Hi so I feel like a lot of the discourse about people not liking this season is also in part people not really understanding what friends to lovers is, specifically the relationship between Colin and Penelope, so I thought I might share my thoughts :)
Now I haven’t read the books - this is all based on what I gleaned from the show on multiple rewatches and as someone who has been the Penelope in a friendship for a longggg long time. Hopefully this makes sense.
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Romance tropes are so often boiled down to their immediate, basic truths. The popular enemies to lovers, for example: Enemy 1 + Enemy 2 + sexual tension = Lover 1 and Lover 2. Not to say enemies to lovers can’t be complex, but generally the starting point for enemies is an essential lack of trust between the parties and moments of connection (via fights) fueled by intense feelings of hatred/rage/whatever which can, in turn, translate to sexual tension. Due to the lack of trust, when they do get together it’s an explosion of that intense energy, highlighted even more-so by the knowledge that they don’t truly trust each other but they need each other which makes the heart race all the more and the passion all that more explosive.
Let’s look at Kate and Anthony as this trope. When they meet there is an immediate spark, fueled by a race in which they’re in competition. Once she hears him at the ball she decides she will do everything in her power to stop him from marrying her sister, and since he is determined to marry Edwina every interaction they have from that point on, until they have their happily ever after in the last episode, can be considered a fight. Moments like the bane of my existence and you vex me are such high intensity because it’s two people fueled by anger and sexual/romantic tension. They need each other like air but will do everything to fight it because of the anger, making the onscreen affections super intense for the viewer (especially as viewers who have just been introduced to Kate and are getting to know her through the lens of Anthony).
Now friends to lovers is, if I may say, quite a bit more complicated. All friendships are different - if you’re new friends your pipeline to lovers is likely entirely different to old friends to lovers. If one party is in love with the other that changes the dynamic entirely; are they long distance or close? Were they childhood friends? Are they both likeable and popular or is one more nerdy and quiet or both? All of these and more create new dynamics and emotions that can lead to love in different ways. My point is that friends to lovers is not as easy to pin down as something like enemies to lovers. So that’s why a couple like Polin may seem like they don’t have as much chemistry on screen - because their intensity shines in a different way than what we’re used to.
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Going into season three we know that Penelope has been in love with Colin for a long time, but during that time the two also formed a close friendship. When Colin proposed to Marina, yes Penelope whistledowned about the pregnancy to stop him from marrying her for love reasons, but also because he is her friend and she didn’t want to see him trapped in a loveless marriage. We also know that when Colin traveled between seasons one and two Penelope most often responded to his letters. Even during a scene in season two Pen specifically asks to hear more about his travels, even though everyone else in Colin’s life had asked him to stop talking about it. Pen’s crush and friendship don’t cancel each other out, they exist side by side as two parts of Penelope that often overlap but are most importantly separate entities. And she knows that.
Colin does not. In season three when Colin is talking about when they first met, Penelope looks away with anxiety when Colin suggests he knows why Penelope was so forward in making fun of him for falling off his horse and starting their friendship. She knows it’s because she had a crush on him. He states that it was because they were kids. This means it’s canon that Penelope had a crush on him since the moment they met. As a result, Colin has never experienced a friendship with Pen that doesn’t also have an underlying crush. He doesn’t know that Pen doesn’t respond to everyone’s letters all the time, or hangs onto their every word, or goes out of her way to talk to them. How Pen acts around him is how he assumes she acts around everyone - that’s why he doesn’t pick up on her crush.
It’s also why, I argue, he doesn’t realize that he loves her until the kiss in season three. He truly and genuinely takes her affections, her friendship, for granted because he doesn’t understand that someone so loyal and loving like that is rare. He doesn’t appear to have much else in the way of friends; outside of his family we don’t really see him interact with other men, and in season three the “friends” he does spend time with make comments to suggest they only started hanging out with him after his personality change to be more like his brothers - a rake who doesn’t care much for real affections. It’s why he said he would never court Penelope Featherington, or why he said “You are Pen, you do not count” when asked why he was still talking to her if he swore off women. He was super young when his dad died, so the only male role models he has for what love means are Anthony and Benedict. So, as he understands it, a man courting a woman is about sleeping around until the man finds a suitable match that pleases the family regardless of the man’s happiness. Even though he saw that Anthony fell in love by the time Colin said he would never court Pen, he didn’t see Anthony’s journey to understanding that love is not something to run from but something to cherish like we, the viewers, did. Anthony’s arc was just background noise for Colin, so it wasn’t like that would change his outlook on what Anthony’s actions in season one and beginning of season two loudly called out: choosing love over meaningless sex is idiotic and weak. Colin is genuinely distressed when Penelope walks away from him at the garden party in the first episode of season three, and he went after her to explain that he missed her when she stopped writing to him on his travels. He loves his relationship with her, not understanding that what he feels is actually love for her because he has never been aware that true love feels the way it does when he is with Pen. In fact it is explained in a letter that the reason he decided to try being like his brothers is BECAUSE Penelope stopped responding to him during his travels between seasons two and three. He decided to start guarding his heart, throwing on the rakish armor we see him dawn in the first half of season three, because he didn’t have that relationship that made him feel stable and loved anymore. He sees Penelope as his best friendship, rather than the love of his life, because he literally can’t see it any other way based on how everything in his life played out to that point.
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Okay this is way longer than I intended this to be already, but to finally make it to my main point! The Friends to Lovers trope as it plays out in Season Three Part One: Polin Do Be Polining.
What does all this mean for how Polin’s intensity shines? Due to the way their friendship has played out things like Colin taking Pen to the dance floor (not small social feat btw) in season one when Cressida bullies her, seeking each other out at social events, Pen asking about his travels - all of these are part of their romance! It’s all part of the slow burn; it’s just less slap-you-in-the-face noticeable, to a viewer of a show about romance, as Kate and Anthony and even Simon and Daphne because acting like friends is an implicit part of Polin’s love story. Because they are best friends as well as lovers!!
This is in full display in Season three, though put more on blast since it’s their season to get together. Colin saying he’ll teach Penelope how to get a husband isn’t a pity thing, it’s a real moment of genuine care that Colin is extending towards her.
—— “Pen wants to get a husband to be happy? Great! I’ll help her get a husband to make her happy because her happiness means everything to me.” - top ten photos taken ten seconds before disaster. ——
And it works! They start spending all this time together, and Pen has always looked gorgeous but is finally wearing clothes that she feels gorgeous in and you can see it in the way she acts, and suddenly Colin’s heart starts doing all these weird jumps around her like when she’s in the drawing room and when she wraps his hand because he has always loved her, so he doesn’t understand what these feelings that are coming up during these scenes are because they are not new feelings, just more intense ones of what he believes is pure friendship.
Penelope, during all of this, has had her brain decide to give up on Colin Bridgerton (even though her heart hasn’t). As someone who’s been there, being in unrequited love with your friend is brutal but you can never really let go. No matter how many people they date, or the hours you spend together talking about their new crush, or the life moments share together where they do everything but love you there is always that small spark of hope in your chest that you can’t let go of lest they ever possibly realize they love you back. That chance is too precious to give up - that’s why Penelope can’t give Debling a real answer when he asks her if she would like to be with Colin in episode four. Logically she knows she should give it up but her heart just can’t. She is a hopeless romantic and her life has been spinning around Colin Bridgerton since she was 16 like the earth around the Sun. There is no other way to live, for her, if she isn’t in love with Colin. And that’s what breaks her heart the most.
It’s also why, I believe, she asks him to kiss her in that garden. She had just written about herself in Whistledown that she did the upmost embarrassing act of taking Colin’s assistance on the marriage market, and her mother dressed her down about being a spinster for the rest of her life. All of Pen’s plans, of marrying and getting out and even finding what could turn into love, are utterly gone for her in that moment when she goes out to the garden. She doesn’t have her prospects. She doesn’t have Eloise. She doesn’t have safety in her own home. The only thing she has left is Colin. That’s why she asks him to kiss her, because he might grant her this one kindness of making her feel alive for just this one moment before the rest of her life ends. That moment is the culmination of all of her feelings up to that point in the show. She’s given up on Colin - she wouldn’t have asked him to kiss her had she any hope left. This was her last ditch attempt to just be a girl and be kissed regardless of what he actually meant to her. It wasn’t out of desperation, it was staring down the barrel of the gun with societies’s finger on the trigger.
When she asks him Colin is taken aback. Not because he doesn’t want to kiss her but because he has never considered it before. Kissing was reserved for women you are looking to sleep with at a bar, for prostitutes in alleyways, not for his caring Pen. I’ve seen some upset over not including more of Colin’s writing in the show, as he becomes quite the writer in the books apparently, and the writing we do see is just about sex but given the way they paced the show they provided the most important piece of context for Colin’s understanding of intimacy in the writing they did use. He wonders how one can feel, despite sleeping with every kind of woman across Europe, such intimacy in physical closeness and yet such distance emotionally. It’s some level of satisfying for him to sleep around, but it doesn’t fulfill him in the way it seemed to fulfill his brothers. He cannot equate the idea of kissing to Penelope because he feels such emotional closeness to her. But when she brings it up, suddenly everything clicks into place for him. All the emotions he feels towards her, what he thought was just friendship, is so much more. Yes she is his friend, but by god he wants to kiss his friend.
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Their kiss is sweet, and soft. Unlike Daphne and Anthony’s first kisses with their respective partners it isn’t this immense clashing of bodies and teeth. It’s two friends who love each other finally meeting each other as sparks fly and shivers run down their spines.
Colin is left speechless, and confused. The kiss was amazing to him because he finally unlocked that part of him that made him realize he was in love with Penelope. The kiss was amazing to Penelope because she has been in love with him for so long, but it was also tinged with her own doubts and feelings of hopelessness. That’s why she runs away, and thanks him, because this was her last stand and he was just her friend helping her out as she believes.
But as always, a night of sleep helps clarify things. The next time Pen goes into society she is awkward but still well intentioned about getting a husband because that kiss was a long day’s worth of self pity followed by, in her terms, a moment of weakness. But it clarified things for her too. Now she can’t die without ever having been kissed, so that ultimatum she set up in her own mind was gone and everything seems much more manageable from that point on. Colin, as we know, is a wreck who is absolutely bamboozled at these feelings and we love to watch him flounder!!!
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Now the tables have been turned. To those of who are think Penelope should have chosen Debling, this part is for you. This is when Debling really starts to court Penelope as she goes after him. She literally fights Cressida for him, because he seems like the most amenable husband for her to be able to continue Whistledown and be provided security. She isn’t looking for love in Debling because she already has love in Colin (love she believes will always remain unrequited, but that kiss can be a memory she cherishes for the rest of her life and that be that); she basically did was Anthony did at the beginning of season two. Find a suitable match that makes the most sense for her and leave love out of it. She likes Debling, for sure, and he’s a rly nice guy!! He cares about her in a way that a suitor might, and I’m certain had they gotten married he wouldn’t have been mean to her or anything. But she would’ve been lonely. As remembered she is a romantic, someone who craves the love she reads about in her romance books. She’s spent most of her conscious life in love - marrying Debling would stop that in its tracks. In his own words, Debling tells Pen that he could try to maybe love her but that it was far too unlikely to find any room in his heart her for over his passions (aroace Debling stand rise). He specifically mentions that he is choosing her to marry because she has her own passions, separate from his, that can keep her company while he is gone both physically and emotionally from her. She doesn’t realize this until it’s too late, when her focus on the chase is over, and Debling asks her mother for her hand. It’s only then that she thinks that maybe she could hold out for love, and that power is strong enough to make her actively not want to ensure her security through Debling.
Love is treacherous, and yet we yearn for it like a sailor who cannot help but smile at the beauty of the raging sea at it comes crashing down upon him. Penelope would rather a thousand lifetimes of the chance to be in love with Colin over one lifetime married to Debling in safety.
That is why Debling breaks it off with her. Because she loves Colin, Debling knows she would choose Colin over him, and he sees Colin’s interest in her even if she does not. Like Colin literally found out she was going to get engaged, ran to the ball, interrupted the dance wherein Debling was going to ask Pen to marry him, ran after her carriage just to know if she was engaged because he couldn’t fathom letting her get away in a loveless marriage, and when finding out she was not engaged telling her he loved her even if she did not love him back because he simply had to express to her how much he loved her as he owed her that as his friend. Colin got in his knees in that carriage because he was genuinely splaying out his heart to her for her to dissect as she chose. He put himself at her mercy because that is where he believes his place to be - just hers, and no one else’s.
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The carriage scene is, of course, the moment of highest intensity from the viewer standpoint of what we think love should appear to be. Other scenes could be Colin’s dream, and the moment in the sweets tent, etc. But those moments aren’t all of Polin’s love story. They may be the most visceral to witness, but they are just as important as the two of them laughing together in the corner of a ball. Their romantic trope is defined as Friends to Lovers, but that isn’t quite right - they are both. There is no big “or” between the two. Colin and Penelope are friends and lovers, and all of it is a beauty to witness.
And that’s all! If you’ve made it this far thanks for sticking around to listen to my obsessive thoughts. I wish you a very happy Bridgerton rewatch :)

