Kaiser permanente new grad internship program

I'm sure most of Chicago/Booth/Kellogg have heard of this company by now, but they also started recruiting consultants/MBA for their other branches (T25) so I made a post.
TLDR: If you're toxic, there's more worthy places to climb. If you aren't toxic, you will either be disgusted or turn toxic. This place will tank your resume/career progression if you stay for more than 2-3 years.
Quick Intro: McMaster-Carr is the Amazon of Industrial Supplies. They ship to the US Miltary, manufacturers, engineers, technicians, etc... Their customers are the engineers but the bills are paid by the Finance Dept hence as long as McM do a consistent good job delivering to the engineers, they can charge exorbitant amount (e.g $30 screw and $50 shipping; real example.) Their margins on most items are between 50% to 250% and revenue is $5B+. This is how they can pay entry managements with 0yoe $170k (bonus included, deferred saving excluded; see more below) and middle managers (3-10YOE) up to $300k.
Path/Exit: You will get a random rotation every 6-18 months. The rotation can be literally anything from Warehouse Operations Management Role to HR to Finance/Fraud. Management Trainee (0-18m depending on your background/initial performance). Supervisor (no pay raise as MT are expected to become Sup eventually; can be skipped if you have pre-MBA exp and did well in your initial performance.) ManageSeniorM (3-5yoe/5-8yoe; most people languished here until they decided to go all in or all out with McMaster.) After this come Regional ManageDirectoVP. You can leave at M/SM and might still be able to transition to a new careeindustry afterward. Otherwise, it's a tough sale. Even before the mid-2023 general market downturn, I knew Regional/Directors who took 1+ year just to switch to another manufacturing/industrial/supplychain job. Not even an industry switch.
Their Targets: In the past, 95%+ of management came from straight out of Ivy/Top Liberal Arts undergrad. This breeds an incredibly toxic environment since many of them are not mature/don't have leadership experience (the cream of the crop don't consider McMaster) and it's a case of the blinds leading the blinds. McM had a purge of toxic leaders back in mid-2010s but this problem returned. Since then, they have tried to recruit a few more consultants rather than depending solely on fresh grads. This recruiting effort has and continued to go miserably. Despite mass reach-out effort every single year, they only got some ex-B4 (1 Parthenon but the rest is regular B4), but they couldn't get anyone from T2 or MBB.
Nature of the work: (Micro)managing individual contributors and troubleshooting outdated issues (that you wouldn't find in a 40yo+ warehouse) if you get a warehouse rotation. McM tries to sell you on these, but from my post-McM interviews as well as McM managers' outcomes, these skills are worthless. For once, the ICs get paid quite well so they work very hard. Management, in an attempt to justify their outrageous salary, tries to micromanage all the time even when outclassed by 20+ years of knowledge. IC vs Management issue will be further discussed in the Cons section. Another issue is that managing blue-collar is no way the same as managing white-collar so most hiring managers don't really care for this exp. The company doesn't really do marketing, M&A, or new market (it took them 30+ years to just now opening a new branch in Texas because McM's tech couldn't handle having 6 warehouses instead of 5.) I'm not kidding. They passed on growth opportunity for 30+ years because they didn't want to change... Also because the company doesn't do marketing, they are not good at customer behavior analytics, resulting in their website redesign that took 2+ years to get scraped ater 1 week due to customer complaints.)
Pro:
• Their pay. McM has a 2.9 Glassdoor rating despite having a 4.6 rating in Compensation and Benefits. Pay include:

 •Base (0yoe: ~115k; ~$10k for each add year; ~$160k for Manager) •Profit Sharing (average 50%+ of base; lowest was ~33% in 2008 & 45% in 2020; 2022 was ~50%+ and 2023 was ~60%) •Deferred Saving (25% of Base&PS. Vest schedule 0%/20%/40%/60%/80%/100% over 6 years.) 

• Their Education tuition policy: After the first 3 months, You can take any part-time program (e.g PT-MBA, PT-MS, PT-MA) or Certificate completely free, doesn’t have to be work-related, and no string attached. You can literally leave after they paid for your tuition and can still finish your course.
Cons: Glassdoor Reviews:
• There’s another purge/headcount reduction going on right now. A tidbit is that management above your level can see the performance review of everyone below them. This contributes to how much drama, backstabbing, and rumors float internally. Recently, an ex-Trainee even wrote a long post calling out his spineless manager and backstabbing coworkers in a GroupMe with 100+ members of management. The manager left soon after. The ex-MT even told McMaster to blacklist his undergrad for recruiting. Absolute legend.
• The operations and tech stack are very constrained and not replicable. The company uses 80s IBM Tech for CRM/ERP so unless you’re working on a Website-related project (which you can sometimes use Python/SQL), you will be writing outdated queries to pull data. McM also doesn’t use Powerpoint so you will have to learn Adobe Indesign. The company’s warehouses themselves have a ton of makeshifts and outdated stuff. If you get a warehouse assignment, you will be putting out fires arose from issues not addressed by the original warehouse design. If you think you will be value-add to a company like Amazon after your McMaster’s experience, you are wrong. Amazon warehouses are built in the early/mid 2010s and have about 30 years of new automation/technology integrated to them. McM is still tinkering with their first automated warehouse. Experience putting out fixed/nonexistent issues is worthless.
• This company hire fake review writers. You will notice the positive reviews are all generic and one line whereas the negative reviews (from both Managements and ICs) are all super long and super informative. You will also notice that there’s no longer a “Most Helpful” sort on Glassdoor. This is because all the negative reviews get liked so much. Now it’s just “Most Popular” which is just fake reviews with 0 like/dislike.
• Relationships between Management and Individual Contributors are more fraught than ever. The situation has always been incredibly tense because ICs were viewed with incredible disdain by Management (most of whom are rich Ivy/Top School graduates) but has only gotten worse with automation and market uncertainty.
• Management’s official policy is to never promote Individual Contributors. A fresh grad (0YOE) can instantly become a supervisor but somehow an IC needed 8+ years of consistent excellent performance to be considered. Management can become Manager in as little as 2yoe out of Undergrad, whereas IC -> Manager is so rare I can count the Chicago Branch on two hands. And no, it’s not because ICs are not qualified/hardworking. Just imagine how hard it is to work at Amazon-pace for EIGHT YEARS just to be equal to a college brown-nose.
• Management’s unofficial policy is to avoid eye contact or saying hello to ICs unless the ICs initiated it. ICs were afraid to take more than one food/souvenir item during an open house event even though we had so much leftover. A manager even complained that other managers were making fun of ICs for work-place injuries (think Amazon warehouse-like injuries such as overexertion, nerve damage, wrist/knees/back issues.) Absolutely devoid of humanity.
• The company had been automating part of the Atlanta and Chicago warehouses. Managements assigned to be tour guides of these automated warehouses were told to lie say that no IC headcount reduction will occur. Obviously, there were a rise in suspicious performance evaluation after these were built. Also, I was one of the tour guides and were asked by multiple ICs where the observation cameras will be in the ceiling. The fact that multiple raised this seemingly-joking-yet-alarming question tells you just how much Management has trained ICs to become paranoid over time. If you’re a new-hire consultant and feels related to this meme, just know you will be holding the mop to clean up and not the lightsaber.

