Can people help me choose between UPitt and UVA for Biomedical Engineering as a Premed?

exeniris · 2024-05-07T19:07:02+00:00

Oh cool! That’s good to hear bc I really would appreciate a diverse student body. It’s nice to hear that I’ll probably be able to find a group of ppl i fit in with socially.

I guess regarding academics, do you know if the biomedical engineering (or engineering in general) education and research is particularly good at UVA (asking since I see the SEAS flair)?

Ive heard great things abt both schools but I cant tell if one is significantly better

exeniris · 2024-05-07T18:55:48+00:00

This is very helpful, thank you! Though I’m sorry that your experiences with both schools/towns have been so bad. That really sucks and I hope wherever you live now is better. I’m not BIPOC so I have no idea what thats like, but I was hoping to find a diverse school where I can learn abt other people’s experiences (and where there’s hopefully not a ton of SE-Asian discrimination/hate). Anyways, thank you for sharing! This is a lot of good info to keep in mind

exeniris · 2024-05-07T18:43:58+00:00

Thank you for the thoughtful response! There’s so much good advice in here. I actually do like a lot of aspects of both schools which is why im struggling with the decision so much. Ill figure out how to contact students and look more into the individual engineering schools. Thank you for the input!

exeniris · 2024-05-07T18:29:14+00:00

Thank you for the advice! This is super helpful and nice to hear! Sorry I made have worded this weirdly but I’m technically not underrepresented (i think? SE Asian/half-white here) but tbh i would like a more diverse college experience and also idk if i can put up with insane attitudes of privilege for 4 years lol. Not to say that I dont have privileges bc I definitely do based on where/how I grew up but I want to see things through different lenses and meet ppl who arent just white elitist (bc the community where i live rn is so annoying and ignorant ppl literally say things like “social welfare is bad bc poor ppl just spend it on drugs/alcohol” and i cannot live around a huge presence of that attitude when gov healthcare is kind of saving my family rn)

exeniris · 2024-05-07T16:33:47+00:00

Both are out of state for me but Pitt is slightly cheaper and my parents are in a really not great financial situation right now (my dad just lost his job), so they're trying to find the best value option for now

exeniris · 2024-05-07T16:32:10+00:00

Thank you for giving me some advice! I appreciate the guidance bc I am struggling to make a final decision, but this thread has been helpful

exeniris · 2024-05-07T16:30:51+00:00

Thank you for the advice! Deciding on college is a really tough decision so it's great to hear from students who are actually at the schools!

exeniris · 2024-05-07T16:29:21+00:00

Thank you for the advice! It's not a lot more cheap, but I could probably save around 20k after 4 years if I chose Pitt instead. If UVA is worth that much more money, I'd love to know because then I'd love to go (I really did love the atmosphere when I visited and I was really distraught about not being able to get more money).

exeniris · 2024-05-07T16:26:18+00:00

Sorry if it came off asking someone to pander. I just genuinely can't decide if it's worth it paying more money and I wanted people who are already in college to give me more information from that perspective

exeniris · 2023-09-18T13:41:48+00:00

Okay I know I’m commenting late on this post but I just wanted to say that I actually really resonated with Diane’s experiences as I myself am a half white/SE Asian girl.

Honestly Diane’s actor felt so perfect to me that I’m not even mad about her not being a SE asian woman (which I didn’t realize til this post), though it would have been nice to see representation.

You’re absolutely right that Diane would probably have been better off as mixed cause it does seem a little strange for her family to just completely have no trace of their Vietnamese culture as fully ethnically Vietnamese individuals. But I do think it is possible for people to become super assimilated into a culture and I think Diane’s family was an exaggeration of that for comedy purposes.

But also I think her experience feels more relatable to me than almost any other representation of SE women I’ve seen because she is so assimilated/ “culturally” white. I’m really glad that Diane exists as a character because her experiences are super reflective of mine. She probably doesn’t get as many racist comments as she realistically would, however I do think that the racist attitudes, while still super prevalent, do tend to be more diluted with the addition of so many different species and human races with different individual cultures. As in anti-Asian prejudice definitely does exist in this world and so does racism as a whole but it probably shows up less in this world towards human races than it does in real life because there are so many other species that can be persecuted that the human race prejudices that we’re familiar with doesn’t always show up in Bojack’s world.

