u/Wizardz23

Hello everyone, I’m currently in my senior year majoring in Electrical Engineering. I wanted to know how can I get a job or what type of jobs in optics/photonics and laser science that takes in people with bachelors? I’m planning to do grad school, but I’m going to do that later in a year or two after graduation. I’ve had a hard time finding roles that pay decent for optical test engineer roles that doesn’t require a PhD or 5+ years of experience. Any options that I should look into? I’m geographically from Minnesota, so finding a photonics jobs here is very hard, I’m more than open to relocate (preferably in the coast (northeast, pacific or mountains).

Edit: I do have research experience in laser plasma interactions and never had an internship before. I wanted to apply for PhD programs, but my gpa is low for that right now and I want to use my experience and solid LOR and SOP to make it up for it.

I'm a senior in EE specializing in photonics, quantum computing, and signal processing. I wanted to know if there's any jobs in NYC or any walkable cities where I wouldn't need a car to get by? I wanted to stay away from the south since I couldn't handle the humidity there. I know that NYC is known for fintech, but at the same time, I feel like I would enjoy living there due to the fact I don't need a car and exploring different cultures and how diverse it is. If NYC isn't the question, what other city should I consider based on my specialization and my degree career path in quantum optical communications/engineer?

I’m a senior studying Electrical Engineering with minors in Physics and Astrophysics. I’ve applied to a shit ton of internships (300 applications) with basically no luck. So far, I’ve only had five interviews, and I haven’t heard back from any of them yet.

For the past 5–6 months, I’ve been doing research with a professor in the Mechanical Engineering department, focusing on ultrafast optical characterization for plasma diagnostics. I initially wanted to apply to REUs, but since my GPA is relatively low (3.0 ish), I don’t know how feasible it would be for me to get into an REU program at this point. At the same time, I’ve been building up connections with engineers at various companies. Eventually, one of the engineers I’ve known for a while is giving me a referral for a spacecraft company. However, I’ve heard some horror stories about this company, particularly that they have a 9-9-6 work culture. I don’t know if I want to burn myself out this early, especially since my long-term goal is to go to grad school and pursue a PhD in EE or Applied Physics. I’m also considering taking a 1–2 year gap after graduation before starting a PhD.

My school’s career fair is alright, but it’s mainly construction and biomedical companies, which have little to no correlation with the areas I want to go into. I’ve been dealing with a heavy dose of imposter syndrome because I keep seeing my peers and friends doing internships at their companies, whether they’re in-state or out of state. I keep thinking to myself, “Damn, I wish I could build up the industry experience that my peers are getting.”

With senior year coming around the corner, I’m getting increasingly concerned about whether I’ll be able to secure a full-time new-grad job before graduation or within a couple months afterward. I’m worried that if I can’t find a job relatively quickly, I could end up in a financially unstable situation that would be really hard to dig myself out of.

I know my research experience is good, and I think it would look solid for academia and potentially national labs, but I honestly don’t know how it looks to industry recruiters. I know the job market is beyond fucked right now, so I’m trying to figure out what I should realistically do as a backup plan.

Should I just start focusing more heavily on applying to grad school, national labs, and research-oriented positions? Should I take the spacecraft job if I get the referral, even if the work culture really is as bad as people say? Or should I consider delaying my graduation by a semester so I have more time to build up experience and improve my chances of landing a full-time job?

I’m just trying to figure out what the smartest move is for my final year. I don’t want to panic and make a decision that fucks me over later, but at the same time, I don’t want to graduate with no job prospects and have no backup plan.

Hello everyone I’m currently going into my senior year in EE and physics minor, during my sophomore year (which was a hellish year for me), I was part of a ECE student group where they have a lounge that I regularly go to, but then in one of my classes, there was this girl where she’s also in the class that sat on the same row, and since I wanted to get out of my turtle shell and make new friends, I introduce myself to her.

