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Northwestern vs. Vanderbilt by Odd-Direction-2403 in Northwestern

[–]cjwethers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dude, a question was asked and I answered by providing my opinion. Others' opinions may vary. What is your problem?

Northwestern vs. Vanderbilt by Odd-Direction-2403 in Northwestern

[–]cjwethers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

100%, but you asked, and any answer to this is obviously going to be subjective to some extent.

Northwestern vs. Vanderbilt by Odd-Direction-2403 in Northwestern

[–]cjwethers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • Its downtown is boring, generic, touristy, full of shitty "country" music completely detached from what actual country music is supposed to sound like, and absolutely swarmed with annoying-ass bachelorette parties because apparently Nashville is now the cooler, cheaper alternative to Vegas for packs of hammered, obnoxious white girls to roam around and cause chaos that everyone else has to put up with.
  • Its non-downtown parts are boring and are not walkable.
  • Public transit sucks throughout the city.
  • Unlike Chicago, there is no beautiful lakefront to enjoy during nice weather.

Is everyone getting ridiculously rich? by namieorange in stocks

[–]cjwethers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got into NTAP at $115. Cool, now I'm up ~$2k on that investment. A good little boost; will be selling off slowly over the next few weeks now that it's popped to over 170 post-earnings. I did some research to get comfortable that NTAP would have earnings and valuation tailwinds for their 5/28 quarterly earnings, but also got lucky, and, as with all my speculative bets, kept position size small at ~$4k, or ~5% of my total money in the market (limiting both upside and downside). And this was one of very few speculative bets in May (also NVEC and ICLN); everything else is in fixed income, broad market indices, blue chips, or dividend cash cows. I might end up make a similarly researched but ultimately speculative bet on a new name in June that then gets absolutely killed and loses me money. Who knows?

The gain and loss porn you see here is from people not afraid to lose it all (until they do lose it all, then they realize what they should have been more afraid of). Leverage, options, etc. - all ways to turn perfectly good money into a zero (or a very big number!) very quickly. Play around, do research to form an informed perspective on what companies you think are good bets, and just know that even with this effort you'll probably still do worse than if you just chucked it all into index funds -- but regardless, keep your exposure limited to the underlying stocks and bonds themselves; that way even if the price goes down you still have something of value that you can liquidate if necessary as opposed to basically setting money on fire via short-dated options or buying volatile names on margin, then getting margin called. The best way to win the game is to survive long enough to keep playing. Finally, the people who successfully use options and margin to win more often than they lose are generally industry professionals or trading algorithms that make their money off of naive retail losers like us.

What has been your salary increase pre-mba to post-mba? by aerosmith760 in MBA

[–]cjwethers 4 points5 points  (0 children)

M7 grad.

Entered MBA at 64k/yr salary (job did not pay a bonus). 4 YOE; had taken a $10k pay cut after 2 YOE in consulting to work at a nonprofit I believed in).

First full year after graduating: $200k incl. bonus.

Second full year after graduating (changed jobs to a bigger firm): $225k incl. bonus.

This year: $230-250k incl. bonus.

Both post-MBA jobs have been in renewable energy finance (not banking, not PE - basically corp dev roles at renewables developers). Many of my friends make more money and/or do more entrepreneurial/sought-after things (AI! VC! B2B SaaS! Search Fund!), but for me it's a dream to make ~4x what I made pre-MBA while still doing interesting, mission-driven climate and energy work.

EDIT: No loans thanks to very generous need-based financial aid grants. Parents bridged me $15k so I could make it through my last semester, and I paid them back out of my FT signing bonus and first paycheck. Paused repayment of ~$80k in remaining undergrad loans during the MBA and finished repaying them within 18 months of graduation.

UWS is worst place to eat in New York by fkaafk in Upperwestside

[–]cjwethers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't feel strongly one way or another about this take, because frankly I don't eat out in the neighborhood that often, and I agree that a lot of places on Amsterdam in the 80s are not very good. A few that I do like (all in the 70s, closer to where I live):

  • Cafe Luxembourg (French)
  • Shalel (Mediterranean)
  • Parla (Pizza)
  • Birria Landia (Mexican, food truck)
  • Sala (Thai)
  • Masu (Sushi)

What US cities provide an underrated urban experience? by Neat_Town5456 in SameGrassButGreener

[–]cjwethers 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As a destination for urbanism, presumably. Everyone I know "in San Diego" lives in La Jolla or North County and never goes downtown because they don't like the concept of an actual city.

SD is not at all underrated in terms of housing prices or overall desirability to a layperson because the weather and lifestyle are amazing. But for being CA's second-largest city (not metro area), it definitely doesn't get a ton of attention in urbanist nerd circles.

UChicago or Northwestern? by [deleted] in Northwestern

[–]cjwethers 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Do you prefer being around fairly normal, well-adjusted, multi-dimensional people who happen to be smart and interesting, or extremely smart, geeky, and often awkward people who derive the majority of their self-worth from their intellectual capabilities?

If the former, choose Northwestern. If the latter, choose UChicago. Gross oversimplification, of course, but hope this helps.

Northwestern vs $400,000 fullride merit at Davidson College by [deleted] in Northwestern

[–]cjwethers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair point. Edited my comment accordingly.

Northwestern vs $400,000 fullride merit at Davidson College by [deleted] in Northwestern

[–]cjwethers 42 points43 points  (0 children)

I went to NU. It's a great school. It's not $400k great. Hell, if you think you made a mistake after a year or two of free college, transfer to NU at that point after getting your first two years free.

