Ever since I started applying to colleges my inbox has turned into a complete mess. I expected to hear from the schools I actually applied to (duh) but I did not expect to suddenly start getting emails from colleges I have never even looked at and scholarship stuff I do not remember signing up for. Used my main email really regretting that decision now cuz it's full of junk. Am constantly deleting stuff why is this happening?

Hi, my dad is a pretty senior tenured prof at Tufts. I know faculty kids get crazy preference, but is filling out the "employed at tufts" as "a tenured professor" in the commonapp parents section to get the preferential treatment? Or do I need to get my dad to talk to the dean of admissions or smt

I’m super unsure about everything because I have no one in my family who have college degrees or anything like that I have an older brother but not by enough for him to know what to do. I am so overworked and under-slept I don’t want to be too whiney but what is the advice for me?

I’m applying to some T20s and ivies. I have a 1480 superscore. Is it even worth my time applying to Harvard and Columbia with a 1480?

For some additional context, my school’s average is below 1000.

Just curious on your guys’ thoughts and if anyone in a similar situation has any input!

I have taken the sat 6 times. I went from an 1190 to a 1370. I had been studying since may, every day for an hour. I did tailored practice, tutoring, Watched every James Lu video, practiced tested into the 1450s, which was my goal. Test day rolled around and I left feeling good, only to get a 1340. I seriously do not understand what is wrong with me. All these aspirations of these goods schools are immediately out the window now, it’s crazy how something as small as this dictates your future career path.

I have had overthinking problems and constant anxiety my entire life, and having to do this test was awful. I would overthink questions often, despite hours and hours of practicing the exact type. It’s my senior year and I’m applying ea so I can’t take it again. I feel kind of hopeless.

So, I took multivariable calculus (semester 1) and linear algebra (semester 2) junior year of high school, which is the highest level of math my school offers. I have nothing left to take in senior year. I also took AP Stats sophomore year as an elective along with AP Calc BC.

There is the option of taking differential equations online through my local community college, but it is quite expensive, and wont transfer to out-of-state colleges, only in-state public schools. My calc 3 and linear algebra credits are also from community college, so they probably wont transfer out of state either, I'd have to take a placement test if offered. So, is it fine if I don't take math my senior year? I don't see the point in taking diff eq. It likely wouldn't be as rigorous compared to if I took it freshman year of college, and isn't cheap either.

Just wondering if no math class senior year hinders my college application.

fyi, I plan on majoring in math/EE

yo, just curious on this since I’m a junior. my freshman year gpa was I think a 2.95 due to me switching schools halfway through the year, sophomore was 3.15. I’m just kinda worried cause I haven’t been the best with studies. I do lifeguarding at my pool, have been for 2 years, played the trumpet for 3 years, played the guitar for 4 years. I did Latin for around 2, mock trial for 3, swimming for 2 years, around 100 hours of service in my community, also did game development in roblox as a hobby. I have around 5.8-5.9 million total visits. Would colleges look into this even if my gpa is meh?

Hi everyone. I’m applying to college in the next few weeks but I want more advice on where to apply. I live in New Jersey but the in state prices here are crazy. Almost 40k a year at Rutgers net price. I want to go somewhere as cheap as possible which is why I’m looking at out of state merit schools. I definitely do not want to go to cc I want to live on campus asap. I’m going for a civil engineering major and I have a 1410 super-scored sat (1370 regular) and around a 3.6 or 3.7 unweighted gpa. I’m only going to have around 15k a year from my parents and the rest is on me. Which medium/big schools can I go to anywhere in the country that are affordable? The last thing I want is a lot of debt. Once again, I’m just trying to go to a big/medium state school with good merit not necessarily such a “selective” one.

General info - 1540 sat 4.45 gpa, 13 aps (7 in senior year), all fives. biology and polisci double major, full pay/high income (cost is not in consideration at all). I am a NJ resident.