At first, she was pretty nice and smart. Whenever, I talk to her, it’s usually regarding on classes and homework help. Sometimes, when I come to class before class starts, I would go up to her to talk her about classes, career opportunities, internships, etc. Then, I see her at one of the aerospace project based club I was involved in, where I coincidentally saw her. Then as a month in a half went by, I was going to the ECE student group lounge to chill and finish my homework, but then I saw this girl with a couple of her friends that were there and then the girl left immediately. After finishing my homework, As soon was about to leave, the guy #1 told me that he and his other friend needs to talk to me. This was the same guy #1 used to be really good friends with me and he also searched up gay furry p*rn on my computer while I was working on homework after I went to fill up my water. After he told me “don’t talk to this girl and leave her alone”, I was confused because I was curious on what I did wrong to make her feel uncomfortable, and then that same guy #1 called me a “stalker and a creep”. I was losing my shit at the time since I thought my life was over thinking that I’m some “sting operation” situation. But after I left the ECE student group lounge, I received a ban letter from ECE student for a title IX violation: sexual harassment and stalking. I was very surprised since my intention wasn’t stalking her and getting to know her romantically since she has a boyfriend already.

But as months went on, a couple rumors have been spreaded through her major and my major cohort that I’ve been stalking and sexually harassing women and guy #1 and his friend even went as far as accusing me of being in series of restraining orders back in high school (which they didn’t directly told me). I was also was going to a lecture with a friend that he was in, the girl was also in that quantum physics lecture (since he’s in that class), even though I fully ignored her and didn’t acknowledge her existence. Guy #1’s friend spotted me at the ECE building asking me what I was doing in quantum physics lecture, I told that person that I’m hoping to take the class (since I’m interested in going into quantum optics), they told me that i was there to stalk the girl even more, which wasn’t true at all, I was sitting at the back of the class. Then called me a “sexual harasser” directly. The same friend that I went to for his lecture cut ties with me for months since all of this allegation was spreading.

I felt like my life is fucked, where my reputation is damaged and a some people in my physics and EE cohort (about 30%, I’m not 100% sure) straight up gives me that eye of where I’m known as the creep and cutting ties with me. I was at the point where I would want to take my own life since I couldn’t take all of the allegations and the fact that people are thinking I’m a full on creep to women. I wasn’t even doing well on my classes and was about to fail two classes that semester since I was in a stressful situation where I couldn’t ignore with all of the allegations.

Then, as soon as my junior year was about to begin, I realized what was going on and why she felt uncomfortable at first. One my friends that cut ties with me, decided that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that I was stalking and sexually harassing the girl. So he told me that I was trying to talk to her and didn’t received the hint from the girl. Personally, I struggled reading hints throughout my whole life since I’m on the spectrum. But even though, he did try to talk to the guy #1 and his friend about them going a bit too far with the allegations, did they responded that “he’s the worst person that I ever met in my life, he’s been sexually harassing women, stalking women, and dm the girls father on LinkedIn after a girl from high school rejected me (which didn’t happened, since I didn’t have LinkedIn until my freshman year of college). Then, there was this student that i was interested in since it aligns very well with my career path (quantum optics). I talked to the president that was hanging up the flyers on the ECE and physics building. I told him that I’m interested in joining in the board, he told me that they’re full, but potentially put me as a member since they’re not officially a student group yet. Then he did mention to me on who was on the board, one of the board members was Guy #1, and I did him a brief story about me and him having beef and accused me of being a creep on purpose (which was the dumbest thing I mentioned since I could’ve kept my mouth shut). Then after that, he booted me out of the clubs discord and told me that I shouldn’t come to the events because multiple people don’t feel comfortable with me being there. So now I’m depressed as shit since I’ve got myself kicked out of club where I build up more opportunities based on the field that I want to go into. Now, I feel like I’m restricted in pursuing a field in quantum optics because guy #1 wants to do optics as well. But I did told myself I’m not giving up since I’m very interested in the field. It’s just guy #1 is going to prevent me from pursuing it since he’s in it too.

