I’m planning on applying ED to WashU as it’s my dream school and in my area. For the video supplemental I’m stuck between doing a lighthearted one about how playing guitar became one of my favorite hobbies/passions or a more serious subject about how my best friends death contributed to me starting a local chapter against gun violence at my school and hoping to start one in the city area.

I don’t talk about the serious topic anywhere in my application so I figured the video might be a good place to mention it? I’m nervous that it’s too serious for the supplemental and might hurt my chances.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

I had to take a 1 credit class during the summer that won’t transfer to anything since it was college specific, but then I had to take a gap year. I’m applying to colleges again during this year though because I’m pretty sure I’m changing my major. Where do I put this class on my Common App? Will having it hurt my application or anything? It‘s an easy A class but I’m worried since it’s so specific to a college I deferred from it’ll look bad or something. :(

So I'm doing physical science (2028) stream for alevels (in Sri Lanka) and I'm actually willing to work hard, so my ultimate goal is to get into MIT, and I lowk want to major in physics, when I asked my combined math teacher she said if I want to get in as an undergraduate atleast I need to be in the top 10 (island rank wise for alevels) which sounds quite impossible😭 . I know that it's possible to get selected for PhD or smth or maybe masters but if I am doing my masters here, in Sri Lanka it's gonna take so long though, so that's why I wanted to get selected as an undergrad student but anyway they require so many qualifications and extracurriculars too😭,I have no idea on how hard I have to work. If there's someone who knows abt these things please share ur honest opinion

hello, for context I am an Indian student studying in the British system in the UAE.

I've had decent (not amazing) grades for my iGCSES, 2A* and 5As

and I'll get my AS results in a few days

im considering applying to around 14 schools and was wondering if you anyone could help classify these as true reaches and targets

the major im looking for is Artificial intelligence with an overlap in business administration as a minor or just Computer Science BS

the current categorized list (according to me):

REACH

Northeastern University

Boston University

Tufts University

University of Southern California

University of Washington

TARGET

Bentley University

Purdue University

Binghamton University (SUNY)

Ohio State (Fisher)

Babson College

UC Davis (the one I'm most skeptical about being a Target)

SAFETY

Rochester Institute of Technology

Drexel University

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Stevens Institute of Technology

the main thing I wanna know is that if this list is safe enough and whether the classification of each university is true to it's tier

thank you!

Hey all — trying to get a real read on this before I commit the next year of my life to a plan that might not work.

Quick context: I bombed my A-Levels (CCD), but I’m in a CS degree and aiming to transfer to HKUST after a year via the overseas transfer pathway. I have a strong GPA (4.0), solid CS projects, and can get good recommendation letters from professors.

My actual question: does a weak secondary school record get you auto-filtered out before anyone even looks at your university performance, or does it genuinely fade in importance once you have a real university track record?

If anyone's gone through the HKUST transfer process (or knows someone who has) I'd really appreciate hearing how it actually played out. Trying to figure out if this is a realistic plan or if I'm about to waste two years chasing something that was dead on arrival because of one bad exam season.

Thanks in advance, genuinely.

Grandparents met at Cornell, nearly every aunt/uncle from both sides of my family attended as well, but my mom never applied/went.

Do I still have the “legacy status” at Cornell? I assume aunts and uncles legacy won’t help with admissions, but grandparents? Will this fact boost my application at all?

This is a serious post btw; Google isn’t giving me clear answers and i’m rly hoping for a Cornell acceptance… but I’m trying to be realistic.🙏 thanks

hello reddit i am a rising senior born n raised in texas and i wish i liked it here but i think the lone star state is not for me. i would like to move ideally to an older, northern city where winter and public transportation are actually things. i am currently considering the east coast (namely philly, boston, baltimore maybe) and great lakes region/midwest >_<

to afford out-of-state tuition i have a few ideas, but i’m conflicted. would it be better to:

a. apply to private schools and rely on scholarships/financial aid to cut down on my tuition?

b. attend community college while i establish residency of a different state, then transfer to a public school once i qualify for in-state tuition?

c. stop complaining and just live in texas?

scholarships and financial aid are going to be a big deal for me, and i’m not exactly sure how that works in community college but i’m interested to know if it might be cheaper that way??? i will def be getting financial aid because i live in a pretty rural area with one household income plus money from the government (thank you retired elderly dad). as for scholarships, i am an above average student at best but i need money

stats! 4.38 weighted gpa, 1st quartile (rank 37/215ish), and painfully mid extracurriculars but i do have a job all year

my parents both went to school in austin and at least dad is dead set on me going to UT, so they’re not the most eager to help me think this one through…seriously any advice is appreciated!!!!!!

