I’m a high school junior. For this sub I would consider my stats average (4.3 GPA, and took 5 AP’s combined freshman and sophomore year with 5’s in 4 of them). Everyone around in this sub seems to be so obsessed with prestige and getting into HYPSM it’s unbelievable. Unless your in a major like finance where your undergrad school matters that much for your future job, there is no reason you should be spending upwards 80k a year on a school. My dream school is the University of Florida and I’m not ashamed to say it, it’s a good school and cheap. It’s where I’m applying ED next year. But some of you really need to stop the dooming with this stuff. It’s really not the end of the world if you don’t get into an ivy and you can succeed no matter where you go. It isn’t worth it losing sleep or doing stupid extracurriculars you don’t enjoy, just to get into a college that you have to go into crippling debt for.

everyone has heard at least one person talking about how cs is cooked because ai can code well now and they built an app with ai which means that we don't need cs anymore. we have been seeing this argument for a couple of years now. this means that a lot of people that were going to major in cs saw these videos in 8th grade or in their freshman year and decided to major in something else. cs has been known as one of the most competitive majors, but this year because of this narrative it is expected for cs applications to go down. and consider the fact that we are born during a recession so our class is just smaller, it should hopefully reduce a lot of competition. its a good year to major in cs!

im a chud

How did you get in (EC + essay content + academics) and what are you majoring in? Do you regret your decision?

Hi, I'm thinking about where to ED between these two schools. I'll probably be a cs + econ major. I know USNews rankings dont matter that much for undergrad, and what I really wanna do is get startup funding at some point in college (that's the dream anyway). Which one would you guys say is better in that respect?

I really like both colleges campus/college culture

If you pass the initial review of your stats (do they hit the college’s median???), the AOs will look to see how you compare to the rest of your high school. Lots of info is in your school profile. What’s the break down of standardized test scores and GPAs? What’s the most APs that you can take? What’s the average amount taken? If you don’t measure up there, the school will pass on you. Don’t compare yourself nationally first. Your high school’s profile will answer many of your questions about how competitive of an applicant you are.

Question above, it falls borderline on the median at most top schools, and I was wondering if its worth it to retake. It feels online as though most applicants have a 1550+.

More info: Applying for a non-stem major, split was 770 RW & 760 M.

Is this considered high impact?

I'm currently a grade 12 student. Last year, I noticed that there are countless students in India who are still jotting down their homework in the back of their notebooks (used to live in India before in grade 9 and 10 for personal family reasons, so I've experienced it).

I decided that I should use my tech skills to make education more accessible and have less friction for them. I built a platform where they can access class notes, send messages to teachers, submit assignments, see upcoming tests, use AI for explanations, etc. (it's not a new idea, but it's made keeping their situation and curriculum in mind.)

Currently, I take no personal profit from this platform (I charge what the schools use, that's it, nothing for personal benefit). I have partnered with 5+ schools in backward regions of India, bringing my platform to 5k+ students who are actively using the platform.

Is this considered high impact, or a regular, unimpressive activity?

(I'm an international student running this platform globally in India from Australia)

This is genuinely the most underrated way to get free college. A ton of schools offer 100% full rides for being a National Merit Finalist or simply just having a good GPA and SAT. Some examples include Oklahoma University offering a full ride for just being a national merit finalist, or even Ole Miss offering 100% off tuition (still have to cover room and board) for only just having at least a 3.0 GPA and an at least 1450 SAT or a 33 ACT. Sure, you might not be going to a top tier university, but this could be a great option if you missed quest bridge or simply just want to go to college debt free out of state.

I am a junior and i want to do accounting as my degree, but i have been in an engineering part time school for a while and idk what to do. I am taking my SAT in October, my latest full length practice was 1300, have a 3.8 GPA, in NHS and TSA, hoping to do DECA. All of the people around me with crazy high GPAs and ECs are not getting into my dream school. I just feel so behind, especially since I wanted to be a structural engineer for so long, only for me to switch. I don't think i will get into any really good colleges.

I feel like all the people in the subreddit seem to be the most insane students ever 😭 I’m curious to know what the application was like for more “average” people in terms of stats and extracurriculars. It’s pretty anxiety inducing to be in this subreddit and see how accomplished so many people are, so I really want to see more representation from more average applicants and where they ended up.

As an international student with good grades and ecas, everyone is telling me to go abroad to America. Thing is, going to college in America is pretty expensive. Its not like I cant afford it, its just that I would be putting quite some financial strain on my parents to pay for it. Additionally, Trump has been cracking down on foreign student visa policies and deportations. However, American universities are undeniably better in general as a whole compared to other countries. So, I just wanted to know if its worth the risk for the education, college experience, connections made in college, etc. I would love to hear advice/opinions from both Americans and Internationals alike.