I'm sure most of Chicago/Booth/Kellogg have heard of this company by now, but they recently started recruiting consultants/MBA for their other branches (T25) so I made a post.
Quick Intro: McMaster-Carr is the Amazon of Industrial Supplies. They ship to the US Miltary, manufacturers, engineers, technicians, etc... Their customers are the engineers but the bills are paid by the Finance Dept hence as long as McM do a consistent good job delivering to the engineers, they can charge exorbitant amount (e.g $30 screw and $50 shipping; real example.)This is how they can pay entry managements with 0yoe $170k (bonus included, deferred saving excluded) and middle managers (3-10YOE) up to $300k.
Path/Exit: You will get a random rotation every 6-18 months. The rotation can be literally anything from Warehouse Operations Management Role to HR to Finance/Fraud. Management Trainee (0-18m depending on your background/initial performance). Supervisor (no pay raise as MT are expected to become Sup eventually; can be skipped if you have pre-MBA exp and did well in your initial performance.) ManageSeniorM (3-5yoe/5-8yoe; most people languished here until they decided to go all in or all out with McMaster.) After this come Regional ManageDirectoVP. You can leave at M/SM and might still be able to transition to a new careeindustry afterward. Otherwise, it's a tough sale. Even before the mid-2023 general market downturn, I knew Regional/Directors who took 1+ year just to switch to another industrial/industrial job. Not even an industry switch.
Their Targets: In the past, 95%+ of management came from straight out of Ivy/Top Liberal Arts undergrad. This breeds an incredibly toxic environment since many of them are not mature/don't have leadership experience (the cream of the crop don't consider McMaster) and it's a case of the blinds leading the blinds. McM had a purge of toxic leaders back in mid-2010s but this problem returned. Since then, they have tried to recruit a few more consultants rather than depending solely on fresh grads. This recruiting effort has and continued to go miserably. Despite mass reach-out effort every single year, they only got some ex-B4 (1 Parthenon but the rest is regular B4), but they couldn't get anyone from T2 or MBB.
Nature of the work: (Micro)managing individual contributors and troubleshooting outdated issues (that you wouldn't find in a 40yo+ warehouse) if you get a warehouse rotation. McM tries to sell you on these, but from my post-McM interviews as well as McM managers' outcomes, these skills are worthless. For once, the ICs get paid quite well so they work very hard. Management, in an attempt to justify their outrageous salary, tries to micromanage all the time even when outclassed by 20+ years of knowledge. IC vs Management issue will be further discussed in the Cons section. Another issue is that managing blue-collar is no way the same as managing white-collar so most hiring managers don't really care for this exp. The company doesn't really do marketing, M&A, or new market (it took them 30+ years to just now opening a new branch in Texas because McM's tech couldn't handle having 6 warehouses instead of 5.) I'm not kidding. They passed on growth opportunity for 30+ years because they didn't want to change... Also because the company doesn't do marketing, they are not good at customer behavior analytics, resulting in their website redesign that took 2+ years to get scraped ater 1 week due to customer complaints.)
Pro:
• Their pay. McM has a 2.9 Glassdoor rating despite having a 4.6 rating in Compensation and Benefits. Pay include:

 •Base (0yoe: ~115k; ~$10k for each add year; ~$160k for Manager) •Profit Sharing (average 50%+ of base; lowest was ~33% in 2008 & 45% in 2020; 2022 was ~50%+ and 2023 was ~60%) •Deferred Saving (25% of Base&PS. Vest schedule 0%/20%/40%/60%/80%/100% over 6 years.) 

• Their Education tuition policy: After the first 3 months, You can take any part-time program (e.g PT-MBA, PT-MS, PT-MA) or Certificate completely free, doesn’t have to be work-related, and no string attached. You can literally leave after they paid for your tuition and can still finish your course.
Cons: Glassdoor Reviews:
• There’s another purge/headcount reduction going on right now. A tidbit is that management above your level can see the performance review of everyone below them. This contributes to how much drama, backstabbing, and rumors float internally. Recently, an ex-Trainee even wrote a long post calling out his spineless manager and backstabbing coworkers in a GroupMe with 100+ members of management. The manager left soon after. The ex-MT even told McMaster to blacklist his undergrad for recruiting. Absolute legend.
• The operations and tech stack are very constrained and not replicable. The company uses 80s IBM Tech for CRM/ERP so unless you’re working on a Website-related project (which you can sometimes use Python/SQL), you will be writing outdated queries to pull data. McM also doesn’t use Powerpoint so you will have to learn Adobe Indesign. The company’s warehouses themselves have a ton of makeshifts and outdated stuff. If you get a warehouse assignment, you will be putting out fires arose from issues not addressed by the original warehouse design. If you think you will be value-add to a company like Amazon after your McMaster’s experience, you are wrong. Amazon warehouses are built in the early/mid 2010s and have about 30 years of new automation/technology integrated to them. McM is still tinkering with their first automated warehouse. Experience putting out fixed/nonexistent issues is worthless.
• This company hire fake review writers. You will notice the positive reviews are all generic and one line whereas the negative reviews (from both Managements and ICs) are all super long and super informative. You will also notice that there’s no longer a “Most Helpful” sort on Glassdoor. This is because all the negative reviews get liked so much. Now it’s just “Most Popular” which is just fake reviews with 0 like/dislike.
• Relationships between Management and Individual Contributors are more fraught than ever. The situation has always been incredibly tense because ICs were viewed with incredible disdain by Management (most of whom are rich Ivy/Top School graduates) but has only gotten worse with automation and market uncertainty.
• Management’s official policy is to never promote Individual Contributors. A fresh grad (0YOE) can instantly become a supervisor but somehow an IC needed 8+ years of consistent excellent performance to be considered. Management can become Manager in as little as 2yoe out of Undergrad, whereas IC -> Manager is so rare I can count the Chicago Branch on two hands. And no, it’s not because ICs are not qualified/hardworking. Just imagine how hard it is to work at Amazon-pace for EIGHT YEARS just to be equal to a college brown-nose.
• Management’s unofficial policy is to avoid eye contact or saying hello to ICs unless the ICs initiated it. ICs were afraid to take more than one food/souvenir item during an open house event even though we had so much leftover. A manager even complained that other managers were making fun of ICs for work-place injuries (think Amazon warehouse-like injuries such as overexertion, nerve damage, wrist/knees/back issues.) Absolutely devoid of humanity.
• The company had been automating part of the Atlanta and Chicago warehouses. Managements assigned to be tour guides of these automated warehouses were told to lie say that no IC headcount reduction will occur. Obviously, there were a rise in suspicious performance evaluation after these were built. Also, I was one of the tour guides and were asked by multiple ICs where the observation cameras will be in the ceiling. The fact that multiple raised this seemingly-joking-yet-alarming question tells you just how much Management has trained ICs to become paranoid over time. If you’re a new-hire consultant and feels related to this meme, just know you will be holding the mop to clean up and not the lightsaber.

