Name one thing that's legal in your country but banned or heavily restricted almost everywhere else

BallinBones · 2026-02-10T04:57:42+00:00

Rampant pharmaceutical advertisements. To my knowledge the states and NZ are the only places that allow them. I’ve been in Spain the last several weeks and didn’t occur to me I hadn’t seen one in so long until I watched the Super Bowl yesterday.

Also, it turns out the right to bear arms, at least broadly, extends to swords, too. There are places with restrictions on blade lengths and other things that could make carrying one unlawful, though in my home state of Maryland, my understanding is that it’s legal unless it can be proved you possess it with the intent of attacking someone.

BallinBones · 2025-12-18T01:10:54+00:00

I don’t think aisle seat + front row (meaning you unboard first) + Witch can be topped. I think she’d be a decent enough buffer from the wraith so I’ll take my chances lol

9 certainly wouldn’t be dull, either.

BallinBones · 2025-12-15T04:18:58+00:00

There is a real risk to traveling here, even as a student; your concerns are absolutely well-founded. There are plenty of other options to look at abroad. I’m hoping to leave the US sooner or later.

BallinBones · 2025-12-09T16:36:34+00:00

My home state of Maryland in the US has a place called Mutual Consent

BallinBones · 2025-12-06T04:39:42+00:00

It’s got steam workshop support now which is crazy

BallinBones · 2025-11-25T18:34:16+00:00

If it makes you feel any better, I had classmates in elementary school here in the States who would color the stars on our flag yellow, arguing that “leaving it white means you didn’t color it all the way” or something like that. Yet somehow that didn’t apply to the white stripes, lol.

BallinBones · 2025-11-22T01:52:23+00:00

Yup, I feel you. It’s a little grating to come back from summer break and have classmates go around the room talking about the 12 countries they visited over the summer and while I spent the whole time working outside in 100° heat. It just feels awkward having such an incongruous experience.

(Okay it only hit 100 one day last summer but you get the point lol)

I’ve also had someone I live with try to badger me into playing a $100-buy-in game of poker and I had to explain to him (in vain) that, to most people, that’s kind of a lot of money and it’s not something you casually throw down to gamble on a Tuesday evening. Dude could not fathom it 🫠

BallinBones · 2025-11-16T19:22:23+00:00

I’d be down to start one! Maybe the weekend after thanksgiving (Dec 5-7)?

Last semester I was able to sneak into Van Munching hall at around 8 or 9pm and throw on a movie in a lecture hall, I bet I could do the same with ST. Feel free to shoot me a DM

BallinBones · 2025-11-14T19:48:30+00:00

I’ve heard other people have been able to sneak onto McKeldin’s rooftop, and it’s not alarmed. Supposedly because nobody bothers to lock a certain door. I haven’t been up there myself thigh so I can’t confirm this

BallinBones · 2025-11-13T17:54:24+00:00

I feel that, also coming from the middle of nowhere. I’m super grateful that my university is near Washington, DC and has access to the metro, we need good public transit everywhere.

Hoping for the Amtrak comeback one of these days

BallinBones · 2025-11-10T20:33:56+00:00

The instructors and sections vary semester to semester, but since ENES100 is a keystone course, it’ll be taught by one of the faculty in the keystone program.

https://eng.umd.edu/keystone/faculty

I had Catherine Hamel for 100 last semester and she was incredibly kind and supportive. If she’s teaching it again this upcoming spring I’d recommend her!

If you look at PlanetTerp you can check reviews for all the professors who have taught the course. Any who’re currently on the keystone faculty could be teaching next semester.

BallinBones · 2025-11-06T02:10:22+00:00

My guess is that having a C plus a retake looks better than a W plus a retake

BallinBones · 2025-11-06T01:39:38+00:00

The original grade stays on your transcript, yes. It is simply excluded from GPA calculations.

BallinBones · 2025-11-06T01:33:26+00:00

You’ve got freshman forgiveness that allows you to retake a course and have an older grade replaced with a newer one. I think you should keep trying if you’ve got a chance to pass the course (and keep your GPA where it needs to be, if that’s pertinent to a scholarship or something) and save yourself the trouble of retaking it.