The ask questions and answer questions learning method has four types: General Question Learning Method (GQLM), Partial Question Learning Method (PQLM), Reading Question Learning Method (RQLM), and Characteristic Question Learning Method (CQLM): https://www.reddit.com/usetevvyline/comments/1cprjw7/the_ask_questions_and_answer_questions_learning/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
[Rules for combining types]

1. The square brackets [ ] show the order for combining. For example, you first combine the types inside the smallest square bracket and then you start using the types outside of that bracket to change certain attributes of the types in the smallest square bracket. (Rule 12).
2. The letter A (affector) is used for types that affect E or M types.Types in a double type combination can not be both affectors.
3. The letter E (effector) is used for types that get affected by affector types. Types in a double type combination can be both Effectors. Being an effector type bring out the type's natural rules such as choose a number or choose wh- questions in double type combinations, but does not combine them. Two E types can be unusable if there is no A type next to them. Additionally, if every type in a combination is an E type, it can be a switch combination. Switch combinations represent what standard form combinations or type combinations you can switch while learning.
4. When a type can be both an A and E type, the letter M (mixed) is used. M types can not affect A types, but they can affect E types and M types.
5. When starting the combination process, you go from left to right. If an A type has an E type next to it, you will combine them both. If an A type has an A type next to it, that A type will "hop" over its A type neighbour and keep hopping over other A types until it finds an E or M type to combine with.
6. The phrase (number) part time is used to indicate the target of a type (what type they want to combine with). The number starts at 0 in the position of the closest E or M type to the right of the type affected by part time, and it increases by 1 every time you reach another type to the right of it. You need to increase the value of the number to the number of the part time.
7. Full time is used to indicate that a type's targets are every E or M type to its right.
8. The symbol / is used to indicate "floors of combinations". When the / symbol is used, some types are sorted into (type)/ and /(type). There are two floors and it is behind the / and after the /. This symbol is used to lower the space required for combining. If a type doesn't have a / symbol and it has neighbor types with the / symbol, it affects them both if they can be targeted.
9. The multiplication sign × indicates an added rule and the addition sign + and the subtraction sign − indicates adding or subtracting types.
10. In very specific cases of combinations, there can be an object (OB) that you can either add or subtract to one or more types. A and M types can not affect objects.
11. Letters are used to simplify the combination process. The letters A for affector, E for effector, M for mixed, and OB for object are added before type letters. Part time and full time are added before the letters A, E, M, and OB and are separated by a space. For example 2PT AG1. [Type letters] GQLM 1 = G1 GQLM 2 = G2 Systemic PQLM = SP Wh- question PQLM = WP (Number) part time = (number) PT Full time = FT
12. The types outside of the smallest square bracket [ ] can affect attributes in different ways of the combined types in the smallest square bracket. They sometimes do not act the same like the types in the smallest square bracket.

• GQLM 1 = make something be asked all the time or remove something. Ex. [1PT AWP × AG1 [MSP × MWP × EG1]] = one or more wh- questions chosen by Wh- question PQLM can have their systemic number removed, making them asked all the time. The AG1 is targeting MSP and this means AG1 removes the systemic number for one or more wh- questions.
• GQLM 2 = change a specific attribute of a type. Ex. [1PT AWP × AG2 [MSP × MWP × EG1]] = one or more wh- questions chosen by Wh- question PQLM can have their systemic number increased or decreased. The AG2 is targeting MSP and this means AG2 increases or decreases the systemic number for one or more wh- questions.
• Wh- question PQLM = choose one or more. Examples [1PT AWP × AG1 [MSP × MWP × EG1]] and [1PT AWP × AG2 [MSP × MWP × EG1]] have both an outside Wh- question PQLM. The 3PT AWP type is targeting the MWP type and this means "choose one or more wh- questions".
• Systemic PQLM = choose a number for the second result of something. First result and second results: systemic number: first result is not asking one question with the value of the systemic number decreasing by 1 and second result is asking one question when the value decreases to 0. -- ask limit: first result is asking one question with the value of the ask limit increasing by 1 and the second result is not asking one question with the value of the ask limit decreasing by 1. Ex. [ASP x [MSP x EG1]] (systemic number for all types of questions) = means that all types of questions get a systemic number and once the systemic number reaches 0, you ask a certain number of questions chosen by the number of the ASP.
• RQLM 1 = reverse something Ex. [AR1 x 1PT MSP [MG1 x ESP]] (ask limit for all types of questions) = means that the MSP first choses how much the ask limit value of all questions decreases when not answering a question (asking a question can increase the ask limit value by 1 and not answering a question can decrease the ask limit value by 3). The "second result" turns into a "first result" target for the MSP when the AR1 affects it. This means that you can choose how much the ask limit value of all questions types increases when asking a question. If you want to affect both the first result and the second result, you can make the combination [AR1 x 1PT MSP x 1PT ASP [MG1 x ESP]].
• Repeating RQLM = change one of a type's characteristic when the characteristic is used one time. Ex. [1PT RQ [MSP x EG1]] (systemic number for all types of questions) = means that the RQ choses the starting value of the systemic number every time the systemic number reaches 0. For example, the starting value of a systemic number could be 4 and after it reaches 0, it could be 2. 13.. When combining, you need to find the highest number of possible combinations. For example, [ASP x AWP x EG1] = a systemic number is given to all types of questions + all the wh- questions chosen are asked all the time.

[Standard form combinations] -- [AG1 × EG2] = GQLM 1 -- [AG2 × EG1] = GQLM 2 -- [ASP × EG1] = Systemic PQLM -- [AWP × EG1] = Wh- question PQLM -- [AR1 × EG1] = RQLM 1 -- [ARR × EG1] = Repeating RQLM -- [C1 x EG1] = CQLM 1 -- [TC x EG1] = Time CQGLM -- [AMC × EG1] = Mental image CQLM [Standard form switch combinations] --[[AG1 × EG2] + [AG2 × EG1]] = GQLM 1 and GQLM 2 can be switched. -- [[ASP × EG1] + [AWP × EG1]] = Systemic PQLM and Wh- question PQLM can be switched. -- [[AG1 × EG2] + [ASP × EG1]] = GQLM 1 and Systemic PQLM can be switched. and so on... Standard form combinations are not counted as double type combinations.
Definitions:

1. When a systemic number is shared between multiple types of questions, it means that the systemic number decreases by 1 every time you let any of those types of questions go unanswered. When a systemic number is non shared between multiple types of questions, it means that each type of question has its own systemic number that decreases by 1 individually for that type of question when you let that type of question go unanswered.
2. When an ask limit is shared between multiple types of questions, it means that the value of all those types of questions increases by 1 every time you ask any of those types of questions and decreases by 1 every time you let any of those types of questions go unanswered. When an ask limit is non shared between multiple types of questions, it means that each type of question has its own ask limit that the value of each type of question increases and decreases individually when it is asked or left unanswered.

