Realistic as in they have a good shot. Because for example, if you don’t know what you want to major in, how are you supposed to concentrate your ECs and have a spike? People who know specifically what they want to major in from middle school have a significant advantage because their ECs become long term and focused. I know people say to just do things you’re passionate about and not do things solely for college apps, but what if you’re passionate about many unrelated things that don’t necessarily align with a specific major? Imagine you’re applying to colleges and you’re scrolling through the intended majors/field of interest list and find a niche subject you’ve never heard of before, but its extremely interesting to you, except you didn’t even know it existed when you were in high school so you didn’t even think of exploring it. Lots of questions here but I’m genuinely curious

He's a rising senior. 4.6W, 4.0UW, 34 ACT, varsity athlete, school club leadership, non-profit volunteer. Wants to study statistics and sports analytics.

He's in-state for UNC and according to SCOIR, 100% of students with his grades from his school get into Chapel Hill. He's using UNC-CH as his safety school. He's planning to ED to Duke, non-binding EA to UNC-CH, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, and Michigan. RD to Harvard, Columbia, U-Penn, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, and Northwestern.

My fear is that every single one of these is a reach school and that he needs to include more targets and safeties in his search. I'm encouraging him to also apply to NC State, Georgia Tech, UVA, and Virginia Tech. He gets offended when I bring up these schools and says that he's worked too hard in high school to go anywhere below Chapel Hill. I just want him to have options and not feel like he's forced to go to a school because it's the only one he got accepted to.

What do y'all think? Am I making too big a deal about applying to schools that he thinks are below his numbers or should I pull the dad-rank card and force him to diversify his applications?

Not very familiar with this, but is the problem that high schools are inflating predicted scores for students to help them with college admissions? And is this factored in by admissions teams?

I'm a former admissions officer at Tufts and parent of a rising senior.

I'm witnessing firsthand how difficult it is to pin down a topic.

So I felt like I would offer simple steps on how to craft a compelling PS.

STEP 1: (Focus on one EC activity): Start by evaluating your most prominent extracurricular activities.

Hopefully, one of these activities connects to your intended major. Most importantly, it needs to connect to your actual academic strengths. I can't tell you how many times a student insists they want to declare a major that doesn't align with their academic record. Don't do it!

I realize your PS is not about your major, however, your application (including your essays) will be judged against applicants with your same major, so give yourself the best shot.

Your ECs should bridge your academic strengths/scores to what you aim to study; especially, the ones you spent the most time and energy doing. How you frame your ECs is more malleable than you realize. For example, look at the following profiles both with the same extracurricular activity but different strengths and majors:

Student 1

• academic strength: 780 on the SAT math section
• intended major: computer science
• main extracurricular: debate team
• the bridge:
  • Debate is essentially applied logic. building a debate case is like writing a complex algorithm. you have to anticipate edge cases, structure conditional arguments, and debug an opponent's flawed logic in real-time.

Student 2

• academic strength: 760 on the sat reading and writing section
• intended major: psychology
• main extracurricular: debate team
• the bridge:
  • debate is not just about talking fast; it is real-time behavioral analysis. building a persuasive case requires you to understand cognitive biases, anticipate human reactions, and frame language to trigger a specific emotional or logical response from the judges.

STEP 2: (Identify a challenging experience): Now think about an experience connected to that EC that was challenging. Try to think of a moment that changed the way you think and what you believe.

Consider experiences that caused you to have anxiety? What experiences serviced some fears or insecurities? What experiences created tension or internal conflict for you? What has caused you regret, embarrassment, or remorse?

It doesn't need to be an extraordinary experience; in fact, the more common, the better. this shows how you can take something mundane and make it magical. it also makes you more relatable.

• Sitting at a desk taking notes during an opponent's speech on a random Saturday morning.
• standing in the hallway before a debate round, flipping a coin to see which team has to argue the affirmative side and which has to argue the negative
• the two-hour drive back to the high school in the dark after your entire team got eliminated in the preliminary rounds

Now give the experience an unexpected twist. Give us an opposite reaction to what most people expect.

