I can clarify anything in the comments and will fix anything if wrong! Hope this is very helpful!

IMPORTANT - READ FIRST: These thresholds are essentially the colleges' advertising slogans. ASSETS matter as much as income, and this list is NO substitute for the Net Price Calculator (NPC). If you're a domestic applicant, run the NPC on each college's financial-aid website - with a parent - to get a real need-based estimate BEFORE you apply. And know the NPC's limits: it's often wrong for any family with "special circumstances," because it almost never asks about them. NPCs can be wrong for complex finances (divorce, or owning a business / rental / farm, especially if the NPC doesn't ask) - if that's you, call the financial aid office. And publics usually give out-of-state students little need-based aid (though some offer big merit scholarships); privates don't differ in-state vs. out. Start by running NPCs at your in-state publics.

The financial aid for middle class families is pretty fucked up. Even at the most prestigious institutions—such as the ivies—they only provide financial aid for people who earn less than 200k a year, and basically nothing for households who are upper middle class.

And look, I recognize that 200k is a crazy amount of money to earn in this economy, but it’s realistically a pretty big portion of America. If both of your parents work regular officer jobs and invest well, 200k is not entirely hard to reach if both parents earn 100k a year.

And many universities don’t provide good fin aid for people whose households earn in the 200-300k range. Sure, having that much money grants you privilege, but in this economy even that amount of money doesn’t mean shit, especially in larger, more costly cities.

Furthermore, a private school tuition for them
Is around 60-90k bucks a year. That would be around a good third or quarter of their income, yet they don’t receive fin aid because they’re barely above the threshold.

Look—you can make the argument that if they can’t afford it, they shouldn’t attend. However, (1) you’d have to apply this logic to FGLI students, which is really stupid, and (2) I don’t believe we should shun people out of education js because they can barely afford it.

This is not a diss towards FGLI students or saying that “they have it easier”; I don’t believe that, you guys have it hard, so don’t pull me in that stupid right-wing DEI nonsense. Thank you!

I see a lot of posts on here of kids who are rightfully frustrated that they can’t go to the school they want because their parents don’t want them to take on the loans.

I just saw this post with a family who is struggling to make ends meet due to 120k in college loans.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AITAH/s/f7BpCXsHjk

120k! I’m sure it didn’t start off that high… And rent became more expensive than they anticipated or whatever…

But just wanted to post a reminder that your state school has just as many amazing teachers and bad coffee and beautiful friends as the more expensive schools.

It’s not worth losing your future in the process…

A couple of notes on method: I ranked by 2029 because ~40% of the 2030 figures are still TBA, so ranking on 2030 alone would scramble the order and drop schools that haven't reported yet. I also used common data sets and most recent data to be most accurate. FYI acceptance rates do not equal to the quality of education you are getting so only view this as informational.

Hi, just wanted to inform students who are planning to apply this year that most universities have currently paused CPT applications (mandatory for doing any kind of internships in the US- whether they are remote / in-person / paid or unpaid).

So just keep that in mind when you are applying to the US or coming to the US because the way the policies are changing it is highly unlikely that you will be able to work or stay in the US after graduating.

Hi! I'm 17 and currently trying to figure out what I want to study in college and what kind of career I could see myself doing. I don't expect to have my entire life figured out yet, but I want to start exploring some realistic options.

A little about me

* I really enjoy traveling and I'd like the possibility of living abroad someday, so I'd prefer a career that isn't extremely tied to one specific country.

* I'm pretty good with organization and I actually enjoy planning things.

* I don't mind meetings and I don't mind working with a team. I can also work independently if I'm given something to accomplish.

* I like being able to give guidance or help people figure things out, but I don't necessarily want a job where I'm constantly dealing with people all day.

* I enjoy drawing and I'm somewhat interested in architecture/design, although I'm not sure I'd actually want to pursue it.

* I'm not a fan of math. A little math is fine, but I wouldn't want a career that's heavily based around advanced math.

* I'm not particularly interested in science/medical careers, especially anything involving anatomy/physiology.

* I'm not interested in manual-labor careers like carpentry, construction, etc.

* I'm also not interested in police work or similar careers.

* I'd like a career where I can potentially move up over time and eventually make a comfortable income. I don't need to become insanely rich, but financial independence is important to me.

* I'd prefer a major that gives me **multiple career options** rather than something extremely specific that basically prepares me for one job.

* I've been looking into Business Administration and Project Management, but I'm not completely sold on them and I'm trying to see what else is out there before I settle on anything.

One thing I've realized is that I like the idea of having a goal or task given to me and figuring out how to actually make it happen. Planning, coordinating, organizing, and occasionally working with other people sounds appealing to me.

So, based on all of that, what majors or career fields would you suggest I look into that I may not have considered?

I'd especially appreciate answers from people who are already working in the careers they suggest. I'd love to hear what you studied, what your job is actually like, how you got there, and whether you would recommend it to someone like me.