Some of these double type combinations are unusable and may be useful in triple type combinations, quadruple type combinations, and so on. The main reasons these double type combinations can not be used are:

1. No GQLM 1 or GQLM 2 type in the combination. GQLM 1 is like a "field" for questions. GQLM 1 is commonly modified to make combinations. GQLM 2 can also be modified, but it makes everything become optional. GQLM 2 is used more often to change attributes of types.
2. One or both of the types have no functions in the combination.

Symbol meanings: [1] all the wh- questions chosen by Wh- question PQLM [2] given a non shared systemic number [3] given a non shared ask limit [4] choose a number [5] choose one or more wh- questions [6] ask questions for every type of information you encounter [7] given a shared ask limit [8] given a shared systemic number [9] all types of questions [1/] mental image questions [1Y] one or more wh- questions can have their ask limit (GQLM 1) removed or one or more wh- questions can have their ask limit (GQLM 2) increased or decreased. [1X] one or more wh- questions can have their systemic number (GQLM 1) removed or one or more wh- questions can have their systemic number (GQLM 2) increased or decreased. [Qu] = questions [Z] asked all the time [F] given a feel like effect (GQLM 2). [R] given a repeating effect (repeating RQLM). [TR] = repeating effect [M] given a mental image effect (mental image CQLM). [A] given a no answer effect (RQLM 1). [O] only [IN] given to
[Non useable double inner type combinations] (No GQLM 1) -- [ASP × EWP] = [12] -- [AWP × ESP] = [13] -- [ESP × EWP] = [4] + [5] [Non useable double outer type combinations] (One or both of the types are useless) -- [ESP × EG1 or EG2] = [4] + [6] or [6F] -- [EWP × EG1 or EG2] = [5] + [6] or [6F] (No GQLM 1) -- [ARR × EMC] = [9RM] -- [EMC × ERR] = + [9RM] -- [ARR × EWP] or [AWP x ERR] = [1R] -- [ARR × ESP] = [TR7] -- [ASP × ERR] = [TR8] -- [AMC × ESP] = [97M] -- [ASP × EMC] = [98M] -- [AWP × ERR] or [ARR × EWP] = [1R] -- [AWP × EMR] = [1M] or [AMC × EWP] = [1M] -- [AMC × ERR] = [9RM] [Useable double inner type combinations] -- [AG1 × EG2] = [6] Standard form combination GQLM 1 -- [AG2 × EG1] = [6F] Standard form combination GQLM 2 -- [ARR × ER1] or [ER1 x ERR] = [9A] + [9R] -- [AR1 × ERR] = [9AR] [Useable double outer type combinations] -- [AG1 × ESP] = [97] -- [ASP × EG1] = [98] Standard form combination of Systemic PQLM. -- [AWP × EG1] = [1O6] Standard form combination Wh- question PQLM. -- [AWP × EG2] or [AG2 x EWP] = [1F] -- [AG2 × ESP] = [92/8F] -- [AMC × ER1] = [9AM] -- [EMC × ER1] = [9AM] -- [AR1 × EG1] = [6A] Standard form combination of RQLM 1. -- [AR1 × EG2] or [AG2 x ER1] = [9FA] -- [AR1 × EWP] or [AWP x ER1] = [1A] -- [AR1 × ESP] = [9A7] -- [ASP × ER1] = [9A8] -- [ARR × EG1] = [9R] Standard form combination of repeating RQLM. -- [ARR × EG2] or [AG2 × ERR] = [9FR] -- [AMC × EG1] = [9M] Standard form combination of Mental image CQLM. -- [AMC × EG2] or [AG2 × EMR] = [9MF] -- [AG2 × EWP] = [1F] -- [ASP × EG2] = [98F] -- [AR1 × EMC] = [9AM]
[Unknown effect or impossible combinations] -- [AG1 × EWP] = ?
Symbol meanings (simplified): [13] all the wh- question chosen are given a non shared ask limit. [17] all the wh- questions chosen are given a shared ask limit. [1Y] one or more wh- questions can have their ask limit (AG1) removed, making those wh- questions asked all the time/one or more wh- questions can have their ask limit (AG2) increased or decreased, making some wh- questions have different ask limits. [12] all the wh- question chosen are given a non shared systemic number. [18] all the wh- question chosen are given a shared systemic number. [1X] one or more wh- questions can have their systemic number (AG1) removed, making them asked all the time/one or more wh- questions can have their systemic number (AG2) increased or decreased, making some wh- questions have different systemic numbers. [98] a shared systemic number is given to all types of questions. [97] a shared ask limit is given to all types of questions. [1Z] all the wh- question's chosen are asked all the time.
[Triple inner type combinations] Currently not enough types. [Triple outer type combination] -- [ASP × MWP × EG1] = [12] -- [ASP × MWP × EWP] = [18] -- [ASP × AWP × EG1] = [98] + [1Z] -- [FT ASP × MWP × EG1] = [12] + [98] -- [AG1 × MSP × EWP] = [17] -- [AWP × MSP × EG1] = [13] [Quadruple inner type combinations] Currently not enough types. [Quadruple outer type combinations] -- [2PT MSP × MWP × MSP x EG1]] = [13] + [98] -- [1PT ASP × AG1 × MSP × EWP] = [17] + [12] [(5) Quintuple outer type combination] -- [AG1 × ESP × ASP × MWP × EWP] = [18] + [97] -- [ASP × EG1 × ASP × MWP × EWP] = [18] + [98] -- [AG1 × ESP × AG1 × MSP × EWP] = [17] + [97] -- [ASP × EG1 × AG1 × MSP × EWP] = [17] + [98] -- [ASP/AG1 × MWP/MSP × EWP] = [17] + [18] -- [1PT AWP × AG1 or AG2 × [AG1 × MSP × EWP] = [17] + [1Y] -- [AWP × 1PT AG1 or AG2 × [MWP × MSP × EG1]] = [13] + [1Y] -- [1PT AWP × AG1 or AG2 × [MSP × MWP × EG1]] = [12] + [1X] -- [ASP × 2PT MWP × AWP × MSP × EG1] = [13] + [12] -- [AG1 × ESP × ASP × MWP × EG1] = [12] + [97] -- [1PT AWP × AG1 or AG2 × [FT MSP × MWP × EG1]] = [12] + [1X] + [98] [(6) Sextuple outer type combinations] -- [ASP/AWP × MWP/MSP × EWP/EG1] = [13] + [18] -- [1 PT AWP × AG1 or AG2 × [1PT ASP × AG1 × MSP × EWP] = [17] + [1Y] + [12] -- [AWP × 1PT AG1 or AG2 × [1PT AG1 × MWP × MSP × EG1]] = [13] + [97] -- [1PT AWP × 2PT AG1 or AG2 × [2PT MSP × MWP × MSP × EG1]] = [13] + [1Y] + [98] -- [AWP × 1PT AG1 or AG2 × [1PT AG1 + MWP × MSP × EG1]] = [13] + [1Y] + [12] [(7) Septuple outer type combination] -- [/1 PT AWP × /AG1 or AG2 × [ASP/AG1 × MWP/MSP × EWP]] = [17] + [1Y] + [18] -- [1PT AWP × 2PT AG1 or AG2 × [2PT AG1 × 2PT MSP × MWP × MSP × EG1]] = [13] + [98] + [97] -- [1PT AWP × 2PT AG1 or AG2 × [ASP × 1PT MWP × AWP × MSP × EG1] = [13] + [12] + [1X] -- [3PT AWP × AG1 or AG2/2PT AG1 OR AG2 × [1PT MSP × AG1 × MSP × EWP]] = [17] + [1Y] + [12] + [1X] [(8) Octuple outer type combination] -- [1PT AWP × 2PT AG1 or AG2 × [3PT ASP/ASP × EWP × AWP × MSP × EG1] = [13] + [12] + [1X] + [98] -- [1 PT AWP × AG1 or AG2/AG1 or AG2 × [MSP/AG1 × MWP/MSP × EWP] = [17] + [1Y] + [18] + [1X] (9) Nonuple outer type combination] -- [2PT AWP/1PT AWP × 3PT AG1 or AG2/AG1 or AG2 [MSP × 2PT MWP × MWP × MSP × EG1]] = [13] + [1Y] + [12] + [1X] -- [1PT AWP/2PT AWP × AG1 or AG2/3PT AG1 or AG2 × [MSP × 1PT MWP × MWP × MSP × EG1] = [13] + [12] + [1X] + [98] + [97] [(10) Decuple outer type combination] Currently none. [(11) Undecuple outer type combination] -- [4PT AWP/3PT AWP × 5PT AG1 or AG2 [AG1 × MSP × 4PT MSP × 3PT MSP × MWP × AWP × MSP × EG1]] = [13] + [1Y] + [12] + [1X] + [98] + [97] -- [2PT AWP/3PT AWP × AG1 or AG2/2PT AG1 or AG2 × [ASP × EG1 × MSP/AG1 × MWP/MSP × EWP]] = [17] + [1Y] + [18] + [1X] + [98] -- [2PT AWP/3PT AWP × AG1 or AG2/2PT AG1 or AG2 × [AG1 × ESP × MSP/AG1 × MWP/MSP × EWP]] = [17] + [1Y] + [18] + [1X] + [97]

Album first: https://imgur.com/a/ZnEVrHz
Yet another review! I'm almost done with my collection, just 2 or 3 more and I'm done. When I'm finished, you'll have a very comprehensive guide of Mexican boot/shoemakers in my profile.
Why Mexican shoes? Because I live in Mexico, and they are more affordable and easy to find than other options. Besides, I get to support local business, and that is a big plus for me. Obviously, English is not my first language, so bear with me.
Disclaimer: This review has been completely sponsored by my compulsive shopping. I have not received any free boots or discounts, but if someone wants to give a free pair of boots, my feet are ready.

