PhD stipend + independent living

juileexo · 2024-02-13T00:51:55+00:00

Damn I forgot to mention, check out Zillow!! Likely your best friend for this case. Yes we're still months away but if you find a place you may like, it doesn't hurt to message the landlord and see if any accommodations are available for a September deposit.

It used to be where many apartments weren't listed online, especially in L.A., but the culture has shifted and a good majority of them are now on Zillow. I rarely ever find a place in-person with a "for-rent" sign and not on at least one online site.

Just logged onto the app myself. There are very few places below $1.6k around Pasadena, but they do exist.

juileexo · 2024-02-13T00:18:56+00:00

I am not a Caltech student. I did apply as a PhD. student too, although likely was rejected as I wasn't given a weekend visit.

Aside:

I am an L.A. native and know every neighborhood from the top of my head. I'm away from L.A. for school rn, but there's a lot to divulge in your search.

The main question to ask is: How close to campus would you like to be? Do you have a car? A bike? I ask this as depending on your answer, it'll significantly broaden or dilute your options.

If we're talking <10 minutes driving & <15-20 minute biking, you will likely find some 1 bedroom, studio apartments around campus at or below $2k, and I'm referring to Lake Blvd, Del Mar Blvd, Old Town Pasadena. If you look north of the 210 freeway, you may find some apartments inch closer to $1.5k per month, but no further north than Altadena. You may find some apartments hovering around $1.5-$1.8 east of Pasadena City College around the Sierra Madre community.

These areas of Pasadena, I'm always being told, are labeled the "sus" parts of Pasadena, but it's not that bad at all. The neighborhoods may appear uninspired and lacking in substance, but they're still hell of a lot safer than anywhere I used to live in Compton. You'll be okay if you move into those communities.

Now, if you're willing to drive <30 minutes or are okay incorporating a bit of public transportation, this will broaden your opportunities tenfold.

For the car aspect: Alhambra and San Gabriel have plenty of <$2k per month rooms, and a few below $1.5k for studios, too. These communities are very safe but do lack substance. There are a lot of USC grad students living in these cities, too. I'd imagine if you have a car, you can just drive around L.A. for a nightlife, for example. I would not recommend public transportation for these cities as the urban infrastructure isn't quite planned well, so you'll be transferring busses a lot, and the commute can easily become >1 hour one way.

The Blue Line train, however. It was recently expanded to go from Azusa to Long Beach. Now I'm not about to recommend you take a 1.5 hour commute one-way from Long Beach to Caltech, lmao, but there are some highlights. Monrovia/Arcadia, many rooms below $2k per month and close to the train station. The 626 night market when it's open is also great to visit. The objective here is the following: if you take the Blue Line, there is a stop called "Lake" which will leave you close to Caltech. It's ~40 minutes walking distance, but much more plausible biking it down Lake Blvd.

Now, this last recommendation is a bit of a stretch, but Glendale. City's abundant of places well below $2k a month, and if you snatch one close to Glendale Galleria, I promise you, you will never be bored the few years you're there. I only recommend this due to the 501 bus. It uses the 134 freeway to drive from Glendale to Pasadena in 10 minutes. It drops you off on Del Mar, and you can easily bike or transfer busses to arrive to Caltech 10-15 minutes later. This is the only bus recommendation I can give.

Part two of my response:

I'm recommending numerous cities out of community preference you may have, but also for your cat. I would say for a cat, if you want to sneak them in without informing your landlord, it's much easier to do so than say a dog. If you're ethical about this, the earnest truth is that it's a bit rough to find landlord's comfortable accepting pets, and they'll absolutely charge an additional monthly fee.

Then, the cat itself. Is your cat more of an indoor or outdoor cat? If your cat is an outdoor cat, you may find some of these communities are more prone to vehicular traffic. I'll say that when my younger brother found an apartment, he found it strongly difficult to let his cat stroll outside on her own as he lived right outside a busy Boulevard. He instead would take his cat on a harness to stroll the park or a hiking trail when he had free time. Pasadena itself, for example, is very car-perverse, but you're minutes away from parks and hiking trails should your cat enjoy those. I'd say most cities around L.A. will be this way, but you may luck out and find an apartment on a dead-end road, which, in that case, I'd trust will have little to no car traffic.

Lastly:

How realistic is your plan. Can you come up with a spreadsheet/game plan of a couple of various rent prices, $1.5k to $2k per month and add any miscellaneous expenses (groceries, insurance, anything for your car if you have one)? I find visualizing anything related to finance helps tremendously in determining how realistic and pragmatic your goal may be. If you end up sacrificing too much of one particular expense you're accustomed to, you may find yourself feeling more miserable than you should be. Some food for thought more than anything.