Months later, I was going to the career fairs and physics networking events more frequently since I want to try to get much opportunities as I can since I didn’t have an internship yet. But there was a problem, the same girl that felt very uncomfortable was at a couple of the events that I was in. I didn’t even acknowledge her at all. But she, guy #1, and their other close friends noticed that I was showing up at the events frequently, to the point where I was recently banned from Physics club and their lounge due to them reporting them to me regarding on me making inappropriate comments (which left me confused to this day) and stalking the members (wasn’t my attempt). One of my friends told me that guy #1 is taking the optics course that I’m taking next semester as an elective, which is definitely rising up my stress levels even further. Nowadays, I’m worried that something very bad is going to happen to me, where they even might get me fired from future jobs once I graduate, or even get my expelled from grad school, since my goal is to pursue a PhD in Electrical Engineering or Applied Physics and be able to work and eventually make a startup in Silicon Valley for relating to quantum optics. I don’t want to get to the point of starting to drink alcohol due to my severe depression and all of the defamations that I’ve been dealing with for the past nearly 2 years. Is there anything that I can do to prevent myself from committing suicide or encouraging to drink excessively (although I never drink in my life) as I wanted to protect my reputation in the future?

Hello everyone, I’m going into my final year studying Electrical Engineering with a minor in Physics, and I’m currently looking for full-time and internship opportunities after graduation.

I recently noticed that Stanford is hosting a Quantum Career Fair this October, and I’m wondering whether it would be worth flying to the Bay Area to attend. I’ve attended six semesters of career fairs at my university in the Midwest, but most of the employers are focused on industries like biomed and construction. My university also has relatively few opportunities and resources in quantum computing and optics, which are the fields I’m interested in.

Because of that, I’m considering traveling to Stanford to attend the career fair, meet engineers and recruiters in the quantum/optics industry, and hopefully build professional relationships that could potentially lead to referrals or job opportunities. Would this be a worthwhile investment, especially given the cost of flying to California? Or would I be better off applying to the positions online and pray that I get at least an interview?

I'm a senior in EE specializing in photonics, quantum computing, and signal processing. I wanted to know if there's any jobs in NYC or any walkable cities where I wouldn't need a car to get by? I wanted to stay away from the south since I couldn't handle the humidity there. I know that NYC is known for fintech, but at the same time, I feel like I would enjoy living there due to the fact I don't need a car and exploring different cultures and how diverse it is. If NYC isn't the question, what other city should I consider based on my specialization and my degree career path in quantum optical communications/engineer?

I’m a senior studying EE. I’ve applied to a shit ton of internships with basically no luck. So far, I’ve only had five interviews, and I haven’t heard back from any of them yet.

For the past 5–6 months, I’ve been doing research with a professor in the Mechanical Engineering department, focusing on ultrafast optics and plasma physics for 2D materials applications. I initially wanted to apply to REUs, but since my GPA is relatively low, I don’t know how feasible it would be for me to get into an REU program at this point. At the same time, I’ve been building up connections with engineers at various companies. Eventually, one of the engineers I’ve known for a while is giving me a referral for a spacecraft company. However, I’ve heard some horror stories about this company, particularly that they have a 9-9-6 work culture. I don’t know if I want to burn myself out this early, especially since my long-term goal is to go to grad school and pursue a PhD in EE or Applied Physics. I’m also considering taking a 1–2 year gap after graduation before starting a PhD.

I’m also considering going to the Quantum Career Fair at Stanford later this year to look for job opportunities that are more aligned with what I actually want to do. My school’s career fair is alright, but it’s mainly construction and biomedical companies, which have little to no correlation with the areas I want to go into. I’ve been dealing with a heavy dose of imposter syndrome because I keep seeing my peers and friends doing internships at their companies, whether they’re in-state or out of state. I keep thinking to myself, “Damn, I wish I could build up the industry experience that my peers are getting.”

With senior year coming around the corner, I’m getting increasingly concerned about whether I’ll be able to secure a full-time new-grad job before graduation or within a couple months afterward. I’m worried that if I can’t find a job relatively quickly, I could end up in a financially unstable situation that would be really hard to dig myself out of.

