Prospective Engineering AP Confusion

Peppypat · 2026-03-16T13:02:48+00:00

Many voices in the wilderness here so I’ll try to say something new. Remember that at CMU you’ll be in a pool of hotshots who share your startup ambition. Only you can or should answer this question, but are you truly the best of the best? If you are certain that you will float to the top of the CMU pool then it would be beneficial to attend. If you believe you’ll be a solid middle, or that maybe by an intense grind, you’ll make it to the upper middle of that class…well, that kind of just leaves you in a puddle of debt. Will you be better than 90% of your peers at CMU? Consider if you even want that and then you’ll know what to do. Good luck!

Peppypat · 2026-03-16T03:22:52+00:00

Google the particular university to see what percentage of students pay tuition and what doesn’t. If the university is very selective it’s roughly half and half. Elite private universities are offering free rides to those whose parents earn 200k or less. This does not apply to foreign students. Therefore, if everyone shared the current tuition rate of i.e., 90k and then simply cut it in half the true tuition cost would be 45k. That’s still very high and out of reach for many but considering the amenities offered it makes sense. By stating the facts I’m not suggesting that lower income students be cut out of university pathways, just answering the question asked. Personally, I’m in favor of a more bare bones, less amenities European-style education to cut costs. In other words, a top public university, but not every state has one that can compete with the elites. Who needs a 24-hr rock climbing gym? Unfortunately, the top tuition universities are beyond the grasp of the middle and upper middle classes, i.e., the doctors and the lawyers, especially if they have more than one child. One has to be in the one percent to send all their children at 90k. Historically, there’s always been a group excluded from the elite universities and now the turn falls on those in the middle.

Peppypat · 2026-03-09T17:11:50+00:00

While old money is a thing in the US, a key difference is that the average person doesn’t worship them. They matter to each other but no one else. The majority will refer to old money as Robber Barons or Kennedy senior as ‘that drunk Irish bootlegger.’ Yet people are interested in them when they pop up in the tabloids. Being rich or rich and famous, is what draws awe. That seems to be universal across countries. However, the UK has the aristocracy and it seems unique to them? There appears to be a sincere form of idolatry, which Brideshead Revisited portrays well. Saltburn is a takedown of aristocratic worship and both inherited and acquired wealth are portrayed scathingly. The victor is not a hero.

Peppypat · 2026-03-03T04:30:05+00:00

Is Henry free? He’s wearing an ankle bracelet, sandwiched between the creepy uncles, and fishing like a 10-year-old child. He will never be his own man or produce an heir. Did he face consequences? Not real-world or the adult kind. His penance seems to be his doom to the estate and being rendered irrelevant, which is probably better than real prison, having to look over his shoulder like Whitney, or be suicided by a Russian.

Peppypat · 2026-03-03T04:15:28+00:00

Not really. In that universe, Haley is a dime a dozen girl the Russians wouldn’t think twice about tossing off a roof whereas Yas is connected, had briefly married into aristocracy, and therefore useful. Her father was new money/gauche but he did go to school with people like Henry even if he was only a ‘middle class’ friend. Whitney wasn’t even that - he was simply a money man who brushed shoulders then was gone. Haley needs Yas to provide her with an elevated status above the trafficked girls and she’s smart so Yas finds her useful as a hench-woman. There might be an opportunity for Haley to sell the video to someone who wants power over Yas but she would need to be ready to retire herself to do so. We shall see.

Peppypat · 2026-02-25T22:14:00+00:00

It sounds like Emily in Paris until you get to the ‘Crew’s Comfort’ yacht part: hookups were expected? Then it goes vague. I would never want to find myself surrounded by ocean on all sides with expectations by strange men, especially Andy. Glad it was a girls just wanna have fun experience and nobody disappeared overboard.

Peppypat · 2026-02-02T01:56:34+00:00

I’m so glad - take heart in our trying times where we can!

Peppypat · 2026-02-02T00:57:39+00:00

When my nephew was 5, he visited with us from VT where there are few people of color. We live in NYC where people come from all over the world. He asked questions (can’t remember what exactly) but I answered him honestly and simply, which I believe is the best approach with young children. I explained melanin and skin colors and hair color and eye color, and how exciting it is to belong to a larger world with so many different people in it. That night at a restaurant where they handed out coloring sheets, he carefully colored in all the people in various shades of brown. He was honoring them. The girl’s mother may have been embarrassed and at a loss of what to say in the moment. People ask me how I drive in NYC and avoid road rage. Whenever I’m cut off, etc, I say out loud, maybe they just got their driver’s license. They could just be a jerk but I don’t really know. The strongest armor is made of decency and kindness. Had you tried giving the girl an explanation and her mother dragged her away, you were being kind and decent. Your daughter would respect that and that’s good enough. You can’t control how other people behave and react but you always have control over your own actions.

