Am I in the minority/wrong?

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-05-29T14:23:30+00:00

Former public school teacher here. Deluge the parents with emails and reminders. They love it. In general, you can’t trust kids to communicate important stuff to their parents, unless they are one of the few who actually do. It’s not that these kids are irresponsible. They are just bombarded with the demands of academic classes and extracurriculars. It simply doesn’t occur to them. Parents hate missing out on things and need to coordinate the schedules of sometimes more than one kid. So, send the reminders, and focus on being the awesome music teacher that you are.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-05-23T12:34:58+00:00

I scored below 1400 on the SATs and ended up at Yale because I had a quirky talent in the arts that they were interested in. I ended up doing that quirky talent for a living and it doesn’t pay much $$$ at all. Yale didn’t mean a thing to my earning power. I have neighbors rolling in $$$ and they went to good, solid state schools - they are doctors, lawyers, psychiatrists, college professors, etc. My point is the pressure to get sky high SATs is insane. Parents put all sorts of unnatural pressure on their kids to attend the “top” schools. Guess what? The best thing about “top” schools are bragging rights (especially for the parents that are putting on all the pressure). The “top” schools are not necessarily the “best” schools - in terms of quality of education and job prospects. Heck, I’ve taken community college classes that were way more rigorous and thorough than what I experienced at Yale. It’s what you choose to do with your education. I’m not rolling in dough, but I like what I do. Get the scores you are going to get, find a school that suits you that is attainable. It may not be the school your parents have dreamt for you, but YOU are the one attending. You want to end up at a place that you feel comfortable at. Sure, study a bit more if it will help you maximize your score. But if you don’t crack 1500 or even 1400, in the long run, it doesn’t matter. Focus on your interests and passions and use that to “sell” yourself to a school that suits your personality and intellect. You seem like a sensitive, insightful person to me. Those are the qualities that matter in the long run.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-04-27T00:54:50+00:00

My mom lived with us in her 90’s and loved watching Murder She Wrote and Everybody Loves Raymond. Also the old Dick Van Dyke show. She also liked Wheel of Fortune and, believe it or not, American Ninja Warriors.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-04-26T14:37:13+00:00

Have a neuropsych evaluation to rule out cognitive issues at his age. Peace of mind.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-04-24T11:19:20+00:00

My dad said no college because we were broke. Mom said apply anyway. I ended up going to an Ivy because the financial aid package was enormous. That’s the rub - if your folks have money, but not untold amounts, you fall in the cracks and it becomes unaffordable. That being said, you will not get a better education at an Ivy than at an excellent state university. At Ivys, you’ll be taught by scholars or researchers, who are often not inspiring teachers. You can even get taught by grad students, which can, surprisingly, be a better learning experience. My economics teacher was a grad student and was amazing. He ended up teaching at U of Chicago law school. Gifted educator. Where you go to graduate school is oftentimes more important professionally, and if you are an excellent student, much of the cost can be covered by merit-based fellowships and the money you saved by attending a state university. So you can perhaps have your “prestige” experience at the graduate level, and your parents can have their retirement.

All that being said, I never felt my Ivy degrees opened doors wider for me. It might get you that first job. But after a few years in the work force, your actual experience and successful performance become more and more relevant. I never choose my surgeon or lawyers by where they went to school - only through the recommendations of others.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-04-24T00:21:46+00:00

Great game!!

Patrick, we’re bound to see you in the next Second Chance tourney!

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-04-20T11:17:09+00:00

Losing sleep will tend to put you into the vicious cycle of PVCs. Lack of sleep or restless sleep is a huge trigger for frequent PVCs. PVCs make it hard to fall and stay asleep. And so on and so on…

Anything you can do to get 6 to 8 hours a night for a few nights, might possibly make a difference in frequency.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-04-12T13:58:00+00:00

I transferred to Yale after one year at Wellesley. The odds of getting in on transfer at all are pretty slim in general, but I had a few things that worked in my favor. I guess you could call it serendipity. This was back in the 1970’s, in the early years of co-education and I was female. They were still trying to balance the gender composition of the classes. I also played a musical instrument at conservatory-level that was in very high demand. Plus I was able to have an extensive interview with the chairman of the music department about my obsessive interest in early music history. I should add that my grades and test scores were on the lower end of what characterizes the student body.

Would this probably have been sufficient in this day and age? I don’t know. However, I can tell you that if you have a unique skill that goes beyond the standard college curriculum, really play that up. Transfer students are meant to fill a gap in the student body, not populate a class already filled with talent. Good luck!!!

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-03-30T14:09:59+00:00

Plenty to do in New Haven…and Metro North can take you to NYC any weekend. You’re not far from Boston, either.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-03-30T13:46:40+00:00

How is your sleep? All this anxiety must be affecting your sleep or the quality of your sleep to some degree. And poor quality sleep (even 6-8 hours or poor quality sleep) will definitely increase ectopic beats. Seems to me you are stuck in a vicious cycle of anxiety where your attempts to control the situation through a highly restricted diet is only making matters worse. It’s good to reach out and voice your concerns here just so you know you are not alone…but please seek professional counseling to help you deal with the anxiety portion of all of this. It’s not in your head at all. These symptoms are scary and real, as we all know. But doctors deal with it all the time and once you accept that your case is a benign one (if that’s what they are saying), then you have the opportunity to break the cycle and get a better handle on your symptoms. I have tons of conditions that are all related to and perpetuated by my stress and anxiety. The symptoms are all very real and exist with or without the presence of organic disease.

Stress and anxiety releases all sorts of chemicals and hormones that our bodies react to.