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: Indian
• Residence: Massachusetts
• Income Bracket: Upper Middle Class
• Type of School: Mediocre Public school
• Hooks: Immigrant but US Citizen
• Intended Majors & Minors: Applied Math, AI, Entrepreneurship, Engineering & Computer Science

Academics

• GPA (UW/W): 4.0/4.6
• Rank (or percentile): 8/300
• Classes: 12 APs, 3 Dual-Enrolments
• Senior Year Course Load: 3 APs (Computer Science, Chemistry, Psychology) 3 Dual-Enrolments (MIT OCW Linear Algebra, MIT OCW Multivariable Calc, English), Teacher Assistant for Calculus and Teacher Assistant for AP Physics C

Standardized Testing

• SAT: 1570 (770RW, 800M)
• AP Exams: Calculus AB (5), Physics 1 (5), Statistics (5), World History (5), Physics C: Mechanics (5), Calculus BC (5), AP CSP (4), US History (4), Lang (3)
• AMC 12: 136.5 (Top 200)

Awards/Honors

• Coca-Cola Scholar (150 Selected from 100K+)
• Harvard Guest Speaker on AI & ChatGPT in Education (6K+ Listeners). The Harvard Gazette wrote an article on me.
• MIT Hackathon 3rd place winner 2x (AI Recipe Generator & AI Therapist)
• Presented at International Education & Social Justice Conference (Peer-reviewed) at University of Hawaii
• MIT LLCipher Summer Program (3% Acceptance Rate). Invited back as Guest Speaker the following year.
• Wrote Boston Globe Article on AI & ChatGPT in Education
• AMC 12 Distinction (2x) and AIME Qual (2x)
• President's Volunteer Service Gold Award
• AP Scholar with Distinction & AP Scholar with Honor
• Multiple other Math Competition, Model UN, and Marching Band Awards

Extracurriculars/Activities

• MIT Lincoln Laboratory Summer Intern: Advanced Research in AI & Networking (1% Acceptance Rate). Internship primarily for Grad and Undergrad students. Received a return offer for summer before college.
• Writer: 110+ articles on Medium with 200K+ reads. Published by the Boston Globe and other publications.
• Antarctic Research: Climate Research and Data Analysis at UW-Madison.
• MA State House Internship: Worked for State Rep. Wrote a policy brief on AI. Promoted to Campaign Manager in 2024.
• Math Team Coach & Captain: Coach students and top scorer. 4x Regional Champions (First time in history). 2x AIME qual and 2x AMC Distinction (AMC Score: 136.5).
• Students of Color Affinity Group President: Mentor students and lead professional development workshops; presented at International Education & Social Justice Conference at University of Hawaii.
• AP Physics C & Calculus Teacher Assistant: Help teach 70+ seniors at my school (ran out of classes hence TA lol).
• Model UN President: Perfect record and multiple awards at regional conferences.
• Karate Black Belt: 10+ years and help teach classes.
• Marching Band: 2nd in USBands Nationals (3x).
• Coding Instructor: Taught kids how to code in Python and JavaScript.
• Sales Head & Data Analyst at National STEM Honor Society: Promoted STEM education to underrepresented populations.
• JV Tennis: Doubles Player

Letters of Recommendation

• AP Calculus Teacher
• Math Department Head and Physics TeacheMath Team Coach
• MIT Lincoln Lab Research Mentor (MIT Alum)
• Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Director of my school (Harvard Alum)
• Massachusetts State Representative

Essay Summaries

• Common App: During the pandemic, I found personal growth and a deeper understanding of myself and society through writing, which led me to explore artificial intelligence and its applications, culminating in an internship at MIT and advocacy work, and inspiring my entrepreneurial ambitions.
• Community Disruption: When the pandemic disrupted my activities, I leveraged online platforms to continue learning and leading, discovering new interests in AI and entrepreneurship, and demonstrating resilience by revitalizing my school’s clubs and engaging in new ventures, setting the stage for my future in innovation.
• Additional Information: Links to various articles and videos, and other activities and awards.
• Supplementals: Some were very reflective about my identity, activities, and goals in life. Others were light-hearted and quirky. They were very personalized to the school and emphasized how I fit in, what I would bring to the school, and how I would use the school as a catalyst for my entrepreneurial ventures.
• Additional Uploads: Uploaded my Resume, portfolio of Articles, and a summary of my Research at MIT Lincoln Lab.

Interviews

• Harvard (REA): Great Conversation and said Harvard would have to fight MIT for me. 9/10
• MIT: My Interviewer was very disinterested and didn't care. It was 15 minutes and he said if I don't get in then who would. 6/10
• Princeton: It was a great conversation and said he would fight for me. 8/10
• Yale: It was also a good conversation and she said she would fight for me. 8/10
• UPenn M&T: Guy kept asking technical questions and I was lost. But in the end, he said I did good and he would fight for me, even though interviews don’t matter too much. 7/10
• Dartmouth: Lady was super impressed and said if I don’t get in then she is quitting doing interviews for Dartmouth. 9/10

College Results
Accepted

• WPI (with Max Scholarship, Half off)
• UW-Madison
• Northeastern (with Max Scholarship, Half off)
• Georgia Tech for CS (Early Action)
• Cornell (Meinig Family Cornell National Scholar)
• Dartmouth
• Duke
• UPenn (Waitlisted M&T)
• Harvard (Waitlisted → Accepted)
• Princeton (Committed)

Waitlisted

• UMich (Early Action)
• Vanderbilt

Rejected

• USC (lol)
• Yale
• Stanford
• MIT (This one hurt)

Reflections:
I'm super grateful and happy with my decisions. I have committed to Princeton, and it definitely is the best fit for me. College results this year were very random, but I couldn’t be more thankful to get into the #1 undergraduate university. I was worried that since most of my application was MIT-related (Research, classes, Letters of Rec, Awards, Activities), other universities would think I was going there and reject me. College results were super random and stressful, but it worked out better than I could have ever imagined. It's funny how I got waitlisted and rejected from all my target schools (Vandy, UMich, USC) but then got into most of my reach schools.
Advice for Future Applicants:
Be authentic. There is no formula that gets you in. Sure, you have to do a couple of things like getting good grades and SAT scores and having some unique activities and awards, but especially for Top 10 schools, you just have to be unique and authentic. I didn't have any connections or background (like private school and college counselor) that provided me with opportunities. I was literally the first kid ever from my school to get into Princeton. I was authentic and hardworking, did stuff I enjoyed, and one thing led to another. I also spent a lot of time on essays and my application. 50% of the work is actually doing stuff, and the other 50% is showcasing it in your college application. Also, have balance in life. I had a lot of fun in high school and enjoyed the stuff I did. Live life with no regrets. Feel free to DM me.