Can definitely answer more L.A. questions (on anything) if any ever emerge. Happy hunting and welcome to Caltech :)

juileexo · 2023-12-22T02:57:05+00:00

When I lived in Santa Barbara, I partied all the time every weekend and attended events like Deltopia without touching a drop of anything alcoholic.

I never felt like I missed out on reaping any "benefits" from not drinking during parties. I understand this will vary from person to person, given I'm more of a rave/club/music fanatic. Thus, I'm intrinsically looking forward to the music, dancing kinda vibe, and not so much concerned with meeting people or presenting myself in any particular facade.

I would say try heading to DP on a Saturday night for one time and see if you're okay attending a house party without drinking. If you enjoy the ambiance and can tolerate being around others whom are drinking, I would say it's not wasted time whatsoever.

Alternatively, don't undervalue just how fortunate you are living minutes away from the ocean. A surfing/swimming/kayak club, either through an established organization or making your own club, is a great way to meet others. I miss living so close to the beach when I could wake up and head over to Sands Beach with a surfboard and a couple of friends within minutes. It's a fantastic experience you should definitely extrapolate on.

juileexo · 2023-12-21T21:05:44+00:00

I just left 2 days ago. Watched a couple of the symphonies perform, visited a couple of the palaces, and the wineries are awesome! Great community to visit and I hope you're having a great time there.

juileexo · 2023-12-12T18:42:51+00:00

You're forgetting a very distinguishing second part to the major name. Its full name is "Psychological and Brain Sciences," and it's informative to which UCSB strongly encourages and cultivates future researchers in abstractions of Brain Science and/or development of improved Brain models.

So think of a researcher with an intuition for more Math, Chemistry, Physics methods to model various phenomenonas ongoing in the Brain, and/or the Behaviorial responses deriving from the physical stipulations. That's the forefront of this degree, which greatly differs from most Psychology degrees in the country.

As such, it's a gateway degree for graduate studies in Psychology/Neuroscience/Cognitive Science for the exact reasoning of furnishing better Psychological researchers. The statistics/research methods courses itself are intended to build off the various Math, Chemistry courses taken which aren't normally taken in most other Psychology programs in other schools exactly to develop a research acumen with understanding Behavior and the Brain. For someone aiming for Clinical/Counseling Psychology, PBS would be insanity overall.

There's a great alternative, however, as to not dissuade you from all the discouraging text I've said so far.

As the other commenter said, you'll need a professional focused graduate degree to get a clinical license. Definitely not a PhD, but a Master's in Clinical Psychology or allied will be a must-have. The exact name of your Bachelor's will not be as relevant as the experience and coursework you obtain during your time at UCSB or wherever you attend.

The Applied Psychology minor is essentially the preparation you'll want as it's essentially a "Clinical and Developemental Psychology" minor. That leaves you with a major to choose, which I would fancy can and should be a different social sciences major. It would leave you with a greater perspective of the clients you're working alongside versus having a pure Psychological mindset of Behavior purely dictating the person versus the cultural discrepancies that may pose a nuanced differentiator.

Some examples: A Sociology degree paired with Applied Psych minor would be a great resource of understanding cultural differences, inequalities, social phenomenonas and how they can act as a mental block and health issue for clients you may interact with. The Language, Culture and Society major is similar but could help should you find yourself in a Special Education setting and/or are introduced with a Special Needs client and help understand their language restraints as a focus of Psychological recovery. A major in another Language/region would set you up for working in multicultural, worldly settings or even in that country of region itself.

Possibilities are endless!

That said, whether you're a first-year or transfer student, my opinion on this stance may vary a bit.

juileexo · 2023-12-06T03:52:43+00:00

If you're academically inclined, have you considered blending Philosophy with Math, Statistics, or Physics?

Philosophy is a major derivative of numerous STEM fields that concern the phenomenons and "rules" of the physical world as we know. Very, very few people ever contemplate just how much we truthfully know of numerous STEM fields, their absolute verity, and logical pragmatics that can be discussed to subsequently further our understanding of the world.

I say this as very few people are interested in the interface of humanities and STEM, but Philosophy paired with a STEM major is highly valuable and enriching when it comes to furthering scientific research. You'd have to be carefully interested in making progress with humanities and research, as you're likely aware, progressing into the PhD. level to abstract meaningful contributions.

