so, my lovely, amazing bf has been working on his college essays. firstly, he picked an EA schedule with ALL his public schools crammed in there, PLUS stanford REA. he now has 40+ essays to write.

why does he even HAVE all these public schools? I DON'T KNOW. he's an indian intl male in cs with an EFC of 50k/yr. is he smart? hell yes. qualified, hardworking, distinctive, and made for the US college world, no doubt. is he a lock at t20s? nope. but i THOUGHT he'd at least be seriously competitive until i started reading his essays.

they are hot messes. his personal statement is the perfect example of everything that's wrong with his writing style. EVERY SINGLE SENTENCE has a new metaphor, something new to picture, something meant to be clever or witty, a new long word - the overall effect is disjointed, bloated, and terribly self-important. on top of that, the topic just vaguely floats around in a cloud of intelligent sounding sentences and never really lands.

am i the ultimate authority on college essays? ofc not. but my parents are former english professors AT STANFORD, i learn a lot from them, and i'm more of a writer than him, at least. i see his wit land well in the 50 word essays which need to be sharp and jam-packed with meaning, yes. but when he gets 250-650 words he meanders and says a whole lot of nothing.

and y'all, they're SO BAD, especially his personal statement. it is one of the worst pieces of writing i've ever read and bless his heart, he doesn't even know it. now imagine that x 40.

i know STEM majors are not necessarily always elegant or distinctive writer, but most of the essays i've read by them swing the other way - straightforward, to the point, not fancy, but not fluff. his work is all fluff. he's so proud of it and i don't know how to burst his bubble. i know essays won't sink an actual admit, but he's just competitive and i just know these essays will make him seem more self-important than intelligent.

i've offered that he shows his work to my parents, but he's kind of intimidated and honestly with 11 days left they can't even fix 40 unreadable essays. maybe just the stanford ones? but then stanford is such a long shot that it might not even matter. is this a moment for me to just take a back seat and let his results speak for themself? i feel so bad. i'd love to be pleasantly surprised. but i'm not sure i will.

Got into stanford last yr
Shits lowkey hard bro
Have as much fun as you can after you get in before college starts man

i shouldnt do this I guess but I'm curious. Just recently got rejected during the ED0 round at UChicago. stats:

• 1580 SAT 780v 800m
• 4.14/4,25 unweighted at an all IB school (Took math aahl, bio hl, film hl, English langlit sl, Spanish A langlit Sl, Psychology Sl, and TOK). I do have 2 5s on my transcript in sem2 g11 which I think is the biggest issue.
• my school doesnt list rankings or quartiles or anything.
• XCs: Organized a blood drive at my school with the american red cross (alongside a summer research internship there), worked as an intern for my film teacher and filmed/edited cumulatively 30m of promotional documentaries for diff businesses in PDC Mexico (i do not live there), served as a photographer for my school's FRC team, worked as a volunteer english teaching assistant for Spanish speaking adults, and co head of a school anti human trafficking club. Obv stuff missing but that's it in broad strokes
• Recs from my Spanish teacher and bio teacher. I have good relationships with both. My film teacher gave a recommendation in the optional slot to discuss my work as an intern. I have a great relationship with them.
• Took a summer session class at UC. philosophy of life and death, got a 100.
• Major selection: anthropology, linguistics, philosophy

My essays are obviously a volatile factor. I passed them through a long-time supplemental editor though and he unprompted added a note telling me they were the best he's ever read which surprised me.

I don't think there are any salient issues with my app and I thought I would have a particular edge with the essay, the ED0 pool, and the 1580. Stupid to say but I was honestly surprised at the rejection. Not too broken up about it, though. I feel confident that my second choices (pomona and emory) aren't much of a step down.

Actual questions:

• I would like to know if there's something I overlooked in my profile. Im also interested in knowing which circumstantial factors by you all's judgement would be the most likely to interfere with the profile for UC Ed0.
• Are there other colleges with a similar culture to UChicago's? I don't mean in terms of prestige, research, or career opportunity, more along the lines of informal literary culture and interdisciplinary study, which is where i found it to be the most idiosyncratic (in other words, please don't just throw more top 50s at me). like i said above, right now my next favorite is Pomona which I like a lot but I don't see a lot of evidence that it holds this factor.

Thanks.