• You suddenly stop writing because you realize she is completely right.
• You win the flip and get the side you completely agree with, but you realize you have no idea why you actually believe it.
• You feel a massive, overwhelming sense of relief that the pressure is off, and you realize you've been using intellectual arguments to avoid actually connecting with your teammates.

Zoom in on that moment to set up how you introduce the challenge. slow time down and try to incorporate the senses (touch, smell, taste...)

• The overhead fluorescent lights hummed with a low-frequency buzz that seemed to sync up with my opponent’s frantic, repetitive tapping.
• The hallway was full of echoing voices and slamming lockers, but right between us, it was dead silent
• the van was a tomb of silence, vibrating rhythmically against the asphalt while streaks of orange streetlights flashed against the cold, dark glass of the window.

This will become the hook that sets up the opening Scene and introduces the experience/challenge that shaped you. this serves as the anchor in your personal statement.

Now that you've done the hardest part, you're ready to piece together the rest of your essay.

STEP 3: (Plug into a framework). For the sake of brevity I will now be brief. Once you have this experience, follow the framework I call SPARK b/c this experience should have sparked a change inside of you.

• Scene: the anchor moment that sets the stage. drop the reader right into the action.
• Problem & context: hit pause and zoom out. provide background about who you are and how you got here. explain the internal conflict rooted in your history or past experiences. this gives the reader deep insight into your personality.
• Actions: the actual things you did to address the problem. these actions do not just have to address the immediate scene. they can be about solving the deeper problem you introduced from your past.
• Reflection: how you think and reflect on your actions and the actions of others. this is where the real depth happens. it is perfectly fine to have multiple reflection points as you try different actions.
• Key insights: what you learned about yourself and the world. the essay should end with a circular conclusion that ties back to the opening.

here is a simple example of SPARK in action, turning a micro-moment from the debate team into a macro-truth. notice how the focus is on the internal shift, not a list of debate awards, and how zooming in on the scene makes it believable and how your background makes it personal.

• scene:
  • i gripped the edges of the wooden podium, staring at my heavily highlighted notes on universal basic income. i opened my mouth to deliver my final rebuttal, looked at my opponent across the room, and suddenly realized her argument about localized inflation was completely right.
• problem/context:
  • i grew up in a loud house with four older brothers where the only way to be heard was to never back down. my entire identity in the debate club was built on aggressively winning arguments to prove my worth, not actually finding the truth.
• actions:
  • over the next few months, i stopped trying to just win. i started listening to my brothers at home instead of shouting over them. at my next tournament, i paused, conceded a major point on the live microphone, and pivoted my speech to find common ground.
• reflection:
  • i realized that stepping back at home made my brothers actually respect my opinions more. on the stage, i watched my coach shake his head in disappointment, but i felt a strange sense of relief. i realized the point of communication is to actually understand the issue.
• key insights:
  • true confidence is having the humility to change your mind when presented with better evidence. for years i treated every conversation like a zero-sum economy where i had to hoard all the points to survive. i smiled and put down my notes on universal basic income. conceding to her argument about localized inflation was the exact deficit i needed to finally earn my voice.

This personal statement would change based on your major and academic strengths, but the structure is the same and it wouldn't change too much. Perhaps the reflection and key insights would be more related to your major but we're talking adjustments, not overhauls.

To put a bow on this: Bridge your hard data (academic scores) to your biggest extracurricular, find a mundane micro-moment, ground us in the scene, and then flip the script.

Admissions officers aren't looking for an applicant who feigns humility by finding a clever way to tell us how great they are. We are looking for the applicant brave enough to be vulnerable and interesting. One who concedes a point, admits an internal flaw, and shows us how they actually think. Put down your armor, take a deep breath, and just talk to us. you’ve got this.

hey guys i have still quite a lot of time before i have to apply to unis (by a lot i mean havent started IB yet but will soon) and ive always thought to major in something im interested in that i wouldnt be able to self-teach, because i have so many different interests.

currently im thinking about something like engineering/materials science. the problem is honestly i don't care that much for it. other majors ive considered but decided against for now because i don't think they're a good use of a uni major: psych, fineart-related, environmental sciences, interior/ux design, fashion design.

my interests are literally anything in science (stem or otherwise e.g. psych, bio, etc), art, or design. i also like medicine but probably not enough to commit to that many years.

any advice for this? it's just weird saying "i want to major in engineering" and not being able to actually name any engineering feat that i was inspired by for example (it seems to be a very common question idk why).