My girlfriend and I have been together for over five years, and everything is going great. I landed a corporate job through an internship, and during that time, I became close friends with others in the program. Our group mainly consists of three girls and two guys, and it's worth noting that only one of the girls is single; all the others are in long-term relationships.
Over the past three years, we've become a tight-knit group, going out for drinks, lunches, dinners, and even trips. Most of the time, my girlfriend is there or is welcome to join; we let all partners come, and sometimes we hang out without them.
However, there have been a few situations where my girlfriend has felt jealous or seemed very insecure about the girls in the group. This happens when I have lunch at work with just one of them, go for walks, catch public transport, or carpool to work with one of them without telling her.
I feel like I'm walking on eggshells when I tell her about my friends. Sometimes, we make plans, and in the end, it's just me and the girls, which upsets her even though I still go. I've always tried to be as honest as possible with her, but it doesn't seem to help.
I think she might see them as threats because they're new friends. It feels like a double standard because she's okay with her male friends since 1. They're from high school, so it's fine, or 2. "It's just (insert friend's name); he's nothing."
I've had multiple conversations and even cried about this with her, telling her how important it is to me to make her happy and reassure her that she's the only one for me told her im not attracted to these girls we just enjoy hanging out as a group. But at the same time, I don't want to lose good friendships because of a partner.

I was a recent graduate and was actively applying to graduate programs abroad for almost one year now. I am a middle child in mid 20s and the elder one is about 4 years older than me while the younger is in his teens. I had been unemployed for 9 months when this incidence happened. I used to work at a company and contribute to the costs around 7k ish out of 15k total (the older one paid the rent online as he was out of the valley) for two of us living in a suburban area of Kathmandu. Yestai chaldai thyo, I resigned from the job to focus on my graduate application preparation ( SOP, GRE, IELTS, PAPER). I didn't have much savings (50k ish) at the moment I resigned. I asked for my parents to cover any additional cost, besides 50k, incurred during the application process. And I went to my hometown to stay with my parents and focus on the preparation for 5 months. Then I returned to take one of the exam. The exam went well. Coincidentally,as the elder one had returned to the room, I shared my ambitions with the elder one (grad application, application fee required and all, without expecting any contribution from his side). He didn't react at the time. Then, I returned to my hometown again to focus on another exam. As I had used up my personal savings, I asked for my parents and they agreed to give me almost 1 lacs so that I can focus on the exam and overall preparation. After around 2 months, I returned to Kathmandu to appear in the exam and to prepare different documents (LoRs, transcripts everything).
When I was there in Kathmandu, all of the sudden, the elder one had problem with me not contributing to the rents and other costs. At one point, he even accused me of misusing the amount (1 lacs)I got from our parents . FYI, he didn't even ask for the money to me/my parents and I asked for the money for the sole purpose of application fees to various programs. The timing of his confrontation was quite crucial as well as the deadlines of the programs I am applying to were nearby. Had he asked me politely if I can contribute to the rents/other costs for some months due to some financial difficulties he was going through, I might have done the same by borrowing some more from my friends. But all of the sudden he accused me of not contributing and told that he will hope that I wouldn't get into any programs I was applying to. I felt really disheartened at that moment. I do know that I should have contributed. But at that moment, I was going through rough patch, both financially and mentally (3 rejections on my earlier applications). Now, I am currently living in the hometown and contemplating whether I should rethink living with the elder one specifically. I am thinking about finding a new job (it won't be difficult in my sector, but it will be hard to focus on my remaining grad school applications and papers while working full time in parallel) and borrowing some money from my friends (which won't be a problem as I used to lend them all the time earlier) so as to pay my contribution for all these months with interest and living on my own separately.
My apologies for rambling on and on but I would appreciate your genuine suggestions in this regard.

Congrats on choosing and making it into NUS Business School! I previously wrote here: https://www.reddit.com/SGExams/comments/118r7cg/all_about_studying_business_in_nussmuntu/ on what are some factors when considering between NUS, SMU and NTU business school. For better or worse, you'll be stuck here for the next 4 years so here's some broad advice on making the best out of it.
1. Put in effort to draft out your own Study Plan; Future you will thank you
What is a study plan? Essentially, it's an outline on what modules you'll be taking throughout your 4 years in University. Especially for a business student, a study plan should go beyond "what majospecialization/double majominor". Yes, figuring what major (or majors) that you want to eventually take is the first step. The next step is also considering whether you intend to take a gap semester (i.e. leave-of-absence) to do internships (which is becoming increasingly more common place; maybe not 1 gap sem but possibly even 2!). The unfortunate truth is that many biz student realize late in Year 2/3 that they might not be as competitive as their peers and usually then seek out LOA internships and end up delaying their graduation (whether its a good or bad thing is debatable). Besides gap semesters for internships, there are student who do credit bearing internships (which counts for some credits/MCs) or even do a part-time internship during the semester while studying (Do modules on Mon and Tues, FT work of Wed, Thurs, Fri). Not every student get's their desired summer internships, and often student have to compensate by applying for Off-Cycle LOA internships.
In your study plan, you would also have to take into consideration possibly going on overseas semester exchange or even the 6M to 1 Year long NOC program if you're interested! Overloading more modules earlier in your Uni (Y1 and Y2) gives you more flexibility to adapt to changes in the future. Of course, you need to gauge yourself whether you're able to cope with the workload. (Overloading in earlier sems, mean being more free in later sems to do internships/explore other modules or minors).
Additionally, most higher-level modules have pre-requisites (mostly ACC1701). If you delay taking these pre-requisite modules, your whole study plan can be delayed by a semester. My advice is to take ACC1701 (and consequently FIN2704) earlier rather than later, because these two mods open up the other majors/specializations available to you. You'll also figure out whether you'll want to to take the finance major after taking these two modules.

1. CCAs

There's a ton of CCAs available NUS-wide or Business School related. I strongly encourage you to take multiple CCAs (importantly taking into consideration what you can manage and your workload) so that you're able to meet new people and learn new skillsets. NUSC/RCs/Hall activities also count here. The unfortunately truth is that portfolio does matter in business school, and simply being good in academics (which can be competitive in itself) isn't enough. Your GPA/CAP allows you to have your foot in the door; your portfolio and experience allows you to enter it. Consulting CCAs in general are great an improving your eye for aesthetic and detail which I recommend. You'll be surprised that many biz kids are outright bad and atrocious at making PowerPoint slides even at Year 4... I would say that the CCAs you join do shape your uni experience in a large way.

1. Group Mates

Find good friends and group mates! Those in NUSC/RCs/Halls have an easier time for this. For most of your basic core 1k modules, you group is usually randomized and you have no say on who you're working with. It is during these randomized group that you'll figure out the pain of having poor group mates, and things get worse if you're taking higher level and tougher modules alone. On this note, try to find friends that will do various modules together with you! Having friends doing the module together with you is a huge advantage, from extra resources, dead line reminders, doing quizzes/tests together etc. 5 brains working on a problem set is always better than 1 brain by itself, these 5 ppl will often get a better grade than the one hardworking individual working alone. Implicitly, those who stay on campus have a huge edge over those who don't.

