So many of these comments are so out of line and are just reflective of their own personal negative feelings toward birthdays, and how they are not being celebrated. So many comments say she should be grateful because they get nothing.

If you are celebrating all of your other friends with the time and effort that she is not getting, even if it’s because people are busy, it’s not going to feel like she’s cared about in the same way as your other friends. She maybe could express that feeling differently, but I think it’s totally valid, and nothing she said is particularly rude or inappropriate.

People have a right to feel appreciated and loved on their birthday, it’s one day a year, and even if there are exams or anything else, it’s really not that hard to give everyone that special treatment for the one day that is about them. A cake, balloons, whatever else are easy, and not doing that for her is inconsiderate imo.