CONFIRMED(co Nicco): glory hates me EXPLANATION: im too friendly(?????) stumble upon ivy and shouri and keilah and I learn more abt this, they hate glory now, I fucking won the battle w my patience and kindness lolol (I hope she's moved on, I feel neutral about her)(drama is foreign to me) get rejected from EH Things are good, hanging out w old crew and rock camp ppl and the boy who i Like and needs to stop acting as though he Likes me too, v misleading sean’s bday @ the trap house / wolf shirts Housing 2017 is a mess, I am a mess :’| this issue is the tip o' the yikesburg FALL BREAK oct 15 -going up to backpack at pictured rocks with camp ppl, but I realized that I don’t rlly fit w them and also they are s l o w so I split and hike alone for 13 miles in one day, oct 16 ****this is the best day of my life**** screaming and yelling out to Lake Superior in pure joy almost falling off the cliff, seeing aaron on the trail, passing the starburst men, getting lost in a soggy forest after dark (kept my cool), getting picked up by Alan: muddy, bleeding, sweaty, thirsty, wielding a knife (Pepino the Risky Bitch™ is back) high on the sublime beauty of oct 16, 2016 oct 17 - study day, drive around Marquette with my boy tommy, climb around on an abandoned aqueduct, talk about life/love. I am so grateful for this brother of mine. oct 18- south! Pasties are gross oct 19 - bad stats test (50%) (how am I this dumb?) (everything is bad again) (this is the beginning of the descent) I stop going to class bc I can’t get out of bed. I haven’t seen my friends in forever. I don’t have friends anymore. I am trapped in my room/head. I want to die. Dropping orgo Failing stats Dropping/failing friends I want this to end. I want to jump out the window of 479 jo and fall like that raven off the cliffs. I want to pull a Chris McCandless, but I don’t have a car. Alex makes everything better by not telling me that everything is going to get better. she’s been there, she’s failed. I love having her around. Bond with tim and eduardo (woops) and alec and jiten at Chris’s house, but sober erin remembers the barriers I’ve lived on this earth for two whole decades!!(Failed a test on the same day) sad bday churros w Lauren, spent the night on the floor at her place. Meryn brought me oranges and a book about glaciers <33 seds is taking up too much of my time but it’s kinda nice. stubborn boy named haydar tries to bring me pad thai and I say no but we become pen pals anyway, now he knows too much. a good character in my life. Nicco takes an absolute SHIT on me - with one statement he discredits all the friendships I thought I had at umich. It isnt a big deal to him, it’s in the past, but it isn’t for me. barrier is complete. The ghost of glory lives on. Same day- Lauren storms out (why doesn’t she want equality??? I thought she had changed) and Kastriot picks up the pieces Time goes on, erin fails stats sem3=done, but a waste of time/resources. I hate myself. Clarkston grandma is drunk and sad Alan is there with Lauren I am kind of there pickling eggs w Mack– I still love her but man oh man she has changed Royal w tommy and nick new years at konrad’s abandoned ghost house, liam dangles me over possibly the last of the giant ass bonfires, graffiti in the barn loft. learned some stuff about konrad, but he is truly a starfish among urchins. Faith in friendship is restored by him and others and myself. I think I’ll stop hating myself now. 2017 will be shiny and new end

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sumergosuigeneris · 7 years

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May 22, 2017

Still haven’t heard from anyone regarding jobs or grad school. Grr.....

I’m actually starting to get frustrated. I’ve done research at an R1 on a volunteer basis. There was only so much I was allowed to do b/c I was a visitor and an undergrad. I could only be there 15 hours a week bc of my work schedule and my mentor’s 9-6p schedule. I did a bunch of research at my undergrad institute but could only go so far b/c not only did I really get the mentoring support, or good projects, but I also didn’t even get real supply support. Like when I worked with lasers, I couldn’t even get my mentor to buy green protective glasses - he said there was no money in the dept budget b/c the orgo people got it all. So I mean, I COULD try to volunteer in another lab (or for another fucking year in this lab). I MIGHT have more autonomy given that I now have a bachelor’s degree. But.....And everyone I’ve spoken to says, ‘don’t worry about the grades, it’s about the research.’ It seems to me the only thing I can do at this point is take more courses and get good grades. It’s extremely frustrating to me. I try to do what people tell me to do to climb out of my hole but I never get out. I feel like if I was younger, prettier, blond, a guy, maybe not a POC, people would be more willing to give me the benefit of the doubt or do more or let me do more. I can’t even believe I said that. I NEVER would have said that before. But what else is there at this point? What else can I do? No other mentors or mentorish people have given me any other suggestions on what to do.