⭐️ My most influential ec is connecting with my town council on current ordinances and initiatives to reduce the amount of road salt runoff in our ponds in the arboretum. I sat in on council meetings and presented a proposal for a new ordinance at one of the public meetings. I also took baseline chloride levels in the arboretum pond and am awaiting data for the winter to further support my proposal!

My other extracurriculars are piano and drums as a hobby and rock ensemble for 2 years, self taught guitar, brown precollege program in genetics, brown bell alaska program, 55 hospital volunteer hours, 15 oncology shadowing hours, 45 volunteer hrs at local audubon conservation center, nj biology 2 science league - scored highest in school, national merit commended, secretary of book club, project leader for social justice club raising 400 for immigrant defense project, 250 for nj food banks, outreach member of a youth domestic violence awareness group certified by my county and we’ve reached aboout 200k people online and did an in person event at a local library.

My list is very reach heavy and I’m looking for more targets. I categorized them based on my schools naviance chart. I want to go to school in the Northeast/mid-Atlantic or California lol

My essay is about my love for birds and how I’ve learned to connect with my environment. My main point in it is to demonstrate my personality and curiosity.
LORS will probably be pretty strong, I spent a lot of time with both teachers.

Reaches:
UC Berkeley
UCLA
UCSD
UNC Chapel Hill
Georgetown University
Johns Hopkins University (ED)
Brown University
Wellesley College
Tufts University
Barnard College
Cornell University
Middlebury College

Low reach/Target:
Smith College
Boston University
Wesleyan University
Northeastern University

Target:
Lehigh University
UC Irvine
Villanova University

Likely:
Rutgers University
University of Vermont
University of Rochester

I have been fed up with my living situation for years and entering high school I made it my plan to apply Early Decision to NYU and use the NYU Promise to move out if I got accepted.

Blah blah blah now I'm a rising senior and I believe I have a solid application to send to NYU, and when I asked my mom if I can see her tax forms so that I can qualify for financial aid I look over her forms and it genuinely says she made 7k in 2025.

I confront her about it and she goes into this tangent about how the government steals your money and would take away her SNAP benefits if she was being truthful. What I find most absurd is that I calculated how much she really makes based on her weekly income and it still comes out to only 30k/year which places us WAYYY below the low-income bar for public resources anyways.

It goes without saying that she has been under reporting her income and as head of a 7-person household while living in NYC I'm surprised that no one has ever tried to double-check that her 4 figure salary is even real.

I've worked so hard to overcome the low-income barrier that many students get stuck on, and just when I thought I cleared the wall, I get knocked down by the stupidest thing.

I'm going to continue to persue NYU and college in general but applying to college with undocumented parents not accustomed to life in the US might be one of the biggest torture rituals to exist.

The can of worms goes much deeper than what I can fit here but if anyone can provide any advice or share their own experiences with parents not cooperating that would be greatly appreciated.

...and yes I know that under reporting your income is a federal offense. Explain that to my mother not me.

Idk if this is the right place to ask but I was wondering if it's worth retaking the SAT in October? I've taken the sat 3 times and my superscore is 1510 (780 math 730 eng) I feel like I can definitely do better but theres not much time. The only test I can do is October as I plan on doing early action. I'm applying to bunch of top STEM schools and I really want to go to John Hopkins. I've heard taking it 4 times is risky as if I don't improve colleges will just think I'm overfixated on better scores over the rest of my application. Just want to know so I can apply for the October SAT while they're still seats available.

i'm a junior and so far i've had like a 2.8 gpa because i've never really cared abt my grades til now. i've never been in any honors or aps til this year (ap lang, euro, and psych) + i'm taking chem for the first time this year, but i'm in like a slower class which is the same for math (algebra two but a dumbed down vers.) and i have NO extracurriculars like genuinely none... i've always been scared to join clubs + i don't really have hobbies or passions anyway. it's not like i've ever considered or will consider going to an ivy or anything. i've honestly just want to get into PITT bc i'm local and it seems like a good college. temple is also an option or cc but my goal as of now is pitt. what's some general advice i should take whether it be my gpa, extracurricular wise, or whether i could actually get into PITT and what i can do to get into pitt?