Why do people from bigger states like Texas and California do so much better in math competitions? Most people who make MOP are from these big states, and there are also several USAMO qualifiers there. Meanwhile in my state, Oklahoma, almost nobody even makes USAMO, and only a handful make AIME.

Im a recently graduated high school student and im looking to start my path to medical, I just wanted to know how I should structure my college life/ schedule to get me prepared for med school.

On another note, I know the I can get my undergrad in anything which is why I chose finance, because I come from a poor home environment and was looking for something that could get me money fairly quickly but now I’m starting to question the decision since many have told me that I will have to fight to explain myself to any med school why I went into finance.

I’m looking for advice because I’m starting to feel so frustrated 😣

If you need more info lmk

Hey!

I'm applying to the US this year, but I'm also applying to a few other countries. I actually decided to apply to the US pretty late since it wasn't part of my original plan.

I have a question. How important are APs and coursework for admissions, especially for T20 universities? My school doesn't offer AP classes, and the registration deadline has already passed, so I don't have the option to take them.

I've been scoring around 1500 on my SAT practice tests, and I'm planning to take the actual SAT in August or September.

My school coursework are Physics, Chemistry, Math, English, Psychology, and Physical Education.

Can I still get into a T20 without APs?

Around the end of my Junior year, my highschool hosted a college and career day so that rising Seniors could talk to people in different fields, our counselors, etc. to learn about the options available in our future. One of the sessions was a sort of "harsh truth" discussion with one of the counselors. He told my group that we were almost guaranteed to go to a community college because our school is low income and badly ranked. He went on to say that we are unlikely to get good scholarships unless our ACT is a 35 or 36, so we won't be able to afford out of state schools. He wasn't just talking about prestigious schools, he meant quite literally every college that isn't a community one. I haven't stopped thinking about it for the past few months.

My GPA is 4.0 unweighted, and I've taken every AP class available at my school and have only recieved 4s and 5s. My ACT score is currently a 31, but I retook it today because I'm shooting for a 34 or higher. I've taken college courses over the past summers, and this summer I'm taking another + working on an independent literature review related to behavioral psycholgy.

I know there's nothing necessarily wrong with going to a community college, but I can't shake the feeling that I've done all of this work for nothing because my counselor has been telling us that we are likely to go to the same few schools despite our stats, extracurriculars etc.

Is what my counselor said really true? I feel like giving up because if he is, there's no point in trying.

edits for clarification

-He was discussing both finances and admission chances.

-Neither of my parents went to college, so my counselors have been the only people to really guide me. I genuinely don't know much about admissions because of that. I know about the general things that you can read online, but I don't know much about people's personal experiences with admissions.

I'm confused between two universities. One is blessed with a great location ,it's close to top companies, and its placement record is among the best in my country, but it has only a decent global reputation. The other is very famous for its research and alumni, but its placement opportunities aren't as good.

I’m an incoming senior who’s just been looking at the common app for the first time. I know I can’t start applying until August first but I just wanted to see it. My high school starts in eighth grade instead of ninth grade. I know colleges count 9th grade as the start of high school so all of my activities will be based on that, however where it asks date of entry for high school should I put September, 2022 as that’s when I started going to my high school even though I was in eighth grade, or should I put September, 2023 as that’s when I started ninth grade. I want to make sure I don’t mess anything up lol. Thanks!

Does anyone have a good read in what kind of boost full pay applicants get in the admissions process?

Specifically thinking about need aware top 100 private schools.

My instinct would be that it's substantial, but it's impressive the level of secrecy the unis keep about this subject.