I’m really frustrated in advance of being rejected by this one school, b/c I’ve had, several times now, directors talk with me and tell me to apply and that I have a good chance. Why tell me if you’re going to reject me? But at this point, fuck you. B/c I can do everything you can do, and in the case of R3′s I can do it BETTER as an UNDERGRAD. I’ll get a fucking job, get a fucking master’s, however long it takes, and get into a fucking PhD program.

But I’m sick and tired of not qualifying for undergrad opportunities, then when I finally graduate, I still don’t qualify for post-grad opportunities. And now, even though everyone told me once I got my bachelor’s it wouldn’t matter that it wasn’t technically in chemistry, I have to justify why I don’t have a bachelor’s in chemistry. And I have to LIE about it! I have to lie and not say it’s because of discrimination (personal against me as a personality, as well as the violating the ADA kind), it’s b/c of my schedule. When the fuck do I get to take off the millstone around my fucking neck?!

Watching the Scandal finale. Apparently it’s gonna fuck me up. At the moment, I was just thrilled to see a female president sworn in. The finale doesn’t make sense. Like, it did for the period of the finale. But then when I started thinking about it, nope.

I started thinking about some things that I’ve thought of before, but it came up b/c of someone I follow on twitter. She was talking about how poor her childhood was. I was poor as a child but it was a much different poor. So last night I put some thought into it, which I have before, but I feel like I need to put it on paper. I was the child of a single mother. One without a college degree. We were poor. She worked two jobs, 60-80 or even more hours per week most of my life. I do believe that kept us up. But as an adult, knowing my expenses, and ours from childhood, I’ve always wondered if we really had to be THAT poor. We rented a 3 bedroom in a house. A nice apartment. It made sense when my grandfather lived with us, but we should have moved. We could have gone to the library instead of buying books from the bookstore. We could have cooked more instead of eating out (which is actually a common issue for poor people that work too much). I mean my mother was bad with finances. If she had been better, we would have been better off. If she didn’t want to live outside the ghetto, which we did until I was 6(?), we would have been better off. We could have saved money, not gotten in debt, and then maybe she wouldn’t have had to work so damn hard. Because I think she made a relatively decent salary, simply b/c she had the same job for 28 years. I mean, if she had job-hopped she would have made more. But me being aware of her salary came after she had been in a job for many years, so I don’t really know how tough it was when she first started working there. Anyway, I know a few times when I contributed to bad financial decisions but after many many years of therapy I can finally wonder why she even listened to me? I was a damn child. So anyway, I was wondering if poverty due to bad choices really counts as the same as poverty due to other circumstances.

Finally, this has been weighing on me, but it finally came out from the trip to MN combined with RHOA. It always bothers me when people call me white. I feel like it minimizes me and who I am and my identity and my experiences. But I learned the ‘one drop’ concept of racism, so I always thought of myself as Latina. A bad latina for sure, but nevertheless latina. It wasn’t until this Claudia chick was on RHOA that it ever occurred to me to call myself biracial. I am, by definition, biracial. It just never occurred to me to see myself that way. I guess b/c I think of that in terms of black and white issues. Lord love me, I don’t know why things that are obvious don’t occur to me. In those terms, me feeling bad when people call me white, is really also about me rejecting a part of myself.

And finally, I feel less legit as a Native American. This came up this weekend when I saw a particular map being sold at a shop that was all Native tribes of the US. It’s the oddest thing, but maps and histories of the Native tribes of the New England area are just not accurate. It’s one thing if the white people or mainstream America get it wrong, but if the indigenous people do too? What’s up with that?

Depending on some of the histories I’ve read, a bunch of smaller, possibly unnamed tribes came together or was assigned a group name of Paugussett. I might be spelling it wrong. But according to other histories, that was never a real tribal name. All I know is that my people lost most land until there were two parcels of reservations, Golden Hill and Turkey Hill. No idea how the people got split into the two groups. But eventually, someone decided to shut down the Turkey Hill reservation and then none of my relatives lived on a reservation. I don’t know if some of them went over to Golden Hill or what. But it just bothers me that other mainstream indigenous groups around the country don’t know what’s what in my neck of the woods. It makes me feel like we aren’t validated by others and that makes me feel invalid. So there you go.

fuck me

#me

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realtalk-princeton · 7 years

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I just got a likely letter from Harvard and was accepted SCEA to Princeton. I seriously do not know what to do. How did you guys decide Princeton was the best choice, and why? Thx

Response from Amygdala:

First think about what academics you are interested. If you want to be an engineer for example, Princeton is objectively better. I am sure Harvard is better for other things, idk what they are. Maybe premed/prelaw?

The most important thing to do is to visit them, get a feel for the campus and talk to students there. Honestly, I think Harvard feels super strange. The campus feels like it has no personality and everyone is pretending to be Harvard students, if that makes any sense? I’ve gone there two or three times with the band and it’s a really bizarre feeling that I don’t experience at any other school.