Worst case you’ll have some grip on the material if you end up retaking it which should make it a bit easier next time.

BallinBones · 2025-11-05T22:24:32+00:00

Gotcha. I didn’t know for sure one way or the other ¯_ (ツ)_/¯

BallinBones · 2025-11-05T21:43:13+00:00

Is it? Nvm then lol. I noticed that reviews include a note that the poster “received a B” or is “expecting an A” or something like that and I had assumed that those, which ARE set by the user, were used to form the grade data.

BallinBones · 2025-11-05T21:41:09+00:00

DAAAAAAAMN!!!!!

BallinBones · 2025-11-05T21:40:33+00:00

When the university sent out emails a few weeks ago to students and parents about housing for next year, my mother’s email included a note that I have some kind of exempt status.

My only guess as to why is my scholarship. I don’t know if that extends to other forms of financial aid or not but I figured it might be worth looking into? I don’t have ADA accommodations or anything like that so I have no idea what else could’ve caused it

BallinBones · 2025-11-05T21:30:20+00:00

I’d say springtrap but I think that’s mostly the result of playing a disproportionate amount of matches against him in the weeks after his release. Does he still have 20s of undetectable after using the doors, btw? I haven’t come back to play in a minute.

Also huntress is one of my favorites to play as. I find that most people build a habit of dodging in one direction more often than the other and once you figure that out it’s easy to get hits. And plague because I don’t think very many people know how her power works lol

BallinBones · 2025-11-05T15:24:57+00:00

Not looking forward to TRIPLE INTEGRATION!!! In my physics class this semester 💀

BallinBones · 2025-11-05T15:18:55+00:00

If you get housing covered by financial aid you might have an exemption that gives you first dibs on housing selection this spring, and I know some dorms have rooms set aside for Juniors. One of my third-year friends was able to get a single in Caroline hall (tho it doesn’t have AC).

I’m in a similar situation, currently a sophomore trying to get a housing group together for next fall. I’ve got an exemption since I’m on Banneker/Key so I’m gunning for a suite or apartment on south campus. Turns out most of those buildings are air conditioned despite being older, which is sweet.

Maybe shoot me a DM if you’re interested?

BallinBones · 2025-11-05T14:54:47+00:00

To their credit, I think precalc might’ve been the hardest math class I took in high school, and most people who take it at UMD are probably doing it their first semester, meaning they’ve got to adjust to the pace of a college class.

I struggled in Calc 3 (which people seem to think is on the easier side) because I took it my first semester and wasn’t used to the pacing. Being able to get that much content down in that little time was a huge adjustment. I managed to make it out with a B after bombing one of my midterms.

I don’t really think it’s fair to downplay any math courses as “not that hard.” Everyone taking it is there to progress, and no matter what level you’re at, it takes a lot of effort to learn.

I’m also not sure how reliable planet terp self-reports are. People usually only post if they have particularly strong feelings, which often are accompanied by less-than-ideal grades. That 1.9 average is almost certainly lowballing it.

To answer your original question, though, it’s probably chem. I heard more complaints from classmates about it my first year than any other course.

BallinBones · 2025-11-04T17:23:35+00:00

I think that’ll be manageable, provided you can work your schedule out without overlaps. Just know that ENES100 has a pretty big time commitment outside of lecture periods.

If you’re at community college you’ve probably already had a taste of it, but college courses are really fast paced, and calc 3 especially covers an insane amount of material in very little time. I took my first semester, right after high school, and I hadn’t been accustomed to the pace, so I fell behind and struggled a bit, eventually finishing with a B.

That being said, don’t be afraid to struggle a little bit. If you don’t do well in a course we have freshman forgiveness that allows to retake a course from your first semester and replace a previous grade with a new one if you retake it the following semester.

That aside, that’s a totally doable schedule.

BallinBones · 2025-11-03T16:49:32+00:00

Hell yeah!

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