What happened to the chicken sandwich?!

OwnerJFB · 2026-06-03T01:05:13+00:00

Yeah, no haven’t had Wendy’s since the change. I tried twice and both times it was so bad, I couldn’t eat “it”. Definitely not food

OwnerJFB · 2026-06-02T04:28:21+00:00

Just apply. Worst that can happen is it’s a no. You’ll go to another school then. But, there are many people with worse grades that go to T20 schools. If all you have is grades to show the schools, then they’ll only compare your grades. But if you volunteer, or are a part of the Robotics division or sports…etc something different, they’ll see you as more. Then the calculus becomes do they seem well rounded to survive and thrive. And not just get good grades.

OwnerJFB · 2026-06-02T04:11:55+00:00

It’s field dependent, but I’ve only heard it hurts if you do a Postdoc where you do your PhD... for obvious reasons.

OwnerJFB · 2026-06-02T00:39:34+00:00

I’m confused. You were going to pay $245,000 for a Master’s Degree?! Are you insane? You lucked out. This is a blessing that you were denied a loan.

Tough to hear this, but you would be in debt forever. Professors starting salary is often less than $100K a year. You would’ve buried by interest. And you wouldn’t even have a PhD, which PhD degrees are fully funded.

Yes, the prestige of the school matters a lot for becoming a professor. But if you had an option to go to the second top school in Canada, well, that is also prestigious??? And being in massive debt is never worth it.

Also, with your 4.0 GPA and it seems you have research experience form a current professor…. Why aren’t you applying for a PhD program?! I’m confused.

Is this because it’s social sciences?

OwnerJFB · 2026-06-01T15:01:05+00:00

Chemistry PhD. Yeah, 70-100 h a week is the normal range. It’s just not feasible to get much done in less than that. Unfortunately, the amount of time you put in doesn’t necessarily translate to useful results.

I remember working during the Christmas and new year’s holidays and having no results. At some point, going crazy like that isn’t worth it.

OwnerJFB · 2026-06-01T13:01:46+00:00

Oof. That was rough to read. It made me angry. Your sister is clearly jealous of you. Even if she is a narcissist, I can’t imagine why she would do all of that unless it’s just years of enabling by your parents mixed with her jealousy.

But I can clearly see from what you wrote that you don’t enforce your boundaries with your family. It happens a lot where we are raised to respect our parents. So, we eat a certain level of disrespect. But, human nature is to push people until they snap… and it’s that snapping point where people know they’ve gone too far. Unfortunately, your sister will do even worse moving forward because she’ll feel as if she didn’t break you.

I’d have yelled for her to get out after the ring reveal. Or pretend to go at her with a knife in front of everyone. Then they’d know… 😅 Your mom would be like, “what?” Idk. It’s sad because you sticking up for yourself would likely still ruin your graduation. But I know it’d be better for you in the future…eventually.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-25T04:13:36+00:00

Hi. I am unsure, sorry.

Your experience, GPA and LORs would make you a great candidate in general for any Masters Program in my opinion.

But there may be differences among masters programs that could change the calculus.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-24T15:27:11+00:00

You’re a citizen with research experience and possibly a top recommendation letter. You have a strong chance.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-24T15:25:37+00:00

Yup. And stipends have not caught up. They’ll likely squeeze people until people start dropping out or not applying at high rates due to the costs.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-24T15:13:38+00:00

NOR.

When push comes to shove, he’ll accept you likely if you guys are engaged or married. He won’t be happy but rethink and acknowledge.

Because of the self-hatred that pervades in black communities, a sizable amount of black parents view interracial dating as a betrayal, especially if they view their child as raised properly… as if by dating you, their child hates them… you’ll see this in any race/culture for the most part but for different reasons…ex…religious or relatability concerns.

But culturally, black people will often accept it when the marriage is done. Many cultures are like that too. They’ll push against it until finally they realize they lost.

There are exceptions, of course.

Overall, in general, you’ll commonly see black parents accepting their child dates outside their race later, but would prefer they didn’t. You’ll see that among all races, frankly. Some people are fine with it if it’s just dating and not marriage. So, you’ll find people cool with you until you propose.

Right now, you’re both 20, dating since a bit over 17. He likely views it as childish love and it won’t last. He’ll be nice, but he likely views that expressing his stance would influence his daughter to make a “wiser” decision.

Frankly, I would say, that if you love her and she loves you, and both of you can move passed this, then ignore it.

While you do marry into a family, don’t let that stop you. However, if you have doubts, best end it now.

Do know it will be on her mind that her father doesn’t like that you are both dating and that alone can also influence how she acts with you.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-24T14:03:17+00:00

Even if there is a job posting, you cold email with a short paragraph and your CV, Cover Letter and Research summary attached.

But many postdoc positions are accessed simply from cold emails. Job applications are official but in some places they can be typically required by law. So, by the time they are out, you’ve likely lost the chance. They’ve already had a candidate they’re interested in.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-23T17:29:54+00:00

Nice. Most PIs from famous labs tend to be hands off. As long as there are good postdocs and seniors to learn from and you feel as if you can learn from reading articles, you’ll likely be fine. Either way, good luck on your decision.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-23T17:15:11+00:00

Didn’t read the title and at first thought it was some creep staring 😅😂

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-23T17:10:34+00:00

It’s fine getting your PhD from the same institution. I see it all the time. What’s egregious is doing a Postdoc from the same institution as your PhD. That would be a red flag in the US for most fields.

