u/BobcatReasonable2326

Coming from a post-Soviet country to the U.S. and working as a waiter now makes me feel like I’m literally robbing people, and it gives me joy because it’s legal and considered completely normal here. I’m 19, and this is literally my first job. I have no skills, no degree, nothing. My total hourly rate is at least $35 after tax. On Saturdays and holidays it goes above $50 for an 8 hour shift.

You are getting scammed, folks, and it’s crazy how normal it is to tip 20% for very average service and relatively little work done. I just wanted to share the perspective of someone who grew up in an environment where tipping is considered extra and rarely goes above 10%.

Now I’m on the other side, and it all just feels absurd!

**Demographics**

* Gender: Male
* Race/Ethnicity: white
* Residence: Midwest
* Income Bracket: broke
* Type of School: Community College
* Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): First gen, studied in three countries?

**Intended Major(s)**: Economics

**Academics**

* GPA (UW/W): 3.78
* Rank (or percentile): N/A
* \# of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: Honors Calc 1
* Senior Year Course Load: Just normal college classes. The most “hard” were Calc 2 and Linear Algebra.

**Standardized Testing**
Never took one

**Extracurriculars/Activities**

* Learning Assistant for Calc 1
* Learning Assistant for College Algebra
* Working 30 hours a week
* PTK member

**Awards/Honors** - Deans list for all semesters but the first one

**Letters of Recommendation**

I think they carried the most weight to be honest but I did not see any of them.

Calc 1 professor - 9/10 I assume, we were very close and spent a lot of time during office hours learning about abstract mathematics.

Calc 2 professor - probably 9/10. G
professor, one of the best students in his class and also a Learning Assistant for his Calc 1.

Dean of Stem - 9/10, great person. I felt like we connected quite a bit during our brief interactions through out a year.

General Manager at work - 11/10. He is The Guy. Gave me a job when I arrived to America with nothing but a suitcase and 3k saved when I was 18. Always supported me and probably wrote the most heartwarming and supportive letter out there.

**Essays**

Just wrote an autobiography and woven some examples of how I supported others around me whenever it was possible, what challenges I had to endure, and how they shaped me. It was basically a story about moving alone at 16 to a different country and studying during the armed conflict, losing every relative because of illness but my mum, later dropping out of school at 18 and getting a GED to begin college earlier, and some other stuff about my experience navigating life in the U.S. from scratch. Overall, it was a very humble essay, and I did not try to make my life seem hard or complicated.

Took me around two weeks to write it. Since English is not my first language, I kept the wording simple but very structured and organized.

**Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)**

*Acceptances:*

* UIC
* UIUC
* Cornell! - full ride cuz I am broke

*Rejections:*

*Northwester TED (need aware greedy bastards)
*Uchicago (also known for not accepting people who need aid)
Yeah, I love excuses

*(anything of relevance)*

I think my unique educational path, clean and simple essays, human-like recommendations, and institutional fit got me into Cornell. I did not really believe that I would be able to pull this off. From nothing and endless work and school to a full ride at an Ivy League within two years of arriving.

Quick note - fortunately, I did not have to deal with a lot of paperwork because I had citizenship. I never lived in the U.S. because my mum left my American father when I was 1 and never saw him again. So yeah, this is it. I am just happy to be where I am now. Thanks for reading my post!

Tipping us is a joke (I am a waiter)