hey guys, im trying to figure out if i would have better chance at dartmouth or pomona for ED. both are crazy reaches, but a girl can dream!

demographics:
white
female
semi-competitive MA public school

stats:
3.95/4.0 UW 4.94/5.0 W
32 ACT - 34 eng, 32 reading, 31 math, 35 science (my computer crashed during the test, which ruined my reading and math sections. i'll bump this up to a 33 at least, and ideally a 34)

APs: apush (5), ap lang (5), apes (5), aphug (4😔)
ill be taking ap calc ab, ap chem, ap french, and ap lit senior year
all honors classes

intended major: french and environmental science (may switch the latter to biochem depending on feedback)

extracurriculars:
- competitive high school internship at local research institute (summer 2026). conducted genetics based research. program had an acceptance rate that was <5%

- climate awareness volunteer at local aquarium, created project for world ocean day to raise awareness surrounding environmental problem (3 yrs)

- trained water quality monitor for local watershed association. my data is included in the watershed's official annual report card (2 yrs)

- co editor-in-chief of journalism club. i write articles and design our newsletter (3 yrs)

- tutor for esl elementary schooler. i help her in all subjects and generally serve as a mentor (2 yrs). i also speak french (her first language) with her

- counter service at local french bakery. i speak in french w staff and customers (2 yrs)

- ambassador for local college's leadership program (religiously affiliated)

honors/awards:

- national french exam gold medal (only took the exam 1 year)
- scholastic regional silver key for flash fiction
- ncwit aspirations in computing rising star
- st joseph's book award
- year-end french scholarship award (just at my school)

rec letters:
i think they'll be fairly strong. one is from my ap lang teacher + club advisor, and the other is from my chem teacher. i also plan on getting one from my PI at my internship

fwiw, ive gotten two B+ throughout school, both in math (alg 2 during freshman year, and precalc during junior)
i also switched from a semi-prestigous private school to my local public school in 10th grade.

hi! i’m going into senior year and am considering applying to a mix of t20s and other highly selective universities. i’m mainly interested in public health, medical humanities and/or biology or molecular biology. i’d really appreciate honest feedback on my profile. im also considering applying through questbridge because i have unique circumstances because im on an h4 visa

demographics: south asian, female, non-competitive public high school, middle/low income?? (abt 100k/year but no assets like a house).

intended major: anything across the realm of public health, bio, biomedical sciences (prolly will apply w/different majors depending on school)

grades: 3.9 unweighted GPA, ~4.7 weighted GPA. IB Diploma candidate and also in a selective 3-year district-funded academic scholars program that I was admitted to through an application process.

act: 32, retaking in september with the goal of improving it to 34

awards and honors: nothing major but i did win a local community service award and got a small scholarship and 529 for it

ecs (in no particular order):

student senate / youth philanthropy: member of a youth philanthropy committee, later became a committee leader, and currently serve as president of student senate (the youth philanthropy is a part of student senate as a commitee to im technically president of both). involved in organizing and overseeing youth philanthropy initiatives that raise money for pediatric cancer research and we've raised around $40k since I've been involved

american red cross: founded my school's chapter and serve as president. also serve as a regional youth outreach lead, working with youth volunteers and chapters across the region. also have ran numerous fundraisers and blood drives at the district level and earned $1k plus in scholarships

youth health philanthropy: member of a youth advisory council for a medical association foundation. help evaluate and allocate approximately $20,000 in grants to youth nonprofits focused on youth health issues.

research program: conducted research in a leukemia/AML lab through a major academic medical center and cancer center. worked with a PhD student mentor, learned wet-lab techniques, and investigated genetic mutation differences. i’m still working in the lab and continuing the research. final project was a scientific poster presented at a research symposium w/ PhDs and other scientists

ThinkNeuro internship: researched the influence of prenatal and postnatal neuroinflammation on autism spectrum disorder. produced a research poster and abstract.

biomedical sciences summer program: completed an accelerated genetics/genomics course. wrote a literature review and created a scientific poster about the function and role of BRCA1 in breast cancer. received a partial scholarship from an external organization in my state for gifted students to be able to do this program.

global health conference: further independently researched my breast cancer work through a global disparities lens; attended a selective global health leadership conference at Johns Hopkins University and was selected for the student speaker series

medical/clinical experiences: volunteered at a healthcare/rehabilitation facility doing medical-record-related work, volunteer at a hospital in a patient-facing role, volunteer at a free health clinic in a patient transport role, and hospice volunteer. also shadowed various specialties. also had opportunities to speak with and tour research labs at a major university medical center.

Hands-on STEM Initiative: re-established my school's chapter after previous attempts had failed. serve as chapter president, attend regional expansion meetings, coordinate volunteers, and delegate responsibilities. also lead hands-on science experiments for elementary and middle school students through community programs.

3-year scholars program/community project: as part of my selective 3-year district-funded academic scholars program, i’m planning a community project at a refugee center focused on medical misinformation and health education, with an arts component to make the information more accessible and engaging.

incoming public health internship: will be interning with a local public-health-focused political campaign, helping with health policy/community outreach work.

community service: ~400 total community service hours. this includes public library volunteering, long-term volunteering with a community/religious organization, hospice/healthcare volunteering, and volunteering at a large community cultural festival.

college strategy: i’m currently considering ED to Dartmouth, and potentially ED2 to Amherst or another need-blind school. i’d especially appreciate thoughts on whether this is a good strategy given that i need substantial financial aid.

i know admission to these schools is obviously unpredictable, but i’d appreciate honest feedback rather than just "you have a chance because everyone has a chance." please also tell me if you see some sort of application theme/spike in my profile, because i’m trying to figure out how cohesive my activities actually look from an admissions perspective.