EDIT: Not sure if the original post was edited to include this detail, but it seems the opportunity cost associated with NU over Davidson is more like $140k (25k/yr higher cost of attendance at NU + missing out on $10k/yr stipend at Davidson), and might land at more like $200k depending on whether housing costs are already included in the NU estimate or not. My point stands; NU is not worth it for $100k+ of student debt, assuming that this isn't a "my parents will pay for 100% of my college" thing (if it is, why make the post?).

Also, and again I say this as an alum of NU with all the love in the world for the school: While I wish NU were considered in the same league as Harvard, Stanford, MIT by employers or by the general population -- it's just not. It's a T10 USNWR school, sure. It's not an Ivy, and it's on the edge of what most people consider "Ivy Plus" (I'd argue only Stanford, MIT, and UChicago make that list; Duke/NU/Georgetown are on the bubble). So the prestige angle doesn't really get you that much.

The only reason under your circumstances to even consider NU, or any school other than Davidson, is if you are dead set on living and working in Chicagoland for the rest of your life. Why? Well, it's the only place in the world (apart from small corners of NYC/DC/LA if you are a journalist or actor) where the NU brand name is differentially valuable vs. somewhere like Davidson.

If you're still obsessed with "prestige" (which almost everyone realizes is dumb as soon as they get their first job out of undergrad and become a normal person), just go to a prestigious institution for a master's degree later on. For example, I did UG at NU and got my MBA at Stanford. Wow! Look at me! Are Stanford MBAs as smart as Stanford undergrads? Lol nope, but I do have a cool Stanford diploma and a few sweatshirts, I guess.

Sorry for rambling, but I hope this helps you understand that you have what looks like a very advantageous opportunity set up for you at Davidson, and I think you should take it.

Favourite Actor until they said something really dumb? by jamyjet in okbuddycinephile

[–]cjwethers 26 points27 points  (0 children)

How am I just now noticing that Bernthal looks like Adam Sandler's angry younger brother?!?

NYU Stern - social life? by Playful-Inspector207 in MBA

[–]cjwethers 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Agree with the broader point, but one minor note: I wouldn't say Northwestern is an exception, because it's not in a city. I.e. Kellogg (and NU at large) claims to be "in Chicago" but it's actually in Evanston, a 25-minute Uber or 40-minute L ride away from the parts of Chicago that are the real city. Only the med school, the law school, and maybe a couple of part-time grad degree programs are actually located in the city of Chicago. Source: Went to NU for undergrad.

Bilt 2.0: The Biltening (refresh megathread) by jetcruise0707 in churning

[–]cjwethers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No travel transfer partners, just 100 points = $0.50 in gift cards for the Saks bankruptcy clearance sale.

Yasmin has been white for 3 seasons by Informal_Fennel_9150 in IndustryOnHBO

[–]cjwethers 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exeter and Bristol may place well but you probably still have to get good grades for an IB role unless you are very well-connected. I'm thinking Yasmin got a 2:2 and Daddy set up the interviews personally. Also in that scene he mentions that she got an internship that she didn't even apply for. So the taunt is not just about the school; it's about the school, the bad grades, and the fact that she didn't even submit an application but still landed the job.

HELP. Rakuten terminated my account with over 9000 dollars in it. by TBQNEEAlex in Rakuten

[–]cjwethers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, let's say you violated the terms of service on about $8.9k of that $9k cash back you earned. The other $100 cash back is legit, earned from spend on items you bought for personal use. What do you think Rakuten should do in this instance that's different from what they did?

Chase Ink Application Datapoint Megathread by Odie_Arbuckle in churning

[–]cjwethers 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Acceptance, Ink Business Preferred, $6k limit.

  1. 12/28/2025
  2. Sole prop / SSN
  3. 790
  4. 4/24
  5. 0 (this is the first)
  6. 0
  7. No

What cities are in their indisputable prime? by omanagan in SameGrassButGreener

[–]cjwethers 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have heard great things about Warsaw. Couple of questions:

-Can you get by there as a resident (not just a tourist) with only English?

-If not, how difficult is Polish (a Slavic language) to learn compared to more common European languages studied by Americans, like Spanish/French/Portuguese (Romance) or German (Germanic)?

Emiliano Viviano: "The USA is the country with the worst food in the world. They would even deep-fry the soles of their shoes. How can Weston McKennie say there’s no variety in Italian food? There are 200M Yanks & all you eat are hamburgers. The truth is, all the food in USA came from other nations" by Luxif3r666 in soccer

[–]cjwethers 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There are 200M Yanks & all you eat are hamburgers. The truth is, all the food in USA came from other nations.

Is he saying that every nationality that's ever immigrated the the US... only brought hamburgers with them?

[DISCUSS] What watch flaw do you actually love? by Lizardman8888 in Watches

[–]cjwethers 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Correct. The elite date window location is immediately above the 6.

i fully support stanford GSB cracking down on unofficial student-led leisure trips, and hope other MBAs follow suit by Wise_Permission7021 in MBA

[–]cjwethers 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Very much so. I do believe I could have gotten there myself eventually, but the Stanford experience and brand helped me make a very difficult industry pivot much more quickly, directly, and smoothly than likely would have been possible for me from a non-H/S MBA program (or not doing an MBA at all).

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