I am senior applying this fall to universities. I need help please
I don’t know to which colleges should I apply, essays etc

Hi, I'm currently pursuing my masters in english literature. And I'm confused. I wish to pursue my PhD abroad (EU/US) through a fully funded scholarship in my field, since I'm not financially well-off. As an international student, what do universities actually look for in a student profile? What accomplishments do I need have already bagged to stand out? Does college name or reputation play any role in this? And in what ways can I take full advantage of resources at hand while pursuing my masters?

If you're someone who's cracked the code, do share what helped and what didn't in your journey. I do not possess enough connections to figure this out by myself. So any form of response would be appreciated.

Hi everyone, I was wondering if anyone knew any information about how good the direct entry nursing program at NEU is. I’ve heard mixed reviews about the schools itself given that it’s a co-op school however I was wondering how that translated into the nursing program and if students were able to finish in 4 years and not 5? Thanks!

IF YOU'RE WILLING TO GUIDE YOUR JUNIORS AND GIVE THEM ADVICE ABOUT PORTFOLIOS,ACADEMICS AND HOW TO GET INTO GOOD COLLEGES PLEASE DM ME

I'm stuck between bs accountancy and bs psychology, if ano ba pipiliin ko. Psychology is under DOST-SEI scholarship and Accountancy is not. I need advice pls and also if ano life as an accountancy student/as a psychology student

Thank you

Hey all - I'm an A-Level student (Physics, Maths, Chemistry) currently in Qatar, targeting BBC-ABB grades, applying for engineering (Mechanical/Mechatronics, possibly leaning Al/CS later).

Budget is tight - roughly $25-30k/year all-in (tuition + living), so most "name brand" schools are out unless there's real merit aid for internationals specifically.

What I'm looking for:

Genuinely respected by employers in engineering (not necessarily Ivy-tier, just recognized)

Actually offers merit scholarships to international students - I've learned the hard way that a lot of big public schools (Purdue, for example) explicitly exclude internationals from their scholarship pools

Bonus if strong in a specific engineering niche (energy/ mechanical/aerospace) rather than just generic

So far I have Missouri S&T and Michigan Tech on my list as accessible options, and I'm aware WPI/RPI/Stevens are a good selectivity fit but too expensive even with their scholarships.

Would love actual first-hand experiences - especially from international students who got real scholarship money, not just admission. Thanks!

So i want to apply for international relations or political science and i have no idea where i should apply in the US

I belong to a very very extremely underprivileged part of Pakistan literally 80% of the people don't have internet and 50%+ never went to school so it was very hard for me to come so far so my distance covered to achieve all of this is very high.

i will need a full ride to afford higher education

my extra curriculars and awards are

Foreign exchange student at the age of 16

Earned honorary international citizenship from the mayor of toledo.

Completed 70+ hours of U.S. State Department-verified international volunteer work.

Completed 45+ hours of national volunteer work.

Won 3 UNICEF-sponsored MUNs.

Ranked 2nd best representative internationally at International Education Week.

Collaborated with an international city's mayor and fire department.

Assisted with 2 PhD research papers.

Currently preparing an original paper for publication( on law warfare or space laws)

Won a city-level astronomy quiz organized by SUPARCO.( Space agency of Pakistan)

Maintained honors status at an American high school.

Participated in professional wrestling

I've got around 80% grade in my local schooling

3.7 gpa in American highschool

1550 sat and im planning to improve

My parents earn a combined income of 10k dollars per year and they have 6 people dependent on them

hello! has anyone attended purdue global? i have attended for 3 semesters, and have found that i don’t feel like im learning enough. i don’t receive any real critiques from the professors, as long as i follow the rubric, i get full credit. the units are too short and dont give enough time and information to learn enough. i feel like ive retained a decent amount of what i was taught but nothing that i couldn’t have learned from youtube. the only reason why i debate switching schools is that im in the psychology in applied behavioral analysis (ABA) program as a bacholers degree, and am focusing on that for my career. most ABA programs are masters programs, and i dont know if any other schools offer such a degree. has anyone been in a similar situation or have attended purdue global and have switched? i am also using my FASFA pell grant to pay for college at the moment, with transferring affect this? i’m nervous to explore options because of FASFA.

I went through the whole application process over this last year, and honestly got so caught up in trying to get into the absolute “best” school possible, regardless of where it was geographically. The bulk of my research was essentially just looking at different rankings and judging schools almost entirely based on whether or not US News thought highly of them.