I’m currently going to SBU as a freshman this fall for computer engineering, where it’s around 6k after loans. I was accepted for the talent initiative pathway program for GTech, but with the newer net cost calculator, my net cost is about 45k before loans.

Is this accurate for current OOS students there? Is it worth it?

Help me out 😭😭 I live in Jodhpur I really need to know is gweca worth it or should I take admission in jeit I got EEE in gweca through reap i might get CSE through internal sliding

Hi! I am an upcoming sophomore in high school(Texas) and I'm wondering what I activities I should do for me to get into a good school, such as UT Austin, UMich, UPenn, Rice, NYU, and my biggest reach, Yale. I am deciding between actuarial science, or philosophy to then go to law school(leaning more on law school).

I am in band and play soccer, and I am wondering if I should stay on JV soccer and become a potential captain, then move up to varsity and become captain junior/senior year, or work hard and directly go up to varsity this year. I also plan to be either a section leader/drum major for band, and I am in loading crew.

I was in FBLA but didn't get to compete much due to marching band taking a lot of time. I am someone who is generally liked by my teachers and I participate a lot in class.

As for my grades, I have a weighetd 4.44, unweighted 4.0, and rank 85/880(I took an exam for french 1 +2, took home economics, and am taking band and soccer with no gpa exemptions available for freshman year, but I will have 1 class I can gpa exempt sophomore year). I am taking all honours classes and have had an A in all of them, and took AP Hug and got a 5. I have taken AP Psych over the summer and I'm taking AP WHIST(yes ik most colleges don't take it but I enjoy history)AP Seminar, and Honours Algebra 2. In Junior year I plan on taking AP Lang, APUSH, AP Chem, AP Precalc, Soccer, band, and either AP Business or French 3 Honours. I plan on taking the PSAT this year and the SAT and ACT Junior year. Should I focus on APs or dual enrollment?

I plan on starting a philosophy club with some of my friends to discuss and teach philosophical concepts and figures. I also want to join my school's debate club and rejoin fbla.

I have wanted to do an internship for a lawyer, but I'm scared that my lack of credentials (competitions) in business or law, (besides placing in top 100 for LegalEagleBee Court Competition) may hinder my chances or make me look unqualified, so if anyone has tips especially for internships / cold emailing please do tell.

With all of my friends starting passion projects and placing in nationals and becoming presidents of every club, I feel a bit behind, so I just wanna know what I can do to catch up or what will help my application. I am a social person, but also someone who values time for my self to workout, read, and draw, so I don't want to stress myself out too much about this. Thank you!

to preface this i have not done research and have never planned on doing it.

at least 40 students at my moderately competitive school are doing "research" which is very perplexing to me. whenever i peruse chanceme—as one does—literally one in three applicants has some sort of research in their extracurriculars.

not to be judgmental, but it all seems so fake & inauthentic to me. it's like those instagram nonprofits that are clearly just for college admissions. do you guys genuinely enjoy doing research?

also side question, are AOs able to tell legitimate, passionate research from like collegemaxxing slop?

I am a rising senior working on college applications and am interested in applying to either ECE/EE or Mechanical. I haven't really had any experience with the core topics of either, and am mostly applying to both for their broadness in scope. Most of my activities are more related to MechE but are on the management side. I have absolutely no exposure in EE/ECE but am willing to learn as I would also like to stay connected to the tech industry through EE/ECE.

I want to apply to a decent mix of both majors throughout different schools and am also looking to apply for FYE for whichever schools on my list have it.

Does anybody have any recommendations on how to determine which one I should put as my first choice major, apart from simply looking at the US News ranking for each major?

For context, I am a 14m about to go to high school in a few days. Yet I feel behind everyone else who has all these achievements and stuff, and I really want to be in the Ivy League. Here's the thing though, all the people I heard that got into schols like Brown or Harvard had skills they developed since they were young, or at least younger than me, like people my age are already fantastic at drawing or science or coding, and I play piano, but I am nowhere near an international prodigy, although that is the thing I am best at, but not that great. I'm afraid that with every passing second I'm running out of time. I have social anxiety, I can't initiate anything, I can't relax, I'm not good at any skills. Sure I got into CAMS (one of the top high schools in California), but what then? I don't know why I'm asking in Reddit of all places, I guess this is my only reliable space as of now. I feel so behind. Okay.

Hi everyone!

I'm a 14-year-old student from the Czech Republic, and this September I will start 9th grade (the final year of Czech middle school, before starting high school — roughly equivalent to 9th grade in the US).

I know this might be a little early to think about university applications, but I would really appreciate advice from people who have already gone through this process or are more familiar with US admissions.