1. Business is ultimately not a technical degree

Controversial to some, but business school at the end of the day doesn't really teach you much. The only thing that it does teach is showmanship (and even then sometimes not taught well enough). Business School arguably teaches you how to carry yourself well, make fancy PowerPoints, use some excel, working with people (?) etc. Many of the more relevant things you learn, you learn them in your internship and your own experiences outside of the classroom e.g. CCAs. To me, doing well in Biz School is focusing on everything outside of academics (ensuring that you have some baseline CAP/GPA).
5. Figure out early whether you prefer Excel or Power Point.
The corporate world only runs on two applications, Excel and Power Point. Dabble in both, figure out early which application you prefer more and find a relevant internship/role/job that you enjoy decently that uses one over the other. Truly, Excel and PPT are the only takeaways when you leave the university. Great consultants are adept at handling PPT, navigating through them quickly with many templates in their desktops. Finance peeps do a little more excel work and have to do them well, fast and creatively. Even at the end of uni, there are still many students who can't use excel proficiently at a high level.
6. Internship Hell is real for those who care
Internship application period in itself can be a full-time commitment (for those that care). When internship applications open, you can be going through your own interview prep, doing several recorded interviews, applying to new internships etc. Many moving parts to juggle and a lot of ground work to be done. From preparing for interview questions, writing cover letters, tailoring your CV etc alot of the hell you experience in Biz school actually comes outside of academics contrary to popular belief (as Jean-Paul puts it, "hell is other people", bad group mates im looking at you). For those applying to more technical roles, you might also need to prep extra for technical questions e.g. IB 400 questions, consulting cases, market sizing brain teasers etc.
7. Not so much of an advice, but rather a plea from me to you
I really hope business students can be more code literate and savvy i.e. being able to read (and to a lesser extent implement) coding e.g. python or SQL. ~90% of the biz population are code illiterate (having only taken just 1 "coding module"). In a normal corporate workplace, you'll never have to code. But being able to think computationally, knowing the steps you can take to automate your task, time and workflow brings you more benefits than you can imagine when most corporate work that people do are typically administrative.
In conclusion, do your best in biz school. I think effort correlates strongly to how well you do here. You don't need to be smart (it makes life easier) but with enough forward thinking and future planning, you'll be able to grow through the next 4 years (and hopefully be worth it).
Feel free to ask any question in the comments, or for any seniors to elaborate and share their own experience! Left out a lot of controversial views not wanting to trigger anyone or NUS. Edit: I'm a graduating student from Biz, later they dont let me grad how? jk
Some extra links:

1. An event calendar regularly updated by NUS Careers, usually has lots of interesting and relevant events, competitions, webinars (if that's your thing): https://nus.edu.sg/cfg/events
2. Grading rubrics to apply for SEP, there is an actual rubrics to secure an SEP, please refer for those wanting to go: https://bba.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/sites/37/2019/07/SEP-Place-Allocation-Grading-System-2018-10.pdf

As she lets me in, the real estate agent says that I am responsible to return the house to its original condition for the new tenants, otherwise the landlord will hire professional cleaners and claim the bond to cover the cost. She threatens to pursue the estate if the bond money does not cover the clean. I don’t know what gave her the idea that there is an estate.
‘A good family would do at least that much for each other, wouldn’t they? I’m sure there is lots of family… treasures in there you’d like to keep safe.’ she says, but I can see the disgust on her face as she discovers the state of the house. My stomach drops and squeezes my throat as her words bring back the guilt from our phone call.
Seeing this place makes me pity them. They had nothing. Why had I been so angry with them?
The agent was able to find me because legislation requires real estate agencies to have a next of kin for tenants. My parents nominated me as next of kin. Hearing that made me feel guilty. There was nobody else they could nominate.
I don’t reply to the agent and stare into the house. Roots of overgrown junk seek out space across the floor and holes in the wall break up the colour scheme of brown dirts, grey/green moulds, and black holes. One hole must be above a horizontal wall stud because a bottle of rum is sticking out at a 3 o’clock angle from it with its lid off.
The agent continues to talk, walks away to her car, and then drives away. At least, I assume she did when I finish staring into the house.
I walk through the house and open the door to my bedroom. It is the same as I left it years ago. The mattress festers, the walls remember cigarettes, and stains remain the only decoration. It hasn’t changed since I was born.
I know that there are thousands of events that make me who I am, but there a few which I like to remind myself of. I like to remind myself of absorbing the project slides of ENGIN103: Engineering for Transit and dreaming about what it would feel like to ride a train route that I had designed. I like to remind myself of arriving for an internship at Foley and Sons and not leaving until 10pm, so that I could see the nightworks for the motorway. I like to remind myself of sitting with Foley as he assigned me as project manager for the tunnel across the river. Last month, I apologised for the project issues so far.
“Projects have issues. That's why there is a project manager. We are lucky to have you,” he said.
I like to remind myself of that.
This house makes me remember what I don’t remind myself of. I remember my mother telling me that nobody she knew was smart enough to be an engineer and refusing to drive me to campus because it would be a waste of her time. I remember getting a sore back at 21 from having to study on my bed and staying at university all day so that I had a space to study. I remember studying on the 90-minute bus commute with only a single ham and cheese sandwich for lunch that sometimes made me sick because the fridge wasn’t cold enough at home. I remember my father telling me that I, “Don't know shit,” and that I would be dead in a week if I moved out in a housing crisis when I said being closer to university would be good for me.
A lump in my throat forms and it brings back a memory where I cannot speak, “You have one new message. Message received today at 8:55 PM. I knew you could do it. Looking good in those grad pics that Auntie Shirley posted. Let me kn–Message deleted. You have no more messages.”
Couldn’t I even text them back?
I pull my old bed out from against the wall, and it rattles the room as it grips the old timber flooring. There is still a loose floorboard. I pry up with a key and part the old collection of junk which I had stored over the years. I see a single scrunched up piece of paper. I pry it out of its ball and see the floor through numerous holes chewed out by rats. This is my first academic transcript. I showed this to my family after finishing my first semester of engineering. It reads that I was in the awarded a certificate for academic achievement after scoring in the top 5% of the grade. I had never worked so hard for anything. I had never achieved anything. My eyes swell with tears, and I hear them laughing, ‘Lot of good that does us. They only accept money at the grocery store.’
My guilt returns to anger.
I knew it was right then and I remember it now.
I turn around and I leave.

I am a Danish student currently enrolled in a 5.5-year practical film and TV production program. I'm 4 years into my studies, and I've spent the last 3 years interning at a production company in Denmark, gaining extensive hands-on experience working with professional clients.
I'm eager to undertake a 6-month internship in New York, ideally in a media agency, production company, or a related field. Due to specific requirements from my educational institution, I need to find a company that can pay me around $500-600 per month.
Is it realistic to find such an opportunity?
Does anyone have any personal experiences they could share, particularly if you're from or live in New York? Any insights to how it works, or what's realistic would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

This thread is to alleviate the social work main page and focus commonly asked questions them into one area. This thread is also for people who are new to the field or interested in the field. You may also be referred here because the moderators feel that your post is more appropriate for here. People who have no questions please check back in here regularly in order to help answer questions!
Post here to:

• Ask about a school
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• What jobs can you get with a BSW/MSW
• If you are interested in social work and want to know more
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I am a Danish student enrolled in a 5.5-year practical program in Film and TV production. I'm currently 4 years into my studies and have spent the last 3 years interning at a production company in Denmark, gaining significant hands-on experience with professional clients.
I’m very eager to expand my experience with a 6-month internship in New York, particularly within a media agency, production company, or any field related to marketing. Due to the guidelines of my educational program, I need to find a company willing to offer a stipend of approximately $500-600 per month.
Is this a feasible expectation?
I would greatly appreciate any advice on how to approach companies in the marketing industry or any personal experiences you could share if you've been in a similar situation. Insights on breaking through to companies and making a compelling case as an international student would be incredibly helpful.
Thank you!

