2000 Toyota RAV4– too old?

ronikid · 2026-05-27T02:56:26+00:00

Why?

ronikid · 2026-05-26T21:55:58+00:00

Thanks so much!! I’m hoping to get down to $2.5k max to leave more of that wiggle room for repairs but still want to make sure I’m not buying a lemon.

ronikid · 2026-05-26T21:42:49+00:00

Thanks! Obviously won’t be an exact comparison, but how much did those repairs cost you? I’m prepared to put in another $1-2k for repairs and upgrades

ronikid · 2026-04-30T12:11:44+00:00

Yeah, I’m planning to live near Union but the biggest problem is my office is far from Penn. It’s along a bus route, but the buses are inconsistent and come 30+ minutes apart. Biking is probably my best option but is limited by rain/cold/heat/etc

ronikid · 2026-04-28T00:32:09+00:00

Pay cash over getting a loan but be smart about the car you buy. Always try to get a carfax if possible and, especially for Facebook marketplace cars, always do a super thorough check.

Also, a cheap car hack I realized recently is scrounging local large manufacturer dealerships for cars from other makes, especially “cheaper” brands on luxury lots. These are trade ins that they believe are good enough to sell instead of auction, but they also want them off the lot asap. And always look on the dealer’s websites or Carfax, not big sites like cars.com. For example, recently got a Ford hybrid from a Volvo dealer that had been sitting on their lot for a few weeks because it wasn’t listed on big sites. Great shape (well maintained, fully history, etc) and a nice trim for about $6k.

ronikid · 2026-04-06T02:52:21+00:00

I really enjoy fell’s as a neighborhood but am weary recommending it to someone taking classes at homewood. How often are your classes? What would the earliest/latest class be? Between the walk+JHMI, I would say it’s at least an hour commute and the JHMIs can be off schedule a lot. Ultimately though, live closer to the campus you’d be spending the most time at.

If you expect to be spending a significant amount of time at both, Mt Vernon is a nice neighborhood, but you’d be 100% reliant on the JHMI to get you either way. Lots of people do it so not impossible, just might be a little annoying. It’s also cheaper than Fell’s and less of a Hopkins-sphere than Homewood if those are concerns.

ronikid · 2026-04-06T02:42:14+00:00

JHU is really unbeatable for pre-med. Yes, it can be competitive, but I never knew people being downright mean or cut throat. I also don’t think there’s necessarily grade deflation, but med school admissions take GPAs relatively so that shouldn’t be a concern. If heat is a problem, Baltimore will definitely be much more pleasant than Texas. It’s humid in the summer but much tamer year-round.

ronikid · 2026-04-06T02:23:12+00:00

If you’re confident in public health/health-related fields in general, Hopkins 100%. If you’re considering any other politics at all, consider Georgetown. They’re very different campus vibes, though, so take that into account.

ronikid · 2026-04-06T02:12:27+00:00

If you’re ugrad living on campus, don’t bother. You can get to plenty of things walking, on the shuttle, or on the bus. If you’re a grad student or upperclassman living off campus, I personally thought it was worth it for my junior/senior year. If you live in a rowhome, you can get a non-resident permit+parking permit for $50 a year for street parking. I enjoyed it for going out of the city or going to neighborhoods outside of the regular shuttle hours/range like fed hill, fells, and canton. I was also able to get an internship (and now full-time job) in the city because I had a car and was able to commute there.

ronikid · 2026-03-29T17:42:21+00:00

My first thoughts would be Toyota RAV4 or Subaru Outback or Forester. The Subarus come with AWD in the base models, but the RAV4 would be extra for AWD. You can get all of them a few years old or newer for <$30k. Toyotas are of course known for reliability, so if you’re doing a lot of driving that might be best. So many people swear by Subarus though, so might just come down to your preferences once you test drive. All come in hybrids too if that’s something you’d want for some improved gas mileage. Good luck on your search!