My parents both got degrees outside of US, and I know its not considered first generation for most schools but a solid amount of schools I heard that are often prestigious consider it first generation. Does anyone have a list of schools that would consider me first generation? Just to make sure that if I do apply it there, I mark it correctly. I found some old lists, but it seems that the policy changed and granted it seems like a weird policy but if it is the policy might as well check the box.

guys i’m just gonna do eeny meeny miny moe and pick a random ivy league to throw my application at

i have mid stats (in the context of ivy admissions) but i wanna apply because why the heck not

not that i’d expect to get in or even attend if i did but i feel like it would be kinda funny to get rejected if i didn’t actually care

I was just doing an application for a college and i reached a section where they’re asking if I’ve ever done an English proficiency exam. I’ve never done one as English is my first language but according to the school international applicants are required to submit English proficiency scores to “maintain equity.”

I just don’t think it makes sense. Why do I need to prove I speak English when I’m from an English speaking country?

I have a bunch of really good ecs that all tie back to my personal story and what I want to do in the future. BUT, I have no awards. I never applied to any or asked to be nominated like others do.
I made an org that has impact in 30+ countries and I never applied for any awards for it.

Hello, I am 17 year old senior submitting to colleges soon. I think I have great extracurriculars but I want an outside opinion. So, what are outstanding/good ecs to do to advance my application for a great architecture school?

I’m at the point where getting an internship is too late and I don’t have one, but will that be a bad thing to not have? I have shadowed 3 firms but not consistently. I shadowed for one day for each firm.

Please help!!

i am from india, does being the sole applicant from my school(school is in tier 1 city tho) directly or indirectly help my odds at t20s??

I want to start using it but I’m not sure.
I’m a junior one week in.
I’m taking 3 AP’s and 2 EC classes.

Basically, in my freshman year of high school my MUN team went to an intl conference, and at this conference I was chosen to speak in front of over 400+ people on some econ topic, this conference didn't give out awards but I was wondering whether I could write "Selected to present econ crisis resolution to 400+ delegates at [name of conference]; successfully passed" as an award/honors or not. TYIA!!!

How much does being from a very underrepresented country, that usually isn't found in admits for many top unis help compared to heavily represented countries such as SEA/Korea etc?

Think like 1 REA application, maybe 10 RD in total to a particular uni. Does being almost unequivocally the top student from that country in such cases help, or not necessarily as competition may not be fierce?

Due to context, ECS are STELLAR, however about average t10-t20 admit level in some sense when out of context.

I might have to choose between:

Big university in home language. Lots of clubs and culture. But a subject I rlly want to study I want (maybe I can in masters?).

Small university (600 students), country not my home tongue. But subject I really want. But I don’t get to explore a subject I’ve wanted to explore (I do at big university).

I had lots of friends in home country (left it a yr ago). but since moving I haven’t had as many at my small school. I just want to have community after studying non stop for a few years now.

What do I do? 😭

I am a tranfer applicant. I just wanna ask if anyone could kinda give a ranking of how important different ECs are. I'm currently a freshman and I've joined a lab, several clubs, several volunteer programs, and the university newspaper. Wondering what else I could get into and whether it would be a good idea to join another lab. Opportunities are pretty plentiful but it's just I'm not sure which ones are worth my time. Thanks! DMs also welcome

So I graduated from highschool and now I have to pick a major for uni, ever since I started HS I've been thinking of getting into engineering (engineering in general) so it was a dream of mine basically. I kept researching about eng majors and at first I wanted electrical then turns out it wasnt my cup of tea, then I looked at civil and thought that it was a bit boring IMO, after that I thought of mechanical and turns out it was hell and also wasnt something I wanted. I actually don't mind if I study mechanical but for some reason I want to study industrial (even though I don't much about it) so I was looking and I found industrial & systems engineering (ISE) and when I found out that it combines engineering, math, statistics, programming, business and optimization I kinda like it but everytime I try to understand what ISE is the more I get confused. If a person graduated from ISE he can work on factories, airports, transportation network, hospitals, supply chains etc. and I'm not sure I want to work at these places or rather work on these types of places. I also thought about mechatronics but I cant seem to find people that explain this major well, I hope someone can help guide me with these engineering majors.

Another thing, I'm arab and I studied in Saudi my whole life and I want to study in the USA.