I know my research experience is good, and I think it would look solid for academia and potentially national labs, but I honestly don’t know how it looks to industry recruiters. I know the job market is beyond fucked right now, so I’m trying to figure out what I should realistically do as a backup plan.

Should I just start focusing more heavily on applying to grad school, national labs, and research-oriented positions? Should I take the spacecraft job if I get the referral, even if the work culture really is as bad as people say? Or should I consider delaying my graduation by a semester so I have more time to build up experience and improve my chances of landing a full-time job?

I’m just trying to figure out what the smartest move is for my final year. I don’t want to panic and make a decision that fucks me over later, but at the same time, I don’t want to graduate with no job prospects and have no backup plan.

I’m a senior studying EE. I’ve applied to a shit ton of internships with basically no luck. So far, I’ve only had five interviews, and I haven’t heard back from any of them yet.

For the past 5–6 months, I’ve been doing research with a professor in the Mechanical Engineering department, focusing on ultrafast optics and plasma physics for 2D materials applications. I initially wanted to apply to REUs, but since my GPA is relatively low, I don’t know how feasible it would be for me to get into an REU program at this point. At the same time, I’ve been building up connections with engineers at various companies. Eventually, one of the engineers I’ve known for a while is giving me a referral for a spacecraft company. However, I’ve heard some horror stories about this company, particularly that they have a 9-9-6 work culture. I don’t know if I want to burn myself out this early, especially since my long-term goal is to go to grad school and pursue a PhD in EE or Applied Physics. I’m also considering taking a 1–2 year gap after graduation before starting a PhD.

I’m also considering going to the Quantum Career Fair at Stanford later this year to look for job opportunities that are more aligned with what I actually want to do. My school’s career fair is alright, but it’s mainly construction and biomedical companies, which have little to no correlation with the areas I want to go into. I’ve been dealing with a heavy dose of imposter syndrome because I keep seeing my peers and friends doing internships at their companies, whether they’re in-state or out of state. I keep thinking to myself, “Damn, I wish I could build up the industry experience that my peers are getting.”

With senior year coming around the corner, I’m getting increasingly concerned about whether I’ll be able to secure a full-time new-grad job before graduation or within a couple months afterward. I’m worried that if I can’t find a job relatively quickly, I could end up in a financially unstable situation that would be really hard to dig myself out of.

I know my research experience is good, and I think it would look solid for academia and potentially national labs, but I honestly don’t know how it looks to industry recruiters. I know the job market is beyond fucked right now, so I’m trying to figure out what I should realistically do as a backup plan.

Should I just start focusing more heavily on applying to grad school, national labs, and research-oriented positions? Should I take the spacecraft job if I get the referral, even if the work culture really is as bad as people say? Or should I consider delaying my graduation by a semester so I have more time to build up experience and improve my chances of landing a full-time job?

I’m just trying to figure out what the smartest move is for my final year. I don’t want to panic and make a decision that fucks me over later, but at the same time, I don’t want to graduate with no job prospects and have no backup plan.

I’m a senior studying EE. I’ve applied to a shit ton of internships with basically no luck. So far, I’ve only had five interviews, and I haven’t heard back from any of them yet.

For the past 5–6 months, I’ve been doing research with a professor in the Mechanical Engineering department, focusing on ultrafast optics and plasma physics for 2D materials applications. I initially wanted to apply to REUs, but since my GPA is relatively low, I don’t know how feasible it would be for me to get into an REU program at this point. At the same time, I’ve been building up connections with engineers at various companies. Eventually, one of the engineers I’ve known for a while is giving me a referral for a spacecraft company. However, I’ve heard some horror stories about this company, particularly that they have a 9-9-6 work culture. I don’t know if I want to burn myself out this early, especially since my long-term goal is to go to grad school and pursue a PhD in EE or Applied Physics. I’m also considering taking a 1–2 year gap after graduation before starting a PhD.