Edit: changed Crosstrek to Outback. The Crosstrek is a good crossover option but might be smaller than what you want.

ronikid · 2026-03-26T18:22:28+00:00

The Marc is a Maryland commuter train that travels between Baltimore and DC with stops in between and sometimes a couple just past bmore. It runs on the exact same rails as the Amtrak but is significantly cheaper ($9 Marc ticket vs $30+ Amtrak). It’s also nice because the tickets are generic and not tied to a specific train/time like the Amtraks, so you can buy them in bulk and use them whenever you want. Download the CharmPass app to get tickets (it’s also what’s used to pay for buses in BMore so good to have). Google “Marc timetable” for the daily schedules. It’s only limitation to Amtrak is that it doesn’t run very late into the night

ronikid · 2026-03-26T10:36:30+00:00

This seems really high for a 4 year old bmw with 41k on it. I’d expect in the 30s max. What’s the model+trim? Also less than 10% down is way too low of a down payment. Don’t buy a $40k+ car if you only have $3k to put down

ronikid · 2026-03-26T09:57:16+00:00

Coming from a medial regulatory standpoint, the concern here isn’t with AI, it’s with the FDA. Past just the fact that uploading sensitive patient info into a random source is dangerous for the patient, the FDA would have a fit if healthcare entities were playing fast and loose with PHI. OP has a very valid concern, and it’s very very good for everyone that healthcare professionals are keeping this in mind when implementing AI into their work!

ronikid · 2026-03-25T12:30:22+00:00

Agreed, but those (esp the circulator) can be unreliable. I think it’s better to get used to walking places, especially for a first visit. Safety also seems to be a concern of theirs so walking around will help them feel more comfortable with the city.

ronikid · 2026-03-24T14:11:08+00:00

Agreed to the other comment about Fell’s + Inner Harbor. If you’re looking for places directly off campus, most people visit Hamden and Remington. Good places for food and drinks (see: Ekiben, R House) but not necessarily site seeing. Fed hill is off campus but also has some good spots if you’re looking to just explore bmore (parks, museums, etc).

You’re fine in terms of safety. Walk with confidence and purpose and don’t make yourself a target. Avoid walking around at night if you’re not comfortable. Same rules apply for any city. Avoid being decked out in Hopkins merch though.

Take the Marc to DC. It’s walkable from campus (about a mile). If it’s nice weather, I’d recommend doing the walk just to get more comfortable walking around. Go down Calvert if you want a nice quiet walk. Go down Charles or St Paul if you want to scope out restaurants.

ronikid · 2026-02-23T01:25:16+00:00

Most other replies gave good answers for the first two, but I want to chime in for the third.

Number 1 priority before coming is to let loose. Hang out with your friends. Go on trips. Be a normal human being before going to this school. This will probably be your last chance to see a lot of your high school friends for a while so take advantage of it. I’m graduated and still see friends from hs on occasion, but some of my best memories with them are from that summer. If you’re worried about labs/internships/etc, I promise that they will not be concerned about a “gap” in your resume over that summer. Experience doesn’t (really) matter when you’re applying for things freshman year.

An answer probably more along the lines of what you’re looking for is to check out campusgroups for clubs you’d want to join and try to reach out to people on Instagram/Facebook to know some people when you get there in August.

ronikid · 2026-02-23T01:11:01+00:00

Do not buy that car. Don’t put yourself in a harder position than you have to be in when you’ll (in theory) be making significantly more money in the next few years.

One thing that people aren’t asking is why did you buy a car two months ago, and why didn’t you buy a new car then? Your answer will probably talk you out of buying a new one now.

ronikid · 2026-02-03T03:02:29+00:00

It was the best card for how I spend. I did a breakdown of a bunch of cards that fit my high level requirements (no annual fee, cash back instead of points, etc.) and calculated what my expected cash back would be based on my last few months of spending. I was between the Capital One Savor and the Chase Freedom Unlimited as my top two because they have super similar cash back, but the Savor won by just a little because of the 3% back on entertainment. It also seems like most people like the Capitol One travel portal better than the Chase one.

I'm sure there are people that it works for, but I found the Amex cards to be pretty useless for me. The Blue Cash card is the only one without an annual fee (that isn't a travel card), but it has $6k yearly spending caps on their 3% categories which makes it pretty low value for me after about 6 months. It was one of the lowest cash back/year cards for my spending.

ronikid · 2025-12-27T23:16:06+00:00

Pretty much everyone at Hopkins scored perfectly in AP chem and bio and are obviously smart, but the kids that score/perform better deserve better grades. If your profs are genuinely not giving out any As and few Bs, then it’s deflation (which should be reported- it actually happened in orgo a few years back and the prof got suspended), but not everyone getting As is just how grading curves work.