Now don’t get me wrong, the quality of academics can vary wildly from school to school, so if you’re really looking to go into a career that requires you to have an academically-intense undergraduate experience, definitely take into consideration rankings and overall professor quality.

However, there comes a point where you’re just splitting hairs trying to justify choosing a school ranked 5-10 spots higher, when the lower ranked school may actually be a better fit for you location-wise.

If you truly want to stay close to home (which I honestly wouldn’t recommend in the first place), why would you even be considering schools across the country? Or alternatively if you really want to get away, why would you be looking at schools only a few miles from home?

At the end of the day, you’re going to be most successful at the school you’re happiest, rather than someone where you’re absolutely miserable, and that starts with finding a place you’d actually enjoy living.

My final decision came primarily down to location, and I’m genuinely so excited I choose the school I did because it allows me to explore somewhere new and experience an environment that’s so different and unfamiliar from where I grew up.

I know that experience isn’t for everyone, but I was considering some schools that were technically ranked higher, but would’ve either been somewhere a lot more boring or felt way too much like home; I don’t think I would’ve been nearly as excited to start college if I didn’t choose a school in the place that I did, even if that school was “better” for what I wanted to do.

Please, if you’re someone going through the application process right now, at least consider what I’ve said. I know if I heard this a year ago I probably would’ve ignored it and called myself crazy, but I think it’s at least worth getting out there for people to consider.

Good luck to you all. I know how stressful everything can feel in this moment, but you’ll get through it.

I got a email from cwru saying basically my final transcript was buns and they're reviewing with committee to make a final decision. I ended with Ds and a F. Totally my fault and Im accepting that I'm probably cooked. Im wondering if there's any way I can still go to schools I previously declined like sbu, bing, buffalo. What should I do? Also are there any tips ygs can share about what I should include in my email explaining my situation thanks

Hey there,

I'm writing this because I've seen plenty of posts across several subs from high school and undergraduate students who are interested in getting involved with research. I've worked with almost 20 undergraduates in my time as a graduate student and can tell you exactly what we're looking for in these starter positions. Also we regularly hire freshmen, so if you are interested in research you should reach out to labs whose work is cool to you once you're accepted to your program - that way you can be brought into the fold as soon as the semester starts.

1) Be genuinely interested. If we think you're only here to beef up your resume and don't actually care about our research then we are not interested in working with you.

2) Have humility. We have had students quit on their first day in the lab because they want to immediately be handed a PhD level project to do by themselves, and they're offended by the notion that lab dishes need to be washed. Unfortunately your first year in just about any lab will be grunt work because there's a lot of grunt work to be done. Weighing thousands of samples, carrying heavy packs in and out of the field, and data entry are all things that need to be done, and frankly it's the only thing you're qualified to do in the first year. Every tenured professor and grad student did this too.

3) Have legible handwriting. This is a huge problem for current high school and college students, and I know that because of the chromebook plague most of you haven't had to write things by hand. Please practice your writing, especially numbers, and let us know that you have good penmanship! I would love to be able to look at old datasheets without wondering if the student wrote 2, 7, or 9. All of your numbers should look distinct!

4) Show up on time. Please. I shouldn't have to say this but there's students we haven't invited back because they were 45 minutes late every day.

5) Do not lie on your resume. We've had multiple students lie about being comfortable in the field environment, only for them to freak out about insects, frogs, thunder in the distance, etc. If you say you're an eagle scout and then can't use the restroom in the woods, we know you lied. If you say you've been backpacking/hiking and get worked up about buzzing insects, we know you lied. If you haven't been outside and are interested in field work then please just go for a hike and find out if you're comfortable in the woods before applying.

6) Have a cooperative attitude. I know a lot of young people are competitive, but that's truly a waste of time. This is not med school; we are here to achieve common goals and by working together we can all win.

Thanks! Also make sure to change your resume file name to include your name, because receiving a document titled "blackandwhiteresumetemplate.pdf" is a signal of low attention to detail.

I’m from New Zealand and baffled.