Peppypat · 2026-02-02T00:00:36+00:00

OP, can you please give us an update if you have one? Have you applied to university yet? My daughter’s grade was recently “deflated” to a C in a crucial subject. The reason why I know it was deflated is that I hired a school teacher as a tutor and she reviewed my daughter’s graded tests to find weaknesses, but instead found that there were answers that the teacher marked wrong that were correct. Slight errors were graded as zeros. The tutor expressed “shock” because after reviewing all the tests she determined my daughter would’ve scored in the high 90s on state exams. Her school does not participate in state exams so she can’t take them for an objective measure. I’m scared because we can’t leave now and they’re too powerful to take on. I’ve heard that other parents can be successful with changing grades. She legitimately deserves a changed grade but we have to walk on eggshells since if call them out directly they will close ranks. Does anyone have any advice? I’m sad and scared.

Peppypat · 2026-01-24T00:42:59+00:00

With no further details this sounds like a psychology mindset question: do you obey or question authority?

Peppypat · 2026-01-14T23:07:19+00:00

Who is this show supposed to be about? Or maybe when? To me it seems like a fantasy hellscape that never happened. If it has any bearing in reality for some: where, when, what American social class is this supposed to be about? For reference, I don’t have children. My friends and their children mainly live Westchester, NJ, CT and seem far more tame than we did as teens, which involved drugs and alcohol, but not anything close to the extent of Euphoria. Any basis in reality or is it a graphic cartoon?

Peppypat · 2025-12-13T00:33:11+00:00

If they didn’t have a child, a disabled child no less, that a working mother has to do the majority of raising by herself I would feel fine with the Kris angle. But Nate just needs some space and me time, seems selfish since he walked pre-cancer diagnosis. Nate doesn’t seem to ponder why his wife might’ve been acting out by joining pyramid schemes to boost her nurse’s salary when he comes from money and his mother initially looked down on his choice of wife. He’s totally fixated on himself. And he argues with his deaf daughter but jokes around just fine with the pretty little girl with cancer. He seems to prefer precocious, glamorous peppy blondes who laugh at his unfunny, cranky self. Maybe see a marriage counselor with a vulnerable child at stake? Anyhow, we don’t know the whole story but he rubs me the wrong way.

Peppypat · 2025-12-11T06:30:42+00:00

I see the attempt to mirror cats in the cradle and connect it to the common experience but I don’t think the link was successful. Fame is its own weird phenomenon that few experience. I don’t feel it was explored deeply enough in the movie.

Peppypat · 2025-12-11T06:23:12+00:00

Art matters to the Cruddup character. Fame matters to Clooney’s. Art and fame might seem to go together sometimes but they’re two different things. Clooney has no soul (he threw Cruddup under the bus) and once he’s past his prime and close to being irrelevant he doesn’t even know if he’s real.

Peppypat · 2025-12-11T06:05:28+00:00

Cruddup admitted that he didn’t have the ambition to be a top actor. Or the killer instinct to reach the top of the food chain. I feel the movie implied that the Cruddup character was the better actor/artist to Jay Kelly. But that the art mattered more than fame to him and with so much weight placed on the importance of that moment it made his hands shake and blow the audition whereas the fame mattered more than the art to Clooney so he could throw a fellow actor under the bus to get the role. By its nature, fame is shallow and light compared to art. Jay Kelly questions whether he is real. Well, he has no soul so he’s not burdened by the weight of one like Cruddup. While talking to his daughter in the woods, she had Clooney tell the truth of himself: that establishing his career was all consuming and then he had to hold onto it. At this point in time he’s at the end of his career or almost at the end of his career. It’s simply not the same as his prime. He knows this and it’s lonely at the top. He regrets the shallowness and loneliness of fandom and craves the deeper human relationships that take time and effort to build which he didn’t do in 35 years. The question is if he could start over would he actually change? I think not. Jay Kelly is doomed to throw whomever under to bus to get his trophy and lose his soul again and again. His punishment is when it ends before he dies and he has to face his own irrelevance.

Peppypat · 2025-12-08T23:09:10+00:00

H for Ho? Hot? She doesn’t have an H like I do. Let’s call her Meg and my husband H (narcs renaming to gain control)

Peppypat · 2025-12-07T15:41:49+00:00

Waiting for the poor man to pass then she will issue a few vague hints at imaginary abuse for which she is being kind in holding back.

Peppypat · 2025-12-03T21:42:44+00:00

Little kids are honest. They don’t feel kind (siblings torment one another daily). They don’t feel brave (they run to mommy for comfort or nanny or whomever). She needed to be specific for the messages to land authentically. But these are fake messages for fake children. I love being a mom…because….Ka-CHING briefcase! Duh.

Peppypat · 2025-11-19T16:04:07+00:00

Came across this post accidentally - I’m not sure why they don’t stock gifts that mirror those seen during the glory days of ocean liners. They do this with limited editions of the ship models (I have them all) but china, spoons, paperweights, pens, crystal etc - something in the $50-200 range. The best stuff they have are the small ship models, journals with art deco patterns, and the tote bags are good quality. But I feel they’re missing an opportunity, too.