I’m also considering going to the Quantum Career Fair at Stanford later this year to look for job opportunities that are more aligned with what I actually want to do. My school’s career fair is alright, but it’s mainly construction and biomedical companies, which have little to no correlation with the areas I want to go into. I’ve been dealing with a heavy dose of imposter syndrome because I keep seeing my peers and friends doing internships at their companies, whether they’re in-state or out of state. I keep thinking to myself, “Damn, I wish I could build up the industry experience that my peers are getting.”

With senior year coming around the corner, I’m getting increasingly concerned about whether I’ll be able to secure a full-time new-grad job before graduation or within a couple months afterward. I’m worried that if I can’t find a job relatively quickly, I could end up in a financially unstable situation that would be really hard to dig myself out of.

I know my research experience is good, and I think it would look solid for academia and potentially national labs, but I honestly don’t know how it looks to industry recruiters. I know the job market is beyond fucked right now, so I’m trying to figure out what I should realistically do as a backup plan.

Should I just start focusing more heavily on applying to grad school, national labs, and research-oriented positions? Should I take the spacecraft job if I get the referral, even if the work culture really is as bad as people say? Or should I consider delaying my graduation by a semester so I have more time to build up experience and improve my chances of landing a full-time job?

I’m just trying to figure out what the smartest move is for my final year. I don’t want to panic and make a decision that fucks me over later, but at the same time, I don’t want to graduate with no job prospects and have no backup plan.

Hello everyone, I'm going into my senior year studying Electrical Engineering with minors in Physics and Astrophysics. My main research and career interests are RF engineering, photonics, quantum information science, and signal processing.

I'm currently doing research on the optical characterization of nanoscale materials before and after plasma treatment. The project has turned out to be much more focused on 2D materials and plasma physics than I initially expected, but it's been a great experience. I started this research relatively late (during my junior year), and I'm also hoping to continue it through a UROP project this coming semester if I'm accepted. Ideally, I'd like this work to eventually lead to conference presentations or even publications.

My biggest concern is my GPA. I currently have a 3.01 cumulative GPA and a 2.63 major GPA. Most of the damage came from my lower-division EE courses, when I was dealing with a series of personal and mental health issues that significantly affected my academic performance. Since then, I've improved quite a bit, but not enough to fully recover my GPA. I still struggled in Semiconductor Devices and Analog Electronics, but outside of those courses I've earned mostly A's, A-'s, and B+'s in my upper-level EE and physics classes, including Physics III and Intro to Quantum Physics. I've also been a TA for Signals & Systems and Applied Electromagnetics since my junior year.

Even if I earn mostly A's and A-'s in my senior year, including technical electives and graduate-level courses, my cumulative GPA will probably only reach around a 3.2 by graduation. I spoke with one of my professors about graduate school, and they were pretty blunt. They suggested that I either pursue a terminal master's program or delay graduation and retake several courses, saying that my GPA would make it very difficult to get into a PhD program otherwise, even for mid-tier schools. Unfortunately, delaying graduation isn't financially realistic for me because of the additional tuition costs.

To make matters worse, I wasn't able to secure an internship this summer, so I'm worried about being behind compared to other applicants and might potentially end up not getting a full-time job either, which could potentially lead me being homeless (which I'm scared about). I'm planning to take a 1–2 year gap after graduation, hopefully working in industry or national lab while continuing to build research experience.

Ultimately, I want to pursue a PhD in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, or Quantum Science & Engineering, with research focused on quantum photonics, optical communications, or quantum optical devices. My long-term goal is to start a company based on the research I pursue in graduate school or work in the satellite communications or consumer electronics/semiconductor industry. I've also considered applying internationally, particularly to universities in Canada or Australia.

Given my situation, what would you recommend I focus on during my senior year and gap year to become a stronger PhD applicant? Would continued research, conference presentations, publications, strong recommendation letters, and industry experience be enough to offset my GPA? Has anyone here successfully gotten into a good PhD program for their research fit after a rough undergraduate record?

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been in a similar position or who has experience with graduate admissions in EE, Applied Physics, or quantum engineering.