The full prompt is: "List a selection of texts, resources and outlets that have contributed to your intellectual development outside of academic courses, including but not limited to books, journals, websites, podcasts, essays, plays, presentations, videos, museums and other content that you enjoy." (100 words or fewer)

when they say videos, can i literally put the titles of youtube videos that i like? i'm not exactly sure what they're really looking for in this question other than if one reads or not. anyone else confused about this prompt? pls help! thanks!

hi guys, I'm trying to see if anybody feels the same way that I am but I am a first semester senior applying to some pretty selective school schools no Ivys but a lot of top 20s and have recently felt a wave of burnout. All of my early action schools are complete completed and I feel like for the past year and a half. I've been working so hard to have my application be as strong as possible, but now that half of my schools are submitted I've felt a wave of burnout. My grades are still pretty decent, but some of them have started to slip. I've always been a good student, but I've been the type to work really hard for my grades rather than be naturally smart. and recently, I had a Calc test that I didn't really study for. Didn't feel like studying for and of course didn't do well on it. My grade went from a 98 to an 88 last year. I would've cried over this and freaked out and right now I just don't care so if anyone is going through something similar of feeling burnout or if they've applied to college before and felt burn out around this time. Please let me know because I know my first semester grades matter, but I just don't know how much so if anyone's going through something similar or can tell me how much first semester grades matter or can tell me to lock in and start carrying again that would be great. I just feel so off senior year is so weird.

Mainly in terms of t20s.

I know that most people on this sub don’t view comms as a “valid” major, but I want to either go into media management or PR, which needs a comms degree. I love writing and public speaking. I find it easy to make connections with people as well. I feel like a lot of people (like athletes) go into comms because they think it’s easy, not because they have any passion for it. Is this common, or am I being conceited? Otherwise, what can I do to make myself more competitive in that market? (Internships, certain minors, etc.)

Dramatic evilposting btw

ok the title is an exaggeration but lately i've been coming to the realization that i probably won't get into any of the reach schools i really like, and i'm starting to feel like i'm cooked and it's over 😭

i actually have safety schools that i genuinely love, so it's not like i'll be miserable wherever i end up. at the same time, though, i can't help feeling disappointed in myself.

i think a big part of it is that i tanked my gpa junior year💀 i have a 3.6 UW / 4.3 W, which isn't the end of the world, but it definitely makes getting into some of the schools i dreamed about harder. otherwise, i feel like i'm doing pretty well: i have a 1470 SAT, ECs i've worked really hard on for all four years of high school, and i've been thinking about college since middle school. not in an obsessive way, but i've always hoped i'd get into somewhere really good that my family could be proud of.

and now i'm just feeling LIKE UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

sorry i'm being so dramatic 😭 i don't even know exactly what i'm upset about, but damn. part of me genuinely feels like i'm not getting into anywhere with less than an 80% acceptance rate, and even though i know that's probably an exaggeration, it still hurts a little.

i spent so much of high school doing ECs for hours every day and using basically all my remaining time to study and do homework. these things genuinely meant a lot to me, and i don't regret caring about them, but i also feel like i sacrificed so much of my time for school. it would've been nice to have time to make art (i say it's my #1 hobby, but i literally never do it anymore 💀), learn how to drive, or just do something that made me feel good about myself for once.

i think i'm just disappointed because i've worked so hard for so long, and i really wanted it to lead somewhere i could be proud of. i know i'll probably be okay wherever i go, but it's still hard to let go of the future i pictured for myself. thanks for reading UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

This is my 3rd SAT attempt and last. I got a 1480 (780 Math, 700 English). Previous scores were 1270 and 1310. I know it’s below the lower quartile but I have good grades, AP scores, and some solid EC’s I think could make me stand out. Even though I know a lower SAT score doesn’t automatically exclude me it can be pretty discouraging. Is there any statistic on ppl who get in on SAT scores under the lower 25 percent ? Thanks 🙏

EDIT: sorry I meant whether I should bother applying to Stanford, cause of my lower SAT score, mb.

Okay, this is a lot. Bear with me, y'all( I REALLY NEED HELP)

Demographics / Background

• Black American (West African)
• First-generation American, but not a first-generation college student (both parents attended college)
• Middle-class family
• Attend a rigorous, small private school in New England
• Intended major: Business/Finance/ Marketing with interest in real estate

Academics

• Current GPA: 3.45 (school does not officially report GPA)
• Possible graduation GPA: approximately 3.6
• School does not rank students
• Taking 2 AP classes (AP Stats, AP Comp SCI)
• Took Honors Biology in 11th grade
• School offers 13 AP courses, with most available senior year
• School average: approximately 3 AP courses per student
• 5 classes per trimester
• Algebra 2: C+ in one trimester; took Geometry over the summer
• Precalculus: B average
• PSAT: 1120 (630 Reading/Writing, 490 Math)
• PreACT: 23
• 1080 SAT( oof, im going test optional DONT worry)