Brand: John Doe Shoes

John Doe Shoes is a Mexican boot/shoe manufacturer with a peculiar business model. You get to choose the leather first, then the boot or shoe style. When I was starting to get into boots I was really confused by their website, so I'll do my best to break it down for you guys:
Sample sale: https://www.johndoeshoes.com/sample-sale
These are shoes that in stock. You can buy those at a lower price, and you don't have to wait for them to make your boots. The downside is there's not really a lot of options, but it's worth it. I actually bought this boots from the sample sale. Pretty forward buying process. Prices are in USD, and they ship outside of Mexico.
Made to order: https://www.johndoeshoes.com/mto/
Style guide: https://www.johndoeshoes.com/style-guide/
Here you start choosing the leather. The pictures are just examples but when you click on "Brown SB Foot Tanning Co" you get to choose the exact model and sole you want. You can see their different models in the style guide. They have 2 lasts: milo last (like mine) and their normal last (more rounded in the front). If you see few photos of their work, you'll recognize them easily.
For example: Choosing "Brown SB Foot Tanning Co" > 420 Cap Toe (Milo Last) + D width + Studded sole + Goodyear welt > You'll get a similar boot as mine, but made with Brown SB Foot Tanning Co leather.
They have a running 3x2 sale. Just add 3 made to order shoes or boots to your cart, and you'll get the discount.
You can see some ideas of what to order in their social media, but they are not very active: https://www.instagram.com/johndoeshoes/

The boots:

Russet Horsehide leather is not usually found in boots. It's no the fancy leather from a horse butt. It is more of a heavy-duty leather: thick, stiff and more visible grain. I think this particular leather is from Horween Tannery. I bought it in natural color, and it is veg tan, so it should develop a nice patina. These are my first natural veg tan leather boots.

• Upper: russet horsehide
• Leather lining
• Gusseted tongue
• Studded sole
• No midsole
• A half insole (or insert? idk the proper term). You can see the photo in the album.
• Goodyear welt construction

I paid $190 USD for them. Their normal price would be $292 but I got them from the sample sale.
About sizing, I'm a 9D brannock and I ordered that size. Another redditor recommended sizing down half a size for their Milo last, I kind of agree. I like my boots on the tighter side, so 8.5 would have been ideal. Anyway, I'll just add a leather insert or wear thicker socks.
I've got nothing bad to say about the build quality. I'm very pleased with what I got. I thought they would be stiffer at first, but after the ones from Urban Wolf Club, everything else seems lightweight.

Could be better:

• When I bought from the sample sale, I thought the one in the photo was literally the one I'm getting, but that's not the case. The one in the photo had their normal last, and I got the milo last. They should add what kind of last it has. I'm happy with my purchase, but still not ideal.
• There is no leather midsole. I have to be honest, up until this boots I had never questioned the existence of a midsole since all of my other boots had one. I honestly thought that was the standard. I'm very used to having leather midsoles, so I'll ask for one next time. I recommend you do the same.
• Communication is not ideal. I actually got the boots before the shipping status updated on my order. Shipping was fast, but I live in Mexico so that's expected.

Would I buy from them again:

Yep, that 3x2 sale seems like a really good deal. Besides, if I want a pair of longwings made with tan horsehide chromexcel, John Doe Shoes is THE PLACE to go. Just look at these beauties: Tan Horsehide CX Connor Longwings. There are some mixed reviews on this sub, but my experience has been mostly positive. I'm sure I'll order again someday.

Somebody requested that I write down some resources for Dzogchen in the sidebar, so I thought I would do a post as well to give a sort of background and offer anyone else the chance to get in on the conversation or building of resources too...
But first,

A Word on Secrecy, Safety Maturity, and Cults

I'm writing this post out by request of someone who messaged me, with the intention of reaching a wider audience, or all beings, who could benefit from learning about these teachings. I have to caution, though, that they may not be for everybody, and in that regard, I would advise gentleness, with yourself and others, with regards to this path. Please take care of yourself, and keep a measure of your own mind with regard to your mental health and these practices. I wish that those who read this post are only those who it may help, and I apologize preemptively to all those it may hurt, or if I've made any mistakes in my writing.
With that in mind, I can maybe share a little bit about the secrecy aspect of what is called Vajrayana. Someone who learns about these practices but does not genuinely practice them can generate obstacles to their own awakening; specifically with Dzogchen, there is a real danger of intellectualizing the practice such that one covers over their own mind with a sheen of thoughts and fabrication, blocking one from advancing towards awakening. In that regard, this particular practice is called self secret. From what I know, many Lamas won't introduce one to the practice if they aren't sure the student has the capability to grasp it, and also - the student won't be able to practice it or understand it if they're not able to.
On the subject of cults - I have to note that Dzogchen practice can be very personal, but that is not a license for any teacher to abuse you, in any form, ever. Things that happened in the past - students getting slapped, hit with shoes, etc. - happened in the past - but that doesn't make them appropriate teachings devices today. A genuinely compassionate teacher won't take advantage of your practice to abuse you, steal your money, degrade you, control you, or anything like that. If they try to - it is more likely that you've stumbled on a cult, and should get away as fast as you can.
As for what makes a good teacher - others have asked this question before, and u/krodha in particular has written out a good description many times, although I can't find the quote he usually uses unfortunately.
As far as general safety in the practice goes, Lama Lena has written this (and I'm shamelessly stealing it from her website):
"The responsibility to take care of your own mind rests with you; not the lama, not your mom, not your cat. So, take it upon yourself to be safe and use common sense."
Please, read that whole page and heed the warnings.

My Practice

I've been working with Dzogchen for about 3.5 years now, since approximately the end of 2020. I'd been interested in Mahayana practices for the better part of a decade before that, but mostly just practicing Samatha by the way of Anapanasati and Metta, and also through the framework provided by *The Mind Illuminated*. I had been curious about Dzogchen for a bit, mostly from reading about it on Wikipedia and just, in general, being interested in seeing what the fuss is surrounding vajrayana, tantra, and the "highest system" called Atiyoga.
By chance, I happened to see a comment on Dzogchen from someone who basically said "If anyone is looking for pointing out, feel free to message me." So I sent them a message giving my general background and motivation for the practice, and they invited me to join them on meditationonline.org - which had been a place they'd been doing meditation for a few years (and still do, I suppose I'd consider myself part of that sangha). I happened to meet the individual who I'd been messaging, a Nyingma lama called Dawai Gocha, and received pointing out, along with teachings for the next few years... up until the present day.
My main practice now is Dzogchen - I gradually transitioned into this from Anapanasati over the course of about six months - and most of my sessions are now just me resting in awareness - Rigpa. I generally do augment this however with other practices, like Satipatthana, mantra recitation, and other practices from the three main vehicles, simply because I like to do them and find them helpful on the path.

What is Dzogchen?

I can't say anything that has not already been said by others, in particular, meditation masters with vastly more experience than I have - but to put it simply, Dzogchen practice can encompass a large number of different types of ancillary practices, and one central practice, which the ancillaries are meant to accomplish. The main practice is resting in the Rigpa.

How to Learn

"Get pointing out instructions from a qualified teacher before embarking on Dzogchen and Mahamudra. A teacher can address pressing questions as they arise and give you a map and tools for the journey. As practitioners, we can rely on those who have hiked the trail before us." - Lama Lena
Since the awareness nature is always present in every being, it is both simple to learn and simple to maintain the practice - being that one just simply is introduced to the awareness nature, and then abides in it at all times.
As far as being introduced to that awareness, in my experience there are many avenues, such as getting pointed out in person( verbally or non verbally), in visions, through texts, in dreams, etc. In one of her videos, Lama Lena goes through, I think, five different days that transmission/pointing out can happen.
But in my experience, getting pointing out, repeatedly and periodically, from a teacher is the most effective (and probably the most important) way to learn, like having someone coach you through riding a bicycle, until you finally internalize the fundamentals and are able ride on your own. Even someone that can check your progress, humble you, and keep you from common pitfalls, can be extremely helpful. Dzogchen, to me and from what I have read from e.g. Tulku Urgyen, is very simple, so simple that many people are able to miss it extremely easily. Whether we miss it because we're so worked up, or because we are subtly fabricating something and fixating on the fabrication - there is a miss, and from what I know, it's better to realize that than carry on doing whatever else. The harsh reality of Dzogchen practice is that fixation, because we're so habituated to it as human beings, is extremely easy, and being led astray by fixation means your meditation becomes a conditioned Samatha practice. On a lighter note though - from my perspective, one we learn to continually distinguish between Consciousness from Wisdom, we are on very solid ground, and it becomes easier and easier to recognize when we've become fixated.
On the subject of teachers - I would consider myself to have had many teachers. My main teacher, I mentioned before, is a lama I talk to live over the internet, but I would also say I've received teachings from recordings, from books, and in dreams. For clarity, I will state again: having a teacher that you can use to verify your practice is very important so as not to fall into common pitfalls. Whether you are confirming your experience through texts, reasoning, pointing out videos, whatever - doing it repeatedly will help because otherwise, as a beginner, one can be lost for minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, etc. without finding awareness again. I've seen people on Dzogchen who, unfortunately, even though they got pointing out from great teachers, were not able to full internalize the practice because they got lost in thoughts and then never were able to find recognize awareness again, and so need the pointing out once more. Others get the pointing out repeatedly - practice a lot, and attain good results over time. In that way, from my perspective, having continual access to the teachings is very important.
Fortunately, we live in a good time for this.
I'll get to recommend specifics later but - this is my perspective - although some people say that you can't get transmission over recordings or the internet, or from books - I actually do doubt that that is that case, just from experience. But, I must caution that all of my experience in this realm comes from after the point in time that I received live pointing out, so I would not take what I say as gospel. Once again, anything I say would defer to a knowledge and reputable teacher.
This all being said - regardless of how one feels at a specific time or place, there's no reason to ever refrain from confirming one's experience or view against the words of masters. There are others that have said this, who have more experience, but until we are Buddhas ourselves and phenomena have exhausted, there is no reason to ever stop practicing. Ever. If you are practicing, there is no need to make effort, and all phenomena will come and go without trouble until they are fully exhausted. Namkhai Norbu says almost exactly this in The Cycle of Day and Night.