I am a Danish student currently enrolled in a 5.5-year practical film and TV production program. I'm 4 years into my studies, and I've spent the last 3 years interning at a production company in Denmark, gaining extensive hands-on experience working with professional clients.
I'm eager to undertake a 6-month internship in New York, ideally in a media agency, production company, or a related field. Due to specific requirements from my educational institution, I need to find a company that can pay me around $500-600 per month.
Is it realistic to find such an opportunity?
Does anyone have any personal experiences they could share, particularly if you're from or live in New York? Any insights to how it works, or what's realistic would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

What are the realistic chances of a non-rural applicant getting a spot in the new Flinders SARM program? Will the 46 spots be filled by priority 1-3 leaving less spots for non rural applicants across all programs at Flinders?
It’s pretty discouraging because I’m keen to go rural but it seems like unless your from the country it’s almost impossible to get into these streams, and now there are less regular stream places available. Would it not make more sense to have the SARM program be bonded for x number of years after graduation to get doctors out to the country? I feel like I’m missing something here, what are the options for a non-rural applicant these days?
For context GPA: hoping for mid 6s Gamsat: 70 Non flinders grad looking at doing a grad cert

Hi everyone. I graduated last year with a BS in chem, concentration in biochemistry. I want to pursue a grad program (PhD) for inorganic chemistry, but got rejected this time around (only applied to 3 UCs due to cost/no job yet so I went 0/3). What can I do to strengthen my chances next time? Here is my criteria from before.
Overall GPA: 3.11. Major GPA is similaslightly higher.
1 year of research work (did not start until senior year due to Covid shutting down school’s research for several years). Started a new project with professor, more so falls under analytical chem. Still ongoing, will be published once completed. Presented it at school seminar.
3 letters of recommendation from faculty whom I had lab courses with, one of which I had also done research work with.
About half a year working for a water company. I test water for various inorganic analytes such as iron and bromate among other things, though it offers no research work (currently looking for a more lab oriented job).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

So... Guess I'll start by a acknowledging I know I could be in a worse place rn. I've had a lot of ppl tell me recently some version of "you're so smart, you have a lot going for you, it's really good you're doing so much for yourself, you'll have no problem finding a job, you have so much going for you" and it just.... Makes me feel hollow.
God I'm sick of hearing it. I have to smile and nod and say thank you and assure them of my plans to follow thru with this supposed success of my career... Which it isnt. I'm in my final yr of my grad program, taking an extended break from classes after a severe mental breakdown. Working up the courage to go back to work and the only thing going on in my head is, maybe this will work out ... If I get my shit together.
If. Always the critical bit.
It's just... So tenuous. I'm already at my limit. I have depression, anxiety, a panic disorder, a trauma disorder. I've switched therapists twice in the past 3 weeks and can't see my new one for a couple more due to some insurance problems. I just broke up with my partner and moved out, now I'm feeling both amazing relief and dread. Im so sick of trying and failing. I've been barely holding it together my entire life. I didn't just get depression in grad school, ive been like this since high school. And it's always "if" this works out, maybe things will get better. Well I did my best. Idk what to do anymore.
Again, logically, I know it's probably expected that the moving/breakup/depression phase all clashing is making this worse than it seems. I just can't get over how completely incapable I'm feeling right now. I'm just on autopilot. But autopilot won't be enough for me to graduate-- I actually have to work hard to finish. I just think I'm out of steam. It feels so stupid to be losing a battle like this. I don't even feel like a person
Thanks to any that read. Sending whatever support I can to you all as well