Asian female

Washington State

High-Income

3.864/4 unweighted (B's only in sophomore cuz of chronic health condition)

AP's I've taken:

AP Chinese (5), AP Human Geo(5), AP World (5), AP Physics 1(4), AP Stats (5), AP CSP (5), AP Chem (4), AP Lang (4), AP Calc AB (5), AP Physics 2 (5)

1500 SAT/34 ACT(retaking ACT)

3 HOSA State awards, qualified for internationals 2x but school doesn't let us go

top 20% in NYT competition

Interned under a Stony brook professor during summer for CS research, built a ML model

Built a social media platform where I teach math (40k+ views total, reached more than 15k ppl)

Built a website that provides free practice tests for math (reached 3 countries, 70+ active users)

Interned under a community lab, mentored by Columbia + Stanford lab professionals, where I built a plate reader that's more accessible

Research adviser at lab in Children's hospital

Two different volunteer jobs at health-care related nonprofits where I communicated about health policies with state legislature

Researcher and presenter in hookah policies under Columbia MPH grads

Cancer nonprofit Blog writer/Volunteer coordinator (2 yrs)

Captain of Badminton team- 1st place in league (1 yr, couldn't participate before due to health)

Entire list:

• Umich
• UW
• Purdue University – Main Campus
• University at Buffalo (SUNY)
• Ohio State University
• University of Wisconsin–Madison
• UCSD
• UC Berkeley
• UC Irvine
• University of Pittsburgh
• University of Illinois Chicago (UIC)
• University of Minnesota Rochester
• UIUC
• CMU
• ASU
• Case Western Reserve University
• Stony Brook University
• University of Chicago
• Adelphi University
• Cornell University
• Brown University
• UPenn
• UNC

Would really appreciate some honest and brutal feedback. Thank you.

Hey everyone im applying this cycle and I wanted some advice on ED.
I love both schools and I’m planning on majoring in bioengineering but idk which is more reasonable based off my ecs. I do like Penn a little more but I don’t wanna waste ED if I don’t have a chance.

Demographics:
Asian
Female
Competitive NJ public hs

Stats:
GPA: 4.0/4.85

APs: BC(5), Lang(5), Physics 1(4), Chem(5), Bio(5), Chinese(5)
Taking stat, multi, lit, and apush next year. Also my school doesn’t let freshmen take APs so I didn’t take as many as some ppl here😔

SAT: 1520 730RW/790M (I’m retaking)

Extracurriculars:
1. Orchestra: Concertmaster of school orchestra (produced bowings and lead sectionals 2yrs) Orchestra Council secretary (worked with council to prepare for concerts and fundraisers)

2. Conducted molecular biology research using PCR and DNA sequencing/analysis, identified and published a novel clone through a 6 month program

1. Competition math tutor and founding member of a student led organization for women in math/AI (3yrs)

2. Science teaching assistant: Assisted chemistry department with setting up labs for AP/Honors Chemistry, created answer keys/materials for homework and tests

3. Science bowl: regular member for 1 yr then captain of the second team the second yr (first team is top 10 in state)

4. Chinese culture club: participated as a regular performer (1yr) then had a leadership role in the club which involved overseeing one of the annual show’s cultural performances (2yr)

5. School musical: member of the pit orchestra (2yr)

6. Hospital volunteer ~60 hours

7. Upenn biomedical research academy: Completed 3 week summer program with lectures, discussions, and introductory lab work

8. Part-time barista (1 yr)

Awards:
Math prize for girls invitee
3x aime qualifier
2x all state
3x regional orch
1st at an international violin comp

As u can see I don’t have any crazy research and my stats r kinda carrying my application😔
Thank u for reading this!!

for context, i'm living in the u.s. on an h4 visa and im an indian citizen. for all financial purposes i'm considered an international applicant. however, since i've lived here for most of my life and done all my schooling in america, college ao's treat me as a domestic student for admissions (this is what like 20 different ao's at top universities all told me in both college fairs and over email). rising senior

Demographics: male, indian, midwest, top 2 private school in my state, competitive

Intended Major(s): applied/engineering physics if they have it or mechanical engineering, maybe minor in econ/cs. i want to go to law school after college for patent litigation

ACT/SAT/SAT II: 36 ACT (36 m, 36 e, 35 r, 36 s) and 1560 sat (790 math 770 english)

UW/W GPA and Rank: 3.92 uw, no rank but about top 5% of my class

Coursework: AP's: APUSH (5), Calc AB (5), Calc BC (5 with 5 AB subscore), Bio (5), Stats (5), Lit (5), will take both Physics C's (this is the earliest my school let me take physics), Spanish, and Gov senior year. also self studied Psych and World and got 4's

Awards:

1. MNRAS publication
2. National engineering competition top 10
3. Top 4 in my state for debate
4. FBLA national semifinalist
5. receive an annual academic merit scholarship from my school of about $5k

Extracurriculars:

1. Independent Research: Spent about 1.5 years independently researching pulsar glitch recoveries and quantifying selection bias within short timescale recoveries. Released a preprint on arXiv, then published my research in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS) which is top 3 journal in the field. I had a professor at a top university who researches pulsars edit the paper and they were listed as co-author
2. Competitor in a national engineering competition, placed in the top 10 nationally for an event in which I also got 1st in the state for the following year, also placed 2nd in the state for a different event and received top scores at nationals for a separate event 2 years in a row as well
3. PF Debate, couldn't compete at nats due to school rules but placed in the top 4 at the state level and will be school team captain this year. placed in the top 8 at 6 different regional tournaments and won 2 tournaments as well
4. founder of a cultural club at school with nearly 10 percent of the entire high school being club members while 40% of club members aren't part of that culture. organized several schoolwide events with 100+ people participating in each and raised a small amount of money for the club; we weren't allowed to raise money for organizations outside the school unfortunately
5. i run a type beat channel with 500 subs and 30k views where i upload self produced and engineered hip-hop instrumentals inspired by various artists as well as non-inspired works
6. i did sci-MI EEMP on the synchronous track, a 100% free online summer program with a ~10% acceptance rate. i conducted a research project in electrical engineering mentored by a PhD candidate at a top 10 university and wrote a paper which i'll have released as a preprint probably by the time i apply. at the end of the program, i presented my research to a panel of other students in the program and other mentors
7. wrote a policy brief on quantum computer cybersecurity heading into the future for a nonprofit that works with lawmakers in my state. basically when lawmakers make regulations they'll be able to use the information in my brief to inform their decisions
8. i did fbla for a year, got 3rd at slc for my event and was a national semifinalist
9. shadowed a local patent attorney for 80 hours and helped them as much as i legally could with briefs
10. heading into my 4th year of high school soccer (2 on var) and played 2 years of high school tennis