Finding A Teacher - Resources

"Do not expect to travel this path guided only by books and the internet! Use the internet to find a teacher, then connect with them." - Lama Lena
It's taken a while to get here, my apologies for that.
For finding a teacher, I think any lama that has accomplished a three year retreat will be proficient in either Mahamudra or Dzogchen (both Atiyoga - subtle differenes but the same essential practice), and will likely be able to give pointing out instructions.
Not all may do so at first. Some may want a more personal relationship, some may require Ngondro, and some may say "sorry I don't really give those teachings". Some may require a baseline knowledge of the practice first - for example the Tergar program does.
That being said, there are many places to receive pointing out for free and in public.
Off the top of my head, I can name four that are always open and free: Lama Lena on Facebook and Youtube, The Rangdrol Foundation (run by the reddit user u/jigdrol), MeditationOnline.org, and The Pristine Mind Foundation . I know there are others, but at least to me on reddit and personally, these have been the most visible. I do know that Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche and James Low occasionally give pointing out instructions and videos on the practice. As well - many other lama do on occasion, and especially Bon lamas - practitioners and Yogis from the Tibetan Indigenous religion, through teachings series or classes. Some may even do so if you are able to get a phone call with them.
Personally, I recommend finding someone who you can learn from personally, and allowing them to teach you whatever they can.
Edit: Here is a recent list of online teachers compiled by Dzogchen
Lama Lena Dzogchen Youtube Videos
Lama Lena Introductory Videos
Meditation Online Videos (Almost all Dzogchen)
Once you've received pointing out, there are also numerous public books, and texts one can read to deepen their understanding and/or background in the teachings, a few of which I've read and can list below. I'll also try to find some links that I care share too.
Many texts on Dzogchen, Mahyana and Vajrayana in general can be found on the excellent Lotsawahouse.org
A list of a few books that I've read and can personally recommend. Please note - these books (with the exception of Transcending AFAIK) are best read after having received transmission:
The Cycle of Day and Night by Chogyal Namkhai Norbu
Dzogchen: Heart Essence of the Great Perfection by HH The Dalai Lama
Zurchungpa's Testament by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Vajra Heart Revisited by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
Transcending Ego: Distinguishing Consciousness from Wisdom by Thrangu Rinpoche
Also, I've not read the Trilogy of Rest by Longchenpa but heard that they're excellent.
Anyways, this about wraps up the post. If you have any questions or additional comments, they are very welcome. I wish all of your the very best of luck on your paths, and that all beings may reach enlightenment.

Hi all, I hope you're having a good day! I have a question about finding your niche. A couple years ago, I posted two videos to YT and forgot about the channel, but in the past couple of months I've been enjoying creating and posting videos, and I just reached 500 subscribers this weekend. I post about the things I love most: so, mostly gaming videos and horror movie reviews.
But I've been seeing a few posts here that recommend picking a lane and staying in it for algorithm reasons. I guess my first question is: do I need to create two separate channels, one for horror stuff and the other for gaming content? Or since there is some overlap between the two (for example, my last horror movie review talked a lot about FNAF/there's a lot of horror games out there and both topics are kind of in the nerd-o-sphere) would it make sense to keep it as one channel? The benefit there is that while I think I'm posting frequently enough on my one and only channel now, I could see myself stressing out if I had to post regularly to two different places.
And finally, a more personalized question: if I start two channels, should I devote my original channel to games or to horror movies? My gaming videos - specifically, the ones about Baldur's Gate 3 - get me way more views, but I get a higher subscriber percentage when I post horror reviews. Plus, I wasn't sure if it was easier to grow a new channel from scratch with horror or gaming. Or, maybe I'm overthinking; I've only been making videos for a couple months, so perhaps I should just see how it goes?
Sorry if that was a lot of rambling! But your advice is appreciated 💛

> 1. Is this a brand new build, or an upgrade to an existing build?
Either is fine; I was looking to upgrade my current PC but making a whole new build should be okay, since I have someone I can give my old PC to anyway
> 2. Please list any existing parts or monitor(s) you have that you would like to re-use with this build. For upgrades, a PCPartPicker list of your full build is extremely helpful. Be as specific as you can be here, including links or exact model numbers of each component whenever possible.
This is my current PC build (to the best of my ability, it was a prebuilt that I bought): https://pcpartpicker.com/list/J2gFN6
If I'm upgrading, I was planning to keep the case, both the SSD and the HDD, and the power supply unit. If I'm building a whole new one from scratch, I can still use both storage parts for the new build.
> 3. What will this PC be used for? Examples include things like gaming, general/multimedia use, photo/video editing, coding, AI/ML, etc. Include specific games and applications you intend to run, and any particular performance goals you have, as each may have different specific hardware needs.
I most do digital art and animation, which works fine on my current PC, but I wanted to also do some video editing and streaming, and at least be able to use After Effects (my current PC struggles quite a bit with After Effects).
I don't do much gaming on my PC so it's not really a priority; if the games that run on my current PC can still run on my new/upgraded one, that should be plenty for me.
> 4. What country will you be purchasing in? If you are in the US, do you live near a Micro Center? For other countries, please check if your country is supported by PCPartPicker by using the country selector dropdown on the top right - if not, please provide some links to reliable local vendors you are comfortable ordering from.
I will be purchasing in the US. I live about an hour from a Micro Center.
> 5. Do you need one or more monitors included in the budget? Please list how many and any size/resolution/refresh rate preferences if needed.
No, I already have one.
> 6. What is your preferred and maximum budget range for this build, in local currency? Parts lists may sometimes have additional shipping costs. Please note whether prices in your country include sales tax or not, and adjust your budget accordingly. Typically VAT countries will have it included in the part list prices, whereas regular sales tax countries like the US and Canada will not.
I'd like to keep in it in the $600-$800 range. I can stretch it an extra like $50 if needed.
I know that's not a lot to work with, but I don't really need the highest end parts.
> 7. Do you need WiFi, or do you have a wired ethernet connection available?
I have a WiFi card that I'm using with my PC, so I don't think so, but a motherboard that has WiFi would be nice.
> 8. Do you have any specific size or noise requirements for the build?
I'd like to keep it around the same size as my current PC, so an ATX Mid-Tower size (I think). I'm not too bothered by noise.
> 9. Do you have any aesthetic preferences for color or lighting? Describe what you're looking for, or feel free to provide some links to examples that may help. Some people prefer an inobtrusive stealth build, while others may prefer a case full of rainbow RGB.
Not really, I don't really care much how it looks. My only preference is anything that's not TOO flashy with glowy rainbow RGB. My currrent PC has RGB's that I just set to glow white.
> 10. Any other specific requests or requirements? Examples might include a specific minimum amount of storage, or a particular CPU socket for a future upgrade path, etc.
I know After Effects specifically recommends a CPU with lots of cores, at least 8, and I think other applications also benefit from that. So I'd like it more CPU heavy rather than GPU heavy. I'd also like 32gb of RAM and wanted to get a 1TB M.2 SSD, if that's at all possible.
Doing some research, it seems the stuff I want to do with this PC benefit the most with an Intel CPU and an Nvidia GPU, so that would also be preferable.

My Whirlpool (model WDT710PAYH3) is leaving a soapy residue on my dishes that I can see when I fill a glass with water, for example. I've had this dishwasher for 9 years and it's worked fine until a few months ago. Possibly related, since the last time I filled the rinse aid compartment, it hasn't gone down to indicate needing to be refilled. It's still full (I can see the liquid in there). I'm guessing the soapy residue is rinse aid? However, it's been leaving residue on the dishes since before this issue.
I've been using the same recommended Cascade detergent this whole time.
I've tried running many many empty cycles to flush things out, I've put cups of vinegar in there, I've used Affresh tabs, I've adjusted the little arrow in the rinse aid compartment to dispense more or less rinse aid, I've cleaned the filter, but nothing has worked. What can I do? I can't access the rinse aid compartment to empty it myself.

Any recommendations for a series where the magic isn't so structured and game-like? I've found that even a lot of non-litrpg series have very structured magic with levels/tiers/classes/etc. and I'm in the mood for something more organic but still with some progression elements. Mage Errant comes to mind as a good example of what I'm looking for. Thanks in advance!