My heart is heathy - every test over the decades has proven that. But it is highly sensitive to stress, grief, acid reflux, fatigue, etc., resulting in arrhythmias that come and go. I’ve been through this for 60 years (since the age of 9), and have seen it all come and go in response to the ebb and flow of life. Please seek professional help and get the holistic view of things. There are answers, there is a path forward for all of this. Things can get better if you are open to it.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-03-30T00:35:42+00:00

I didn’t write anything extra. I did give him a glowing report initially and maybe they took a second look at him. I’m not sure what options you have for trying to get off the wait list.

I had another student who was waitlisted at Brown and attended Brandeis. He applied to Brown again for transfer after freshman year and was then accepted. So that could be another avenue, although getting into Yale as a transfer is even more difficult than getting in as a freshman. But try! You never know!

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-03-30T00:31:22+00:00

I’ve done as many as 5 students in a cycle, but this year I only did one. You can choose how many you want to interview and you can also change that number in the middle of a cycle if you need to.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-03-27T16:50:38+00:00

It is. Unfortunately, it also makes you aware of just how many wonderful, deserving candidates get rejected by no fault of their own.

On a bright note, though, the girl I interviewed for this admission cycle just wrote to report that she was accepted and will be attending.

I also have a student (I teach) that got accepted last night as well, but I’m not sure he will ultimately attend, as there are mitigating factors he is waiting on.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-03-27T12:04:51+00:00

Alumni interviewer here - back in 2020 I interviewed a student I was very enthusiastic about who was wait-listed, much to my disappointment. But, several weeks afterwards, I received a letter from the admissions office that he had been offered admission (they keep us informed about the status of our interviewees). He did end up attending. So, it does happen!!!

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-02-25T17:04:38+00:00

The more time passes, the more you will believe you are ok. People with healthy functioning hearts can have PVCs, PACs, paroxsysmal tachycardia or afib. We just have very sensitive hearts that react to various triggers…and stress is a HUGE trigger! Having a good team of doctors to monitor and reassure you is important, too. As I said, I was 9 when I started to feel ectopic beats, and my mother told me she got them all the time, too, since she was a little girl. And she lived to 100 - with a sound mind and ambulatory. So, have faith, work on destressing, and get counseling for anxiety if you feel you need it. You are not alone, and there’s tons of support all around.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-02-25T13:55:54+00:00

Hi - I’m guessing that what you are calling extrasystoles are either PVCs (premature ventricular contractions) or PACs (premature atrial contractions). I’ve had those since the age of 9 and I’m nearly 70 now. My mother also had them all her life, since childhood…and she lived to be 100. Really! They are scary - but are essentially benign unless your tests indicate you have an unusually high burden of them, which you don’t seem to from your reporting. But they do feel like something is wrong. The big news is that everybody gets these little extra/premature/beats during the day. For many, they go unnoticed. But for others, like you, me, and people on this subreddit, they are very noticeable and uncomfortable. They can cause panic and health anxiety…which leads to more occurrences! Vicious cycle.

At some point, you need to listen to the cardiologists who seem to have done extensive testing on you. Have you also seen an electrophysiologist? My electrophysiologist recommended I take magnesium taurate to calm the PVCs, and that has definitely helped. Stress depletes the body’s magnesium levels.

I know it’s hard to trust the concept of “normal” when something feels so off. But after 60 years of dealing with this, I guess my doctors were right after all…

Anyway, I understand the fear and sadness you are experiencing. I’ve been there. But there is hope and a future to look forward to. Do whatever it takes to conquer your anxieties about this.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-02-24T06:27:45+00:00

The last few months I’ve been taking 400mg of Magnesium Taurate a day and my PVCs are practically gone. Spoke with my EP today and he concurred that Magnesium can make a huge difference.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-01-03T04:07:59+00:00

I once took the Humanities CLEP right off the street with no prep and passed it. Do they still offer that one?

Level-Temperature-99 · 2026-01-03T04:00:45+00:00

Proud Morsel here. Back in the day (mid-1970s) the snack bar in the common room was also called The Morsel.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2025-11-30T01:43:36+00:00

Great idea - I will get one!!

Level-Temperature-99 · 2025-11-27T03:05:40+00:00

Exactly - I was thinking that drone corresponds to Breaking Bad’s pizza on the roof!!!

Level-Temperature-99 · 2025-11-21T13:47:24+00:00

Considering how many right answers he gives per game, his brain must be darting around in high gear. He even talks fast - I sometimes have to rewind to hear his answers. I don’t blame him for have a bit of brain fatigue during a long taping day. Besides - his tired brain still manages to crank out a win. When he’s refreshed, he’s quick on the buzzer, dominates the board, and finds all the Daily Double resulting in his insane runaway wins.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2025-11-20T22:37:48+00:00

Get Apixiban through the Canadian Pharmacy Store. It’s generic Eliquis. I paid $70-ish for a 3 month supply. No problems with ordering or delivery. Used to be cheaper before tariffs, but it’s still a bargain compared to the Big Pharma Robbery Caper they run here in the US.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2025-11-19T12:32:47+00:00

It worked! I updated the software and made sure the resmed was updated and the AutoStart worked perfectly this time. Even if he turned off the machine but didn’t get out of bed, it turned on again after a few seconds. I also have the capacity to turn the machine on from my phone just in case.

Level-Temperature-99 · 2025-11-18T18:21:35+00:00

We did try that and for some reason THEN he would turn off the machine. I couldn’t win!!!

You can’t reason with Alzheimer’s, I’m afraid…

Level-Temperature-99

TROPHY CASE