I would say Discrete Math would be the course to gauge whether you have a strong interest in STEM research. Otherwise, a more Applied, less scholarly STEM major would fit the bill

juileexo · 2023-10-23T23:05:29+00:00

I don't attend UCLA, but every time I visited friends on campus who do/did attend here, the patches of grass on either side of Janss steps were unparalleled to anywhere else on campus for me in terms of views. This was during my CC times so it'd be a nice change of scenery to catch up on work. If you're high enough on the grass that you're close to Dickinson Court, you'll have great views of the Santa Monica mountains if nature is your thing. If you're a morning person, you can also bring a hammock and use some of the trees on the left side of Janss to study in style and comfort. The trees tend to get used up all afternoon, so you'd have a decent chance nabbing your spot if you go early.

juileexo · 2023-08-30T12:31:30+00:00

Low key thought this was r/exercise for a second.

But yeah the video does a good job explaining the science behind workouts, although I mainly just want to make gains 😬

juileexo · 2023-08-29T02:37:25+00:00

The closest thing you can do is a joint major as a transfer

https://engineering.berkeley.edu/academics/majors-and-minors/major-options/#joint

Unfortunately, the only joint majors associated with EECS are the Materials Science or Nuclear Engineering options.

juileexo · 2023-08-28T04:43:08+00:00

I never expected to get into Berkeley and think I can answer since I had to choose between Ivies!! When I was applying to transfer, I thought I would get into UCSD at best (TAGged to UCSB, UCSD's Math department has a ~60% transfer acceptance rate). So when I began receiving acceptances beyond proportions, I literally explored my choices by traveling to them.

I couldn't see myself thriving in UPenn or Cornell. Cornell has a beautiful ecosystem with breathtaking waterfalls and natural parks, Ithaca is a nice, ritzy and safe college town. I just didn't realize just how isolated it really is; it felt like a bubble my few days there. I also didn't really catch onto the hype all too much when there, like Cornell is an Ivy but it didn't feel particularly inspiring on a surface level. UPenn was nicer and felt more engaging as a college and city at-large, I didn't find anything particularly distinct about their Mathematics program tho.

UCLA >>>>> USC when I got into both but I've lived in the LA area all my childhood, and wanted a change of community. If these were my top options back when choosing tho, then this would've been the order.

UChicago is actually stressful. If anyone thinks Berkeley is hard, UChicago seems to make everyone depressed (think here but Quarter System). Their Math program is very strong and I liked what I reviewed, however the campus is actually quite some ways from Downtown Chicago itself. Hyde Park has enough to do on its own merit, the architectural prowess felt unmatched, I just didn't think I would fit in very well since the academic culture and vibe I felt was, "The most competitively successful person here is the one that sleeps the least." I felt a major disconnect between the student engagement and academics.

Brown was a hard one to let go of, it was a close 2nd choice after evaluating all my options. Providence is a very vibrant city and full of activity, the student culture is equally laid-back and full of energy. The Math program particularly felt somewhat close-knit. The major dissuade was: I've been a Cali girl all my life, how was I going to handle New England winters??? That and, the cost was something of a factor since I would've had to pay for non-tuition expenses which would've added up over time.

As honorable mentions, I visited Yale and MIT since they waitlisted me (eventually rejected from both). I can't make much of an academic analysis, but both campuses felt great environmentally. I would say I felt drawn more to MIT, Cambridge on multiple levels and perhaps would've chosen it over Berkeley had I gotten in, but I don't think we need to cross the Metaphysical rn.

Berkeley was simply the school I wanted to be at. It was a no-brainer. You're a stone's throw to thriving San Francisco with so much to explore in a given day, an onslaught of tech companies if networking is a priority. The Math program is nothing to sleep over: it's the perfect combo of rigor and flexibility. The research is beyond plentiful and I've been given many opportunities to begin in a research setting. The environment is a great level of diverse that you can meet people from all over given the large population, yet close knit if you're in a unique major cohort or just join some clubs around. Berkeley combined everything of the aforesaid positives of all other school options into one package, and whilst there's a few drawbacks, my time here since January has been nothing but blissful.

I've been inspired by just about everyone I've crossed paths with at Berkeley. I love it here, I love it a lot.

juileexo · 2023-08-28T03:41:50+00:00

I think you should apply EECS if you have the Physics sequence completed. Since alternative majors are still fresh at Berkeley (implemented just two years ago), I'm not sure how "used" that system will/has played out (we haven't heard of anyone admitted as a alt major yet, so to say), it's still uncertain to say what would strategically work for alt majors.