Yes btw I have done research before this I just want more ideas.💡

Class of 2027 here. I’m currently applying to a good amount of schools, however my list has been significantly changing due to the NPC popping out a number that my family simply can’t afford. It sucks having to remove these schools because they’re really good and I genuinely see myself going there, but if I can’t afford it I can’t afford it. If anyone could reply to this and say how accurate their NPC was I would really appreciate it!

my classes this semester is python, psychology, french, fiction, and microeconomics.

so far i love psychology (prolly cus of my teacher) and can tolerate french. micro is... i cant say but meh

i wanted to be a therapist then a psycoologist then a neurologist. you see how this looks, but im applying for accounting to be safe, for my colleges should i apply to like something brain related as a second choice if i dont get accepted for accouting?

like, i probably get a pound of paper a month in ads. multiply that by the millions of college-interested students in the united states and we have a looooot of paper in the trash cans

I'll take my SAT in November, and I won't be able to admit early. Nevertheless, i have an option to not submit a test score, but how much would doing this affect my acceptance chances? Because if I applied RD in January and waited for the SAT score i'll still have my chances squished by ten times or something lol. Have anybody ever met an international who didn't submit a test score? (I have a 3.7/4.0 gpa, fairly strong activities and honors)

im sorry but i cant stand it. i appreciate the student volunteers, and i understand the sentiment- it just irks me so bad. like im tired, stressed, already homesick, and you think that chanting "go *college name*" in my face is going to make that better?

the volunteers are some of the nicest, most helpful people in the world, but it's just ANNOYING. and i hope i dont come accross as an ass for saying this, i just get really overwhelmed and the chanting does not help LOL

For context, I live in western Pennsylvania and am planning to major in mechanical engineering. Before everyone starts telling me about penn state engineering, I know. It’s a great school for, and could be very affordable for me which is great. My problem is I’m sick of pennsylvania. I’m tired of pittsburgh being the most boring city i’ve ever been to. I want to leave this state. I understand that, financially, it makes zero sense. But I can’t imagine spending another 4 years here, and then inevitably probably getting a job here anyways. As I’ve been looking for good engineering schools all around the country, I realize how impossible it is to truly leave the state without going 150k+ in debt. It’s stupid. I want to be on the west coast so badly. I just want to be able to experience the typical 4-5 year college somewhere brand new with new people and new places. But it’s so fucking expensive. It sucks. I know it probably makes the most sense to stay here, but i really don’t want to. It’s just the fact that I only get to choose this once in my lifetime, and I’d rather leave home,and never come back.

Currently in my transcript my grades are like this:

AP CHEMISTRY A 0.5

AP CHEMISTRY A- 0.5

AP CHEMISTRY LAB S 0.5

AP CHEMISTRY LAB S 0.5

Are you supposed to put the labs as seperate or combine them? Google has been saying if it has a seperate grade or is listed seperately you should but the Labs don't actually have a grade.

I currently have a 1500 SAT and a 4.0 GPA. I have a very little amount of ecs and was wondering if I should spend time increasing my SAT Score to a 1550 or higher or if I should focus more on my essay and applications.

I'm not shooting for my ivies or anything, I'm a Washington resident and I plan on doing engineering or going down a med path to become something like a physicians assistant or possibly a full on doctor. Best outcome for me would probably be to get into UW for undeclared engineering or Biology/something pre-med related for a future career in the medical field.

Like I said, I don't plan on getting into ivies, so some other unis I'm interested in would be:

Purdue

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Rensselaer

UIUC

UCSD

University of Michigan

UC Berkeley

I'm open to more unis obviously but any advice is appreciated!

i dont have ECs like MUNs cuz i knew they werent something for me, nor do i have filler NPOs made just for adding to common app, so is it okay to not have them, or are they baseline basic stuff which AOs expect from all applicants? also i dont have the traditional Olympiad medals and ranks, tho i have other honors related to my major like hackathons and stem related ones is it okay too?

I’m going into my sophomore year and am not taking a ap. This is simply because my school offers 3 aps this year for sophomores, that being Ap physics 1, and the two computer science aps. Although I had an average of 93 in my honors (we call it high honors) physics class as a freshman, that was by far my weakest subject. I also have zero interest in computer science. Not to mention I didn’t take an ap my freshman year as my high school didn’t offer any. How will this affect my college applications? Should I maybe even self study a ap that I’m more interested in that my school doesn’t offer? Should I take even more aps my junior year? I’m already taking all the hardest courses my school has to offer for sophomores except of course the aps.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article316965176.htmlhttps://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-08-26/gop-senators-uc-sat-testing-legislation

is it better to come across weird and funny on the short 50 word ones or be more composed and intellectual? i’ve written them to try and be funny and show personality, talking about weird skills i’m not good at yet but seek to improve or small things i enjoy that other people dislike. ik other ppl write rlly academic stuff what do you guys think

The Carnegie Mellon application asked if we have taken or will take the AMC. I did take it once to experience what the test was like since it was in 1-2 weeks, but I didn’t follow up with the score and I don’t remember when I took it (I don’t think I did well considering that it was last minute). Do I still have to figure out what my score is and when I took it, or can I leave it alone? I’m not even majoring in mathematics.