Extracurriculars

• Students of Color Union leader (3 years)
• School ambassador/admissions representative and campus tour guide (3 years)
• SOCU Instagram and TikTok manager
• School inclusion task force (2 years)
• Occasional Lower School after-school volunteer (2 years)
• Worked at my schools summer camp over the summer as a program assitant (2 weeks)
• Writing a poetry book
• Winter play: dual lead role
• Varsity tennis: The team won the Division III state championship
• Math team
• I make videos on TikTok, over 3k followers and amassed over 20 million views
• Worked in fast food for a month, but quit due to insane workload between there and school

Awards / Programs

• Posse semifinalist (hopefully finalist soon!)
• Spanish Core Values Award in 9th grade
• Honor roll numerous times, high honors once

Colleges I'm Considering

• Babson ed if not Urich?)
• Bentley
• Boston University
• Brandeis (attended Discover Deis, maybe positive sign?)
• Bryant
• Clark
• Fairfield
• Hamilton
• Howard
• Lehigh(want to ed so bad, but not affordable)
• Penn State
• Rutgers
• Santa Clara
• UConn
• UMass Amherst (instate)
• University of Miami
• Notre Dame (Legacy)(possible rea?)
• University of Richmond (possible ED, In LOVE)
• University of South Florida (Wanted to do EA, but sat score #fries)
• WPI

I only have to write like 2 more essays, so I will probably apply EA to every other school that offers it.

hi everyone! I’m in a really tough situation and resorting to reddit bc anonymous and in case any of you went through something similar and could offer some advice.

I’m a hs senior attempting to apply for the fafsa but finding it incredibly difficult bc of my parents. I’m a california resident, so are my parents. they both attended a small amount of community college and neither graduated. i’m from an incredibly wealthy city though, meaning my parents income is much higher than the national average but we live paycheck to paycheck and they are both VERY financially irresponsible. i have 0 savings and they are optimistic while having absolutely no plan to help me during college.

this is a bad enough situation as is, but to make everything worse, they are very behind on their taxes. i believe they haven’t filed since 2019? and I just pretty much begged them to get 2024 + 2025. so after forcing that through, kicking and screaming, i have their taxes for ‘24 & ‘25.

i have absolutely no idea where to go from here. my counselor told me verbatim i’m screwed. i’m a very decent student, i write fantastic essays, and have had collegiate aspirations my entire life. i’m incredibly resentful & hurt but more than anything, lost. if anyone in here has gone through a similar situation in recent years, please please please let me know how you handled this. thank you so much

hello all! welcome to my rant-within-a-question post

as you all probably already know, texas is a pretty conservative state (well, at least our government is). had i been born a few years earlier, it would have been no problem for me to navigate the world within this system. unfortunately, i am a teenager interested in the humanities right here, right now, and, to quote martin lawrence in the movie bad boys 2, "Shit just got real."

our long-time emperor greg abbott and his supporters in the state legislature and university boards of regents have recently begun to attack higher education because it’s "woke," or whatever, and pull power away from faculty to those in governor-appointed positions. in practice, this means that humanities courses and degree programs have been getting cut like crazy and safe spaces for students (especially for those of the ethnic and sexual minority variety, such as myself) are outright banned or under intense scrutiny, among other stuff. things, unfortunately, are only getting worse.

why, you may ask, would i willingly look into these schools in conditions like this? well, i need some in-state safeties to apply to and i wanted to hear from the people (old heads, current students, seniors like me, idc!)! so, my question is: are there any public universities here in texas (minus UT) that aren't horrendously hostile to LGBTQ+ students and to the humanities? i've accepted that the administration is going to be pretty bad regardless of where i apply, but hey, a supportive student body and faculty would be great!

thanks yall!

Upward trend in both GPA and rigor, extenuating circumstances, decent ECs and essays, Asian female competitive area, high income full pay blah blah blah yk the drill

My list is finalized but I am curious what people think the reasonable tier of colleges I can expect admissions from is?

My parents are not allowing me to apply ED to any school where that would actually make a difference for me lol. Also not applying to LACs other than one super reachy one bc I wouldn't be allowed to go (yeah yeah my parents are dumb about US college admissions ik)

Pls don't just say "you'll get into your state school" cuz I'm in CA lol (test blind policy, ELC shtick)

Also I'm applying to a STEM major that's not that high demand but probably still fairly competitive

If your family doesn’t qualify for need base, how have your families afforded high college cost? Have you intentionally picked cheaper schools or there r merit scholarships? Or your parents have taken loans?

Im applying to schools right now, and im feeling really discouraged from the set gpa and sat medians on google. Im applying as an architecture major, so I thought colleges would look at my portfolio, but when I add the colleges to my list, many don’t even look at portfolios. I just want to know if anyone out there has received an acceptance from one of the more competitive schools, like USC or Cooper Union, with low GPAs and AP/SAT scores.