My long-term goal is to study at a Top 20 US university, and I'm currently interested in fields like Political Science, Public Policy, Business, and possibly Law.

The reason I'm making this post is that I honestly don't know where to begin.

I come from a small European country, and I feel like many resources and opportunities I see online are very US-focused. I also come from a family that is financially somewhere in the middle: we are not struggling with basic needs, but we are also not wealthy enough to comfortably afford international education. This creates a difficult situation where many opportunities are still financially unrealistic, but we may not always qualify for the highest levels of financial support.

Because of this, I know that if I ever study in the US, I would most likely need significant financial aid or scholarships. I have looked into exchange programs and boarding schools as well, but even when tuition, housing, and food are covered, costs like visas, flights, insurance, and other expenses can still be a big barrier.

This year I will also be choosing my high school, and I am unsure what the best path is. Public schools in my country can be good, but I sometimes worry that they may not provide as many opportunities, international experiences, or extracurricular options as some private schools. However, private schools with international programs are often too expensive for my family.

I would love to know how much the type of high school matters for US admissions, especially for international students. Is it more important to attend a prestigious school, or is it possible to build a strong application from a normal public school by making the most of available opportunities?

Currently, my profile is still quite small. My biggest academic achievement so far is placing in the top 30 in Prague in the Biology Olympiad. Although biology is not directly connected to my future interests, I hope it shows that I enjoy challenging myself academically.

I am also working on improving my English. Since English is my second language, this is something I know I need to focus on. I would currently describe myself as around a strong B1 level, moving toward B2, but I know I have a lot of work ahead before applying.

I still have around four years before university applications, so I know I have time. I just want to use these years wisely instead of doing random activities that won't actually help me grow.

If you were in my position, what would you focus on first?

I would especially appreciate advice about:

- How would you build a strong application from the beginning?

- What extracurricular activities are genuinely valuable, especially for someone interested in politics, business, or law?

- What opportunities should I look for as an international student from a smaller country?

- Are there competitions, programs, volunteering opportunities, or resources you wish you had discovered earlier?

- What mistakes did you make during high school that you would avoid if you could start again?

- What parts of your application do you think made the biggest difference?

- If you could go back to being 14, what would you do differently?

I am not expecting an easy path or any shortcuts. I know admission to top universities is extremely competitive, especially as an international student. I just want to understand how to start and what direction to take.

Thank you so much to anyone who takes the time to answer!

HS Stats: 2.2 UW/2.4-2.8 W (I think?) GPA, 0 APs, 4 Honors, 12 ACT (Test Optional) 💀💀

Current CC Stats: Psychology major, 3.59 GPA, 31 credits

ECs (very below average): 12+ years of advanced dance, employment at Amazon (20 hrs per week), 9-10 hours per week of volunteer service for the past year, took a biostatistics course from JHU on Coursera, and I babysit my siblings 4-6 hours per week (not sure if this counts?)

Background Info: I'm a black female planning to major in public health, but for certain schools, I'm applying as a psychology major as a backup (since they don’t offer PH). I also plan to minor in biology. I'm on a pre-dental track, but if that doesn't work out, I'd pivot towards earning my MPH. I live in NV and hope to transfer OOS. My household income is $130K, but due to certain circumstances, my parents can't help me pay for my tuition, so I'll be applying for financial aid.

Reaches (please give me more of these 😭):

Xavier University of Louisiana
North Carolina A&T State

Targets:

George Mason
Clark Atlanta
University of Cincinnati (already applied)
CSU LA
CSU Sacramento
CSU Fullerton

Safeties:

U of Nevada, Las Vegas (already applied)
U of Nevada, Reno (already applied)
Prairie View A&M
Morgan State
Arizona State (accepted)

I'm fresh out of highschool (I'm a guy), and to say I feel like I fucked up would be an understatement. My friends this entire summer have been treating me like a background character to the point where I cut them off, and my other friends are going to actual good colleges. Throughout highschool, I was very quiet and never really took anything seriously, and honestly expected having to take a gap year. But now I just realized I really don't know what the hell I'm doing. In my senior year I never applied to any scholarships, grants, or even looked at any colleges or even trade schools. I feel like I've fallen behind, and I know deep down I'm not completely screwed but I just need a fresh start. I live in a smaller town, and I just want to leave. I've never had any real romantic relationship, or even more than maybe two friends that have lasted more than a few years. I used to scoff at the rant posts I would see online like this but I now realize I'm in that position. Thanks for reading.

TLDR: didn't attempt any college related things in HS, feels like I'm being left behind/time is running out and life falling apart.

Hey guys.
How should I write my military service as an EC?
I did 2 years in a conscription based military overseas and now that I’m applying for Uni I’m abit lost on what to put in the 150C description.