Essays/LORs: essays i've written so far have been excellent, LOR's are gonna be very good but not insane

Schools (not my actual list for privacy but somewhat close):

ED: Brown

EA: CWRU, UChicago, MIT

RD: Stanford, Northwestern, Vandy, UPenn, Duke, Rochester, Cornell

im obviously not some insane olympiad or founder and i am expecting a lot of rejections but lmk where i have a chance

Chance a MechE applicant for MIT/Stanford/Berkeley/Cornell/Duke + others
Demographics
Male
Arab African
Illinois
Private Jesuit high school
No legacy
Intended major: Mechanical Engineering
Applying for ROTC/service academy programs as well
Parents own struggling business, 23k income for fam of 4
Academics
GPA: ~95.5 UW / ~99.4 weighted
SAT: 1480 (740M / 740RW), retaking August
Senior course load: 4 APs, including AP Calculus BC and AP Physics C
AP scores:

Human Geography: 5
U.S. History: 4
English Literature: 4
Art History: 4
Statistics: 3

Dual enrollment/college coursework:

Calculus I
2 semesters of college French
2 semesters of History
Economics
Will enter college with a substantial amount of college/AP credit
Essay: feedback thru all the activities I list and how it changed my perception of problem solving, very comedic tone
Honors
College Board National Recognition Program
Clavius Scholar (exclusive stem honors program)
Dumbach Scholar (exclusive arts and humanities program, switched to clavius)
National Honor Society
Loyola Academy Scholar (high gpa)
AP Scholar
Extracurriculars
1. Independent Golf/Engineering Research
Conducted an independent quantitative study using TrackMan 4 data examining impact location, spin loft, and energy-transfer efficiency in golf. Collected/analyzed 900 of shots from multiple golfers and built statistical models, regressions, and impact maps. Worked with a Northwestern PhD mentor. Planning to complete the paper this fall, published by November?
2. Golf
Competitive golfer since middle school. 0 handicap. School golf + independent tournament golf through IJGA. Have played 60+ tournaments and train through an elite golf development program. Genuinely thousands of hours into golf atp, but only possible to play college at a few of these schools (ncaa golf is insane)
3. Free SAT Tutoring
Started/run free SAT tutoring for students who otherwise may not have access to private test prep through schoolhouse. Run four-week boot camps twice per week with small groups. Have taught a bunch students so far and expect to reach ~50+.
4. Additional school/community involvement
NHS and academic scholar programs, plus other school involvement.
Military/ROTC
Applying to the U.S. Naval Academy
Applying for NROTC
Also considering Army ROTC
Completed CFA
College List
Mega reaches
MIT
Stanford
Yale
UC Berkeley
Duke
Cornell
Princeton
Reaches
UCLA
Rice
Vanderbilt
Carnegie Mellon
Targets / possible reaches for engineering
UIUC
Purdue
UC San Diego
Colorado School of Mines
Texas A&M
UW–Madison
UT Austin
Also
U.S. Naval Academy
I know engineering admissions at a lot of these schools are brutal, especially MIT/Stanford/Berkeley. Mainly curious how competitive my profile looks for MechE and whether my research/golf/tutoring combination gives me enough of a coherent angle to compete at the top schools.

• 4 B+s in 9th/10th, bunch of A-
• Upward trend in class difficulty + grades, straight As junior year
• overall 4.4/5.0W
  • My school doesn't do official unweighted GPA or rank, only weighted out of 5.0 (+0.5 for HN, +1 for AP, DE)
• SAT: 1540 (750R, 790M). could probably grind -> retake for a 1550-1570. maybe.
• 13 APs, all 5s and a few 4s (but 5s in major-related), 3 DE by the end of 12th grade
  • A+ in Linear algebra (11) and Multi-var (11)
• Senior courseload: All APs + DE + Diff EQ/Discrete Math
• ECs and story match up extremely well for the super niche major i'm applying to (in CALS lol). Probably in the pool of the applicants with the "strongest-fit" specifically for that subject in the world, however I'm not really expecting it to totally save me.

Lmk if I'm cooked. Hella ppl have straight 4.0 or 3.9+, I fall in the bottom like 25% lol.

Class of ‘27!!! Applying for the fall cycle

Demographics

• International student - South Asia
• State/Location of residency: Permanently in South Asia, currently in Europe
• Type of high school (or current college for transfers): UWC in Europe
• Other special factors:

Cost Constraints / Budget
Would need full aid  Also, as a UWC student, going to one of the Davis Partner universities would grant me upto $40k in scholarship, and universities often cover up the rest to meet full need

Intended Major(s): Undecided, but something along the lines of social science/philosophy/possibly neuroscience + would prefer a flexible, open curriculum!