I saw someone else did something like this recently and thought that I might have something to add to the discussion to help people figure out whether they think this program is right for them, or for people currently in the program to help them plan out classes.
My background is very heavy in statistics and finance (I'm an actuary), so my grounding in calculus, statistics, linear algebra, and business topics was considerably better than most of the other people I interacted with in this program. Conversely, I'm sure my programming skills were probably about average or maybe a little bit below compared to someone with a more targeted background towards those skills.
I started in Fall of 2020 and just finished up this month, Spring 2024. I started out just taking one class a semester and never changed up that plan, would highly recommend doing the same if you're working full time alongside; there's no reason to rush this program. I got a 4.0 GPA overall, although I never really stressed that much about it and definitely did not shy away from "harder" classes in order to bolster GPA. I did this to learn, not to get good grades. The classes I took, in order (my memory of some of the earlier ones might be a bit jumbled as so much time has passed):

1. CSE 6040 - I mentioned how my programming background was weaker relative to my mathematical background. However, reflecting on my experience in this class, it was probably still pretty strong. This class is focused on generalized programming skills, you don't really get into the analytics and modeling that much; it's more of a primer on things like functions, recursion, computer memory management, etc. It's been a few years, but I don't remember struggling with this class at all, and most of the concepts covered (object oriented programming, things like byte encoding, hexadecimal forms, recursion, etc.) were things I was already familiar with in another programming language (this class was in Python) or was relatively easy to pick up. From what I remember, the assignments were auto-graded and you had unlimited attempts, not to mention the fact that most of the prompts were to produce some predetermined result... and, as long as you were able to verify that your code produced that result, you got full points. I didn't miss a single point in this entire class. I believe there were "final exams" which were really just timed window coding assignments much like the homework, and you could do the assignments at any point during a 4-day window or something like that.
2. ISYE 6501 - This class was R-based and focused on basic analytics models. The material was much more applied than 6040. Similarly, the material was not difficult, and I was familiar with a lot of the basic models already (such as GLMs) from having worked with them in my job. The grading was done on a peer-grading framework; based on who anonymously is assigned your homework to grade, you can get someone who's a stickler for every point on the guide, or people who are a bit more lenient. I never really worried much about how things were graded in this class; yeah, I did miss some points arbitrarily, but nothing that made that much of a difference. If you generally put in the work and understand the material, your peers will recognize that. I found this a bit more interesting than 6040 because, rather than a deterministic "right answer", there was some more creativity implied here to solve each problem. There was a final project for this class where you walked through a hypothetical analytics problem and explained how you would go about solving it. I found this an interesting thought exercise and enjoyed this class. The pacing felt a little fast, as you basically had an assignment due each week, but the assignments were small. Like 6040 I found this class to be quite easy but I didn't 100% it due to the peer grading thing.
3. MGT 8803 - I almost applied to be exempt from this class, as my background intersects a lot with the material. The accounting and finance modules for this class literally did not teach me anything new. Supply chain was new for me and I found it interesting. I'm trying to remember what the other module was. I think it was marketing? I didn't like it. Overall I found this class quite easy for the aforementioned reasons, however I've heard from a lot of the other folks without business backgrounds that this class was pretty tough so take my opinions with a grain of salt. Taking this in the summer cut out one of the modules, normally there are 5 but in Summer there are 4. I figured this made sense to take during the truncated semester because I was unlikely to cover that much new material, and it turns out I was right about that. Each module lasted 2 weeks (I think in a normal semester it lasts 3) and has a timed multiple-choice test at the end. A lot of people didn't like this format compared to ISYE 6501 and CSE 6040; I'm not really sure how else this material could've been covered. This class was OK, the material is not really that deep but it's a pretty good primer on a large number of business topics.
4. ISYE 6740 - The first class I took that was actually pretty challenging, which makes sense considering the first 3 courses were just the basic core. This is pretty much an intro to machine learning as a discipline, and the first time I remember digging into academic papers that discuss some machine learning topic and attempting to recreate the results (this is something we did a lot in the more advanced classes going forward and incidentally now that I have graduated is probably one of the best ways to go about learning a new topic). I remember this class as having a format similar to ISYE 6501/CSE6040 in that you had large programming assignments to do, as well as open-book "exams" which were really just timed programming assignments. Assignments are not auto-graded; TA's review each one and thus the assignments have much more of a focus on explaining your findings than producing the exact expected output (unlike 6040). Some of the theory questions have you applying complicated matrix algebra rules that I'm not surprised a lot of people struggled with. The TA responsiveness in this class was pretty good from what I remember, but your mileage may vary. I remember getting 3 weeks to do each assignment but I also remember not thinking that was a lot of time, these assignments are very extensive, have many parts, and take a long time to get through. Like with 6040 I ended up not missing a single point in this class but I did find it difficult and spent significantly more time working on it than in prior classes, probably 10-15 hrs a week, give or take.
5. ISYE 6644 - I was familiar with maybe 50% of the material we covered due to my extensive statistics background, however I was not aware of the exact mechanics of random number generation or the concept of a batched mean, for example. I remember this class having several "check your understanding" quizzes that focused on the mathematical foundations. Didn't struggle with this much in terms of difficulty and found the material very useful. Setting up custom simulation environments is very useful and arena is pretty cool even if it's unlikely you'll ever use it. Some assignments feature similar tools in Python (simpy). There might have been some coverage of R in this as well, or at least the accommodation for people that wanted to use it. There was a project for this class, but you didn't have to come up with the topic on your own, you could pick from a list, and you could do your project on your own if you wanted (which, given the option, was always the choice I made, due to the inherent randomness in picking the right members of a group). However you can do a group project if you want.
6. MGT 6203 - The first of the classes I took that required a group project. I recommend you are proactive in putting together groups in situations like these, posting threads on Ed/whatever the forum is as soon as the class begins. My group was alright; not everyone in it was great, but we had enough going overall to make up for the weaker group members. The project has some arbitrary guidelines from what I remember - you need to put together a midterm report and video presentation that is no more than ~2 minutes long or something like that (if it's 2:01 you get penalized) and the final report is 5 minutes or less, and everyone in the group needs to speak. I honestly don't remember much else about this class, it was pretty forgettable, but not horrible. Not overall that difficult, another business class so a lot of topics I was already familiar with, but there was more new here than in 8803.
7. CSE 6242 - Another class with a group project. Again, I was proactive, and again, overall, my group was... okay. Some people who were really good, some who were... not. This class is characterized by a lot of assignments that are autograded, like 6040, but the assignments are a bit more difficult. Overall not that difficult with the exception of the D3 assignment, but that's more due to the fact that I'm not really sure how the autograder works for that; it tries to determine based on some internal structure of your html code whether or not you're fulfilling the requirements. I got a perfect score on all of the assignments, and they give you the chance to score over 100% on I believe either assignment 1 or assignment 2. A lot of people bombed the D3 assignment (I think it's assignment 2) but still did well in the class because it's not that hard to do well on everything else, so keep that in mind. This class does a great job of exposing you to a lot of new technologies, but there isn't that much depth to it. That's not really the point of this kind of class though, it equips you with the tools to explore things deeper if you so choose.
8. ISYE 8803 - I was a big fan of this class. It's taught in MATLAB but you can use Python if you so choose, you'll see in reviews of this class that you should really just use MATLAB since a lot of the sample code etc. is not in other languages, so that's what I did. However, they must've recently added Python and R code for sample solutions, so feel free to use what you want. MATLAB was interesting, there were parts of one assignment I also used R for (grouped lasso in R is a lot more straightforward). This class is all about high dimensional data and representing it in a more simplified and comprehensive way, think about something like sonar which might have datapoints separated by milliseconds and thus a very dense representation of a signal captured over a short period of time. After ISYE 6740, I found this to be the class that taught me the most up to this point.
9. CS 7642 - Taking this class in summer is kind of rough. There's 6 homework assignments that are autograded, similar format to CSE 6040. There are 3 projects which are much larger programming assignments for which you'll write papers explaining methodology, results, etc. These projects take a while, particularly project 3. I did well on projects 1 and 2 and decently on 3, although I spent the most time on 3 by far; it involves reinforcement learning to simulate a soccer environment and train agents how to play against an AI developed externally. The AI baselines are hard to beat, and I didn't manage to beat them, but I wrote a decent paper explaining what I did. The final exam for this class should be dropped as it doesn't add value to the class, people regularly score extremely low on it, the average score in the class was something like a 45%. I scored a bit lower than average but still got an A in the class because it was heavily curved. Reinforcement learning is a very interesting topic, though, and I would highly recommend this class as a primer on the material. It's probably a good idea not to take it in the summer, though.
10. CS 7643 - This class was pretty difficult but I still think 6740 was tougher. The material is extremely dense. There are parts of programming assignments that are autograded, but also short answer portions that are reviewed by TAs. Grading on those were pretty subjective. This is the only class I can remember really needing to discuss things with TAs to understand what was being asked a little better. Unfortunately, the TAs in the semester I took this weren't the best. They seemed more concerned with unintentionally giving away a bit too much information in any of their responses. I can understand this, but it came off as intentionally opaque most of the time. There was a group project for this course as well, and my group was excellent, probably the best experience I had with a group in this program. I can imagine how much this course would've sucked if I would've had a mediocre/bad group. Based on discussions with my group, some of the grading seemed highly arbitrary, with some TAs grading similar responses to the same question differently. Like I said above, though, I never really worried about this. I never once in this program ever disputed a grade, and I continued with that in this class as well.
11. CSE 6748 - Practicum and final class. For this class you get to choose between a number of pre-determined Georgia Tech sponsors, or form your own project for your own employesome external entity. It was a lot more work to do this, so I just went with one of the pre-determined GTech ones. I really enjoyed this one, I had constant communication with the sponsor as I developed my project and came up with something that I was quite proud of. I wanted to explore a natural language processing task, so I picked a project that I thought would allow me to do this, and was very satisfied with the result. There's a number of videos you have to watch that explain some overarching aspect of analytics that were pretty interesting as well, you can watch all of these in a single day and then focus on the project if you like. It's possible to finish the entire semester's work in just a few weeks, I was able to do the entire project and write the final paper in about a month's time, at which point I coordinated with the sponsor to tailor the work I did to a format that they would be able to implement for their business problem if they wanted to.