Hello everyone, I'm gonna start this off by saying thanks to anybody who will read this as it will be a long one, and anybody willing to offer me any advice.
PS. This post started as a post where I was asking for college advice, but as I wrote more I realized any advice would be really helpful so I changed the title a bit, Thanks in advance again!
[[ Beware: My whole lifestory coming up combined with tired midnight grammar 😅 ]]
To get to the point, I currently live in Croatia and just turned 19 a couple of months ago and a time has come when I am again thinking about college. Some background on me, from when I was very little I was always interested in engineering and art, it all started when a teacher of mine in the 5th grade of primary school introduced me to programming and robotics. From then on I was in love with everything to do with electronics, robotics, mechanics programming, and fundamental sciences, maybe even math itself, but that's beside the point. During those years the passion for all of that really grew. I went to countless robotics competitions during my time at school there and even won lots of prizes. One time I almost came to world-level competitions but sadly missed the first place by a point. When I was home I sadly didn't have much equipment for any of these interests except a computer. It seemed limitless what I could do with it, whatever I wanted to do I could make it. It's not like electronics where as a kid getting parts was difficult except from old salvaged electronic devices. I could learn and make whatever I wanted, as long as the old family computer could run it. So I started learning a lot about computers during these times like basic algorithms and some basic games random Python scripts etc. In terms of computers, I was no genius, but for the age, I'm grateful I took the time to learn even the basics of it. Other than that I was a somewhat weird kid because I couldn't really take picking off some classmates as a joke and got annoyed at it quickly when they started interrupting me while I was drawing ( My dad was an artist in his youth so I picked that up from him, been scribbling every day in primary school when class was either boring or some kind of recess ) but even though they were picking on me, I to this day still really don't mind them, we were a pretty close class at the end of the day. And that's how most of my primary school went by, me being social with only a few friends and my informatics teacher as well. Other than that I was pretty sad during those years, I couldn't understand people and was contemplating the meaning of life as well, and that combined with me inheriting some stubbornness from mom, she and I were always fighting for homework, screentime, etc. Right now we are in a very good relationship so I'm greatful for that aswell. Seeing how I didnt really talk outside of school to many people expect a few friends ( I do live in a small village so if they were the same age as me they were in my class ) i basicly spent most of my time while not staying after school in a computer club we had for few hours every couple of days a week, i was cooped upped inside my house, playing with legos, being with grandparents or my cousins or being on computer and doing some programing, scripting, photoshoping and other things you can reasonably excect a child to do. And so passed most of my primary school.
When time came to plan for highschool, I originaly wanted to go to art school, but was quickly turned down by my mother because she thought it wasnt a smart idea. Personaly didn't like it at first, but she is a smart woman so in time i understood. Basicly other then liking to draw and paint, I wanted to go there bacause my best friend from class was going there and he also wanted me to come along. ( Funny how me the least popular guy and the youngest guy in class and he the most popular guy in class while also being the oldest were best friends, but thats a story for another day ) As my mom turned down my suggestion for art school she suggested I go to a school for a Mechatronics Technician. I didnt not like the idea as well I loved everything related to it. Other than that another option was Computer Technician ( basicly a programming oriented path ) but I decided mechatronics because i said to myself i can learn programing at home because the only tools i need are a computer, and mechanics, electronics and robotics is something I dont have at home so it will be really cool to learn all of that here and so, highschool started.
Oh how fast has the reality come crashing down as I understood what the whole mess of the education system actualy was. Most of the classes didnt have any equipment to actualy do anything practical, the other small portion that did the rest lf the 95% of class didnt understand anything so we couldnt do much or what was the more often scenario is that the proffesors just didnt really care at all so we would come to class and do absolutly nothing, like literaly nothing except waiting for the bell to ring. After i realised that I just started not coming to school most quite a bit. Mostly was not comming on fridays, some wednesdays etc most of the times I was actualy abit sick, but every time i was sick i exadurated it so my mom would let me stay home. Even though i was missing quite a bit of classes, if a class had something to do with math or logical thinking ( which most were ) i would usualy either be best at it in the class or almost the best for the pure reason I was actualy really interested and loved all the cool engineering stuff. On the other side if a subject was about 0 logic, full random name memorisation like the croatian literature class, I was almost if not the worst in class managing just barely to scrape by. Other than that there was one proffesor who I admired so much for his style of teaching, as he tought me so much during the only 2 years he lectured me ( my fourth year of highschool he was out because pention ). In simply half a year we went from 0 knowledge to designing, printing, creating and soldering a whole circuit on a pcb, I was always there for his classes. On the other time we were doing something else, he always had some cool stuff prepared when i was finished with work early, he was a great guy and still respect him alot. Other than that i was really disapointed how there existed zero after school activities that i could do that had to do anything with electronic, mechanics, robotics or programing.
On the side of my social life, the summer just before starting highschool I realised this was a great opportunity to redeem myself as i really didnt want to get picked on like in primary school. So what other kind of persona would somebody come up in this situation than one being supported by my pride itself, other than that i was basicly a "chameleon" aka adapting to every person around me which was probably the reason i made some friends but it usualy tired me out completly. And so it started really great actualy, nobody was picking on me, i was socialising ( only inside of my class usualy, other than the people who went to this town from my village that i already knew, but it was a big step up for me ) and learned how to shrug of others banter by pretending it didnt effect me. It was definitly in a better possition then primary school alright, but i did realise alot of people just moving away sometimes because of how i just increased pridefulness as i got more vulnerable. I think i was able to keep my pride to just below some overflowing point as i still managed to make a few friends.
And so some time passed, at home watching more videos about everything to do with engineering, getting a 3d printer and messing with it, programing some more and even trying to learn some business, economy and more about money. I even developed a game for the school as some special thing I got by talking to a teacher of mine. Other than that at the third year, thanks to a profesor i was able to get in touch with a software development company and was able to secure an internship for basicly the whole summer, which was a blast. I learned so much new things that opened doors to alot more things. After that i focused my random "Jack of all trades" learning to be mostly focused on modern used technologies, and the needs of possible job recruiters, and well it in general. That is the point i feel i truly started learning proper programing.
More on my development of pride, in highschool and in primary school i was actualy praised quite alot and being actualy abit good at something maybe was the thing that allowed me to get even some friends by being prideful. We can call that being lucky as the stars alligned, but anyways. During those years i also had two experiences with me falling in love for the first time. The first one didnt last more than a 4ish months maybe, it was basicly a crush thing that ended in a broken heart, but o boy it was a good waking called. I wonder what would happen to me without this realisation. Then the next one lasted basicly 7-8ish months in the 4th year of highschool, and this one was much more complicated and longer, but after it i learned quite a new few things. These two things really awoken me to who i am today, as i try to live each day with as much virtue as I can. I threw out the pride out of the window, and dont really care too much of somebodies bad opinions on me, if there are currently any. I came to terms with alot of things and am just able to accept things for what they are, without judgment.
As im writing this its quite late and am tired so sorry for bad grammar i want to shorten this abit. Basicly my whole life i loved scientists, engineers and the idea of colledge. Was always dreaming of becomingba "great scientist" like albert einstein or nikola tesla but the older i got, the more things i learned, the more that dream of going to colledge got shattered by reality. As i realised the giant flaws in the education system, after learning about money and realising colledges are just big businesses trying to earn alot of money, and that that is their main motivation, combines with seeing that scientists basicly to get any money and recognition these days need to literaly hop from trend to trend, research what is "in" currently or well no bread on the table just made the academia route of my life shatter before my eyes. Seeing how i knew quite abit computers i thought i could atleast land something, but after seeing people who were much longer in the industry praise me for a impressive knowledge on alot of fields and my ability to almost instantly grasp any concept thrown at me, i actualy got a job. Well this was how I decided to start working immediatly instead of going to colledge. After weighing the options combined with the additional knowledge i got about the job market, this was an obvious choice. I believe that my key to being objective is me being realistic, so sadly i know am not some do it all genious and know i need to rely on whatever i have to use as leverage to enhance my life, so learning from Warren Buffet that out of everything I got, my time was my biggest asset. Simply being young with the above average skills i have, I believe i have a reasonably good chance to have a virtous and fulfiling life.
But i still have that burning flame in my chest, i still love the idea i had of colledge, of becoming a scientist, an engineer. I tried looking for ways to convince myself otherwise and see that i was actualy wrong about it all, but each time i look, more and more i realise my initial assumptions were right. The world is slowly moving away from official education like colledges as everything can be learnt online, because of ai the next few years are going to be revolutionary in all of these fields so either the colledge courses are going to be very outdated or just some concept of a job will not simply be needed as a diffrent one apears. The posibilities and their volatility is just so high that i dont feel even 1% safe actualy going to colledge, seeing how devoting like 5 years to it will mean loosing the onlx advantage i can use, and that is me starting out young. And as a bonus because i have a job i actualy have more time than colledge to persume my other interest like mechanics and electronics as well as actualy funds.
Thanks for reading all of this, I can trust it was quite a journey reading everything i written basicly half asleep but i hope you were able to understand everything. Im really confused what to do, as I love both options but knowing that one has a much better chance of being useful to me than the other. Any advice you can give me will be greatly appriciated, be it about college like is there an actualy good colledge in europe thats is worth it in my place, or general life stuff, about work etc. Once again I cannot thank you enough for reading this and helping me. Thanks!
Edit: I havent said much about my job because this is more of a general reddit but for people who are in the field I am a backend developer, with some freelancing and opensource contributions on the side

