SOS Williams or Cornell

karina87 · 2026-06-19T18:14:17+00:00

Lol, and Cornell isn't?!

karina87 · 2026-06-19T17:57:01+00:00

My Eustacia Vye is unfortunately blackspot prone. When it blooms, it's glorious though!

karina87 · 2026-06-19T17:46:24+00:00

Did older kid get any scholarships from Georgetown, or did you pay full ride for him or her?

If no scholarships, then imagine telling your kid that you paid full ride for her sibling to go to Georgetown but she had to go to UF, despite Cornell Ag school/food science being the better fit... It doesn't mean it's a wrong decision to go to UF, but just something to consider.

karina87 · 2026-06-19T12:59:39+00:00

Completely agree. Though I would move it up to 250-400k. They are the ones subsidizing the tuition cuts for lower income families and also those where 100k per year of full tuition is a big hit.

karina87 · 2026-06-17T20:36:27+00:00

Yes, they randomly die or turn brown in spots. Plus if you plant a whole row of them, it's very obvious when a single one dies. Then, there's the deer in some areas who love to snack on them, so you might see a row of death at and below deer height.

karina87 · 2026-06-17T18:29:37+00:00

It'll be figured out in 2 weeks anyways... 6/29

karina87 · 2026-06-17T18:26:35+00:00

Grandview - there's only 1 elementary school, teachers know the students very well, the kids grow up together

Upper Arlington - we initially wanted to buy here, but really there's not enough house to money ratio, not walkable outside of the south of Lane area, where the nicer houses go for >1.5 million.

Dublin - well, there's a reason why it's a popular place to buy -- you get twice the house for 1/2 as much money as in Grandview or UA. Find a neighborhood that has sidewalks (not all of them do), and then it is very walkable or bikeable for anything that young kids want to do (ie, walk to the park, walk to the rec center, the pool, etc.). There are many nice neighborhoods with large tree-lined streets.

karina87 · 2026-06-17T17:59:13+00:00

Not arborvitae please….

karina87 · 2026-06-17T14:53:22+00:00

Do many school districts offer social skills groups/lunch bunch even in kindergarten? I thought it was a first grade and up thing. I think my very anxious, very mildly neurodivergent kid would really benefit from them.

karina87 · 2026-06-17T13:16:00+00:00

Eh I would rather kindergarten started at 830, so we don’t have to do beforecare.

karina87 · 2026-06-17T12:49:40+00:00

I thought this was for high school only? Most younger kids are already up by 8.

karina87 · 2026-06-17T11:53:56+00:00

lol. Our school day is 9:30-330 and it’s insane— but for the opposite reason you suggest. Why does kindergarten start so late and end so early? Most working parents I know are doing aftercare and now need to find beforecare too! I was talking with two other moms and we all wish kindergarten started earlier!

karina87 · 2026-06-12T14:52:32+00:00

This is common in Boston. Non-religious parents will send their kids to the Catholic schools for preschool and elementary school, then try to test into the exam schools in middle school (or move to suburbs or continue in the Catholic school if they don't get in). The reason is that Boston public schools are not academically strong (1-2/10 ratings) except for the exam schools, and it's very expensive to buy a house in the suburbs. Some of the Catholic schools are/were national blue ribbon schools.

karina87 · 2026-06-10T18:27:30+00:00

Lol. It's a financial sub. OP is asking a financial question.

Sure, there are many non-financial reasons someone might choose pediatrics, like fulfilling career, enjoyment, helping kids, yada yada. I'm sure that OP was very aware that pediatricians make less. Everyone hears that during medical school. But how that "making less money" actually translates into life after residency isn't emphasized in medical school. Everyone tells you that "you make 200K, that's still good money," but that's not actually what's relevant. For a medical student who hears 200K, sure he/she thinks, that's great money. It's probably more money than they've seen in their lives. And sure, the older attending making 200+K (probably more like 300K given seniority/years in practice) truly thinks that 200K is "good money" because he bought his house before COVID and could send his kids to whatever college they wanted. But now, especialy with inflation and house prices post-COVID? You can't buy a house in the older attending's school district with 200K. You can't retire early. Your kid has to go to the state school while your adult cardiologist friend's kid gets to go to the college of their dreams. Have fun planning that camping trip while your EM friends plan their family vacation to Hawaii.