I can't comment on the job placement prospects of this program, as I just finished it and was actively employed the entire time I was in it. As an actuary there's not much this program does that my exam certification process didn't in terms of career prospects. However, it did position me much better within the context of the expanding role of data and analytics in insurance going forward, and also opens me up to similarly mathematical roles with a firmer grounding in big data and also some business elements (quantitative finance/data science roles). There were also things I learned in this program that I was able to apply directly to my day-to-day work. If you're considering this program, I would recommend you think about a few things:

1. I'm pretty shocked at how many people I saw during my program who didn't really think that much about why they're doing this. I get that the barrier to entry is low, but it's a serious commitment if you're actually trying to graduate. Most of the people who start this program don't finish, so consider whether you're ready to spend almost 4 years going to school part-time, or if you're able to double up on classes for some of the semesters. Most of the people I know in the program doubled up at least once, I never did but I was never in a hurry. If you must double up, don't make it your first semester. Dip your toe in the water, see how it is, and then reassess. But, above all else, think about why you want to do this, and use that as your guiding goal to bring you through to the end.
2. Something I tended to see pretty much without fail in most of my classes - a lot of the graduate students in this program spend way too much time worrying about minute, particular details that don't really matter. Maybe it was just my philosophy that I would probably never dispute a grade, or that I was never really that concerned with getting a perfect GPA, etc. but I was always marveling at what I saw asked in Ed posts. People would ask whether they could use a certain programming language for an assignment, what packages they were allowed to use, would post screenshots of bugs and ask for TA's to help walk them through it, etc. Generally, without fail, the TAs would respond along the lines of: use whatever programming language you want, as long as you can display your output/submit it in a way that we can verify by running ourselves, we'll make the effort; use the debugger to step through your code to find the problem; etc. Generally, in most cases, the assignments and questions are designed in a way to teach you something, to get you to realize/understand some pattern or data concept that has some underlying logic that makes sense. For example, the idea of saliency maps on image processing takes the 3-channel RGB color pixel shading representation of an image and condenses it into a single channel, and, as a result of that, loses some resolution in suggesting parts of the image driving a model result that might be different depending on the channel; i.e., an image with a very heavily blue-shaded part that detracts from a certain result, but with a red-shaded part somewhere else that increases the probability of the modeled result. This was part of a conceptual question on how saliency maps differed from other pixel influence attribution methods in Deep Learning, and is part of what you should logically understand since it reduces the channels of the image representation from 3 (R, G, B) to 1 (usually grayscale). I think people tend to run to the TA the second they have difficulty with something and don't stop for a second to think it through, one exercise I might recommend is to consider: if you ran into this problem out in the world and you didn't have a TA/managesome other authority figure to explain the answer to you, what do you think it might be? Does the answer even matter? If it still matters and you have no idea how to solve it, maybe then you can go to the TA.
3. In every single group project I worked on, we had an initial planning session where we determined the scope of what we wanted to do. For most of the projects, this was an essential deliverable in addition to the final paper. However, in almost every case, someone in the group was always playing some game of runaway scope where they kept on wanting to add methods/questions to exploration beyond what was initially planned in ways that I intuitively knew would be impossible to manage in just one semester. I often had to say something along the lines of "if we have time we'll do that" or "when we write up our paper, we can put that in the avenues for future exploration section" or something similar. It turns out that we never had time to look into these things, and our initial scope was usually well-defined considering the time we had. I'm not sure why this was always so front-and-center in my focus, maybe since I used to work in consulting and project budgeting/scoping is so unbelievably important in that context. Whatever the case may be, understand that you won't be able to change the world every time you do a project. Make some incremental improvement, reflect on the results, and then include some notes in a "potential avenues for future exploration" section. I was pretty surprised at how many people had so much trouble putting the pencils down at the end. I can practically guarantee that, for the classes where I did a project on my own, I probably did substantially less work than other individual groups for precisely this reason. In general, you probably don't have to do as much work as you think you do.

So, would I recommend the program overall? Absolutely. It's not perfect, I found some of the formats annoying - CS 7642 has no business having that final exam, it adds nothing to the class at all, is arbitrarily extremely difficult and the class is good enough and complete enough with the removal of that exam that its inclusion to me appears to be the result of some arbitrary quota somewhere. I also don't really like the group project format and profoundly disagree with the reasoning that GTech and most other academic institutions give as to why group projects are even good or necessary, however I do acknowledge that from a logistics and resource standpoint it's unmanageable to grade individual projects for every single person in a given class and group projects do decrease the number of papers that TAs will have to read. Considering the scale of what GTech has managed to do, and how many students enroll each year, I'm surprised the program is as well-managed as it is. Yes, it does require a lot of self-teaching, but in most cases you can actively engage with TAs multiple times a week if you're struggling with topics and from what I've seen they were very responsive.
Anyways just wanted to give my perspective as someone who just finished this program and still thinks it's worthwhile despite its flaws.

I have played Shin Megami Tensei IV on the past, and that’s my only solid experience with JRPG (my 3DS is dead, so don’t recommend me games on that console pls, only switch and PC). I liked its themes and aesthetics, and while I enjoyed its turned based system I would like a more action oriented combat. I have been looking some info about Tales of Arise and was super excited to try it, but I’ve read that the story was disappointing and plain, and since I got little time to play, that would be a problem, spending months to finish a game just to be disappointing on that regard would be really awful. I read on a post that Atelier Ayesha has a solid story, but I have zero idea about how is its gameplay.
Something you should know is that the animey vibe some japanese games have must be delivered with care, otherwise I will be turned off. That happened to me looking at Valkyria chronicles. Sorry, but I can’t stand a sexy blonde waifu with a german name dressed with a miniskirt on the army using a Kar98K, while delivering all the tsundere tropes as if it was SAO. I might sound shallow here and Valkyria Chronicles could have a masterful story, but it’s not for me. That said, it’s not anime per se, I’m tolerant to the style and even some of the tropes, for example, Yoko Taro games are of my favorite of practically all time, so it’s not anime per se, but how ridiculous is the aesthetic choice.
Finally, I would prefer something relatively modern, I could go back to PS2 era but not before, unless it’s a specific game for a specific reason. And I want a cast of characters, since my comfort zone is hack and slash and soulslikes, I would prefer a more story focused and driven approach, exploration is fine but the story should be the main point of the gameplay.
Thanks in advance!

Been listening to Cramer for a few weeks now. He reminds me a lot of Motley Fool. They own stocks and recommend those stocks and talk up those stocks. I wonder if Cramer does the same?
I noticed Cramer says "His foundation has positions" (Not him personally? Why the diff?) I guess he sells membership to get access to his picks (ala Motley Fool) Then he has the CEO of company's he loves on and kisses their ass to no end...which to me is either a paid block of time from the company (would they have to disclose?) or he owns those company's and wants them pushed to no end? Anyway, smells fishy.
I first noticed when he had on the CEO of Palo Alto Networks on a few weeks ago where he kissed the guys ass so much and raved to no end about the company. Got me interested in the company but I didn't buy it. Then the earnings came out and they took a hit. Cramer said the market was reading it wrong. Then he had the CEO on AGAIN to further kiss his ass and state how well the company is doing.
Next example was a similar example but with Lowes. CEO was just on and when I say he licked his ass and paid for it...well...it all smells fishy.
So is he a scam artist?

A professor i asked for a letter of recommendation agreed to write me a letter for graduate school. The professor said they would submit it by date X, but it has been a week past that time now and they have yet to respond to my emails. I cannot ask anyone else, so what should I do?

To make the NREMT easier, follow these steps:

1. Buy the EMT Crash Course book: This provides comprehensive preparation.
2. Buy EMT Pocket Prep: Use this for active recall on what you've just learned. This will put you at about $30 for both and greatly increase your chances of passing the test.

Additionally, make sure to learn the medical terminology. For example, "hematemesis" means bloody vomit. Don’t go crazy but understand the simple stuff hepa, polyurea polyphagia etc…
If you still don’t feel comfortable about the test and are unsure, I recommend buying Paramedic Coach. He breaks down complex topics, especially pregnancies and other areas, in a very simple way.
The test was easy for me. I got kicked out at 70 questions and passed but it got hard at the end where I had no idea what the fuck they where talking about just use process of a elimination
EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) Crash Course with Online Practice Test, 3rd Edition: Get a Passing Score in Less Time (EMT Test Preparation): 9780738612874: Medicine & Health Science Books @ Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/Emergency-Medical-Technician-Course-Practice/dp/0738612871/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=55688564866&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.2H4LIM444QdmXxHyXKtLHGaFHYUeZwLve16hhIzPYHjVEYYN4BDIUwn6EBbdEdxO70-OQ8Zy4C2nS9_7v3A_fiP95rurT_Ada8cO_IT00icdJ0VvE-jccUOEwcjX6l4WbWSFjw_uY6rO-ieMq-d_rm-aAban5EMYNRqsp4VrAMpct491KsoXTmCAnnfvuQXOEAUgmT0rhXvnIseMAWq9ZA.0k6s769WhjTwqOkBhXJ4zHdFLx4tbLhzUAInrlhsnR8&dib_tag=se&hvadid=410035634099&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9030615&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=11689681984435800462&hvtargid=kwd-322569324230&hydadcr=15178_11424892&keywords=emt+crash+course&qid=1716329025&sr=8-1)

Hi! We are developing a service and the main purpose from the accounting perspective is to resell some services to a huge amount of vendors (thousands or even more). And we're a little confused about how to choose an accounting software. We know, for example, of the existence of QuickBooks or Xero. But our model assumes that accounting records will be created not only manually (during normal operations), but also automatically by our service in the direction to a different vendors and we think that such solutions may not be suitable for us.
Is it a good practice to develop your own accounting software in such a case and how popular is it? Or maybe you can recommend something that already exists with the ability to integrate via API (for example)?