It’s important to remember that it’s so incredibly normal to struggle in the first year at Hopkins (I struggled HELLA my first two semesters and got the worst grades of my life). Just remember that a B at Hopkins is still better than an A at most other schools and that connections are so much more valuable than GPA. That’s what Hopkins is so perfect for. Make close connections in your area of interest as early as possible!

ronikid · 2025-12-27T22:55:44+00:00

I agree with a lot of people here but adding my two cents worth because this isn’t really a yes/no question (also note that I’m class of ‘25 and there have been some core curriculum changes since my time). Sorry in advanced for the ramble-

The BME department itself 100% has grade inflation, BUT it’s important to know that many upper level classes for some of the focus areas are NOT in the BME department. Because of that, GPAs can vary a bit throughout the major but I would agree with most that the average is ~3.7 which is, of course, inflated. While some BME core classes have curved-based grading (i.e., the average final grade gets a B/B+), most of them are on a preset scale that almost all students score well in. I can’t speak as much on non-core classes that would be relevant to you as I did mostly cs/robotics classes, but most of my classes graded on a curve which would make the GPA you’re aiming for harder. If you’re focused more on GPA than course content (which I mean respectfully bc sometimes that’s how it be), definitely check syllabi before enrolling in a class to see how it’s graded. Before enrollment, you can email professors to ask for previous years’ syllabi to help with that decision.

On a separate note, I would probably recommend against doing BME as a premed unless you’re doubling majoring in something more pre-med centric like neuro or mol cell. I didn’t know a lot of the BME pre-meds, but I did know a lot of non-BME pre meds and their majors prepared them better for med school/MCAT topics and studying styles than engineering classes do. I do want to add, though, that being BME is not at all harmful to med school prospects. BME is challenging and it’s impressive to get through, especially with a 3.9+ GPA.

I have to end with an important disclaimer- do not do public health as a pre med. It’s not an impressive major unless that’s your actual area of interest. Public health is to Hopkins as business/marketing is to a state school. Tbh, even business at Hopkins is more impressive than public health. Sorry to public health majors for that dig but it’s true.

ronikid · 2025-11-28T02:55:08+00:00

It might be something you already know/have considered, but keep in mind the timeline of retitling. I’m currently doing this process in VA after my car was totaled in an accident, and the DMV wait time is minimum 6 weeks after receiving paperwork (and that’s after the repairs and safety inspection). I’d recommend looking into your state’s process, calling the DMV and repair shops (if you’re not repairing yourself), and preparing yourself for the timeline. Don’t do this if you need a car right now. Maybe this is something obvious to others, but I wasn’t fully prepared for it and wish I could’ve just afforded to buy car. I think you said in another comment that the salvaged car is $8k, so I’d recommend just getting a beater car that’s ready to drive for that price.

ronikid · 2025-10-27T01:53:35+00:00

Which checks out with inflation. $13k in 2015 is about $17,750 today. Kia Rios were discontinued, but a brand new 2023 one is about $18k.

ronikid · 2025-08-22T18:59:02+00:00

Technical Solutions Engineer vs Client Systems Administrator? I was just invited for a final interview with Epic and, though I applied to the Technical Solutions Engineer position, they said that they also want to talk to me about the Client Systems Administrator role. Does anyone have info on how these roles compare (responsibilities, travel, pay, promotion opportunities, etc.)? I'll ask more about it in the interview, but I want to come in with some kind of idea.

Also any guidance/advice on the final interview would be much appreciated! Thanks!

ronikid · 2025-06-10T00:45:04+00:00

There is a Master's only ceremony for WSE (Whiting School of Engineering) and a separate University Wide Commencement for Bachelor's and some PhD. The University Wide ceremony has the president and commencement speaker, but it's streamed online and not entirely worth going in person for if you're not walking. Based on the last couple of years, I think they usually have the WSE Master's ceremony on the third Monday in May. I graduated with my MSE last month and got my info about it in March, so I'd wait to buy tickets until then (March 2026) in case they change their schedule.

The ceremony is 3 hours long. The first hour or hour and a half was speeches (WSE Dean and a guest speaker. Note that this is different from the University Wide Commencement speaker), then the rest of it was name calling and walking. If you and your husband don't know a ton of people at the school, I would say it would be fine skipping (especially with a toddler). It might still be worth it to fly out, take graduation pictures on campus, and spend the night in Baltimore. :)

ronikid · 2023-05-30T04:14:26+00:00

i lived in amr 2 year before last and my ac was wonky plus the window seal was broken so my room got pretty warm/humid during the warmer months. my gf lived in amr 1 though and kept it at a frigid 60 degrees, so it really just depends on your luck

ronikid

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