Hello everyone, I'm currently going into my senior year studying Electrical Engineering minoring in physics (technically) and astrophysics, although I don't think i'll finish my physics minor since I don't think i'll take thermo (due to conflicted schedule). But I took intro to quantum physics and all the intro to physics classes (I, II, and III). I'm also taking Upper Division Quantum Mechanics, Modern Physics Lab, and maybe Nuclear and Particle Physics this coming year. What I'm currently specializing is Photonics and Quantum Information Science (Want to do Optical Quantum Communications or Quantum Optical Devices). I'm currently doing research in the Mechanical Engineering department for characterization of nanoscale optical materials before and after plasma treatment (more Material Science based). But then I realized that I want to do a PhD in either Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics/Physics, or Quantum Science & Engineering since the research fields that I want to go into would align more into those fields. But since my gpa is 3.01 (very low due to sophomore year level EE courses), what should I do to improve my chances to be more competitive for the PhD program? I'm also considering to take a gap year to work in the industry (satellite communications or consumer electronics) before doing grad school. Also, would the transition from a Bachelors of Electrical Engineering to Applied Physics/Physics PhD be possible or would it be more marketable to do Electrical Engineering PhD? My end goal is to make a startup based on the research that I'll pursue in the future.

Hello everyone, I'm currently going into my senior year studying Electrical Engineering minoring in physics (technically) and astrophysics, although I don't think i'll finish my physics minor since I don't think i'll take thermo (due to conflicted schedule). But I took intro to quantum physics and all the intro to physics classes (I, II, and III). I'm also taking Upper Division Quantum Mechanics, Modern Physics Lab, and maybe Nuclear and Particle Physics this coming year. What I'm currently specializing is Photonics and Quantum Information Science (Want to do Optical Quantum Communications or Quantum Optical Devices). I'm currently doing research in the Mechanical Engineering department for characterization of nanoscale optical materials before and after plasma treatment (more Material Science based). But then I realized that I want to do a PhD in either Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics/Physics, or Quantum Science & Engineering since the research fields that I want to go into would align more into those fields. But since my gpa is 3.01 (very low due to sophomore year level EE courses), what should I do to improve my chances to be more competitive for the PhD program? I'm also considering to take a gap year to work in the industry (satellite communications or consumer electronics) before doing grad school. Also, would the transition from a Bachelors of Electrical Engineering to Applied Physics/Physics PhD be possible or would it be more marketable to do Electrical Engineering PhD? My end goal is to make a startup based on the research that I'll pursue in the future.

Hello everyone, I'm currently going into my senior year studying Electrical Engineering minoring in physics (technically) and astrophysics, although I don't think i'll finish my physics minor since I don't think i'll take thermo (due to conflicted schedule). But I took intro to quantum physics and all the intro to physics classes (I, II, and III). I'm also taking Upper Division Quantum Mechanics, Modern Physics Lab, and maybe Nuclear and Particle Physics this coming year. What I'm currently specializing is Photonics and Quantum Information Science (Want to do Optical Quantum Communications or Quantum Optical Devices). I'm currently doing research in the Mechanical Engineering department for characterization of nanoscale optical materials before and after plasma treatment (more Material Science based). But then I realized that I want to do a PhD in either Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics/Physics, or Quantum Science & Engineering since the research fields that I want to go into would align more into those fields. But since my gpa is 3.01 (very low due to sophomore year level EE courses), what should I do to improve my chances to be more competitive for the PhD program? I'm also considering to take a gap year to work in the industry (satellite communications or consumer electronics) before doing grad school. Also, would the transition from a Bachelors of Electrical Engineering to Applied Physics/Physics PhD be possible or would it be more marketable to do Electrical Engineering PhD? My end goal is to make a startup based on the research that I'll pursue in the future.

I’m currently going into my senior year, and I’ve been struggling with something that has affected nearly every part of my college experience for the past two years.

During my sophomore year, I was a member of an ECE student organization that had a student lounge where I regularly studied. Around the same time, I introduced myself to a girl who was in this physics 3 class that I took. I simply wanted to get out of my shell and make more friends. Most of our conversations were about class, homework, internships, and career opportunities. Sometimes I would talk to her before class started.

