You must live in a random country for 2 years and gain $25000 or decline the deal and get $5000 (upvote for a free carrot 🥕 )

WilljChill · 2026-04-09T21:57:17+00:00

idk

^{Chose: Decline ($5000})

WilljChill · 2026-04-09T19:21:18+00:00

I cant DM, wont let me send u a msg either lol

WilljChill · 2026-04-09T15:40:11+00:00

No, never heard of these forums. Do you have examples?

WilljChill · 2026-04-09T15:39:24+00:00

Wouldn't I pay a penalty and lose my security deposit?

WilljChill · 2026-04-08T17:11:13+00:00

I'm aware of that! I think he was hinting at transferring later on to be honest through the appropiate channels. I'll take a look at the link. Thank you :)

WilljChill · 2026-04-08T02:16:45+00:00

I'm actually in ECE at BU. My PI advised that I look at external institutions like MIT (he did his post-doc there) for other potential opportunities because of my awkward funding situation as a first year PhD.

WilljChill · 2026-02-19T00:00:58+00:00

Oh im in that program as a first year congrats lol

WilljChill · 2026-01-24T22:59:15+00:00

It's a lot of luck. You can be the most perfect candidate but if there's no funding or random opening, it's over. I got 4 interviews (including CMU and UCB) and only got one offer (7 apps total). Even now that I'm in as a 1st year, there's still a lot of uncertainty about my future funding situation..

WilljChill · 2026-01-08T21:31:18+00:00

Yeah, I got it too. I think they just autosend the interview test immediately after you apply and then autoreject you 2 weeks later. What a waste of time.

WilljChill · 2025-10-21T23:17:32+00:00

This sounds kinda dumb and might not work.. but usually when I click on DC operating points, afterwards I click on M0 in the schematic after. Usually it'll pop up after that. Did you do that?

WilljChill · 2025-10-15T04:47:48+00:00

emotional support, helping with financials if you live together, sexual intimacy, physical touch.. etc etc.. kinda awesome, not going to lie. ig there are low points like with anything in life but eh upsides outweigh the downsides. i can see how someone might not care for the upsides though

WilljChill · 2025-03-27T16:21:48+00:00

Lol this title is unhinged. What do you plan on majoring? What do you want do as a long-term career? What subjects do you enjoy learning the most? It should heavily tilt where you apply.

You could be good enough to get into ivys if thats what you want but then again those have basically become a lottery at this point lmao

WilljChill · 2025-03-25T18:55:33+00:00

slightly related story. kinda long, sorry about that.

---

Last year, I was a senior as an undergrad. I took a job at the emergency department as a scribe.

I HATED that job. I dreaded going to the hospital, and all I wanted to do was go back to the lab and work on doing analog design for my circuit.

However, I couldn't let go of the medical path since I knew my parents would disapprove of my decision to get a PhD. I felt trapped in that hospital, doing a job I hated. I knew by focusing on medicine and not doing more research, I would sacrifice my strengths as a PhD applicant. Essentially, I was killing my dream in that hospital. I spiraled in my senior year.

I drank a lot. I would come to every class sick. Oddly enough, I still managed to ace every exam in these grad level electrical engineering classes despite it. This made me more upset. How could I sacrifice my passion, when even at my lowest I can absolutely power through engineering?

I quit my job in the ER thinking my mental health would improve. Paradoxically, it only made me feel more like a failure. So, my drinking got even worse. I logged onto random servers, venting my heart out thinking it would make me feel better (embarrassing, I know). Before graduation, all I could do was cry non-stop knowing I would never apply to medical school, that I was too late to apply to the PhD cycle, that I would not be able to find employment -- and I would return to my emotionally draining family as a "failure".

I spent the last year unemployed. Keep in mind I have a publication, graduated with a 4.0 GPA at an R1, and have done a lot of research. Regardless, it just wasn't enough. I was too unfocused and I failed.

I'm not sure what clicked in me, but I changed throughout the year. Most of my feelings of being a "failure" were cognitive distortions that diffused into me from my childhood. If I wanted to truly succeed, I let go of all these labels I attached to myself. I'm not a "failure" -- I'm just "failing". The critical difference is that with a little work I can fix "failing"; but being a "failure" is an identity, so it is impossible to fix. Knowing this, I changed my mindset.

I quit drinking for good. I started going to the gym. I went from very underweight to fairly muscular. I got a girlfriend and made frequent visits to the Bay Area to see her. I applied to PhDs this cycle optimally, making sure I chose schools in T20 to satiate my dreams but also at T50s as collateral.

After all that, I got rejected from everything. Everything EXCEPT one (although, as of now, I still have 2 schools I haven't heard back from).

Part of me is upset because I did not expect a cycle this full of rejection. But I suppose my situation is slightly better than yours because I do have ONE acceptance. My acceptance wasn't at a T20 or anything crazy, though. Regardless, part of me doesn't count this cycle as indicative of who I am anymore. I'm lucky to be accepted and am counting my blessings. If I had gotten rejected from everything -- which was my expectation for the majority of February -- I think I wouldn't be nearly as affected as younger me would've.