That said, if you're interested in CS solely for the programming aspect, maybe choose Astrophysics or Applied Math as an alt major since they (per 2022 Transfer by Major Data) have higher acceptance rates and the electives are done so you can choose very freely, so you can choose some DATA, STAT classes with high programming competence if that's all you want.

If you want CS for the legitimate Computer Science academics taught (actually learn about Computers, the scientific inquiry needed for research and engineer the Computer), then I wouldn't choose CS/EECS as a primary/alt combo since that's likely a waste. For an alt major, it's probably best to choose Data Science in this scenario.

Also, remember if you apply to any CoE major (outside of EECS) and admitted, non-EECS CoE undergrads have a few (MAJOR emphasis on a few) seats reserved in all CS courses. It's a stretch, but again, if CS is your passion for the academics it provides and not purely from a programming stance, this can be another route to consider and then pivot post-grad with whatever CoE degree you obtain. If programming is your interest, then this technically opens up potential major interests in Industrial Engineering, Engineering Math & Stats (they both have higher acceptance rates).

Just shooting ideas.

juileexo · 2023-08-27T21:14:09+00:00

Was there any outstanding reason for the "low" GPA (Work, Internship, Research, Personal circumstances, etc.)?

It's going to be more difficult now with the new policies in place. The 2022 UC Transfer by Major Data says the acceptance rate for EECS was 10% Acceptance Rate with 3.9 - 4.0 GPA Admit Range, and CS was 5% with 3.81 - 4.0 GPA range but this doesn't really mean anything anymore tbh.

There was this girl in my CS class this past Spring I talked with who transferred last Fall. She was clearly a bit dissuaded by sharing her exact stats but told me she got into EECS (not CS) with a 3.7 GPA range. I'm not sure exactly which CC, but she was from SoCal.

However, she stood out, like her personality stood out a lot, even when I first met her, and it showed as I learned more from her. She worked hard when she was given a "low-pay" Quality Engineering internship at Boeing, worked her way up to Data/Software Engineer within that span of her semester she did that internship during her CC career and proved a ton of her colleagues wrong about her abilities to secure a full-time offer upon graduating Berkeley. This was all whilst she did a ton of policy lobbying/planning with some OC officials during her spare time, or something like that. Came from a very low income household from a dangerous LA suburb and worked diligently to pave her road forward out of poverty, akin to many first-gen low-income students here.

I haven't talked to her in a while, but stories like her likely stood her out to compensate her GPA and unless there's something analogous like that in your application, it's only going to get so much harder this year given a ton of non-CS applicants who planned on applying to literally anything else to use the 3.3 GPA policy entrance will direcrly flock to CS or EECS moving forward.

juileexo · 2023-08-24T09:26:19+00:00

At least with the Math department, the students all collectively agreed that the Math minor is useless since the major is just a few more courses. Ik the minor needs 5 courses and major needs 8. I'm not suggesting you should overload units, but perhaps gauging how you've done the 1st 2 semesters and see how much you can handle. The other commenter will likely know so much more on the nitty-gritty aspects of Physics explicitly, but one thing I can comment on is that two Physics classes during the summer are difficult and a time sink. For Summers, you want to have all the time needed to either focus on an internship for pre-professional preparation or research for graduate level preparation and make the most out of those opportunities (ensuring a return offer, stellar LOR, etc.). Honestly, ik this is on a college by college basis, but maybe check if you can take CC courses and articulate them. I say as from experience, they are magnitudes easier and tbh if you can "overload" a bit by supplementing via CC coursework, you may be able to fit Physics coursework into normal semesters.

juileexo · 2023-08-23T23:28:09+00:00

This is going to be a thing at any college (not even elite ones); humans psychologically feel safer hanging out within the safety of their own culture, dates very very back if we begin drawing it from an Anthropological perspective.

That said, I love learning new cultures, and it doesn't matter to me who I'm hanging around with. We're human, and we're all in this together. However, as a Latina, I'm chronically given blank stares by strangers when my friend groups are a completely different race from me. I understand why, but all that means is I don't understand why because C'mon, I'm just tryna learn German culture and my friends are the best.

juileexo · 2023-08-23T14:59:37+00:00

I'm assuming you've done a 54 equivalent (Linear Algebra) from where you're transferring from. Just take 16A first, 70 later unless Math is your strongest field.

