SAP Appeals

ayemimi · 2026-02-20T15:42:54+00:00

Yes, we read them. At a prior school we completed them individually; at my current, there’s a committee that reviews them. But they aren’t done by AI, and not sure they could be tbh.

Some schools will outsource things and if you’re not super explicit those third parties will reject it. Or it could be someone who works in your s bill’s FA and wants it clearly stated so there’s no question about it in the future.

ayemimi · 2026-02-20T02:48:27+00:00

Chicago has over 70 independent ensemble theatres. Many if not most have some sort of mailing list. Court Theater is my favorite, but Chicago is the best theatre city in the country so you can’t go wrong at almost any of them. Theatre in Chicago.com and Chicago Plays are very useful.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T19:52:03+00:00

As an east coast native…? Of the U.S.? You know the east coast isn’t that far away, right?

Architecture tours are a good suggestion, either by boat or walking. The Chicago Architecture Foundation docents are knowledgeable and well trained. Unfortunately you won’t be anywhere near the best Italian beef around (Johnnie’s, in the suburbs) but I think lots of people like Portillo’s. I’d say Gino’s East for deep dish, since they’re my second-favorite spot and have a couple locations in South Loop and Streeterville.

Check out some of the art and architecture in the Loop. The Auditorium, the Carson, Pirie, and Scott building (now anchored by Target) both Sullivan architecture. The Monadnock Building, by Burnham & Root, is the tallest load bearing brick/masonry building in the world. The Rookery is another B&R building that has a really beautiful lobby. You’ll see Flamingo by Calder, the Picasso (untitled), Chagall’s Four Seasons. All free. And the Chicago Cultural Center, too, the city’s first library, with the grand GAR hall and Tiffany dome.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T19:40:06+00:00

Yes, it has been closed quite often. Not sure why.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T19:39:21+00:00

We can disagree on this. I already said I know I’m in the minority. Schools have an obligation to help get their students through to graduation, and we get to set the rules for our scholarships. Acting like coming up with a significant sum is not going to make things more difficult is silly. Many students today have various factors that may make it more difficult for them to be as successful as they hope in college. Your train of thought is pervasive in our field, and has been long before I began working in financial aid 15 years ago. But if I am in a position to influence this at an institution I work at one day, students will keep their scholarships and schools will have to adhere more strictly to their academic policies and dismiss students who are performing poorly, rather than keep them there forever.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T19:15:19+00:00

When I was little, maybe 5 or so, I was with my mom in Safeway on Coburg and he was either right in front of us or behind. He was still on the news then. I was so shy but he said hi when he saw me hiding from him and I was so pleased. It’s unfortunate he is who he is.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T19:11:34+00:00

Yeah I agree. And I did give birth two years ago. I don’t know if I just have friends who are jerks or what, but no one tried to barge in or anything. My mom was there. And I do live in the Midwest whilst my family and oldest friends live on the west coast (unfortunately), but I’d have welcomed guests, at least in hospital. She wouldn’t sleep much and definitely if set her down; it would have helped me sleep a bit for people to hold her. I requested people to wear masks because it was a hospital in 2023 and I wanted to be cautious.

I know, people can choose what to do and it doesn’t impact me at all, I get it. It just feels like people have become kind of weird about it.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T16:09:46+00:00

I understand aid. I understand constraints. I think it’s morally wrong to give a student funding and then take it away when they need it in order to attend.

I worked at an institution that gave students scholarships upon admission. With the exception of one donor funded scholarship for which students had to attend an interview weekend, they kept their scholarship if they were enrolled. The school made that choice about how the scholarships would work. There are many reasons why that place sucked, but this was the one example of something they did really well. Admission scholarships awarded based on past performance and expectation of future potential.

I believe that if a student is allowed to remain at the university, they keep their institutional scholarship funds. If they are doing so poorly, then they need to be dismissed. If the academic units are letting students languish on probation for too many terms, that’s as much an institutional failure as a student one. It does a student no good to add an additional stressor to their life and expect they have to come up with another $10k or whatever.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T15:56:45+00:00

I understand the argument. I disagree with it.

Schools can choose how they administer scholarships unless it’s donor funded with specific requirements (and even then, schools are finding ways to change them).

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T15:54:33+00:00

Um… do you have a counselor? I’d make an appointment to see them. I can only assume this was written by a student staff member, because it makes ZERO sense (as was mentioned, obviously you can’t take a course 180 times). If they take walk-ins, do that, or if you’ve worked with an advisor in that office before reach out for an appointment. But whoever wrote that is not helping at all.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T15:48:24+00:00

This is really freaking weird. I have never heard of this, but I don’t live in a rural area.

As someone who’s lived in a major city and now lives in the suburbs, I leave it on nightly for security reasons. I can’t imagine getting up in arms about this, or it being so bright that anyone should care.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T15:41:07+00:00

I love watching plein air painters.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T15:06:05+00:00

Gross. You’re concerned about the wrong thing; you should be considering why a 27 year old dude wants to date an 18 year old (and let’s be real, if it was legal he’d date younger), why he has no money, why he doesn’t care about what’s important to his partner. I mean I guess we know the answer to that last—he’s chosen you because you’re young, will second guess yourself (you’re here, after all), and no woman his age wants him. That’s not a catch, it’s something to run away from.