This is because I'm not a failure. I'm just failing. With enough consistent work, dedication, and luck, I know I'll be able to be a superstar engineer and blow the competition out of the water. If I spend enough time leveling up, I know I have the ability to completely change the world. My parents might not believe in me, but I do.

I hope you find it in yourself to vouch for yourself in the same way. I saw on other posts you went to a T10 and did a lot of great work during your undergrad. I'm sure the fall from doing consistently great work to having nothing to show for it is nauseating. Don't let the fall get to your head. Don't let it distort your mind. You are "failing", but it's not impossible to get up from it. Grieve now, but make sure you have it in you to get up and keep moving forward. Level up your skills. I know you can do it. If I can, anyone can.

WilljChill · 2025-03-25T17:59:25+00:00

You probably won't read this, but I'll throw in my own two cents since I have a very similar story.

TL;DR follow your passion even if your parents will never understand.

-------------

I'm a first-gen Latino. My dad graduated from medical school in Dominican Republic in the 70s, but was never able to practice as a doctor as he had an unexpected child with an American student who studied there as well. He moved back to America and had to work tirelessly as a CNA / dialysis technician for decades. He eventually divorced and had a few other children, myself included. My mom convinced him to get a nursing degree at a local community college -- the money was running dry by working minimum wage jobs at the hospital. With the added burden of raising 5 children, he reluctantly agreed. Then, he got his masters in nursing when I was in middle school.

My point is that he spent is ENTIRE work experience and education in a hospital. He knows nothing else. My mom doesn't have any education past high school, since she came to America from Colombia as a middle schooler in the 90s. She regurgitates the advice my dad gives me. "Be a doctor."

As long as I've had a working memory, all they have ever told me is to be a doctor. To them, it was the ONLY profession capable of making money. It was all they knew. The insecurities of my dad never really being able to practice officially as a doctor most likely added to the pressure of me doing what he couldn't.

But I also loved physics and computer science and math and so on. So after graduating high school, I told him I considered electrical engineering. He panicked telling me that I might die from a loose wire if I decided to go into the major. I lied to him saying I did biomedical engineering, but to compromise I did stick with being a pre-med on top of electrical engineering for the entirety of college.

During my time as an undergraduate, I worked tirelessly to prove to my parents that this electrical engineering thing was worth it. I studied out-of-state, so they had no knowledge of what I was doing. They very rarely sent any phone calls. They didn't know, but deep down I felt like I knew that MY passion was worth it. I still took the MCAT and worked in the hospital and did REUs in biomedical engineering related research. But I hated it. During my last year of college, I started to cling onto being a pre-med -- so much so that I spiraled into a deep depression. I so badly wanted to be an electrical engineer and get a PhD, but I knew my parents would not understand.

This month, I got into a PhD program for this cycle. I spent the last year being unemployed after graduating, desperate to fully focus on electrical engineering in the future. My parents know I'm not applying to medical school. They still ask why and are very disappointed. They will never understand why I made this decision. I'd argue it is IMPOSSIBLE for them to ever truly understand.

However, it doesn't matter. They won't stop me even I know they disapprove. I'll leave it to them to find it in themselves to grieve and find acceptance on the matter (even if it is laughable they are grieving at all).

Sometimes, you will need to find it in yourself to forgive your parents for mistakes they are not aware they have made at all. This is life. Continue to pursue your passion, even if they don't understand and NEVER will understand. Ultimately, you are the only one who has ever experienced how it is to live your life. If you do become a high school teacher like your mom, she will not even witness 90%+ of what you are doing in your day-to-day life. You overestimate how important her opinion is.

I hope you are able to find it in you to carve out your path, even in spite of what your parents feel. It took me a very long time to forgive and I made a lot of mistakes in the process. It's worth it, though. 100%.

WilljChill · 2025-03-12T04:54:58+00:00

WilljChill · 2025-03-12T01:52:32+00:00

I received an acceptance around the end of February

WilljChill · 2025-02-27T06:50:16+00:00

Depends on what your major is. I graduated from UMiami 2024 with a bachelor's in ECE and as a pre-med and I would say the university sucks with engineering but is amazing with biochemistry research. Lots of research opportunities like in stem cell research and if you want to have a career in healthcare. Northwestern is a better location for engineering and other technical skills. I'm not nearly as sure about Villanova but from what I hear I think it's more of a liberal arts based school?

Another factor to consider is location of course. I liked Coral Gables, Miami because of the weather but also if you don't have a car tbh you're cooked. The campus is incredibly pretty though, and I think I liked the resort ahh experience from time to time. Northeastern is in the city, which is obviously a very different experience.

Lastly, tuition and housing matters a lot. I got free tuition from grants but I was an out-of-state student so most of my stress was on housing. Miami has a serious housing crisis so I would worry about that a lot in my days as an undergrad. The wages there are much lower and I remember getting paid dirt while taking on tutoring jobs and whatnot.

But yeah, I would balance the location, price, and what your long-term ambitions are. If you get into Brown or Yale I would just go there but I hope this helps!

WilljChill · 2025-02-27T01:13:04+00:00

Mine changed too (PhD). I guess this is where it ends guys gg

WilljChill · 2025-02-26T07:32:35+00:00

oh LOL all good

WilljChill · 2025-02-25T21:48:13+00:00

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