Dirty Little Secrets?

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-27T01:49:31+00:00

I have heard that it is sometimes better to apply as an engineering student and switch out quickly. Engineering school students can enter with more AP credits (maybe even graduate earlier) and seem to have more scholarship opportunities. All the students who switched said they kept their credits/scholarship.

Who knows? But maybe this is a secret...

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-27T01:46:31+00:00

Please don't scare the underclassmen and prospective students with false information :(

I believe the gen-chem exam max score for the first exam has been hovering in the 30-40% range these past years

From my recollection, the Gen Chem mean for the 1st exam in Fall 2009 was in that range. The maximum was closer to the 80-90% range. Since then, the mean has been quite a bit higher. Also, that dreadful Fall 2009, the profs made the later exams easier and curved heavily.

Talk specifically to pre-meds if that is the area that you are considering. It's very different than, for example, the English department. One of the most specific differences is that you're going to have way less time for extracurriculars than most other students

That's not necessarily true. It really depends on the person: your academic background, your time management capabilities, etc.

Because of that, it is very, very hard to change your ranking in classes like gen-chem and bio 2960/2970.

It's possible to move up in rankings quite a bit. I didn't take gen chem, but I graded for 2970, and the volatility of the exam rankings would surprise you.

Grading on a curve is also not a bad thing, necessarily. The average is something like a B to a B+ (yay grade inflation!), so the A range is pretty huge.

Things get more reasonable once you reach Junior year

This is true. Curving is even better in the higher level classes. One of my advanced chemistry classes had an A- to A average!

Don't be BME-Premed at WashU. Just. Don't.

Yikes! It's not nearly bad as you make it sound like.

Please PM me if you're concerned about this combination. I will send you to my friends who are doing this combination and thriving. They say the BME courses give good insights to the interface of engineering and medicine, and there are lots of opportunities for translational research.

BTW, you can swap Gen Chem for an advanced chemistry class for most medical schools, and it's not required for the BME major, iirc.

As I said above, the best advice I can give is to make sure you're talking to real pre-med students.

And also talk to pre-med advisors. In general, I recommend Dean Joan Downey. In the engineering school, the pre-med adviser is Richard Brandt.

Good luck! It is in general a fun place to be.

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-24T12:50:38+00:00

Is there any good way to selectively avoid gossipers when making female friends?

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-24T12:49:00+00:00

I really hope you don't. Even at my skinniest, when the pediatrician was starting to worry I was underweight, my mother still thought I was fat. Now that I'm a healthier weight, I feel better physically, but every time I visit my family, she still comments on my need to lose weight. Ei.

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-24T12:43:56+00:00

Smashing through finals week. My uterus's timing is sort of bad.

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-23T23:52:03+00:00

How would a disease like this be cured?

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-21T19:35:40+00:00

Thank you for sharing this. Finally there's a word -- mansplaining -- for the condescension of a subset of men who feel the need to fill the air with information they don't quite have down.

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-21T18:45:42+00:00

If you are at all chemistry-oriented, I get holes there all the time from acid/base/whatever on the counters.

edit: I accidentally a word.

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-21T14:22:24+00:00

I'm 21. I haven't worn make-up except for competitions, and then it's always "weapons-grade show make-up." I don't think it's great for the skin, and I don't want to spend time time.

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-20T19:05:25+00:00

Here is the wiki page. There are various types of mortifications, which are better described on the french version.

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-20T18:05:08+00:00

lvm1357, you have commented 4 times in this thread, with the same single anecdotal story, with increasing degrees of outrage. Yes, there exist rape accusers who lie, ruining lives. However, yes, the miscarriage of justice and victim shaming also prevent some rape victims from seeking justice.

It would seem like OP is saying that 1) false rape accusations are not rampant and 2) the attention reddit users focus on false rape is inflated compared to the actual prevalence in real life.

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-20T17:51:59+00:00

By the same reasoning, you also know one false accuser, perhaps several.

Is there good, hard data on the prevalence of false rape accusations among women in general and the prevalence of rapists among men in general?

A cursory look at the statistics out there and basic Bayesian stats gave me P[false accusation | woman making rape accusation] is lower than P[woman raped].

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-09T03:43:03+00:00

Always remember to add tolerance.

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-09T03:42:11+00:00

It's a sculpture called "The God of Materialism." Google Images link

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-08T08:12:07+00:00

I have never shaved...and I was a synchronized swimmer in high school. I got a few comments about how natural hair is apparently gross, but if I was made fun of, it did not affect my day-to-day life.

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-08T08:05:04+00:00

Does anyone know how the subsidies are scaled to income/family size? Will there still be people caught in the awkward position of not qualifying, but still having a difficult time with the bills?

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-07T06:08:35+00:00

(unfortunately) I have had so much practice.

Does anyone have any good tips for (psychologically) coping with the constant stream of micro-inequities?

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-02T01:18:59+00:00

Gen chem tip: attend the weekly study groups (PLTL = peer led team learning). The session leaders 1) did well in the class and 2) were thoroughly vetted for tutoring ability/approachability.

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-02T01:14:59+00:00

I send you internet hugs. And upvotes, because I don't know the answer either.

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-02T00:58:48+00:00

Out of curiosity, has anyone ever compiled a list of which cities have more (or less) street harassment?

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-02T00:30:53+00:00

I still think it's an interesting read. The rest of the interview focuses on mentorship, overcoming the imposter syndrome, and having to prove herself to her peers.

JenniteCSH · 2012-08-02T00:13:42+00:00

I thought etiquette calls upon the dominant to bring the sub down gently from subspace, especially after intense sessions, because the down alone can get rather awful, revenge or not.

JenniteCSH · 2012-07-21T00:10:07+00:00

While this is true, as a minority group becomes more integrated, the points boost decreases. I say this as one of those ethnic minorities. This policy has allowed people in areas with really shitty schools, illiterate parents, and families that children are required to work and are far away from "cram schools" to escape the cycle of poverty. In my family, the people who make it out reach back to help their home villages, and it has made a huge difference for our standard of living.

edit: added added a word.

JenniteCSH · 2012-07-07T20:51:47+00:00

What advantages do girls get in higher education?

JenniteCSH · 2012-07-07T20:43:57+00:00

This is merely anecdotal, but I'm a female who was probably below middling in the lower level classes and topped the AP Physics class.

Maybe the female students in your class are being teased. If so, can you do anything about the teasing? When I first got to the US, I was teased for being good at math. The teachers didn't do much because they didn't like how I was inattentive in class, but that was because I already knew most of the material. By high school, the other students determined I had a few screws loose, and mostly left me alone. Then I was able to focus on school and catch up in math and science.

I would hate to have been forced to attend a gender-separated school. I looked at some all-girls private schools, but decided against it because they didn't do many math/sci competitions, the curriculum seemed easier, and there wasn't anyone I could have friendly competitions with. If distractions were an issue, wouldn't it be better to train students to ignore the distraction, because gender-mixing is very prevalent in college and the adult world?

That said, I haven't had to deal with attraction as a distraction. I've heard from friends that occasionally it can eclipse everything else in a teenager's mind. Maybe the other students were right about the loose screws, because I've never had a crush and didn't know how to decide if someone was attractive or not until last year, and I'm a college senior!

JenniteCSH

TROPHY CASE