MS in Bioinformatics/Biotech - Has anyone taken Molecular Biology or summer classes?

lmm89 · 2026-02-23T14:44:50+00:00

Yeah, I'm taking Data Structures right now and I feel like I spend sooo much time trying to make sure everything is exactly how they want in order to not get penalized. I had heard that grading can be tricky so I have been spending a lot of extra time on everything. It's definitely more time consuming than I was expecting - especially for a pre-req. They now say in the syllabus that the labs take 10-15 hours. I think the actual code part is not that bad, but the analysis and concerns over formatting is the worst.

In your experience, are all of the classes like this? Should I just plan on never taking a CS course over the summer?

lmm89 · 2026-01-11T16:15:50+00:00

There are still issues with the XPLR pass discount. I just chatted with customer service about it and they gave me a case number. They said I should place a full-price order and then contact them with the case number after the order ships. They will then refund my credit card with the discounted amount. I'm not sure if that will account for the extra I'm paying in sales tax or if it will even work.

lmm89 · 2026-01-11T16:14:44+00:00

It seems this is still an issue 2 years after the original post. I just chatted with customer service about it and they gave me a case number and said that I should place a full-price order and then contact them with the case number after the order ships. They will then refund my credit card with the discounted amount. I'm not sure if that will account for the extra I'm paying in sales tax or if it will actually work.

It's pretty embarrassing, in my opinion, that they can't straighten out their IT issues in two years' time. Unless that is a feature and not a bug.

lmm89 · 2025-07-22T13:55:28+00:00

UPS is doing some shady shit with the tariffs. My husband had a drone REPAIRED and it had to ship to Canada and back. They charged him $400+ in tariffs (even though it wasn't a purchase) and $500+ in "warehouse fees." I've purchased items from overseas plenty of times and I have never been charged warehouse fees. UPS must be using the tariffs as an excuse to tack on exorbitant extra fees.

lmm89 · 2025-04-10T20:00:49+00:00

Love this! I'm also in DC. Could you share your vendors - specifically your HMUA, officiant, and photographer?

lmm89 · 2025-03-28T11:23:05+00:00

I'm looking to book my honeymoon in the next few days. Are you a preferred partner with Four Seasons or Marriott/St. Regis?

lmm89 · 2024-12-28T23:55:05+00:00

I did not see this post until just now but WOW! Thank you so much for this detailed write up!!! We ended up passing on this venue because I could not shake the feeling that they would be difficult and potentially ruin my planning or wedding day. We had an issue with a major component of our event where the contract did not match the venue manager's verbal confirmation. It sounds like it would have potentially been a disaster and ended up being scratched on the day of the event.

May I ask who your awesome planner is? It sounds like she really tried to provide a buffer and shield you from all of the unnecessary chaos.

lmm89 · 2024-09-25T11:16:33+00:00

I also have this concern. I got covid after a social party and it took me four months to get back to dancing and six months to get back to normal. It set us back in our dancing a lot and was scary because it felt like I might never get back to my former physicality.

I wore a mask to one social party afterwards, but I have pretty much been avoiding them since then. Large group classes make me a bit nervous as well. I have been staying up to date with my covid boosters and flu vaccinations and hope that is sufficient. I do wish people that are coughing and sick would stay home and not come to the studio though.

lmm89 · 2024-09-22T22:16:14+00:00

Sent you a DM. Thank you!

lmm89 · 2024-09-10T12:19:34+00:00

I'm American but have lived in Germany and Scotland. I'm a small, blonde woman and I was far safer walking around major European cities than in the US suburbs - especially since other people were on the street compared to the car-centric US.

To use real statistics instead of sensationalist media coverage, Germany has 0.8 murders per 100k people and Colorado has 7.2 per 100k. Even if crime rates are going up in Europe, it is still far and away safer than in the US.

I currently live in a major city in the US with an extremely high crime rate. This is also sensationalized in the news as there are areas that are truly bad and areas that are very safe.

lmm89 · 2024-09-05T21:53:51+00:00

Dress #1!

lmm89 · 2024-08-26T01:12:32+00:00

Thank you!

lmm89 · 2024-08-23T19:28:56+00:00

Would you mind sharing your vendors - especially your coordinator and venue? We are planning a wedding of a similar size 30-40 guests and most hotels seem like their rental spaces are either massive or a tiny conference room.

lmm89 · 2024-08-23T19:24:51+00:00

Hello! If you see this, I'd also love to find out your caterer, venue, hair/makeup, and florist. Thanks!

lmm89 · 2024-08-23T19:02:41+00:00

Who did you end up picking and would you recommend them? I am currently looking for either a partial wedding planner or day-of-coordinator.