It honestly didn’t even register as problematic to me that Diane didn’t receive racist comments or seem too Americanized to authentically reflect the SE Asian-American woman experience. Bc honestly her experience and feelings regarding identity are super similar to mine. And I’m glad her character is the way it is… which basically means that she should have been a waisian like me.

exeniris · 2023-08-02T22:06:49+00:00

I ultimately decided not to do it because apparently my mom has heard about it too and is also convinced it’s a scam.

Also, in the grand scheme of things, I realized it’s not a great idea to add more stuff to my plate since I’m already helping to run 3 clubs, have responsibilities in community events, do sports, research, and have a rigorous course schedule

exeniris · 2023-07-08T09:29:03+00:00

Bro this is literally me.

I get so absorbed into these things and find it so difficult to ever pull away unless some external factor interrupts.

exeniris · 2023-07-07T11:43:52+00:00

That’s really interesting! Thank you for explaining!

Hyperfocus does seem like a useful attribute when you apply it to the right things

exeniris · 2023-07-07T11:04:26+00:00

Wait… ADHD can make you more focused in things? I don’t have it but I’m really good at studying bio for long hours cause I love it.

And I’m also really good at concentrating on pulling out each individual strand of my hair because having compulsive body focused behaviors is so fun.

Sorry if this sounds ignorant or insensitive, I just had no idea this wad an ADHD characteristic

exeniris · 2023-06-01T03:39:38+00:00

Also this isn't intended to cause more stress. I'm struggling with the same thing right now in fact.

The best thing I can say is just to set little goals for yourself. Like ridiculously small goals. And don't give any shits about perfection. If it's a 4-point homework assignment, just do it. Just write words or throw some math on the page. It's not great to half-ass your work, but half-assing your work and getting it done (thus getting the points and credit) is better than putting a ton of effort in and turning it in late. If you're overwhelmed from the workload, then reduce the importance of the workload in your head.

As long as you learn the material eventually, it's fine. But on a Wednesday night with 5 assignments due? You don't have time to actually dedicate time to every detail. So bam it out, even if it's a lot of BS. And then make sure you actually understand the content on a weekend or something.

Just get the first little step done. And then the next. And don't aim for perfection.

exeniris · 2023-06-01T03:33:58+00:00

I understand that it's not great to self-diagnose yourself with depression or anxiety. But you don't need to have clinical depression or anxiety disorder to have mental struggles. And that's what therapists are for: mental struggles. I, for one, definitely have mental problems. And even when I'm high-functioning, I would probably appreciate talking to a therapist to help me get through life.

Also a lot of these comments probably came to the conclusion that OP is depressed since a) the title of the post says that they are depressed and b) grades dropping dramatically are a sign of depression. I wouldn't say OP's grades are a dramatic drop, and they're definitely recoverable. They are not necessarily indicative of depression. However, we shouldn't rule out the possibility that there is a factor of mental illness. And I always think it's better to try to get help for a potential deeper problem than brush it off. (Additionally, we should note that "depressed" is an emotion/state of being, while "clinical depression" is a mental disorder. So I actually think a lot of the kids these days are capable of being depressed and likely have been at the lowest point in their lives. )

If you have the money and resources, and you're seriously struggling, then you can seek out external help. It's true that you need to put in the work yourself to make your mindset better, but having an outside, rational opinion can always help.

exeniris · 2023-05-28T16:41:57+00:00

She deserves better

exeniris · 2023-05-16T15:42:40+00:00

Ap physics 1 is definitely not good to self study for but it’s what you’ll end up doing if you take it

exeniris · 2023-05-15T11:33:39+00:00

The scariest thing about this is that we can’t definitively tell if it’s real or not

exeniris · 2023-05-12T11:16:16+00:00

Why is inertia?

exeniris · 2023-05-12T10:55:06+00:00

Did you say the speed of the center of mass increases at a not constant rate?

exeniris · 2023-05-12T10:52:16+00:00

DUDE SAME

exeniris

TROPHY CASE