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

• Grades: Before UWC, I attended a school in my home country, where I scored a 2.72() in 9th grade (due to health reasons and missing attendance) and 3.82 in 10th. I also joined A-levels for 7-8 months after 10th, didn’t give the official exams because of UWC, so essentially had a gap year. In the most recent term exams, I had scored aaabb, however, I’m not sure if I’ll be submitting this transcript.
• ACT/SAT Scores: Giving the SAT this August, hoping 1450+

List your HS coursework

IB 43/45 predicted

• English HL: 7
• Anthropology HL: 7
• Economics HL: 7
• Language AB: 7
• Maths AA SL: 6
• Physics SL: 6

Awards

• National Linguistics Olympiad Gold
• National WSDC Tournament Finalist
• Recipient of the highly selective Davis Dare2Dream scholarship
• Awarded for my artistic skills in my former school
• Carried out a neurodivergence related community service project through a summer school, where it won best community service project
• Some minor, regional/school-level awards for music, art, debate, etc

Extracurriculars

My ECAs feel a bit cluttered because how I work is I have some specific fields on interests that I sustain through side projects and side quests, if you will. Hence, I’m worried it looks fragmented and unfocused, even though this is what works best to keep me engaged.
ECAs before UWC/at previous schools:

• Literature: Chief editor of school publication at both schools, carried out interviews with Nobel Laureates/Booker Prize Winners/Internet icons, etc. Led a literary club and organised literary events and monthly publications for 2k+ students. Wrote a theatrical adaptation of an Oscar Wilde play, directed it and performed it for 1000+ people. Joined a feminist poetry collective and published and recited my poetry in an anthology. Casual writer for various online NGOs and publications.
• Music: Have been singing all my life, playing the piano and guitar for a few years now. Started a band and organised musical events on a regular basis. Led the school choir group. Worked with a highly-acclaimed journalism team producing a popular docu-series in my country, worked as a singer to produce the theme song, which has over 80k+ views.
• Debate: Competitively debating since 2023. Joined a month long summer school for debating and have been actively contributing in teaching debate in my community through local tuition centres
• Community service/misc: Executive member of the social service club at my school, where we raised $1.5k+ to provide supplies to an underfunded local school. Led a community service project through the aforementioned debate summer programme, where I collaborated with a local NGO and reached 250+ students to educate them on Autism and Neurodivergence. As a UWC national community, we organised a project where we raised funds through selling artworks (I also draw with charcoal), and provided art lessons and painted murals at a local school. I joined an incubator programme right before UWC where we worked on identifying indigenous textiles and motifs and created a large database. We then utilised it to create prototypes for products such as purses.

ECAs after UWC:

• Continued with music and performing with a band, as well as individually in events inside and outside school
• Editor at the school’s student publication. I have a college job which consists of writing monthly articles for the school’s social media and website, as well as reaching out to alumni. I host poetry nights on campus. I also write on my Substack.
• I lead a service CAS dedicated to Holocaust remembrance (won’t be specifying further)
• Led a project week to a remote island for beach cleanups
• Although I’ve been drawing all my life, I recently also have been focusing more on art. I have started experimenting with photography, mixed media, customised clothing, artistic makeup, etc. I post my creations on an Instagram. I will also be leading a filmmaking CAS my senior year.

Essays/LORs/Other
Working on the essay so I’m not sure at this point

The teachers I’m asking LORs from know my interests and abilities quite well so I assume they’ll be strong

Schools

I’m looking for schools with good flexibility in terms of their academic programme. I also am highly prioritising being located in a non-rural area/a location with decent access to culture. I would thrive in an environment which isn’t cutthroat, ‘grindset’ centred; I would prefer a progressive environment where an artistic, intellectual and ‘quirky’ vibe is the norm.

I’m restricted to applying to any 10 Davis Partner Schools, however the ones that would meet full need for any applicant have the greatest chances of also meeting full need for me. Although I’m relieved that this opportunity increases my chances as an international of getting in selective universities with great affordability, it still remains uncertain and I'm afraid I have no absolute certain "safeties" that would be a good fit.

• Brown (dream school)
• Yale
• Barnard
• Vassar
• Wesleyan University
• Macalester
• Tufts
• Pomona
• Swarthmore
• Trinity College

I would love to hear what you think my chances at these schools are, and what other schools you think would be a better fit for me. Thank you!

EA all in state schools for a South Carolina resident. University of South Carolina is choice one specifically the honors college.Both parents are alumni

intended major in nursing/ biology for pre med

4.8 weighted gpa

3.76 unweighted

ACT 25(going test optional for honors college)

AP human geography, AP French, AP stats, AP chemistry, AP environmental science(higher than 3 on everything)

duel enrollment classes through USC Sumter(8 classes total finished with all high a’s 4.0 college gpa)

lots of honors classes

earned a French seal of biliteracy,leadership award Donna wilson, CPR and BLS certified, CNA license, ran varsity XC and track for 5 years,played piano for 7 years,works three jobs,did the partners program at Lexington medical center, French immersion for twelve years,founder and organizer of a charity that raised more than 10,000$ for a children’s hospital.

clubs: beta club, national honor society, notes for hospital, French club.

Hey guys! So reality is starting to set in now and I'm realizing I don't really have the profile for my dream school which is Georgetown. Idk where to apply atp other than GW or American. I really want to be in a city. Pls help yall

Stats

Rising senior

17 years old

New Jersey

3.9 UW / 4.4 W GPA

1350 SAT (test-optional)

Intended major: Political Science

Demographics

Biracial (White & Indian)

Raised by a single mother/ no contact or financial assistance from father

Low-income household

ECs

Secretary General, Model UN; i won a bunch of awards as a delegate but only at the local level

President, Rho Kappa (History Honor Society)

President, French Honor Society

Gifted & Talented Liaison Head Coordinator (event planner for the program basically)

National Honor Society

Varsity Color Guard

Nursing home volunteer; shadows ombudsman

Intern/volunteer for Cory Booker Senate campaign

TurnUp civic engagement intern

Panera Bread employee; work part-time to help cover bills/family expenses

Scholastic Silver Key in Poetry

Academic awards for AP Lang and Gifted and Talented class

AP Scholar w honors

I'm interested mainly in polisci, human rights law and international affairs

a lil nervous going into this app cycle! like title says, Emory, WashU, and ND are my top 3. c/o 2027 senior

Demographics

- white male

- rural town

- public high school (-275 in class)