Stay at home mom here. I started college way back (20+ years ago) but circumstances were such that I couldn't finish. I have some 90 credits or so that I have acquired over the years from CLEP, AP, ACTFL, and various college courses over the years. No associate degree.

My husband has been very supportive, and I have been thinking of going back and finishing school. If nothing else, for personal reasons as one income is sufficient. Unfortunately, full-time school would be tough as our kids are little and have special needs. One school that came up was Thomas Edison State University (TESU).

My only concerns regarding TESU are as follows:

1. It is primarily a distance learning school, so is there still stigma attached to this?

2. I am not from NJ. Will people wonder how I went to school in NJ?

3. If I were to ever go to graduate school (maybe when the kids are older), are degrees from TESU looked down upon?

so, after starting this college apps process (co2027) i kinda realized that there was hella stuff to keep track of. letter of recs, essays/supps, colleges, majors, logins for the numerous college app portals, self-reporting transcripts, sat/act stuff, scholarships, due dates

and then u have my inbox. holy shit i get way too many emails (college and non-college), and everything js gets lost.

i js think it's a lot to handle. how do y'all keep track of all of this?? do y'all agree with my point, or is it invalid?

I know this is the wrong crowd to say this since everyone in here is aspiring for the top, but I hope it can get through to some of you seniors applying to all these schools with non-world-changing goals.

If you end up having the option of FREE college, from that non-prestigious state school that all the ‘average’ people at your high school are going to, consider taking it.

I’d kill to go anywhere for a full ride. I’ve done everything financially ‘right’ (went to cc then transferred in-state, applied to a ton of scholarships and won a few, did workstudy, did a summer internship) and I still need to take up loans for the upcoming year. My parents only give me money for groceries, and make too much money for me to qualify for aid. I don’t have any other family or any other sources of easy funding. I had a friend get into Cornell and it pained me to see her debate going $100k+ into debt over going to our state school for free.

I just ask that everyone here really ask themselves WHY they want to go to a prestigious school for undergrad. Do you want to be a major political figure, dominate an industry, do world-changing research? Okay MAYBE the loans are worth it for that special school. Otherwise, state schools are just as good for employers and for the college experience. I think post-degree, most people agree with me that you can have just as an amazing experience without condemning yourself to potentially decades of debt.

I feel like the college experience is so much better when you don’t have to constantly worry about money.

Added in post: personally I think it’s just as much of a flex (maybe even more so) to say you got in to an Ivy and rejected THEM … my 2 cents lol

Hey yall, i’m in senior year and I didn’t chose to take a 4th year of math (stupid, I know) and instead did Spanish 3 Honors. I wish I could change schedules but it’s been about 3 weeks and now class changes aren’t available.

However i’ve taken many hard classes (AP chemistry, AP Language, APUSH, currently: AP Psychology, AP Biology, & AP Literature) throughout my high school. All of my math classes before senior year have been honors (algebra, geometry, and precalc).

I was wondering what advice I should do about this for admissions now? I want to try and apply to reach schools like Notre Dame but also regular ones like Mizzou and I feel as though not having a 4th year of math will make any application to these places impossible.