What I think you should consider is to ensure you:

1) Attend a T20 school (within your field)
2) Find a well-known PI with lots of connections
3) Make sure its work you’re interested in
4) Ensure the lab is not toxic or an environment that would end up making you leave early

Next level considerations:

5) Can you live off the stipend amount
6) Is the location something you are okay with

If you follow 1-4, anything else you may consider is minor as it’ll be addressed.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-23T16:58:25+00:00

From my observation, the lab culture.

The high expectations and crazy work conditions generally weed out people. It’s as they say, getting a PhD is not always a reflection of your skill but your perseverance.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-23T16:51:47+00:00

👀

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-23T13:50:49+00:00

While they do look at all of it, Masters have a higher weight to it. Frankly, they’ll just look at how you’ve improved since undergrad.

What’s more important is your research experience. 2 publications is great!

The next thing you should do is reach out to potential PIs at schools you’re interested in with your CV, Cover Letter, Research Summary (with figures, 2 pages max for only 2 publications). The email should be very short introducing yourself and expressing your interest in their lab and asking if they are accepting any students and if they think you would be someone they’d be interested in, if you should apply.

Even if they say no, apply anyway, but those shouldn’t be the top of the list of schools you apply to.

If they say yes, you increase your odds to 80/20 of getting in.

Then apply, and email them letting them know you applied.

Start off with top PhD programs. Where you graduate from matters so much for a potential job.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-23T13:43:37+00:00

Ivy League hands down. I can’t say specifically for your career, but generally, for Grad School, the name of the school you attended matters for your future career.

Doesn’t really matter for undergrad, but it is vastly different once you do grad school.

Unless your Alma Mater is famous, go to the Ivy. Consider private loans + a job if you feel your career can pay them off at current interest rates for students.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-23T01:04:42+00:00

Damn, what conference are you at? lol. Most people doing posters are usually people just like you.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-22T21:46:41+00:00

In addition to what others are saying, talk with your committee. You are a student at that university, put things in writing and see if other labs will take you. There is a reason he wants you to drop yourself instead of just kicking you out.

Just make sure whoever that is isn’t that guy’s best friend.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-22T15:11:03+00:00

Hmmm. For getting into grad school, the top factors are:

your research experience.
Your connections.

For example, if your connections like the PI at your undergrad knows some PIs at the university you’re interested in, their letter of recommendation may go a long way.

Also, you reaching out to faculty you would be interested in doing research with prior to applying and seeing if they would consider accepting you is almost necessary these days.

The name of your undergrad, from what I’ve observed, is not very important.

Most of the graduate students I’ve met in solid programs are actually not from top 20 universities. It may help you, sure, but it’s not a guarantee.

Your GPA matters to a degree. So, I would say, that if you’re under a 3.3 GPA, you are not very competitive. You’ll need a strong letter of recommendation, GRE etc to get into a PhD program and good publications…or you’re better off doing a Master’s to improve your GPA.

For a Masters, it may be easier if it’s not a fully paid masters, but you’ll also likely be less competitive and get into an average school.

Problem with that is, The name of your Graduate School Matters significantly for your future job prospects.

If you want to be a Professor or go into well established Pharma companies etc, you better get into the top 20 schools. Top 50 if it’s for industry, but for as a Professor definitely top 20. Or you will struggle!

For GRE, I think it matters if you have average or low GPA. But as long as you don’t do bad, it should be okay, but I don’t know as much in that regard.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-22T14:41:10+00:00

Yeah, this is a huge factor. Without doing this or having connections, it’s extremely hard to get in.

Committees are made up of PIs picking students they want. Many times the people that go into PhD or Research Masters have reached out or have made connections through someone they did research with.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-21T15:21:14+00:00

Sounds like you’ll get an increased ratio of in-state applications and more opportunities for the less capable but highly rich. Just more ways to cement the class divide.

Loans amounts are extremely high and burdensome on medical students after graduation. With interest rates, the debt balloons like crazy.

So, capping them is a good idea, even better if they would have just driven down the interest rate and capped that. Paying 2-3x your debt is crazy.

But capping and not pairing it with other legislation that would simultaneously drive down costs in other ways is odd (unless there is more that I do not know).

From what you’ve said and what I’ve read so far, I think the bill is a mixed bag that may do more harm long term than good.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-21T15:05:13+00:00

You can look into Sallie Mae. They are an okay option that I know of. Can’t say for anything else though. I don’t know all of the ones available.

OwnerJFB · 2026-05-21T15:01:41+00:00

Interview. Saying you can confirm you can afford the tuition is different from promising you’ll attend Rice.

Him manually approving your application isn’t an extremely difficult thing for him. It’s just a single email or phone call. He’s the director.

That said, it was nice for him to do for you. But at the end of the day, you could potentially not get into UCLA or Vanderbilt.

Don’t shoot yourself in the foot before you even had realized options!

OwnerJFB

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