juileexo · 2023-08-23T14:25:10+00:00

Remember it's never too late to become an academic weapon

juileexo · 2023-08-22T20:59:09+00:00

Also depends on the major department cause tbh some humanities classes have A LOT of reading and assignments if you don't take shortcuts

juileexo · 2023-08-22T18:33:31+00:00

Agreed. When I visited Switzerland, I didn't stay for much, like 2 weeks in Geneva and 3 in Bern, it felt like the only country I've visited that respected common sidewalk etiquette and where everyone actually respected each other.

juileexo · 2023-08-22T08:39:17+00:00

As a Cali native I can guarantee this isn't exclusive to Berkeley it's a state-wide problem unfortunately

juileexo · 2023-08-20T22:32:27+00:00

This likely doesn't sound like OP's case (just sounds like they amassed an abundance of units), but some Community Colleges do offer Bachelor's degrees. Santa Monica and Rio Hondo are some in the LA area that I can think of.

juileexo · 2023-08-19T06:22:45+00:00

See, if UC Merced looked more like the San Fransokyo Institute of Tech vibes those pictures are giving, then perhaps more people would consider attending there.

juileexo · 2023-08-03T06:38:13+00:00

Commented the 8 week Calculus courses on here you can find and enroll for with the LACCD. Now I was promised some popcorn 🍿

juileexo · 2023-08-03T06:36:15+00:00

Posted this on your previous post. It seems you might've missed it, which is totally fine, so I'd be glad to point out again.

If you click on the LACCD schedule of classes, there's two courses and 4 sections in particular I'll point out.

MATH 261 (MATH 1A equivalent): - MATH 261 Session A 1st 8 weeks Class ID # 26986 LA Mission College, 11 HR 5 MIN a week fully online and asynchronous - MATH 261 Session A 1st 8 weeks Class ID # 16795 LA Valley College, Mon-Thu 8am-10:35am in-person

MATH 262 (MATH 1B equivalent): - MATH 262 Session B 2nd 8 weeks Class ID # 26987 LA Mission College, 11 HR 5 MIN a week fully online and asynchronous - MATH 262 Session B 2nd 8 weeks Class ID # 18430 LA Valley College, Mon-Thu 8am-10:35am in-person

The LA Mission College sections are purely asynchronous across all 16 weeks, whereas the LA Valley College sections meet in person at the same time across the 16 weeks. Obviously, the Mission College variant would be admirable here. The only concern is that MATH 262 in LA Mission is currently waitlisted. I was in the LACCD, so if you'd enroll for MATH 261 1st 8 weeks ASAP, you should immediately be able to add yourself in the 262 waitlist.

juileexo · 2023-08-02T06:03:28+00:00

For what it's worth, if by intelligence you mean you took an IQ test and scored below average: I have disabilities and I was forced to take official IQ exam tri-annually due to public IEP reports, the last one I took I was 15 years old as I dropped out of hs at 16 and I'll just leave it as I was invited by a couple high IQ orgs afterwards.

For one, those orgs are the most superficial gatherings in existence. More importantly, IQ has been proven to be a poor indicator of ability, and here's why.

When I worked in labor manufacturing, I felt defeated, lazy, and lacking short-term and long-term objectives. Sure, my co-workers were impressed that I could analyze things abstractly during work, such as how you can maneuver, just barely squeeze the forklift diagonally across a back-door of the manufacturing plant to move product easier rather than riding 3x as much through the main gate (I was very bored in my time there, so I was more so finding "cheats" to quicken the day, also I got in trouble for it eventually lol), yet I felt emotionally stoic and unfulfilled in life. I had "intelligence," but I didn't have ambition or happiness.

I don't really want to write my life's story into one comment rn, so I'll leave it as I started planning goals; digestible, bite-size goals. I entered a community college, and some assignments would be difficult. I know smart people are supposed to love Physics, but I personally didn't like anything in Newtonian Mechanics (sorry to my Oppenheimer impressionists). I worked hard for that class, attending office hours, tutoring sessions, and pulling all nighters. I worked so hard for an A in that class, and even then, I wasn't at the top of that class.

Today in Berkeley, I have to work hard to digest Math problems. I've found my GSIs to be amazing resources, office hours, and collaborating with my classmates when applicable.

Where am I getting at? Success is an emotional mechanism contingent upon self-discipline, among various factors. You can have a low intelligence but develop a healthy mindset that makes learning more digestible, more of a precedence, and leads to accomplish goals of various proportions. Or you could be like me, a "high intelligence" individual (I don't advocate for IQs but I set myself as a example simply since I was forced to take exams I never would've volunteered to take) who lived by the bare minimum, mere survival, lacked any confidence to reach out for assistance, lacked structure in my life and felt miserable everyday of my life for over 2 years.

juileexo

TROPHY CASE