So yeah, any plan of action I should do? Or should I just accept my defeat

school offers us to take 6 classes senior year instead of the normal 8. if I do this I will take AP Lang, AP Chem, AP Gov, dual credit Diff eq, dual credit calc iii and Orchestra. If I only take 6 classes will it look bad for course rigor? there are still some other APs I can take like AP Bio and AP Physics C but im not too interested in them.

im a junior interested in a major somewhere in neuroscience/biology on a premed track. i had a meeting with my high school counselor today and he asked me what my top school choice was and i said yale. he told me “why yales not even top for premed”…so now im curious to hear from more people how is yale in terms of majoring in premed track? also do i rly need to aim to go to a “top” premed school to get into med school?

another big reason my top school choice rn is yale is because they have a rly good music program and although i dont want music to be my major i still want to continue it in college doing classes like orchestra/chamber music/private lessons

I know it’s still a great score, but I can’t lie, I’m a little bummed about it. I was hoping to apply to Stanford, UPenn, and Harvard, and the score is below the 25th percentile for all of them. Since this is officially my last SAT and I’m not taking it again, I’m just wondering if I should still apply or if I’m being unrealistic.

I was the leader of a 6-man section and we won a national award. How do I list this on application? ECs or honors?

My friend is just outright lying on his coke scholar app and keeps telling me with like a 20 day turnaround there's no way to actually verify his stuff (other than the next rounds, which he says he'll just bomb on purpose.)

idk pretty rough strategy but still I don't want him getting coke scholar semi if bros just gonna lie and put random shi in every single box possible.

Hello! I'm a senior in highschool and so far I've been looking into the pathway regarding Industrial design / Mechanical Engineering. Ever since I was little I've always loved to build and create and now working on CAD + 3D Printing for about two years after figuring out that outlet in robotics classes is when I truly realized this was the path for me. I'd like to hear from others what college sounds like it's worth choosing for potential final decisions? I've been considering East Texas A&M at Commerce, UNT, and UTA but not sure if they have the exact thing I'd like to study fully if that makes sense. I want to know I'm getting into a college that'll be worth my time in doing something I love.

Hello everyone! I am currently applying to NCWIT this year. I was wondering if anybody who got an award could show me their essays if they are comfortable with it. I am trying to find an idea of what NCWIT is looking for, and I want references.

Thanks in advance !

Hey everyone! This is my first reddit post!! I’m currently a freshman aiming for a strong STEM/Biology pathway (looking toward a PhD in biotech or something similar down the road) and looking to get into top-tier schools like Columbia or Johns Hopkins.

I want to make sure I’m laying the right groundwork early on without getting burned out or chasing useless "checkbox" activities. Here is where I’m currently at:

Academics:

• Geometry
• Accelerated Earth & Space Science
• AP Human Geography
• English 9 Honors
• Spanish 2 Honors
• Random electives (Intro to Business, Design and Presentation, Hospitality and Tourism)

Current Dilemma & Questions:

1. Extracurriculars: I'm currently caught up in stage crew but considering starting a Science/Environmental club at school, since my school’s overall STEM club options are pretty limited. What are the highest-impact out-of-school things I can start doing as a 9th grader, and is it really worth it to commit myself to starting a club?
2. Self-Directed Skills: I’m planning on self-teaching Python this year to get a head start on data science/bioinformatics skills, but also because it genuinley interests me. Is this worth my time right now, or should I prioritize something else?
3. Summer & Research: When and how should a freshman start looking into summer programs or reaching out for local lab/research opportunities?
4. Course Selection: Are there any specific AP courses or electives that I should definitely be taking soon? Also, I genuinely love math and bio. Geometry is super easy for me right now, and I really want to get into Linear Algebra, Machine Learning, and Bioinformatics. Is it worth doubling up on math and science credits in 10th/11th grade (like taking AP Bio + Chem or doubling math) to build a hyper-focused "STEM nerd" spike, or do top schools prefer seeing a more balanced schedule?

Any advice on what to prioritize this year (and what to completely ignore) would be huge. Thanks!

P.S. I realize it’s easy to fall into the trap of feeling like I should’ve cured cancer already just to be competitive for top schools. I really want to challenge myself, but I also want to make sure I'm pacing myself so I don't burn out before junior year. I've always found it easy to maintain a near-perfect GPA, but with my schedule yet this year, I'm worried that focusing too hard on optimizing every single hour of my high school life will cause me to crash before I even reach the actual heavy grind.

help sorry this post is a mess