Coincidentally, we were also involved in the same aerospace project club, so I saw her there as well.
About a month and a half later, I was studying in the ECE lounge when I noticed she was there with some friends. Shortly afterward, she left. As I was leaving, a student I’ll call “Guy #1,” who had previously been one of my friends, stopped me and said he needed to talk to me. He told me to leave her alone and not talk to her anymore. I was confused because I genuinely didn’t understand what I had done wrong. He then called me a “stalker” and a “creep.” I was shocked and extremely distressed. After that incident, I dropped physics 3, even though I was doing well in the class since I wanted to get away from the girl and guy #1 as fast as possible, but I did retook it the semester after and got an A. Shortly afterward, I received a letter prohibiting me from the ECE student organization for alleged Title IX violations involving sexual harassment and stalking. I never intended to stalk or harass anyone, so this completely shocked me.

After that, rumors began spreading throughout both the ECE and Physics cohort that I had been stalking and sexually harassing women. According to people I later spoke with, even more serious claims were circulating, including that I had multiple restraining orders in high school. None of those allegations were true. At one point I attended a quantum physics lecture because I was interested in taking the course in the future and one of my good friends was in the class, so I decided to crash in. I sat in the back of the room and completely ignored the girl. However, one of Guy #1’s friends confronted me afterward and accused me of attending the lecture to stalk her (which wasn’t my intention at all, since I didn’t even seen the girl until the very end of the lecture). He directly called me a “sexual harasser”.
As these rumors spread, several friends distanced themselves from me. My mental health deteriorated significantly. I struggled academically, nearly failed two classes, and experienced severe depression. At my lowest point, I even had suicidal thoughts because I felt like my reputation had been permanently destroyed.

Before my junior year, one of the friends who had initially cut ties with me reached out again and we recovered our friendship. He told me he didn’t believe there was enough evidence to support the allegations against me. He also explained that, from his perspective, I had likely missed social cues that the girl didn’t want to continue talking to me. I’m on the autism spectrum, and reading subtle social cues has always been something I struggle with. Looking back, I can understand how my repeated attempts to start conversations may have made her uncomfortable, even though that was never my intention. That same friend later spoke with Guy #1 and his friends. According to him, they continued describing me as someone who stalked and sexually harassed women and even repeated false claims about me contacting a girl’s father on LinkedIn after being rejected in high school. That never happened, I didn’t even have LinkedIn until I was a college freshman.

Later, I became interested in joining a new student organization because it focused on the field that I truly want to go into, which aligns closely with my career goals. When I spoke with the president, he mentioned that Guy #1 was one of the board members. I briefly explained that Guy #1 and I had a difficult history and that I believed he had spread false rumors about me. Looking back, I realize I probably shouldn’t have brought that up. Soon afterward, I was removed from the club’s Discord server and told not to attend events because multiple people were uncomfortable with my presence.

Despite everything, I continued attending career fairs, networking events, and physics networking events because I wanted to build connections and improve my chances of getting an internship since I was starting research. Unfortunately, the same girl also attended some of those events. I made a point of completely ignoring her and never approached or spoke to her. However, I was eventually banned from the Physics Club and its lounge after being told that members had reported me for making inappropriate comments and stalking, allegations that I still don’t fully understand.

Now I’m about to enter into my senior year, and Guy #1 will likely be taking the same elective as me. My long-term goal is to earn a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering or Applied Physics before eventually working in industry.

My biggest fear is that these rumors will continue to follow me beyond college and somehow affect graduate school admissions or future employment, even though I have never been found responsible for the serious allegations that have been made about me.

This experience has left me with severe depression, anxiety, and constant fear about my future. I’m trying not to let it stop me from pursuing the field I’m passionate about, but it’s been incredibly difficult. I’m also trying to avoid unhealthy coping mechanisms like drinking, even though I’ve never consumed alcohol before.

I’m currently going into my senior year, and I’ve been struggling with something that has affected nearly every part of my college experience for the past two years.