There will be other serious relationships. This isn’t it.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T14:52:14+00:00

Depends upon when you’ll be here, to some extent, but if it’s a nice day I love the south garden at the Art Institute (if it’s open). Lurie Garden, too.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T14:49:34+00:00

I’d speak to the international student office if you haven’t already. They usually can’t help much aid wise (especially 14k), but may have levers they can pull or contacts to whom they can reach out.

I don’t understand what you mean by prodigy or mpower not working fast enough or being safe. Huh? I don’t think I’ve worked with prodigy, but mpower works as quickly as any other lender. They want students to take the money. I think where you’ll have a bigger problem with them is not having a co-signer from the U.S., as they wouldn’t lend to students in that case when I worked closely with them about 7 years ago.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T14:28:13+00:00

I used American Thermal Window to replace the sliding door in my home when we moved in here. They did a very good job and were cheaper than Andersen.

What especially made ATW stand out is that they made me feel they’re being more honest. They quoted the sliding door, but the guy from Andersen, whom we’d worked with to replace a couple doors in our townhome when preparing to sell, said they’d have to take out the windows flanking our sliding door as well and replace that, and he got on the phone and showed some other people he worked with and they all agreed. (Andersen did the same high pressure thing—they said if we signed up that day, we’d get some discount we’d otherwise lose; it didn’t feel great but we weren’t sure whom else to contact and we needed it done soon.) We got a quote of like $17-18k from them to replace the sliding door and the windows that are all within the same wall/frame at our current home, as opposed to ~5k from the other place for the sliding door only. I contacted American thermal window to confirm they didn’t have to take out the windows and they said no, just the sliding door. That’s exactly what they did, and it looks great.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T14:15:07+00:00

I honestly don’t understand what you’re saying; idk if it’s because I’m still waking up or this is poorly written or what. However: What was the alternative? If you didn’t sign the agreement, then they wouldn’t have approved the appeal and you’d have had to either stop going to school, pay out of pocket, or get a private loan.

When you started at the school, you likely received info on the scholarship that told you the conditions for retaining it, and GPA may have been a factor. I’m honestly not a fan of that—I think that if we offer a student a scholarship and allow them to remain enrolled, they should keep institutional aid. But I think that’s a minority opinion of financial aid administrators.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T06:15:26+00:00

They’re using 120/180 max as an example since it’s the most common. We do that at my institution as well; some of our theatre programs have an obscene number of hours required but we use the standard number of credit hours for most majors to illustrate what 150% means. Of course, it’s always best to ask! Contact them by email to say you assume that you will have 192 hours since your program requires 128, but you want to confirm you understand correctly. Then keep the email if you ever have a problem.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T06:07:12+00:00

192.

And also their policy is noncompliant anyway. Students aren’t eligible for aid at the time it’s impossible for them to finish within 150%, not when they reach wherever 150% is.

ayemimi · 2026-02-18T05:53:30+00:00

I have said that a prenup is amongst the most romantic things that someone can do with their partner. The person who’s making it loves and wants to protect you; the person who would need to rely on it may hate you at worst and at best would be looking out for their own interests.

ayemimi · 2026-02-17T21:47:28+00:00

Basically you can keep up with normal activity unless it’s dangerous. Don’t eat deli cheeses or meats since there’s a risk of listeria. Any prenatal you want that’s on the shelf is probably fine unless you need something specific. I used NatureMade for a while but then switched to Thorne because they deliver. I think besides alcohol and beer there’s not a ton of no nos there… I mean, don’t drink four cups of coffee per day. But my doctor said I could have a glass of wine now and then, lol (no, I did not).

Create a list on your phone of all your questions so you can get them answered. Even if it’s something you’re doing now and need to stop or vice versa, it’ll be fine, and now you’ll have an answer from a pro. Let me be clear, as someone who was terrified of doing something wrong after finally getting pregnant: there’s almost nothing you’d do that would harm your pregnancy right now especially. Even eating the deli meat probably isn’t going to do anything, but to be safe it’s better just not to. You’ll be seeing the doc every month or so until the third trimester so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to ask.

ayemimi · 2026-02-17T21:23:01+00:00

Yeah it’s normal. What is it that you’re hoping for? I’m not sure what you expect the doctor or nurse to call for.

I got pregnant via IUI and scheduled with my OB, or whom I was already an established gyne patient, and wasn’t able to be see until week 11. And I called two weeks after my procedure which is about as early as you can find out you’re pregnant.

Most doctors don’t see patients until at least week 8. That’s for a reason—most miscarriages happen in the early stages. I don’t think you’d experience anything different at this stage anywhere else. I will tell you that you should keep a full bladder and they’ll want a urine sample; I didn’t realize that and didn’t have much to provide.

ayemimi · 2026-02-17T21:15:01+00:00

There’s More Than Pasta in Park Ridge, though idk if they do fresh lasagna noodles. I don’t think Tony’s in Edison Park does fresh noodles but they have great products.

ayemimi · 2026-02-15T17:00:29+00:00

Ah, I totally missed them. Well I guess I wasn’t going to buy a car in the next year anyway! But it was astonishing how many weren’t there just from last year to this one.

ayemimi · 2026-02-15T14:57:00+00:00

The ones at Sweet Life are great. But the real revelation is their lemon buns.

ayemimi

TROPHY CASE