• Lesson video
• Complementary video

INTRO

Today you're going to set-up another user on your system. You're going to imagine that this is a help-desk person that you trust to do just a few simple tasks:

• check that the system is running
• check disk space with: df -h

...but you also want them to be able to reboot the system, because you believe that "turning it off and on again" resolves most problems :-)
You'll be covering a several new areas, so have fun!

YOUR TASKS TODAY

• Create a new user
• Create a new group
• Create a new user and add to an existing group
• Make a new user a sudoer

Follow this demo

ADDING A NEW USER

Choose a name for your new user - we'll use "helen" in the examples, so to add this new user:
sudo adduser helen
(Names are case-sensitive in Linux, so "Helen" would be a completely different user)
The "adduser" command works very slightly differently in each distro - if it didn't ask you for a password for your new user, then set it manually now by:
sudo passwd helen
You will now have a new entry in the simple text database of users: /etc/passwd (check it out with: less), and a group of the same name in the file: /etc/group. A hash of the password for the user is in: /etc/shadow (you can read this too if you use "sudo" - check the permissions to see how they're set. For obvious reasons it's not readable to just everyone).
If you're used to other operating systems it may be hard to believe, but these simple text files are the whole Linux user database and you could even create your users and groups by directly editing these files - although this isn’t normally recommended.
Additionally, adduser will have created a home directory, /home/helen for example, with the correct permissions.
ATTENTION! useradd is not the same as adduser. They both create a new user, but they interact very differently. Check the link in the EXTENSION section to see those differences.

ADDING A NEW GROUP

Let's say we want to all of the developers in my organization to have their own group, so they can have access to the same things.
sudo groupadd developers
On most modern Linux systems there is a group created for each user, so user "ubuntu" is a member of the group "ubuntu". But if you want, you can create a new user directly into an existing group, using the ingroup flag. So a new user fred would be created like this:
sudo adduser --ingroup developers fred

ADDING AN USER TO GROUPS

Users can also be part of more than one group, and groups can be added as required.
To see what groups you're a member of, simply type: groups
On an Ubuntu system the first user created (in your case ubuntu), should be a member of the groups: ubuntu, sudo and admin - and if you list the /valog folder you'll see your membership of the sudo group is why you can use less to read and view the contents of /valog/auth.log
The "root" user can add a user to an existing group with the command:
usermod -a -G group user
so your ubuntu user can do the same simply by prefixing the command with sudo.
Because the new user helen is not the first user created in the system, they don't have the power to run sudo - which your user has by being a member of the group sudo.
So, to check which groups helen is a member of, you can "become helen" by switching users like this:
sudo su helen
Then:
groups
If you try to do stuff only a sudo user can do, i.e. read the contents of /valog/auth.log, even using the prefix sudo won't work. Helen is not a sudo and has no permissions to perform this action.
Now type "exit" to return to your normal user, and you can add helen to this group with:
sudo usermod -a -G sudo helen
Instead of switching users again, simply run the groups helen to check. Try that with fred too and check how everything works.
See if any of your new users can sudo reboot.

CLEVER SUDO TRICKS

Your new user is just an ordinary user and so can't use sudo to run commands with elevated privileges - until we set them up. We could simply add them to a group that's pre-defined to be able to use sudo to do anything as root (like we did with helen) - but we don't want to give fred quite that same amount of power.
Use ls -l to look at the permissions for the file: /etc/sudoers This is where the magic is defined, and you'll see that it's tightly controlled, but you should be able to view it with: sudo less /etc/sudoers You want to add a new entry in there for your new user, and for this you need to run a special utility: visudo
To run this, you can temporarily "become root" by running:
sudo -i
Notice that your prompt has changed to a #
Now simply run visudo to begin editing /etc/sudoers - typically this will use nano.
All lines in /etc/sudoers beginning with "#" are optional comments. You'll want to add some lines like this:

# Allow user "fred" to run "sudo reboot" # ...and don't prompt for a password # fred ALL = NOPASSWD:/sbin/reboot 

You can add these line in wherever seems reasonable. The visudo command will automatically check your syntax, and won't allow you to save if there are mistakes - because a corrupt sudoers file could lock you out of your server!
Type exit to remove your magic hat and become your normal user again - and notice that your prompt reverts to: $

TESTING

Test by logging in as your test user and typing: sudo reboot Note that you can "become" helen by:
sudo su helen
If your ssh config allows login only with public keys, you'll need to setup /home/helen/.ssh/authorized_keys - including getting the owner and permissions correct. A little challenge of your understanding of this area!

EXTENSION

If you find this all pretty familiar, then you might like to check and update your knowledge on a couple of related areas:

• Restricting shell access
• Linux Password & Shadow File Formats
• What's the difference between 'useradd' and 'adduser'?
• How to create users and groups in Linux from the command line
• Learn how to use the $EDITOR environmental variable to set your default editor to vim. With this done, visudo will use vim rather than nano for editing.

RESOURCES

• How To Edit the Sudoers File
• Sudo – An Advanced Howto
• A cartoon that should now make sense!
• Basic Linux Permissions: sudo and sudoers (video)

PREVIOUS DAY'S LESSON

• Day 12 - Transferring files

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I purchased a new Toyota grand Highlander last year and when shopping around for Insurance, At the time, this was a brand new car model and was not on the list Of high theft vehicles.
CAA had the best rates so I went with them (clean record, driving for 25 years) Fast forward to today when I received a letter from CAA stating that my vehicle is a high theft vehicle and that they have increased the surcharge to $1500 from $500. This new surcharge is actually more than my yearly premium.
I think this is crazy. Since my vehicle has real time, GPS built-in. I’ll definitely be shopping around but I’m sure other insurance companies are following suit.
I wonder if CAA knows about the new law laws around losing your license if you steal a vehicle /s
Rant over..
**edit
I’m located in Hamilton. The letter did mention the surcharge would be dropped if I have a professionally installed immobilizer with a pin to start. Any recommendations of places to get one installed. I’m sure they are all charging $$$ thanks to suckers like me having to pay a surcharge

Well, I’m truly new though it feels like it. Played a whole lot in 2007-08 then had to stop bc of RL. Resubbed in Feb of this year and took my time, reaching 80 this past Thursday and immediately queued for BGs.
It was a smash fest ofc so I have my sites set on 85.
What can I do between now and 85 to get better? I started checking out YouTube guides and Icyveins months ago, but it didn’t take me long on the BG fields to realize those are not comprehensive, for example, not one mentioned shiv with wound poisoning. So, does anyone have any specific recommendations on what to watch or what to read?
It feels like I should approach BGs with an aim in mind, meaning for the first 100 focus on X, THEN add Y.
Are BGs between 80 and 85 a thing?
Is there anything I can do during the leveling process to learn something from that?
Is there a forum I can go to ask specific tactics questions?

I am sorry for another GPA explanation SOP post, but I could use some advice.
I have a very mentally ill parent that resulted in our home environment being very abusive and traumatic and this had a big impact on me growing up and the first two years of university when I was living in and out of home (due to financial difficulty I struggled to afford rent on my own). My first two years of university are TRASH. I mean fail, withdrawal, absent fail etc. I'm a first-gen student and had no idea how to seek help. I have been in therapy for years and I'm very happy and functional now. I turned it around, got almost straight As in my final two years, then got into medical school, now I'm on leave from my MD program (in Australia) to do an MSc in Biomedical Data Science in the US and appy to PhDs as I realized I wanted to focus on basic research not clinical in MS1.
Here are my credentials. I'm applying to bioengineering and neuroscience PhD programs with a very detailed list of labs highly aligned to my interests in cities where I want to live and where my long-term partner can work (Stanford, UCSF, UCB, Yale, Mt Sinai, Columbia, MIT, European Molecular Biology Laboratory).
Grades:
CGPA (including MSc first-year coursework): 3.25
Final Two Years of Undergrad: 3.85
Major GPA: 3.88
Masters GPA: 4.0
Education:
BSc in Genetics from top Australian university
Completed MS1 of MD and going to withdraw in good academic standing (Pass/Fail School) from top Australian university
MSc in Biomedical Data Science from US T10 school
Research Experience:
2 months functional genomics research in undergrad cut short by pandemic lockdown (~15 h/w)
1 year synthetic biology/genetic engineering research in undergrad (~20 h/w)
1 year in-vivo and in-vitro neuro-epigenetics/neural stem cell research during MS1 (~20 h/w)
1 year bioinformatics/computational biology research for master's thesis (~30 h/w)
Publications/Presentations:

• 1 mid-author neuroscience publication in high impact journal
  
• 1 synthetic biology conference presentation in undergrad
  
• Preparing paper submission and conference poster resulting from master's thesis
  

Additional Relevant CV Items:

• I co-founded a biomedical machine learning startup and successfully raised a seed round from VC funds in the Bay Area (leaving this due to wanting to pursue more technical depth in bioengineering)
  
• Worked as a science and technology communications adviser for government (managed investment announcements in bio research)
  
• Received US-based scholarship to study MSc
  

Letters of Recommendation:

• 2 quite strong recommendations from PIs from MS1 (PIs sent to me for input and there is lots of focus on my passion/drive, ability to identify road-blocks and postulate soutions, work ethic etc)
  
• Hopefully strong recommendation from US Masters supervisor PI
  
• Can get a rec from Masters prof who I will be TA'ing for (got 100% in his class)
  

I am just so nervous about my early years ruining my chances to get into a program I really want when I have been busting my ass every minute since I figured out how to get help, especially as an international student. I also have an autoimmune disease that was only recently diagnosed and ADHD diagnosed when I was 21, but I don't want to trauma-dump and include every little reason.