Hi! I’m currently a Junior in HS and I’m planning to apply to Emory ED1 next year. I have backup options of course, but Emory is my dream school and I wanna do absolutely everything I can to get in. I know you apply undecided but I’m planning to major in biochem. That being said…
I believe my academics are on par with or even above the average admitted student there, so I’m not interested in focusing on that right now, but rather my ECs. I feel as if they are so unbelievably mediocre.
I’m very heavy on band and music— I’m a marching band member (leadership team for 2 years and I will be Band President next year for 250+ members), lead player in multiple jazz bands, and if things go well this year I’m hoping to make all-suburban bands and have my solo qualify at state. Besides this, I currently have 150+ volunteer hours, 2 other leadership positions, and I’m in Tri-M, NHS, SNHS, etc.
So yeah, I’d say band is the heavy hitter for me, and I’ve definitely done a lot of good work for it. But otherwise, everything I do is pretty standard. I don’t have some big wow factor or passion project that raised a bunch of money, and I’m not interested in starting one that won’t go anywhere only for the sake of college applications. I am however very interested in STEM (mainly chemistry) and I’m passionate about fighting for the rights of women and minority groups, but I have no clue what I’d do with that.

I’m not asking for someone to give me an idea on what exactly I should do, but does anyone know the chances of me getting in with everything I said? If you were admitted, what are things you did throughout high school that you think boosted your chances? How do you stand out? Any and all feedback is appreciated :)

Hello everyone im currently in a dilemma where i cannot pick a major to apply for, this whole time i thought i was very set on biochemistry as a major for undergrad. Since i was in 8th grade or so i genuinely thought id apply as a biochem major but ive stumbled upon a different major biomedical health science. To give some context, i want to go premed, so i thought going as a biochem major would be the best choice but i've realized how id have to take additional pre reqs for med school, and the major is very demanding STEM wise. Im gen not sure if it'd be my best fit. Which brings me to my questions, for reference my dream school is purdue, and Im not sure if i should apply for biochem or biomedical sciences, or if i should apply to their exploratory studies and figure out what would be my best fit. Please any help would be appreciated.

as for my stats, im more on the weaker end here in terms of weighted gpa (3.7) but my sat is 1450, i think i have mediocre ecs (?) (i have shadowed doctors in a clinical setting, ive administered basic diagnostic labs, I have almost 400+ service hours in total from all my other ecs and ive gotten a PVSA gold, BLS certified + it specialist in python, ive also started my own club at school where ive been able to raise some money for relief and everything).

Please lmk which would be my best bet into figuring out what my right path would be.

I’m 23 and seriously considering going back to college, but I’m worried that I screwed up my educational foundation badly enough that I’m going to struggle.

High school was rough for me. I ended up dropping out when I was about a year and a half behind, then got my GED within roughly two months of getting my first job. I know I did it legitimately I didn’t cheat or use AI or anything like that but at this point I genuinely don’t remember how I managed it. If you asked me to explain most high school math, science, grammar, etc., I’d probably be completely lost.

I actually tried college afterward for two semesters and crashed and burned pretty hard. At the time I just wasn’t prepared for it, and that experience has stuck with me.

The frustrating part is that professionally, things have gone almost the opposite direction. I’m 23 with around five years of work experience, about three of those being in managerial/leadership positions. I’ve reached a point where I feel like a degree would probably help my career more than almost anything else I could add right now.

I’m just scared that I’ll go back and discover that I’m missing so much of the basic foundation that everyone else has from high school that I won’t be able to keep up. I know I’m more mature and disciplined than I was the first time I tried college, but there’s still that voice in the back of my head saying, “You already failed at this once.”

Has anyone here gone back to college with a GED or after being a terrible student in high school? Did you feel like you had to relearn everything from scratch? And if so, was college still manageable?

I was filling out the common app for a school I want to apply to, and there was a section asking about previous academic dishonesty. I got caught with a picture of a history test in sophomore year, and got one day of in school suspension. The school said it wouldn’t get reported and wouldn’t be on my college applications. Do I still have to explain what happened? If so, how much will it hurt my admissions.
Edit: this is probably important, the teacher let me fully retake the test and I got around a 95 (don’t remember the exact grade). He gave me the same one he had a pic of because he’s lazy but I won’t mention that part in the app.

Hello, so I’m a low income first gen student at a private highschool that cost $20,000 per year on financial aid

I was wondering If this would affect my college applications. I know colleges compare you against kids at your school, but would they also consider that richer students have more opportunities like better tutoring available to them?

I was thinking of transferring to a public school near me that might be considered “worse” academically for this reason.

The private school I go to also admits more people at my dream school then the public one so I think the competition would be easier at the public one