Also think about setting, Princeton is decidedly suburban whereas Harvard has very easy access to Boston. Neither is objectively better than the other, just think about where you feel you would be happiest.

Ultimately you can’t really make a wrong choice, but I hope this might give you something to think about as you do more research and visit.

Response from Maybach Renntech:

I remember being in your shoes. Man time flies. But anyways, I got accepted into Brown, Princeton, Cornell, Penn, and Williams. My decision to come to Princeton rested on several factors. First of all the campus and feeling of the student body. I really didn’t want to live directly in a city, I wanted a suburban feeling. I like having a nice, quiet, area, with a small number of people where I I always see someone I know when I go around. I wanted the social scene and activities to be focused on campus. And no absurd fraternity level drinking. Some people (like my friend at Columbia) may think that’s boring and you may be one of them so consider that when choosing. I find that a lot of NYC people don’t like the campus and miss the city. I personally love it, and even when I want the city, it’s only an hour away. Second, Princeton has a very small undergraduate population and an even smaller graduate population. Professors here are really here for the undergrads, we get a lot of attention, and we have very good support for us. I have had lecturers who never got promoted because they care about teaching more than publishing. Harvard on the other hand, has more graduates than undergraduates and you can easily be forgotten. One of my friends at Harvard told me “you really have to put yourself out there” and also that several professors don’t really want to teach undergrads. They just have to as part of their duties as professors. I also really wanted a liberal arts education, which made me turn down Wharton.

Now for some arguments against Princeton in favor of Harvard. First of all the thesis and requirements. Princeton is objectively harder than Harvard and that may affect you decision depending on how much you want inflated grades, your attitude, and your ability to handle anxiety and stress. This shouldn’t be the only factor, but it’s worth saying that it’s probably easier to experience the non-academic rewards of college at Harvard. At Princeton, about 1/3rd of all students say that are overwhelmed academically, socially, emotionally, etc. At Harvard, it’s like 20%. That’s not to say Harvard is a joke. The best way I can sum it up is that at Harvard if you work your hardest in a course you will be rewarded with an A, at Princeton if you work your hardest you can still end up with a B. If you want to come to Princeton, you shouldn’t have an attitude that you’ll still be number 1 in everything, that you need to get all A’s, and you’ll get accepted into most of the clubs you apply for. Princeton takes people down a notch, while Harvard tends to inflate egos further. This leads to another issue which is if you want to go to grad school. I know it may make some people uncomfortable, but Harvard is better if you are pre-med for example. Med-schools like the highest grades possible. Princeton will put you at a disadvantage and you’ll have to work harder to the point of insanity for some people if you want to be in good shape. Of course there are exceptions (like Nick), but they are in the minority and there’s no way to predict how you will fare here as a pre-frosh.

There’s a reason why our (and UChicago and Columbia) pre-med acceptance rate is so high. It’s because the advisors tell a huge number of prospective pre-meds to not even apply because they have no chance. They get weeded out. As someone who comes from a family of doctors let me also tell you this. Nobody cares where you did you undergraduate degree if you want to be a doctor. Med school, residency, and fellowships are 10 times more important. I can only recommend Princeton to a pre-med if they want that excellent liberal arts experience, they will be able to handle the rigor to get the necessary grades and still have a life, the campus, and because they got a good financial aid package. This is because it makes no sense to pay more money for worse grades. You could go to a good state school, l take it easy and get into a top Med school with good MCAT scores. In this case Harvard is probably less stressful. But there are numerous other things to consider. I just scratched the surface. My advice is to keep talking to real students (NOT TOUR GUIDES) and find both the good and bad and see which matches your preferences the best. As Amygdala said, there’s no wrong choice.

Response from Nick Carraway:

Just want to add the ‘successful premed perspective.’ Don’t count Princeton out because you’re premed or prelaw. Med schools and law schools know that Princeton is one of the most rigorous institutions in the country. Though our average premed GPA might be slightly lower than that of Harvard’s, our premed acceptance rate is likely almost equivalent. HPA (that’s health professions advising; the advising system for premeds here) publishes statistics on the average GPAs of Princeton students that get accepted into all the top medical schools each year. Take Harvard med, for example (highly-ranked, consistently top 3). The average GPA of all students accepted to Harvard med is a 3.94. When you look at the average GPA of Princeton students accepted to Harvard med in the past 5 years, it’s a 3.83. This is the case for all of the top med schools. I agree, this place is hard as hell. But if you apply yourself and are serious about the premed path, you can be more than successful here. I don’t know if I agree with the above assertion that all the premeds get ‘weeded out.’ Is this not the case at every school in classes like orgo and biochem? Most of the premeds I know here are succeeding, even if they’re not hitting a 4.0.

#deciding #harvard #premed #grade deflation

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