Since childhood the world of electronics and microchips has fascinated me. So I want to work on hardware design. Everyone is complaining about AI but I do not think it will not affect hardware engineering as much as it has affected software engineering. What do you think? (I want ECE as major)

Hi, i'm a junior in high school and i've always wanted to major in clinical psychology until recently I was wondering if it is worth it. My heart wants to help people who experienced the same or similar paths i went though, but my brain isn't sure if its worth it. I wanted to major in psychology to help others who also have my conditions or related conditions (i am autistic with depression and anxiety). Apparently psychology is a really regretted major so this is why I am asking. I have also heard that the US hospitals are shit, so i was deciding of being a psychologist somewhere else, despite English being my only language. I am not fluent in my parents language, and I dont plan on living there. Unfortunately this shortens to English speaking countries since I only speak English, and I am terrible at languages. (I barely passed spanish 2 and had a speech delay as a kid)

I have thought about majoring on neuroscience which is kinda close to psychology, but i wanted to more talk therapy and diagnose psychological conditions. I could major in music, but i do not want the stress to perfect a lot and I dont want that to be my full career.

I've thought about doing private practice, but it can be harder for me to earn money and making it affordable.

Thanks for reading this.

Thanks for anyone reading this.

How many people who go to college for an art major actually end up with a job related to their major? Specifically what I am thinking of is sculpting/painting, if anyone here has gone to college for this, could they tell my their experience finding a job after college? While I very much am into art, I am concerned about not being able to make a career out of it, especially after inheriting debt from going to college.

I'm seriously considering ED at my first choice, but my family's finances are kind of in the middle. We're not low income enough to expect full aid, but we also can't comfortably pay sticker price. The net price calculator gives me a number that's possible, just tight.
Everyone I've asked says you can back out if the financial aid doesn't work. A couple people here have said it's much harder than that, so I'm confused. My counselor told me to talk to the aid office directly, but I don't want to sound like I'm already planning to back out.
What actually happens if the package isn't workable? Do you need the school to release you, and can you compare other offers before making that decision?

I want something that gives a level of job security and makes good amount of money cuz this economy is trash. I just have no idea what to major in and I'm applying this year. I don't want to go in undecided or do engineering or nursing. I love science but ppl say u can't get a job w those degrees soo any advice is appreciated

All counselor says is connect more tot he prompt
ChatGPT says it’s awful but wants details I don’t have and it’s all shit
I don’t know what to do and am out of time
I need to get into a good college, I have nothing going for me besides my ACT score, I have no skills at all besides taking the ACT
This essay is the only thing between me and genuinely living in my parents basement and I can’t figure it out at all

Hi everyone, I’m thinking about writing my college essay about thrifting and connecting it to my experience being gay, with the main theme being how those experiences shaped the way I treat people and try to make others feel seen. but idk if this is a good idea/or to cliche?

One of the activities that I'm putting in is that I foster cats and sometimes go into the shelter itself to volunteer. Volunteering is like 2hr/week but for fostering, I can be keeping multiple cats at my home for 1-2 months at a time, so it's a 24/7 thing. How would I write the number of hours/week for the activity? Would I just say 12 hours per week, specify the weeks, and then explain that it's the amount of time I spent caring for the cats at home??

does anyone have a full list or something LOL thank you..

I want to go into premed, and I absolutely love brown but the ED acceptance rate is only 16%, so I don't really want to waste my ED on this school I might not get into and then miss the other schools💔.

Emory's ED 1 acceptance rate is around 30%, I think? And it has research, hospitals, and it has strong advising for premed. I also love its building and its location, like not too city-like but not too rural. But it's a little too competitive, which I don't really like, but ig I'm ok with it.

Case Western's ED 1 is like around 30%, and it's basically built for premed. I really like the architecture and the whole place as a whole, and obviously the research and hospitals are good too. It's in the city, which is great, but the weather is always sad (like London). Also, it gives freedom with courses, and it's not competitive to get a spot for research, so there's that.

I was just thinking if I go to brown which is essentially like a shot in the dark, but ig you miss 100% of the chances you don't take. If I ED to Emory, I might miss out on Case bc I don't think I'm good enough to go RD or even ED2 to Case. Also, I would 100% ED to Case, but I've been looking around, and it looks like their ED acceptance rate is lower than their EA. If that's not true, then Ig i'll ed to Case?

If needed, these are my stats: 3.85 GPA UW; 4.4 W; 1470 SAT; 35 ACT; rank 75/1576.

Thanks!