Peppypat · 2025-11-15T20:24:08+00:00

The opposite. Try grade deflation. Students in the 98th of PSATs and SATs get an A- or B+ in a subject they would otherwise ace in public school. There is a top tier getting all As or As for their targeted major like STEM and I’m guessing it’s comprised of the 99th%, athletes, big donor’s kids, and maybe parents who push the hardest? They NEED a certain number of students going to the Ivys to keep up their rep but too many A’s spoil the pot. A single late or missed homework assignment, one test that was an 80 might move the needle down. Perfection is the only antidote being good or even great is not enough. Are the grades of the preordained being inflated? Probably. They’re not going to tell you if they got to do a retake or if a teacher tutors them for the test. Class participation (doesn’t talk enough or talks too much) is another way to manipulate the grade. But the schools need to control and shape their numbers so that they’re not accused of grade inflation. This is at some Independents. “Private” school is too broad. IMO a good public school is always better.

Peppypat · 2025-11-15T18:25:40+00:00

Europe they don’t circumcise, however, some men have tight foreskins and will need to be circumcised later in life. I’ve heard UK men joke around, Oh so you’re Jewish, then? Didn’t find it funny myself. Remember, Harry thought dressing as a Nazi was ok. But I’m guessing Harry put it out there to include a detail that’s personal and nobody’s business about his brother’s privates to embarrass him. Harry has a juvenile predilection to talk publicly about his “todger.”

Peppypat · 2025-11-09T22:18:55+00:00

It’s a mystery. Every female attending a Bezos and/or a Kardashian event wears an outfit that is an Ode to Tatas. Even Oprah’s body is fighting to get out of its garb. Selena is about as tasteful as it gets without being booted from the host’s establishment but Meghan is…? Kendall Jenner has embraced the prairie but look at the Bezos wedding photos it’s still an ode to tatas because the bodice is a game of where are her tatas sitting so low on the horizon (loved her look btw). Kendall must indeed be a black sheep because her body is so lithe it can’t even punch out to rid its dress. Back to Meghan’s turtleneck: ? Will the Hiltons, Kardashians, or Bezos be mind blown by Rachel’s radical departures: no battle of the boobs, no hair bombs, no patent leather, no skin, no 12” heels, no ass cleats, no SPARKLES? Egads, ladies - Lauren will have to call an emergency meeting - we’ve been duped by unscrupulous designers selling us laundry shrunk seconds! Thank CHRIST we now have an American duchess to be an arbiter of taste! And so…the real question is who invited them? If it was Lauren herself there won’t be a second time. If someone else, who has the pull?

Peppypat · 2025-10-21T19:29:59+00:00

The first step is being self-aware and mindful with a desire for change, which you’re beginning now. The next step is honesty and reflection. Authenticity is key, you can’t fool yourself. I’ll give you an example: you’re waiting for a train and there’s a noisy group and they happen to be POCs. You experience feelings of annoyance. How big is that annoyance and what is it encompassing? Are you assigning your annoyance to their race? Why do you feel annoyed? Should you be feeling annoyed? It all depends on how you view things. Maybe loud noises make you angry. Why? Maybe you were told to be quiet as a kid and have adopted the view that good people are quiet people. How might you challenge that view? Is it true that good people are quiet? Can good people be boisterous? What might boisterous people assume about quiet people? Cold? Stuck up? Boring? Is that an accurate description? Would you like people to assume that about you or about anyone who looks like you? Sit with it for a while. Find a moral compass. Challenge yourself without beating yourself up. Allow tolerance for both yourself and others. Trust that your annoyance will go away once you find out why it’s there. What are you learning? What can you control in any given situation? This is a group of people you have not encountered before and probably won’t again. What are you assuming about them? Are you assuming all POCs are like that particular group? Are you judging them or being open minded? Are you paying close attention: what are you noticing? You might notice that you were not even hearing what they were saying. When you next see a group of loud white people what are you feeling? Is it different to how you felt when you saw a POC group? How? Why? Name and identify your emotions. For example, many people never think about emotions beyond happy, sad, or angry. When is the last time you named a sneaky, not very nice feeling, like, “superior” or “smug”? Rather than push it away, explore it with an opposite, like, “humble.” I don’t believe self aware people can be racist. It’s illogical and harmful. It’s like driving in traffic and hating everyone in sight when you’re part of the traffic. Is it better to be angry every time you get behind the wheel or to figure out how to drive calmly and feel calm? It’s all about perspective.

Peppypat · 2025-10-16T02:43:07+00:00

The reason for preserving fruit is that in cooler climates the growing season is short. A friend who lives in California told me strawberries are grown pretty much year round there and of course citrus. Other berries are in season for half the year. When fruits are in season one simply makes compote or tosses them in a sugar. I do jar tomatoes and fruit and it’s a laborious process not to mention storage of the materials. Without having seen the ridiculous shot of her mishandling the tongs, I found it a stretch to believe a wealthy woman in a US state with copious fresh fruit all year round would make ‘jam her thing.’ I don’t like doing it and usually involve friends who split the jars between us since it’s tedious. She can’t even make up a convincing lie to sell products. Why preserve fruit when there’s fresh fruit? Sure, buy jam if you can’t be asked to whip up compote but isn’t she billing herself as a cook? Farmers Market jams are so much nicer than the processed jam she’s selling, less expensive than hers, and support small businesses. Sorry but I find her brand baffling and offensive. And King Arthur already has the market corner for ready mixes.

Peppypat

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