u/Objective-Lemon-4369

Hi,

This is mainly to see whether I should apply to UPenn early decision or if I even have a chance at getting in if I only apply regular decision (obviously I know it's much much lower but if there is still a sliver of hope for me then I might not ED. It depends). I'm still on the fence about making such a big commitment but if there is no way in hell I'd get in regular decision then I might as well just apply ED. There are some personal reasons behind me potentially EDing but I'm not going to get into that.

Since this is mainly for UPenn I don't think my full list is necessary but I'll list some other colleges just to see if I have a shot there or not: UMich, Berkeley, Brown, WashU, UNC Chapel Hill

I feel like statistically I could be ok but I don't really think my extracurriculars and stuff are good enough tbh...

Demographics:

• Gender: Female
• Race: White/Latina
• Type of School: public (not magnet), East Coast

Stats:

• 4.8 W/ 3.9 UW (Semester B in BC Calc)
• 1580 SAT (780 RW/800 Math)
• No class rank
• Full IB but I did 4 APs
  • 5: APUSH (10th), AP Gov (9th), AP BC Calc (11th)
  • IB Chemistry SL: 6
  • IB Spanish SL: 7
  • Taking 4 HLs (Bio, Math AA, History, English)
  • Also taking AP Spanish Lit

ECs (sorry there isn't a whole lot of context for these, if you want specifics I'm happy to give them):

• Head of costumes (3/4 years) crew
• XC (4 yrs)
• Lab Internship @ university (summer)
• Math Honors Society/Science Honor Society (2 yrs)
• Petsitting/Babysitting (since 6 and 8th grade, respectively)
• PSA Volunteer thing - like a video contest (4yrs) <- sry I didn't give a whole lot of info
• Volunteer for elections (3 yrs)
• Volunteer at book fair (2yrs)

Awards:

• National Commended Scholar
• Math + Science Honor Society
• National Honors Society
• AP Scholar
• Service award (don't want to give exact name but I got a lot of volunteer hours)
• Seal of Biliteracy

Ok so I've been really wanting to try and experiment with makeup for a while now and I've finally decided to just commit. For reference, the house I grew up in isn't super pro-makeup so I genuinely have no idea what the hell I'm doing. I kind of just want to start simple with eye makeup (mascara, liner, and curler I think) and lip stuff since I have a tendency to break out and I just don't think I'm necessarily ready to do foundation, concealer, blush, etc. yet. I don't really know if it's necessarily easier to do eye and lip stuff first and if it's better to start with other things please let me know! I'm literally open to try anything atp.

Another slight problem that makes everything a bit more inconvenient: I really only have a CVS near me so drugstore makeup is all that I kind of have access to atm.

If anyone has any product recommendations, tips about where to start/what to do, literally anything, I would really appreciate it :)

Oh also, this is kind of a specific question but is there a type of eyeliner that's best to start with? I feel like eyeliner isn't always the most beginner friendly thing so I want to try and make it a little easier to do

School has just started up again for me but my family got back from vacation like 2 days before so I didn't have time to get any school supplies and unfortunately 90% of the school supplies I've used for the past couple years is broken and can't really be used. As of right now I really only have a notebook and 2 semi-functional pencils (and other writing utensils but no binder or organizers or anything).

Anyway, I asked my mom to order some things before school started so that they would get here sometime during the week. I asked my mom if she had ordered them the other night and she told me she hadn't and for some reason that BROKE me. I didn't yell right away or anything but I went to my room and tried to calm down for some reason I just couldn't. I was ugly crying and everything for what, a stupid binder? I genuinely couldn't stop for a good 30 minutes but I finally calmed down at some point.

Unfortunately, I had to go back down to ask my mom to sign a form and she asked about the binders and I just couldn't stop. I started yelling at her for not ordering her even though I asked her to and how I really really needed them and she didn't listen to me. I was so loud and honestly so angry. This has never happened ever in my life. Like ever. I was crying and yelling and it was honestly really scary. Come to find out that I actually made my mom cry because of this. I already felt bad after this but now I feel even worse. This had never happened before and I was honestly scared of myself. I would never EVER do anything violent or anything like that EVER but I was just so LOUD that it was terrifying for me (for reference I'm really a very quite person. My normal volume of talking is usually not very loud for others and I'm often asked to speak up) The thing is it was over something so stupid and silly.

I think it must have just been a combination of stress from school and the fact that I felt super disorganized and out of control. I had no binder so I had just been stuffing all my papers at the front of my notebook so they were getting crumpled and when my backpack is disorganized my mind usually is too so I felt like I couldn't organize my thoughts properly and I got super overwhelmed all of a sudden. It probably didn't help that I was on my period too and I tend to get really rant-y when I am.

Anyway, I feel so bad and terrible, especially knowing I made my mom cry. I'm kind of scared of myself too. I know it won't happen again but in the moment it was really really scary and like an out of body experience. I was literally crying while writing this post.

I’ve been using the Five Star Flex binders and notebooks for the last three years of high school, but recently the rings have been breaking towards the end of the school year. I’m wondering if there are any better options available. Since I bike to school, I need to keep my backpack pretty light, which is why I use one notebook with tab dividers for all my classes. The Flex notebook has been great because it holds a lot of paper (all my classes take a lot of notes), but honestly, the rings are a bit big, making it hard to write (I’m left-handed, which might have something to do with it), and they keep breaking. I’ve been looking for other notebooks to try, but from what I’ve seen, most only hold around 100-150 pages, which isn’t enough for my classes (like the Campus notebooks). I’m torn between sticking with the Flex notebook since it’s easiest and most convenient or potentially getting two refillable notebooks that hold less paper. I’m just wondering if anyone has any advice or recommendations.