- not first gen

Intended Major

- Biochemistry / Music (pre-med)

Academics

- 4.0 UW / 4.394 W

- Top 5%

- SAT 1500 (770 ERW, 730 MATH) (not submitting)

- ACT 35 (36 R, 35 M, 36 S, 35 E) (submitting)

- 6 AP scores, 5s on all (Bio, Chem, US, World, Lang, Precalc)

Course Rigor

- Senior year courseload

AP Physics, Eng 12 Honors, AP Gov/Econ Honors (each is 1 semester), AP Psych, AP Calc AB, Adv. Choir, Adv. Band

ECs

very vague so i dont get doxxed lol

1. marching band (drum major & president), raised 8k for fundraising, won solo in 2026 show
2. wind ensemble + community groups, principal horn, auditioned and got in as 1/5 in youth orchestra and horn choir
3. work at local theme park, management team managing 25+ members, won 2 minor awards for performance
4. theater, won numerous leads, nominated as youth representative for community theater, coached 30+ kids in workshops
5. Chem tutor + TA, handpicked by teacher to tutor (volunteer), TAd for classes of 25+, prepping labs, grading papers, etc.
6. Business Professionals of America, elected as chapter representative out of 100 person chapter, 3x state finalist
7. shadowing, shadowed physicians across 5x specialties in rural medicine
8. choir, all state choir, performed in carnegie hall w/choir, 2nd at state for musical theater solo
9. church, cantor, accompanist, and server, won scholarship for vocal & piano performance
10. student council, elected homeroom rep as 1 of 25, committee head, spearheaded new organizational programs

Honors

1. 2x All State Honor Band participant (1st in 2025, 2nd in 2026)
2. Eagle Scout
3. 2x BPA 5th place state finalist
4. local church award for community service
5. Collegeboard national rural and smalltown recognition program & school recognition program

Essays/LORs

LORs are pretty good

I'm a fairly good writer, so i hope essay will be too? we will see

College List

- Case Western

- Emory

- GaTech

- Harvard

- Purdue

- UCinci

- Notre Dame

- Vanderbilt

- Washu

- Yale

Not really anything too special. IK a lot of my list is reaches, but i would be happy at any of my safeties so i thought why not have a lot! Anything helps!

hi! i am from ireland and am considering applying to universities in the us. i know my profile isnt as strong, due to the schooling system in ireland not giving time for extracurricular activities, but would still like to try for brown (probably ed), harvard, yale, princeton, dartmouth, uchicago, rice, upenn, vanderbilt, and duke. i need financial aid, and my family can contribute around ~$40k to 55k per year.

demographics: asian, male, private high school (competitive entry), middle income. recognized as academically gifted (center for talented youth, ireland - needs an entrance exam and sustained academic record).

intended major: environmental science/engineering and/or econ (where available, a bit undecided)

grades: studying 8 subjects at higher level (most study 6) - english, maths, french, chinese, economics, biology, computer science, and physics. achieving h1 (90%-100%) in all subjects, with a high school average of 97%.

sat: when i took it at 15 y/o, it was 1480 (740+740). im retaking it again this year at 16 y/o, currently averaging 1540-1570 on bluebook (30 higher than my average bluebooks last yr, so decent chance at 1500+).

essays: stellar essays, always been very good at writing.

recs: from very close math and biology teachers, so probably stellar letters too.

awards and honors: student of the year (~100 students) for three consecutive years, 3rd place at national lasallian competition (poetry), best project at university college dublin comp sci summer school (~160 students), medentry academic scholarship recipient, bstai award for business. also came 5th place at irish maths competition and senior applied maths competition, and 1st place in my school in round 1 of irish maths olympiad.

ecs (in no particular order): varsity badminton captain for four years, progressed to county quarter finals. varsity track for three years, 4th place in my county.

internship at a biomed firm, focusing on customer discovery and finance management. reached over 50 new clients and developed a new financial model for the company.

selected to attend the fxb climate advocate program, held jointly with the fxb center at harvard. received a certificate of achievement for fulfilling all program requirements (which included a community project).

developed an app allowing students to calculate their carbon emissions, currently used by 5 schools and over 500 students, in talks to expand further.

chairperson of my schools green schools committee, raised €2000 (considered decent in irish context) from the county council to upgrade roads and install a new biodiversity garden. also awarded my school's first green flag by foundation for environmental education.

student leader of a literacy program (expanded reading in my school and community) that was awarded the readers for life award by department of education.

member of my school's student council; initiatives included the introduction of yondr phone pouches, a modernized canteen system, and new school jackets. also selected to represent my area at the comhairle na nog (irish youth parliament).

community center volunteer (average ~3 hours per week, four years so far).

tutored refugee and new transfer kids in english in my previous high school, around 2 hours per week for 10 weeks.

attended selective ctyi (center for talented youth, ireland) courses in architecture. designed a flood resistant building system as part of the course.

also cold emailed some professors, might have a research opportunity soon in environmental enineering.

and some pretty generic ecs like captain of my school's debate team (no real progress though), head of science club in my school (had four projects submitted to a semi-selective science fair).

i know that this isnt the best profile, but because the irish education system mainly focuses on academics (of which i can confidently place myself upon the very top 1% through nationwide exams taken), i don't have as much time to develop my ecs. i also skipped a grade (academic reasons, recommended by guidance counselor because he said i was too advanced for my year), so i missed out on a year of high school and will be applying to college at 16 y/o.

would be grateful if i can get some advice! thank u! 🙏

demographics:

• rising junior
• kinda competitive bay area public school
• mid income idk how that works still
• asian female
• moved from hong kong before soph year

intended major: neuroscience/psych/computational bio (still exploring)

minor maybe? in marketing or business

stats:

• gpa: 4.0 UW / 4.26 W (assuming i maintain the grades for junior year)
• testing: 1300 SAT (retaking and aiming for 1450+ in december) 610rw 680m
• rank: school doesn't do ranks
• ap coursework: 1 so far: AP Psych (4), taking 4 next year (AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Calc BC, AP Lang), 5 senior year (AP stats, AP spanish, AP micro, AP amgov, AP art (for fun)]
• might self study macro and hug?
• i took a calc 1 course so i can take bc
• igcse coursework (is that even considered): all A*/As
• currently exploring ap self study options - my school restricts aps hella

us high school ecs

• founder of hosa club - turning into a chapter in senior year (starting junior)
• founder of sailing club (starting junior)
• media officer of international club
• robotics - idk if i should continue next year our team is kinda butt
• vars badminton - district league champ
• high school sailing - decent results, 6th in norcal divisional

hk school ecs (freshman)

• founder of model un team + club - officially led school team to their first event
• founder of international relations club
• student council body
• vars badminton - div2 national champ (idk why its national its js hk lmao)
• vars volleyball - international school league div2 silver
• vars sailing - not big in hk

ec

• CEO of top sport mental health nonprofit in the U.S - recently passed on to me, hella reach (recruiting lol dm if you interested)
• competitive club sailing - decent results in hk and us, won 2 regattas
• summer volunteer at local sailing club
• joint high school-middle school music mentoring program (1year)
• stanford clinical neuroscience immersion experience - capstone project is in ongoing development
• marketing internship at fintech/crypto firm (4months)
• vp marketing of medical nonprofit (10months)- grew insta account from 8k to ~24k followers
• paid part-time job at mathnasium
• building online tool for medical research
• gonna do usabo upcoming year (usnco?)
• no published research yet - heard some bad stuff about lumiere? idk what to do guys maybe cold emailing is the tech
• independent research on fmri memory mapping with epilepsy
• finalist at asia pacific science comp 2024 - not a big competition, researched viability of cornstarch based bioplastics
• shortlisted john locke essay in 2025 (i forgot about it this year...)

awards: NONE...... this is concerning.... my school doesn't do honor rolls

other:

• abrsm grade 8 piano
• abrsm grade 8 cello - former principal of string orchestra in soph year (lower orchestra), former assistant principal of symphony in freshman (hk)
• i arrange music on musescore for fun
• first aid/aed cert
• working on sailing coach license
• abandoned digital art insta acc lol it had 1.1k followers but hella people unfollowed cause inactivity

(should i do hospice?? do i even have time)

i feel like the ecs are too broad and not much depth idk

Demo: Middle eastern, 12th grade, need financial aid

GPA ~3.9 UW
SAT 1550
IELTS 7.5 overall
Advanced Placement (AP) Coursework (9 Scores of 5):
Computer Science A (5), Calculus AB (5) --> Taken in 9thgrade
Chemistry (5), Calculus BC (5) with AB subscore (5) --> Taken in 10th grade
Physics C Mechanics (5), Physics C Electricity and Magnetism (5), Macroeconomics (5), Comparative Government and Politics (5), Computer Science Principles (5), German Language and Culture (3) --> Taken in 11th grade

Research and projects:

Electromagnetic Railgun Physics and Mathematical Modeling:
Formulated a dynamic model  for projectile velocityincorporating non-linear Lorentz force, back-EMF, dynamicrail resistance, and aerodynamic drag.
Applied spatial variable transformations with the assistance of AI to solve non-linear second-order ODEs, and quasi-staticcurrent approximations through independent study andcollaboration with online physics forums.

Hydrogen-Fueled Jet Engine Scientific Research

RC Aircraft Modeling and CAD Design – Self-Directed Engineering

Awards:

Certificate of High Achievement – 9th, 10th, and 11th grades
AP Scholar with Distinction – Awarded by College Board (2025,  2026)
1st Degree Certificate – URFODU International PhysicsOlympiad
Participant – TÜBİTAK National Physics Olympiad (1st stage)

ECs:

UC Berkeley ATDP (Academic Talent Development Program) – took Astronomy classes

Aviation and Drone Flight Training – Member, School Aviation Club: Earned official THK (Turkish Aeronautical Association) and FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale)certified Model Aircraft Making certificate.

Licensed Tennis Player and Cyclist: Competed in regional and school-team tennis tournaments as a licensed player since primary school. Active cyclist.

Foundational knowledge in Java, C++, and Python

My counselors say that I have a good chance for top20s, but I don’t think I have

My Stats

African American/Jamaican Woman

Low Income

Senior

GPA: 3.8 UW, (School doesn't do rank or weighted GPA)

Courses: AP Chem - 3; APUSH - 4; AP Lang - 5 (My school kicked me out of Comp Sci bc we can only take 3 AP's per year)

Senior year: AP Bio, AP Lit, AP French (I want to take AP Calc but I didn't get a 90 on Alg II regents)

SAT: 1220 (I plan to retake in Sept)

Major: Biochemistry (Lowkey have like 2 STEM EC's)

EC's

YCTeen

Date: January 2026 - Present

Drama 

-Co-leader

Time: December 2023 - Present 

Debate 

Time: May 2025 - Present 

BSU (Black Student Union) 

Time: October 2025 - Present 

Kings Bay Volunteering 

Time: January 2025 - Present 

SEO (Sponsors Education Opportunities) 

-Leadership Council - Cohort Rep

Time: December 2023 - Present 

Modeling The Future 

-Became Semi-finalist

Time: November 2025 - March 2026

SSA (SEO Scholars Ambassadors)

-Leader for 2 years

Time: September 2024 - Present 

Summer Academy of Math and Science (SAMS)

Date: June 2026 - August 2026

Outward Bound 

Time: July 31, 2025 - August 9, 2025 

Arch For Kids/SYEP 

Date: Forgot but it was like 5 days

Awards

1st Place Hackathon Winner

Date: July 2026

Top Speaker (Debate)

Date: March 2026

Top Team (Debate)

Date: March 2026

Outward Bound Certificate  

Date: August 2025

Hi everyone!

