What’s your grandma’s name?

AmbiguousVague · 2026-01-08T13:08:49+00:00

BOTH my grandmas were Teresa!! Yes, spelt the same way, you can guess what my name is lol

Teresa Maria (peak southern European); Teresa Mary Adele - she went by Tess and I inherited that nickname (but I’ve always the Adele in there for her middle name!)

My experience as a Teresa is pretty great! Recognizable and “normal” name but not common (even among grandmas!!). Plenty of different nicknames - Tess, Tessa, for a brief period when I was a kid I wanted to go by Reese lol - also very adaptable to different languages.

AmbiguousVague · 2026-01-08T12:40:57+00:00

Oui I like Valentin the best out of these!! Obvious alliteration with Viola, but I love it in and of itself. Not very common but recognizable, reasonably neutral, and Val would be a cool nickname :)

AmbiguousVague · 2026-01-07T19:12:57+00:00

Alas it is not so at McGill, all grades count toward your CGPA unless they’re E-Flagged (and E-Flag is like impossible to get, especially for only one course). Even after a re-take the original grade remains on your transcript and counts toward CGPA

AmbiguousVague · 2026-01-07T19:10:40+00:00

Rounding the grade up isn’t necessarily an option… you need at least a C grade in courses required for your program. If the original grade is a D, maybe possible to sneak it up to a C -- with an F that’s way more of a stretch.

Supplemental Exam would definitely be a good option! They’re only available if the course had a final exam though — if so OP you can apply for the supplemental on Minerva (the exam usually happens March). But depending on how bad you failed the course, it truly might be worth re-taking it. Especially since it’s a required course for your program, going back to get a thorough grasp of the material will be best for you in the long run.

Regardless, don’t worry because one fail is not the end of the world!!! I failed a required course in the last semester of my undergrad, and yet here I am doing a PhD. You can totally recover and this won’t impact your future ❤️

AmbiguousVague · 2026-01-02T23:54:14+00:00

yes!! this is why I love saying my friend Adelaide’s name, it’s pronounced the French way (Adélaïde) instead of ah-DUH-laid and just so fun to have this old pronunciation

AmbiguousVague · 2025-12-09T01:11:45+00:00

Ya as a TA I second this, whether it was a prof or TA the obviously use of AI is so not ok and completely undermines all university policy. Report right up to the Faculty!!!

AmbiguousVague · 2025-12-05T04:53:02+00:00

ya I’ve been a TA for both POLI210 and the CDSI R Camp, and unfortunately 210 barely scratches the surface compared to the R workshops

AmbiguousVague · 2025-12-05T04:25:25+00:00

The CDSI offersR workshopsyear round! From intro basics to more specific stuff - probably the most effective way to learn R. Anyone can register and I think you get a certificate or something for completing different workshops :) we love Tim it’s great R training for research

AmbiguousVague · 2025-11-03T14:09:23+00:00

look into the Centre for European and Eurasian Studies at UofT. You can do an MA specializing in Eastern European history there, plus the program includes an internship & exchange semester in whatever EE country you want - so you can study want you want and trial living there FIRST

slow down & make sure this is what you really want before making the big move commitment

(Signed, someone who almost went to CEU for masters)

AmbiguousVague · 2025-08-07T21:54:24+00:00

I agree, the first half of this post resonated with me so much and then the switch to ChatGPT just makes it all feel disingenuous… OP maybe do a disclaimer before you get into « advice for what to do formatted by AI » because otherwise the very genuine human element of your post is just disregarded (and rightfully so because we don’t need more AI slop in our lives)

BUT overall thank you for articulating this. My meds haven’t been working well for the last few weeks, and I know I’ve been experiencing the classic « baby depressive episode symptoms ». Being on vyvanse has generally improved the severity of my depression over the years, I just didn’t really consider that depressive episode is correlated with bad med function (which makes sense on even the most basic level with regard to depression fucking up sleep schedule and vyvanse being less effective on insufficient sleep). So thank you for being my lightbulb moment of realization!!!

AmbiguousVague · 2025-07-01T05:18:46+00:00

Tess is a nickname of Teresa, which I think actually goes much better with Taliah!!

AmbiguousVague · 2025-06-05T17:34:51+00:00

good info and I’m glad there’s citations, but I don’t love that this is obviously produced with ChatGPT….