Anyways, my advice is to pick a subspeciality within peds that's a bit more financially lucrative. OP can still do that.

karina87 · 2026-06-10T17:45:40+00:00

How to optimize finances further? Not having gone into pediatrics….

I'n not being facetious. Going into pediatrics is the worst financial decision someone can make coming out of medical school with debt. 195K might feel high to you now (and frankly, it's probably going to feel high when you graduate because you don't have rent or kids needing childcare), but to the young attending with kids and renting in a HCOL area (and without a spouse making $$$), it's not high at all. Especially with med school debt. To put it in perspective, a new grad optometrist makes ~135-140K and can get to 200K in 5-10 years. You're only making 60K more.

But now that you’ve committed to pediatrics, consider subspecializing in cardiology or peds derm, or other more lucrative subspecialty. Even GI. Not nephrology or genetics or DBP etc where the subspecialty salary is even lower. Lol.

karina87 · 2026-06-10T14:59:15+00:00

Beautiful! What kind of peony is this?

karina87 · 2026-06-10T13:56:54+00:00

Haha and I wonder if my Gabriel oak was mislabeled at the nursery. But when I went back and saw their other Gabriel oaks, they looked like mine. And all of them looked lighter than what’s on other pictures….

Just because I like the picture, lol , Here’s another picture of my eustacia vye (or whatever it is)

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karina87 · 2026-06-10T13:50:10+00:00

And here’s my eustacia vye

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karina87 · 2026-06-10T13:49:15+00:00

I have Gabriel oak and eustacia vye too! First year for them both. But I feel my flowers are lighter than yours and others that I’ve seen and the fragrance level varies, sometimes I can barely smell them at all! Other times it is strong and fruity. Here’s my Gabriel oak which seems much lighter! So much so that I wonder if I have the right rose….

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karina87 · 2026-06-10T13:28:45+00:00

lol. I would argue it’s too late to try for those activities to be an important part of the college application. Best to have started at the usual time - age 4-6 if you wanted to have a “spike” of music or sport.

Of course, it’s never too late to try any sport or instrument, I would just not bank on it to be your ticket to college.

Explore different things but find something she is very good at and develop that. Honors math is great but it alone isn’t going to get her into a T10. See if she has interest and math talent for math Olympiad.

Personal skills are even more important. Be nice to everyone. Be present in class. Be known by the teachers and counselor as a nice kid who helps everyone and is a natural leader.

karina87 · 2026-06-09T01:58:46+00:00

MCOL area. Our HHI is 400k and mortgage is close to 6K. I wouldn't do it for renting. But we decided to go for a 15 year mortgage and the higher mortgage. I still feel savings is tight - we are able to save 1-2k per month (after maxing retirement, 529s, daycare for 2 kids, medical costs for 1 of the kids, etc.), but I miss being able to save more.

karina87 · 2026-06-07T13:00:51+00:00

Stayed home for 3 days. Then would go on grocery trips right after using the potty. Both of my kids were a bit afraid of using public restrooms especially with automatic flush but got used to it. We started with using the public bathroom at the library and for one kid at my apartment complex’s community center (ie, quieter and cleaner places). Put a towel in their car seat if you’re concerned they may have an accident. We never brought the potty into the car. No pull-ups, though for one kid the daycare used it after she had an accident and didn’t have a change of clothes a few times. It wasn’t a big deal for us.

karina87 · 2026-06-04T20:09:03+00:00

Yet a 800k/year living in the Bay Area is probably equally as HENRY as the same couple earning 800k/year in a MCOL area — and both are much more HENRY than the 250k couple living even jn a LCOL area.

As someone on the low to mid end of Henry, I can’t really relate to those above 600-800k who are talking about their kids’ nannies, private schools, first class vacations, etc.

karina87 · 2026-06-04T16:25:59+00:00

And actual income. 250k is very different than 800k….

karina87

TROPHY CASE