u/Safe-Conclusion-4511

Hi!

I am on PSU campus for the day and was wondering if anyone had any good dinner spots!

Open to any cuisine.

Hello!

I had a meeting (it wasn’t an interview honestly… it felt like I was interviewing the prof instead 💀) with a potential PI at a public R1 and he said that he found my CV to be really strong and that I have a great background and fit with regards to his lab, but also told me that he has no influence over admissions and that I’d need to go through the regular admissions route but claimed that “I should have no trouble getting in” given my cv and academics (for context I am applying for PhD in Electrical/Computer Engineering).

So I am wondering… what is the point of cold reach outs and meeting with faculty prior to admissions? Can a faculty really directly admit me? Moreover, is such a meeting to be viewed as an overall positive or just a neutral sign.

Can meeting prior to applying meaningfully bolster my chances?

Thanks! ~

Hi, I am a 23 year old male (weight: 80kg, height: 168cm). Some initial context for the rest of the post: I haven’t had sex, oral sex, or sexual contact for about 2 years now. I am not on any meds and I don’t drink alcohol or smoke. I posted about this on [r/AskDocs](r/AskDocs) and r/Prostatitis before coming across this sub-reddit and hence thought it’d be worth posting here as well for some insights.

About 4 days ago, at night, after masturbating, I peed a few minutes later and started feeling a bit burning/discomfort sensation around the tip/head of my penis, near the urethral opening. During that masturbation session, I rubbed/touched the tip (which I have never done before) and it may have been slightly vigorous.

Since then, the discomfort has been on and off. It is mostly localized to the tip/head. It does not consistently burn when I pee. I have peed several times without it burning since then. My urine has looked clear/normal without any foul odor. I don’t have any visible discharge, blood in urine, fever/chills, back/flank pain, swelling, pelvic pain, blisters, or any out of the ordinary looking patches or rashes or redness on or around my penis. I don’t have any urgencies to pee and I am able to sleep at night without needing to wake up constantly to pee.

I am currently visiting a warm region for some work and thus dehydration may be a factor but I’m not sure. I masturbated once again today and the ejaculation looked normal and there was no pain, and yes I realize I may have irritated it again, but I was desperate to just diagnose myself to see if it is painful or not.

So I’m wondering:

1. Does this sound more like local irritation/friction at the urethral opening/glans or some kind of infection (UTI/urethritis)?
2. What signs should make me seek urgent care or a doctor?
3. How long is this expected to last? And more over, is this treatable? What should my next steps be?

I know that Reddit alone is not going to diagnose me, but I’m trying to understand what my symptoms point to and weather this sounds like something urgent and requiring a visit to the doctor and what my next steps should be.

Thank you to anyone who replies.

Hi, I am a 23 year old male (weight: 80kg, height: 168cm). Some initial context for the rest of the post: I haven’t had sex, oral sex, or sexual contact for about 2 years now. I am not on any meds and I don’t drink alcohol or smoke. I posted about this on r/AskDocs before coming across this sub-reddit and hence thought it’d be worth posting here as well for some insights.

About 4 days ago, at night, after masturbating, I peed a few minutes later and started feeling a bit of burning/discomfort sensation around the tip/head of my penis, near the urethral opening. During that masturbation session, I rubbed/touched the tip more than usual and it may have been slightly vigorous.

Since then, the discomfort has been on and off. It is mostly localized to the tip/head. It does not consistently burn when I pee. I have peed several times without it burning since then. My urine has looked clear/normal without any foul odor. I don’t have any visible discharge, blood in urine, fever/chills, back/flank pain, swelling, pelvic pain, blisters, or any out of the ordinary looking patches or rashes or redness on or around my penis. I don’t have any urgencies to pee and I am able to sleep at night without needing to wake up constantly to pee.

I am currently visiting a warm region for some work and thus dehydration may be a factor but I’m not sure. I masturbated once again today and the ejaculation looked normal and there was no pain, and yes I realize I may have irritated it again, but I was desperate to just diagnose myself to see if it is painful or not.

So I’m wondering:

1. Does this sound more like local irritation/friction at the urethral opening/glans or some kind of infection (UTI/urethritis)
2. What signs should make me seek urgent care or a doctor?
3. How long is this expected to last? And more over, is this treatable? What should my next steps be?

I know that Reddit alone is not going to diagnose me, but I’m trying to understand what my symptoms point to and weather this sounds like something urgent and requiring a visit to the doctor and what my next steps should be.

Thank you to anyone who replies.

Hello,

This might be kinda stupid, but do universities (in the US) follow their local time as the deadline for the PhD application or is it all in eastern time? For example do schools in Illinois (such as Northwestern) follow the central time as their deadline or do they follow the eastern timezone?

This might’ve been a stupid question but thanks to anyone who replies! :)

Hello,

Does anyone know what is going on with the US Embassy in Oman? Are they not holding interviews for visa applications right now? I’ve had my visa interview appointment cancelled twice now, and I am getting concerned as I need to have my visa made soon.

Anyone know what’s going on? Is this related to the ongoing situation between the USA and Iran?

Thank you for any insights and comments.

Hello.

I am currently a graduate student studying on the F-1 Visa, I did my bachelors in the US as well so I was able to study on my visa however my degree ends in May 2027 and my visa expires on June 29, 2026, and I was wanting to renew my F-1 visa.

My initial appointment was for May 6, 2026 which was canceled without reason and I rescheduled it for June 11, 2026, however that also got canceled today.

I was wondering if anyone knew what’s going on? Is there an issue on my end or is this something related to the US Embassy in my country? What can I do about this situation given that my visa expires on June 29?

Thanks to anyone who replies :((