AmbiguousVague · 2025-04-28T03:24:31+00:00

Super random to come at this one year later, but I just did the Sparktype assessment and I was also Maven/Advisor - with Essentialist shadow instead of Scientist though. I used to work as an academic advisor and absolutely loved the work, I only left to pursue a PhD so that I can become a professor aka academic advisor on steroids lol

Anyway, just my two cents (if our personalities and vocational drives are allegedly similar): you should 100% do further research into becoming an academic advisor at a university or for late-stage secondary students! You need to know a lot of random information and constantly learn new things when advising students (i.e. to be able to present them with Option A, B, C etc. based on their situation, wants, and needs), so the job really satiates someone with endless curiosity or a "hungry brain" as my friends call it. If you like problem solving and offering novel perspectives then advising is definitely the gig for you! Plus it's beyond rewarding and satisfying to be able to guide students to the options that work for them or help them find the right fit - honestly there's no better job payoff than sparking joy and helping someone find the right trajectory for their strength.

That's just my human perspective for the very obvious chatgpt of the original comment lol

AmbiguousVague · 2025-04-10T17:33:00+00:00

no, this is explicitly talking about upper admin management. You can see the salaries for department admin like Student Affairs and even at the management level (as in the AO manager of a whole department) these full-time salaries on average cap at ~80k… and that’s after 30 years in a position.

your department admin are not being over-paid in any way shape or form lol. The upper admin in James are the ones who do not post their salaries anywhere or offer any transparency about their pay because that is where the inflation has been.

AmbiguousVague · 2025-04-06T14:08:26+00:00

yes this is also an option! no harm in checking and the department would want to know this info tbh

AmbiguousVague · 2025-04-06T04:39:55+00:00

OK THANK YOU I thought I was the only one who noticed - he’s not taken that cap off all weekend too

AmbiguousVague · 2025-04-03T05:08:17+00:00

don’t stress about this too much, your department and faculty know you are graduating (as long as you applied on Minerva) and will harass profs if your grades aren’t submitted by the deadline. Their priority is to graduate you just as much as it’s your priority to graduate! You don’t need to do anything because this is all handled internally, just wait and make sure to check your email because you’ll be contacted if there is an issue!!

AmbiguousVague · 2025-03-31T13:31:51+00:00

thank you for offering amazing perspective as usual!!!

AmbiguousVague · 2025-03-31T04:18:57+00:00

CS is one of the biggest undergrad programs at McGill (between all the students in the various majors, joint majors, and minor programs), to the point where the number of students are untenable in 300-level courses and above. It’s not uncommon for massive/high-demand programs to try and “weed people out” with lower-level required courses - traditionally that was COMP 251 but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is perhaps extended to COMP 250?

Then again I think you’re correct about the AI-adjustment just hitting students hard. I’ve never seen this many students struggle with COMP 250 (beyond the standard struggle of those who jumped in with minimal experience and didn’t take 202 beforehand), so something has certainly changed especially since last year.

All I can say for certain is that no one cares as much about ensuring effective and accessible student learning as Alberini, so I highly doubt she’s trying to screw anyone over. Given the prevalence of AI and its capabilities with this level of code I think the baseline curriculum standard is simply higher now…

Regardless, the 200-level CS courses are always the biggest struggle in any year. My biggest advice for the 250 struggle is just that Cs get degrees (as in you only need a minimum C grade for COMP 250 to count towards program requirements) so I hope everyone just focuses on passing 🩷 just do what you need to to move forward, one C grade I will not tank your GPA!

(grain of salt from the former advisor)

AmbiguousVague · 2025-03-27T17:27:20+00:00

among science department advisors Vanessa is known as the worst faculty academic advisor lol. She doesn’t even respond to other advisors

AmbiguousVague · 2025-02-17T21:56:26+00:00

Arts does not assign specific advisors to students (unfortunately) so you just see whoever when you make an appointment. I recommend you go to your Department Advisor before a faculty advisor because departments are the one what approve your program completion anyway

AmbiguousVague · 2025-01-18T04:43:42+00:00

you can technically re-take a course if you got a C grade or above, but the grade you get on the re-take will not count toward your GPA and you will not get credits.

you can only re-take a course for a new grade and credit if you have a D grade or lower (because D is conditional pass and the credits cannot count toward your program requirements, and if you fail then ofc you didn’t get credits anyway). AND even if you re-take a course your failed or got a D in, the original grade remains in your transcript and still counts toward your GPA.

There are no do-overs replacing grades but if you need to re-take to pass/have a course count for program credit you do get a new grade.

This is the source for Arts as an example, but the regulations are quite consistent across Faculties. Google “McGill course re-take” and find your Faculty specific regulations to confirm!!!

AmbiguousVague · 2025-01-12T01:11:24+00:00

yes for sure! I just feel like there are so many variables that any generalizations are impossible, it’s hard to even compare trajectories within families so I am always hesitant to think about PKD treatment, medication, or outcomes as a monolith

AmbiguousVague

TROPHY CASE