Hi, I just graduated with a BS in computer science. I'm sure you all know why I'm here contemplating EE after reading the title and considering the software job market right now. At the beginning of college, I was initially debating whether to do math, EE, ECE, or CS but I thought I was too dumb for math and EE so I decided to go for Computer Science. I ended up really liking programming because you can make all sorts of cool stuff with it like mobile apps. However I really regret doing this not just because of the horrible job market but also because alot of the stuff in CS can be self taught online and now I feel like I just wasted my time.
I was also going through some mental health issues so I never really made friends, networked, or got internships. I feel fine now though so I am planning on networking and applying for internships for whatever masters program I go for. I do have plenty of mobile apps in my portfolio but from what I'm seeing mobile dev is even more dead than trying to get into webapps. I only know a handful of people from my classes that managed to get jobs.
I am now really considering switching to getting my EE masters instead of wasting my time applying to hundreds of jobs and competing with people with way more industry experience than me. I am aware EE is much more difficult than CS but I have a little bit of experience with aircraft electronics in the military, although it was more avionics maintenance directly on the aircraft instead of actual electronics hardware maintenance. I also have a math minor and have taken math courses outside of CS including numerical analysis, calculus 3, real analysis, etc. so I am not really scared of the math but more worried about the physics and applying math to engineering problems.
I was also considering ECE for embedded systems but I'm afraid all the fresh unemployed and hungry CS graduates are going to bandwagon on ECE next. Although since CS and ECE take some of the same classes, the program would be much shorter than for EE. There's also the option of doubling down on CS by maybe doing AI or data science but I don't really care for AI and hate the type of math used in those fields. Those areas are also oversaturated right now too with this annoying AI hype.
What attracts me the most for EE is the math (such as linear algebra, calculus, differential equations). Is this at all feasible or am I in over my head? If I do go for electrical engineering should I try to focus on an area that works with software more such as control engineer or digital circuits? Or maybe I'm better off doing ECE since there's alot of overlap with CS? I feel more lost than ever but I'm taking a break before grad school and planning on tinkering with Arduino and learning more about digital circuits and computer architecture. At this point I don't really care about following my passion or loving my job but prefer job security.
Thank you.

So my university, University of the Cumberlands, did not have a Reddit…
So I made one!
Turns out, getting people to join your subreddit is pretty hard. Especially when it’s about a university in the south xD
BUT! I think there is many valid reasons why you should consider joining my new subreddit ucumberlands
(I just want to preface, I am not affiliated with Cumberlands outside of being a newly admitted student. This is not “marketing”. I would just like people to join my new school subreddit hehe)

1. IF you’re a prospective graduate student, ucumberlands can give you news, updates, and info about the University of the Cumberlands various grad programs like Counseling, Nursing, Business, Criminal Justice, and more!
   
2. IF you are looking for online masters programs (that are accredited and worth something more than just a ‘degree mill’!!), University of the Cumberlands is a “brick and mortar” school that offers online masters, meaning that NOWHERE on your degree will it say “online”. In fact, employers will see your degree as the same value as any other in-person degree! Meaning more job opportunities, licensing, and value!
   
3. To add to point #2, University of the Cumberlands is a nationally ranked university and the #1 university in Kentucky! Yes, even more than University of Kentucky! A degree from University of the Cumberlands is not only respected, but distinguished!
   
4. The University of the Cumberlands is one of the oldest universities in the United States, dating back to its origin of 1888!
   
5. If you like sports, University of the Cumberlands has some amazing collegiate sports teams! The university has boasted over 5 OLYMPIC wrestlers!! (Whaaat?!) and their baseball team is going to the NAIA College World Series this year after an impressive 51-6 record!
   
6. University of the Cumberlands is also extremely affordable as both an undergrad and graduate school! So, if you’re in high school or community college and looking for a top, nationally ranked program, consider Cumberlands!
   
7. The final reason I’d like to invite you to join ucumberlands is because it would mean a lot to me 🥺 yes, I am pulling that card. We have 6 members. Every time I see it go up, my heart flutters. I am being serious, my life is that sad (okay maybe not sad, but it just brings me join seeing the subreddit I created for my new university grow little by little)
   

Thanks for taking the time to read the reasons why I think you should join ucumberlands. We also have user flairs, so that’s cool :)

I’m a rising senior in college seeking career advice. For some context, I’m an Economics major at a heavy non-target with minors in Data Science & Applied Statistics, and I am thinking of adding a Finance minor as well. I’m a near 4.0 student, and I have an upcoming internship in a rotational program this summer at a BB doing RM, Controls, Ops, etc. While I am excited about the opportunity to work at such a large firm this summer, I would like to know how to pivot for post-grad in a role that is more quantitative, dynamic, and exciting as a whole that has decent pay where I won’t be pigeon-holed feeling like I’m doing non-analytical work. Overall, I’m looking to utilize my quantitative and analytical skill set. Obviously, high finance/IB isn’t a realistic option out of college, and I think consulting might be a reasonable route, but I’m still not sure. Any ideas, thoughts or suggestions on routes to explore after college and how to go about the recruiting for these roles? Thank you so much!

National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) Scholarship: Fully funded by the U.S Department of State, NSLI-Y provides intensive 8-week language & cultural immersion programs in locations around the world. The program is part of a U.S. government initiative to foster international cooperation by ensuring that Americans have the linguistic skills and cultural knowledge necessary to effectively communicate. NSLI-Y provides overseas critical language study opportunities to American youth through merit-based scholarships to spark a lifetime interest in critical foreign languages and cultures.
The program schedule consists of 4 hrs of language study at a local school, cultural excursions after school, free time, time w/ host family, homework.
Pros • Free travel to Indonesia, low income so might be only chance • Learn Indonesian language • Love traveling/ study abroad (my dream) • I’ve been focused on school, I want a break before college • Meet new friends • Could help me get other study abroad • Intangible benefits: personal growth, language, etc. • Short term fun • Can leave home earlier
Cons • College starts the day after I get back (3 hrs away) • Orientation dates are when im gone so I wont be able to go in person • Will probably attend a virtual orientation but its when im already gone • Only chance to participate
Government Internship for rising college freshman: Engineering internship at an Air Force Base w/ a college prep element. 1st & 2nd years do college/ life prep & engineering. 3rd & 4th years are placed on a team.
Pros • If I stay in the program, they will most likely offer a job (main purpose of program) • Guaranteed internship throughout college if I keep a 3.0 GPA • I’ll make around 6,000 (Salaried 30k+) • Salary increases every summer • College prep themes every week: guest speakers in industry, mentors, life lessons, “college hacks”, etc. • Project-based learning assignments: Learn coding in python (currently a beginner), build & program hardware, etc. • Can use all base amenities • Head start to learn Computer Engr & mentorship as first gen low income • Tangible benefits: money, engineering skills, career advancement, etc. • Long term advancements
Cons • Would be giving up other summer opportunities • If I decide I don’t want to do it anymore, I’ll regret not doing NSLI-Y Indonesian summer • Won’t be able to apply until sophomore year & the college prep isn’t included • If I get the post college job, I’ll have to move back near my hometown
I’m really conflicted on what to chose because I really love to travel, and I feel like going on the study abroad will be really beneficial to me. Though a lot of people have told me it would be stupid to pass up this internship because there are so many other study abroad opportunities. But I feel like there are other internships and I’ll be working the rest of my life so I should just enjoy the summer. At first I was gonna chose study abroad then I started to reconsider bc I fear that I won’t be good enough in engineering to get another internship in college.
So which should I do?