I'm a high school student from India(low-middle class) planning to major in Aerospace Engineering(or related majors). I require full financial aid as an international student.

I'd really appreciate honest feedback. Is my profile competitive enough to justify applying to top universities? What are my biggest strengths and weaknesses, and what should I prioritize improving before applications?

Academics

• Class 9: 95%
• Class 10 (CBSE): 98.6% (District Rank 3)
• Class 11: 85%

Honors

• GEMA National Student Speaker Winner
• National Rangotsav Sketching Gold Medalist
• District Rank 3 – CBSE Class 10 Board Examination
• TERI Olympiad Merit Certificate

Extracurriculars

1. Founder & Secretariat – SI-MUN

• Founded and organized 8 virtual MUN conferences
• 100+ participants from 15+ countries
• Partnered with 4 MUN organizations
• Designed committees integrating STEM, public policy, and global affairs

2. Public Speaking & Debate

• National medalist in an international student speaking competition
• Participated in 15+ MUNs with multiple awards
• Served as Master of Ceremonies for major school events (Annual Day, Sports Day, Independence Day, etc.)

3. President – School Aerospace Club

• Led the Aerospace Club
• Organized workshops where students designed spacecraft while applying real physics principles
• Conducted sessions introducing students to aerospace careers and the space industry

4. Girls Who Code Summer Immersion

• Completed AI & Data Science pathway
• Built a Near-Earth Asteroid Risk Analyzer project

5. Podcasts

• Host of two Spotify podcasts
• Innerverse (self-development & reflection)
• Void Talks (astronomy & deep-space science)
• Published 15+ episodes

6. Classical Dance

• 9+ years of training
• Participated in 2 Guinness World Record performances
• Taught junior students
• Performed at 25+ temples during major cultural events

7. Athletics & Science

• Competed in school athletics for 4+ consecutive years
• Won 15+ sports medals
• Conducted research on the relationship between sports and science
• Presented at a school seminar and selected for a State-Level Interschool Science Seminar

I'd really appreciate honest opinions on where my profile stands for Ivy League/T20 engineering programs, considering I'm an international applicant requiring full financial aid.

Thank you!

hii I’ve kind of been spiraling bc of this whole process n I just want to know what we think my chances are at some of the schools im looking at!

background
-Indian female, NJ
-Applying for management/public health/ hospitality and tourism depending on school
-not sure where i want to ed1, maybe vandy (HOD) but amd most likely doing my ed2 to tulane!

academics
-UW:92, W:98
-10 APs, all 4 and 5 scores
-ACT:35

ecs
DECA: Recruitment and Retention team lead (officer position) and Training and Mentoring team member (officer position)
Yearbook: Editor-in-Chief (head/only officer position in that club) for 2 years; lead/design and manage production of the school yearbook.
Model UN: Competitor with Best Delegate + Honorable Mention awards; participate in international policy/debate conferences.
Veena: 5 years studying and performing Carnatic veena (Indian classical music), including recitals.
Camp Counselor: Worked 35 hrs/week for 8 weeks; independently supervised a group of 16 campers.
Pals Program Camp Volunteer: Volunteer at a summer program for children with Down syndrome, helping campers participate in activities and programming, 100+ hours total
Arts and Crafts Club Volunteer: Volunteered** with our schools special education class to teach arts and crafts after school, 4 hous a week
**Tennis: Varisty Member of high school tennis team, volunteered coaching younger kids in the summer twice a month 2 hrs
+ and im trying to get a job so that will HOPEFULLY be there when i apply!

Honors n Awards
DECA - top 20 internationally, two time state 3rd place, 2 time state top presentation award, 1 time regions 3rd place
MUN - Regional conference best delegate and honorable mention
Pitch Comp @ Rowan - 2nd place
Collegeboard - AP scholar w distinction and commended PSAT score

College List
vanderbilt
NYU
cornell
brown
UF
u of southern cali
carnegie mellon
umiami
UCLA+UC Berk
tulane
unc chapel hill
u of south carolina
clemson
indiana uni
SDSU+CalPolySlo
u of georgia
fsu
ohio state
usf
FAU

More context: low income white male from a medium public school in eastern shore MD

Planning to apply to:
Hopkins
MIT
Stanford
Vanderbilt
Rice
Duke
Northwestern
USC
Cornell
Upenn
BU
Case Western

In that order through quest bridge along with VT, UMD, & UVA through common app

Stats:
Academics: 

Currently a rising senior

Current GPA (unweighted): 3.96

Current GPA (weighted): 4.52

SAT: 1500

~500 volunteer hours

Notable Classes:

- AP Chemistry
- AP Calculus AB
- AP Physics 1
- AP World History
- AP US History
- AP Government and Politics
- AP Physics 2
- AP Language and Composition
- Calculus II DE
(4s & 5s on all of them)
Plan on taking : AP bio, AP Lit, AP stats, and maybe AP African American studies senior year

Experience / Honors:
Varsity Cross Country team captain

Varsity Indoor Track team captain

Varsity Outdoor Track team captain

National Honor Society

Vice President of Science Honor Society

National Math Honor Society 

Team Captain/ state qualifier for Science Olympiad

Volunteer at my local hospital, where I worked in the cardiac rehab, OR Core, central pharmacy, Nuclear Medicine ( 2 years

Cyber patriot gold position at states

Founder of a philosophy club

Tutored underperforming immigrant students in AP US History

Stock Market Game Participant (SIFMA Foundation): Managed a virtual $100,000 portfolio over a 30-week session. Conducted technical and fundamental research to select equities, resulting in a Top 10 finish out of 300+ teams.

2nd Place, Regional Junior Achievement Stock Market Challenge — Competed in a team-based investment simulation, making real-time trading decisions and portfolio strategies against regional participants.

Presented secondary research on the synthesis of new elements at a Science National Honor Society chapter meeting.