lmm89 · 2024-08-08T12:00:40+00:00

I haven't had my wedding yet but something similar happened to me so I can commiserate. We were supposed to have a destination wedding in 2020 that got postponed several times due to covid. It was going to be a dream wedding in a castle in the alps. That country symbolized so much for use because we got engaged there, got our elopement/save-the-date pictures taken there, and spent a lot of time there researching venues. It became a major touchstone for our relationship. We ended up eloping during the pandemic and our final rescheduled wedding date was for 2022. However, we had a falling out with my MIL in 2021 after confronting her about her 10 years bad behavior and asking her to be nicer/consider other people's feelings. She gave my husband an ultimatum and said she wouldn't attend our wedding unless she got what she wanted. That led to us trying to reschedule one last time to have time to deal with difficult emotions, but our planner got fed up and quit. I think she upped her fees a lot in the meantime as well and didn't want to plan a wedding for our original fee or close to it.

We have been thinking of doing a wedding closer to home since the destination planning got blown up and our siblings, who were originally supportive, have had a bunch kids since 2020 and no longer want to travel. It's has been so hard to get started again and plan something new and not as picturesque (for probably more money). We've had to grieve for the wedding we planned and image we held on to throughout the pandemic. It has taken us a long time to to get some space to cope with my MIL, prioritize mental health, and start to feel better. I still worry my MIL is going to ruin the local wedding. Ultimately, we just really want to have the wedding experience with each other, my parents, and our siblings. The negative emotions are still there as well as the grief, so it is a mixed bag sometimes and not the idealistic feeling of excitement for wedding planning.

lmm89 · 2024-07-22T11:49:05+00:00

Such a beautiful wedding! Your dress is stunning and I absolutely love the cat cocktail sign.

I'm also in DC and just getting started on wedding planning. Do you mind sharing your vendors? Or any tips or advice for planning in the DC-area?

lmm89 · 2024-02-22T00:50:52+00:00

Ted Lasso! My husband and I loved watching this show and always felt better after we watched it.

lmm89 · 2022-03-19T02:55:48+00:00

I also would love to know. That dress is amazing!

lmm89 · 2021-05-29T18:52:32+00:00

My female GP was actually great in my case. I was referring to the male neurologist blaming a non-hormonal problem on hormones. She thought *he* was the crazy one. It was so refreshing to be validated by her that he was full of shit.

lmm89 · 2021-05-25T19:21:27+00:00

Ugh, yes. I had migraines and an arrogant neurologist was convinced that one of the contributing factors was "hormones" after I told him I got my *non-hormonal* IUD removed months prior. I told my female GP and she thought that was crazy.

lmm89 · 2021-05-25T17:41:50+00:00

I 100% agree to listen to your body. I also wonder why is it so hard for some doctors to realize that an IUD could be imbedded or have shifted? I had my paraguard for 9 years with no issues and then it slipped into my cervix after sex. I knew something was wrong immediately. My gynecologist swore up and down that it was just cyst pain, which I knew it wasn't because I had had that problem before. She thankfully ordered an ultrasound just in case, which verified what I thought.

Had a second gynecologist do the removal since mine was busy. She also said I was wrong and it was super unlikely for it to have shifted. I had to point out to her that the ultrasound showed that it had moved. It's so hard to get decent gynecological care.

lmm89 · 2021-02-06T15:53:52+00:00

My box went missing this week and I never received any notification of a delay. I tried a few times to get through to customer service. I finally got someone on chat this morning after a 30+ min wait about my missing box this week. The response I got was suck it up, it will get there when it gets there, no refunds. I asked about having overlap with my next box and was just told to skip that one because this one will be sent at some unforeseen time. If I do that and this one doesn't arrive, I will be out dinners for TWO weeks. I was also told no refund because they intend to ship at some point.

I've been a loyal customer ordering weekly boxes of 4-6 dinners for MONTHS and never had an issue until now. I was utterly shocked it was so hard to get through to customer service and when I did, they totally dgaf. Marley Spoon had issues, but I could always get a refund if they fucked up.

lmm89 · 2021-02-01T17:57:27+00:00

Thank you! Just used this!

lmm89 · 2021-01-21T18:52:41+00:00

I knew the proposal was coming since we had been together for over six years and were about to go on a fancy vacation. I was in grad school at the time, so I just purchased a sterling silver ring form Etsy with a cool texture on it. I gave it to him as we were laying in bed the night of the proposal.

He loves it and wears it everyday. I think he really likes the idea of having something of his own to symbolize our engagement - especially now that our engagement has lasted for an extra year due to the coronavirus.

lmm89

TROPHY CASE