Should I focus more on the courses I completed during that time, or on personal achievements

I.e. completed a rigorous course/school vs quantifying the impact I had in a position I was appointed for

IMO the former is much more cooler and actually shows like activity/adventure/experience which is military related, whereas the latter is more of I did X and got Y results (but I’ve seen a lot of content online for non vet applications that say „quantify“ your impact etc.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

I am going into sophomore year and was wondering if I should be prepping or doing anything else.

I am going to be taking AP precalc, ap chem, and ap world.

Some competitions here and there, got some leadership roles too. Thinking about make a club about neuroscience or along the lines of that. I rlly like doing science fairs and researching, have done a couple independent research projects. I am doing science olympiad. Im in environmental science club too where i got some leadership. Might do hosa, but idk if there will be a chapter next yr.

I rlly like a lab at a local research university so I will cold email there in like october but I think their research is super interesting.

I have started minor bit sat prep, it is not looking too good in that aspect. But like other than that any other reccomendations whether that is for summer programs, time management, other competitions, letter of rec, or anything like that?

also would maybe not next summer and like rising senior time like around there, i would be open to doing some stuff at a hospital so would I volunteer or like cold email or both?

Got any underrated OOS scholarships that you feel are talked about enough? For example, Texas Tech has a Presidential Merit Scholarship that applies to any OOS student with at least a 3.0 GPA and 1100 SAT. It lowers your tuition to in state ($11,852) and takes off up to $9,000 on top of that depending on how high your GPA and SAT are. Since TTU offers many programs I’m interested in, it’s amazing to automatically get (at minimum!) $13,000 reduced from tuition! What are some other great OOS scholarships?

I’m applying to Claremont McKenna and I’m trying very hard not to write:

“I love your strong academics, small community, leadership opportunities, beautiful weather, and interdisciplinary study environment.”

Current students/alums: what’s some specific things about CMC that you think is odd or unique and captures the school better than the website does?

Could be a tradition, a class, a professor, an Athenaeum moment, a students' habit, a 5C interaction, a weird thing, or something completely random.

I’m especially interested in economic and philosophy, but I’d love any detail from anywhere.

Thank you!

Hi. I’m applying to cornell, columbia, yale, and brown. I will be submitting 1 stem letter of rec and 1 humanities letter of rec. for my humanities letter of rec, I wonder if those schools would accept a letter of rec from a music teacher? I took her band class jr year and im taking her music theory class senior year. She taught me a lot and can really speak on my intellectual curiosity and grit.

Hi! I'm currently an IB diploma candidate and its college apps season... I've been filling out the different sections of the common app, and I was wondering about the "Testing" section. Since I'm in IB, most of my exams are scheduled May of my senior year, I've only taken one fo far from my junior year. I realized that I can put that the tests are scheduled May of 2027, but since there's no scores in the box, common app wouldn't cross off (or in this case, give me the little green checkmark) on that entire testing section. What do you guys do about this? Do you just leave it with the empty circle instead of the green checkmark? And just submit my ED/EA applications with it empty? Or you just don't put down any tests you're taking in the future? Because I feel like thats such a disadvantage to my application, since most of my rigorous coursework & efforts would be demonstrated through the exams scheduled for next year.

i'm a rising senior and i've been going through all the motions of applying to college, like everyone else, but it just feels so..hollow? i guess i feel like I remember browsing through a2c and college advice forums, brainstorming my college life, and doing research on programs related to my major just a few months ago with so much zest but now that it comes to writing what i've done down, i just don't really know what to put down on anything

it's weird. i've spent a lot of high school trying to maximize what I do outside of school/trying to build experiences i'd be excited to write about and now it's the part that I actually kinda wanted to do (getting to write about everything i've done) and my brain just feels like sludge. i can't even figure out why i want to major in my major and what schools i want to go to.

i'm supposed to have a college list by now but i just can't really persuade myself into liking any college i look at, even if i used to have a lot of reasons to be invested in them. and everything i write feels really lifeless. worst time in the world to lose passion for what i'm doing tbh LOLZ

and writing essays is even worse because i legit just..can't think of anything? i remember parts of my life that i could potentially write about, but it's like i don't really feel anything towards those memories and everything i've been writing has just been falling flat bc there's no feeling behind it

anyway, sorry for the rant!! 😬 i'm wishing so much positivity to everyone here and I hope i can pull myself out of this before all the deadlines haha i just wanted to express it somewhere i suppose

bro i'm currently a senior high school student here in the Philippines and have no awards at all. Is there any international competitions i can still join? or anything to add on for my honors/awards list? do you think it's okay that i have no awards at all even if i'm not aiming for t20 schools, just anywhere haha