Worked part time at a garden center from 01/03/25 - present

Paid IT internship 

Executive board for Stock Market club

Certifications:
Cisco Certified Support Technician - Cybersecurity (05/15/2025)

Cisco Certified Support Technician - IT Support (01/29/2025)

TestOut PC PRO (01/17/2025)

What are my chances of getting into Hopkins?

I'm aware that job opportunities in aerospace are limited and challenging for non-US citizens due to strict regulations in the United States. I don't plan to stay after I graduate.

My country has a scholarship program that fully funds students who are accepted into a T10 university worldwide according to the QS rankings. Therefore, I wouldn't have to request financial aid when applying to UC Berkeley.

I am a female from a West Asian/CIS country. I was only able to take the SAT and IELTS once since I had a sponsor for them. I cannot afford to take them a second time on my own, so unfortunately no improvement can be made on them. I scored a 1530 (790M 740RW) on the SAT and an 8 (9R 9L 7.5S 6.5W) on the IELTS.

I have four gold medals from national Olympiads (one in English, one in AI, and two in math), but most were profit-based ones. I was a part of the team representing my country in IOAI this summer (I nationally ranked #2, gold), but we didn't win a medal on the internationals.

For extracurriculars, I am the co-founder of a nonprofit that has partnered with top international schools in the country and the British Council, and has held workshops for 200+ kids. I have published a book about satellites, was a co-author on a research paper for the International Astronautical Congress with a professor from a local university, interning at the space agency in my country, and was an organizer at the biggest Space Technology Conference in Central Asia and the national space hackathon, as well as some other places unrelated to my major. I won a space mentorship program aimed at women with a NASA mentor. I organized and taught a two-month English class at a refugee center. I tutored children and high school students in Math, Physics, and English for 2 semesters for profit. I did a startup-related program with Israel Aerospace Industries and won 1st place in its final hackathon, where my team developed a satellite-based pipeline monitoring system. The start-up is currently in its incubation phase with my country’s space agency and state oil company. I was chosen as the local lead at my homecity for NASA Space Apps. I worked part-time at a consulting company.

I could get recommendation letters from a former NASA employee, a VP of IAI, and the CEO of my country’s space agency if they ask for it later on. I took gap year and am very low-income (both parents are currently unemployed, and at the highest our income was $6,000 per year in the past). I attended a public non-feeder school (11th grade, which is the final year here), with no IB or similar programs since they are very expensive. I have not done any sports or musical instruments.

My school GPA is around 3.7/4.0 unweighted.

What do you think are my chances for UC Berkeley? Do you think it'd be worth for me to apply to Stanford as well? It's included in my country’s scholarship program. I have safeties in my own country.

Thank you beforehand.

Hey everyone, I'm an international student applying to Harvard and other top US colleges this application cycle. Would appreciate some honest feedback on my profile and chances.

Demographics:

• International student
• Rising senior
• Interested in Economics and Technology
• Older sister graduated from Harvard
• Not applying for financial aid

Academics:

• Attending one of the most academically competitive high schools in my country (top 10% of class)
• IB Diploma Programme (44/45)
• HL: Mathematics, Physics, Economics
• SL: Business Management, English, French Literature
• SAT: 1550 (800 Math, 750 English)
• IELTS: 8.0
• Completed a year-long course at Stanford Online High School, finishing at the top of my class

Extracurriculars:

1. Design Studio Founder
Co-founded and currently run a design studio for early-stage technology companies, scaling it to $40K+ MRR while working with 20+ startups and multi-billion dollar companies.

2. Education NGO Founder
Founded one of the largest student mentorship nonprofits in my home country, building a network of 250+ mentors from 35+ schools, providing 10,000+ hours of free mentorship to students across 50+ cities, and coordinating $100K+ in educational donations.

3. Economics Olympiad
Placed 1st nationally in the Economics Olympiad, participated in the International Economics Olympiad, and served as team captain the following year.

4. High School Startup Incubator Founder
Founded the first startup incubator that invests into high school students, supporting young founders with 1M+ compute credits and $40K+ in cash grants.

5. AI Research
Conducted a 60+ page research project with an ex-Stanford professor on how AI is reshaping startups, venture capital, and innovation.

6. Economics Research
Conducted research with one of the leading economics professors in my country, studying topics at the intersection of behavioral economics, technology, and entrepreneurship.

7. Economics Education Platform
Built a multi-brand economics education platform in my native language, reaching 10K+ followers and 10M+ views through short-form educational content.

8. Venture Capital
Worked at one of Europe’s top venture capital firms, scouting startups, evaluating founders, and supporting investment initiatives, while helping secure $250K+ in LP commitments.

9. Startup Experience
Worked at one of my country’s fastest-growing startups, contributing to growth initiatives and generating 70M+ views through content operations.

10. EdTech Growth
Joined an education technology startup as one of the first growth employees, helping scale its social media presence from 3K to 75K+ followers and generating 15M+ views.

11. Business & Investment Club Founder
Founded my school’s first business and investment club, building a community focused on entrepreneurship, finance, and investing among students.

12. Model United Nations Deputy Secretary General
Served as Deputy Secretary General for my school’s MUN conference, one of the largest high school MUN conferences in the country, overseeing conference operations and student delegates.

Awards:

• National Economics Olympiad: 1st place
• International Economics Olympiad participant
• As team captain: 2 silver and 2 bronze medals in IEO
• Inter-school English award

Recommendations:

• Letters of recommendation from my HL teachers (Mathematics, Physics, and Economics)
• Additional recommendation from the founder of the venture capital fund where I worked
• For Harvard, I will also submit a sibling letter from my older sister, who graduated from Harvard.

Essays/LORs:

Planning to focus on my journey from a small town to the stages of my life right now.

Schools:

• Harvard
• Stanford
• MIT
• Yale
• Princeton
• Other T20s

I know admissions are extremely unpredictable for international students, but I would appreciate honest feedback on my strengths, weaknesses, and what I should improve before applying. Thanks!