During my sophomore year, I was a member of an ECE student organization that had a student lounge where I regularly studied. Around the same time, I introduced myself to a girl who was in this physics 3 class that I took. I simply wanted to get out of my shell and make more friends. Most of our conversations were about class, homework, internships, and career opportunities. Sometimes I would talk to her before class started.

Coincidentally, we were also involved in the same aerospace project club, so I saw her there as well.
About a month and a half later, I was studying in the ECE lounge when I noticed she was there with some friends. Shortly afterward, she left. As I was leaving, a student I’ll call “Guy #1,” who had previously been one of my friends, stopped me and said he needed to talk to me. He told me to leave her alone and not talk to her anymore. I was confused because I genuinely didn’t understand what I had done wrong. He then called me a “stalker” and a “creep.” I was shocked and extremely distressed. After that incident, I dropped physics 3, even though I was doing well in the class since I wanted to get away from the girl and guy #1 as fast as possible, but I did retook it the semester after and got an A. Shortly afterward, I received a letter prohibiting me from the ECE student organization for alleged Title IX violations involving sexual harassment and stalking. I never intended to stalk or harass anyone, so this completely shocked me.

After that, rumors began spreading throughout both the ECE and Physics cohort that I had been stalking and sexually harassing women. According to people I later spoke with, even more serious claims were circulating, including that I had multiple restraining orders in high school. None of those allegations were true. At one point I attended a quantum physics lecture because I was interested in taking the course in the future and one of my good friends was in the class, so I decided to crash in. I sat in the back of the room and completely ignored the girl. However, one of Guy #1’s friends confronted me afterward and accused me of attending the lecture to stalk her (which wasn’t my intention at all, since I didn’t even seen the girl until the very end of the lecture). He directly called me a “sexual harasser”.
As these rumors spread, several friends distanced themselves from me. My mental health deteriorated significantly. I struggled academically, nearly failed two classes, and experienced severe depression. At my lowest point, I even had suicidal thoughts because I felt like my reputation had been permanently destroyed.

Before my junior year, one of the friends who had initially cut ties with me reached out again and we recovered our friendship. He told me he didn’t believe there was enough evidence to support the allegations against me. He also explained that, from his perspective, I had likely missed social cues that the girl didn’t want to continue talking to me. I’m on the autism spectrum, and reading subtle social cues has always been something I struggle with. Looking back, I can understand how my repeated attempts to start conversations may have made her uncomfortable, even though that was never my intention. That same friend later spoke with Guy #1 and his friends. According to him, they continued describing me as someone who stalked and sexually harassed women and even repeated false claims about me contacting a girl’s father on LinkedIn after being rejected in high school. That never happened, I didn’t even have LinkedIn until I was a college freshman.

Later, I became interested in joining a new student organization because it focused on the field that I truly want to go into, which aligns closely with my career goals. When I spoke with the president, he mentioned that Guy #1 was one of the board members. I briefly explained that Guy #1 and I had a difficult history and that I believed he had spread false rumors about me. Looking back, I realize I probably shouldn’t have brought that up. Soon afterward, I was removed from the club’s Discord server and told not to attend events because multiple people were uncomfortable with my presence.

Despite everything, I continued attending career fairs, networking events, and physics networking events because I wanted to build connections and improve my chances of getting an internship since I was starting research. Unfortunately, the same girl also attended some of those events. I made a point of completely ignoring her and never approached or spoke to her. However, I was eventually banned from the Physics Club and its lounge after being told that members had reported me for making inappropriate comments and stalking, allegations that I still don’t fully understand.

Now I’m about to enter into my senior year, and Guy #1 will likely be taking the same elective as me. My long-term goal is to earn a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering or Applied Physics before eventually working in industry.

My biggest fear is that these rumors will continue to follow me beyond college and somehow affect graduate school admissions or future employment, even though I have never been found responsible for the serious allegations that have been made about me.

This experience has left me with severe depression, anxiety, and constant fear about my future. I’m trying not to let it stop me from pursuing the field I’m passionate about, but it’s been incredibly difficult. I’m also trying to avoid unhealthy coping mechanisms like drinking, even though I’ve never consumed alcohol before.