I'm not that old myself but I see these kids genuinely on crack in terms of EC's, spitting ivy league level shit from day 1. I see college application work starting from 7th grade, thing is it used to be never this deep but now I see the most cracked apps going downhill. College has become a joke and the students trying to play jester to pay high tuition and barely get a job in this shit market.

Just curious how many of y'all have done research in hs. it's becoming more and more common and basically a stat padder in my opinion.

I might be biased, though, in my school, at least 100/500 of the graduating class has done research at real universities.

What are your guys's thoughts? Are conference submissions even worth anything? I hope papers are still somewhat valuable.

EDIT: Curious if you guys had thoughts on my situation as well. I did four years of research at a T20 university, initially through a free competitive program, then through a funded fellowship. In that time, I have coauthored 3 conference submissions to a niche/specific conference for my field. I also presented my work as an ISEF finalist through a competitive state fair. Would this situation, especially the free application based program, help me avoid being considered BS?

nothing profound here, just trying not to cry.

it hurts when you've spent hours upon hours (years, really) devoting your time to things that are practically useless in this landscape, only for people who are actually smart and worth anything to blow you out of the water. even with tears and endless all-nighters, my ecs and awards are still shit. i don't even know what career path i want. i didn't think i'd make it to 16, let alone my senior year. it's too late now.

and even if any of these schools liked me, i probably wouldn't be able to afford any of them.

7th grade me would be really, really disappointed.

my life could honestly be much worse, though.

ok bye now

title. i literally don’t qualify for financial aid anywhere but my parents cannot support me all the way through college/keep up with cost of living/pay for siblings. genuienly what do I do. they want me to go to state but I’ve worked really hard and ik my academics should be good enough to get into some target private colleges. the thing about state too is ive already accumulated a ton of merit scholarships/other stuff so it’ll be really cheap, but I feel like with all the stuff I’ve done I have the capacity to go somewhere better and I really want to I just can’t afford it. what should I do

title basically. right now i'm sitting at my desk at 11:45pm at night. tomorrow i have two tests that i've barely studied for but i want nothing more than to just go to bed. ive gotten nothing above than a b in half of my classes for the past month which is incredibly out of character for me!! i'm usually a straight a student with an occasional b on an assignment. i literally havent gone to sleep before 2am once for like three months.

my teachers decided to give me 6 tests the week before ed and ea is due. i'm so so tired of studying for hours upon hours and getting mid grades. im taking 5 aps this year and i underestimated how difficult it would be, like i'm struggling in every single class and i genuinely have no friends in any of my classes so i can't ask anyone for help.

and i still have no clue where i'm gonna ed to the point that i'm questioning submitting an ed application at all, even though my parents have been pressuring me to ed to a school literally for TWO years. i had my heart set on uchicago and last minute i started doubting myself and decided to back out of that. oh and don't forget scholarships, on top of 7 ea applications due in 1 week! i'm applying to 18 colleges and my parents still want me to add schools too.

mind you, among all of this i have to keep up my extracurriculars, get half my grades back up from b's while maintaining the a's i have, and treat college as like a part time job at this point cus i spend over 20 hours a week on it at least with no end in sight.

the cherry on top is that ill be up for 2-3 more hours trying to understand econ which i dont understand at ALL even though ive been studying for the past 5 hrs. fmllllll

I’m a high school senior applying to colleges for Fall 2027, and I just realized I made a pretty stupid mistake.
I listed “AP Scholar” in the Honors section of my Common App because I misunderstood what the award meant. I recently found out that you need scores of 3+ on at least three AP exams to qualify, and I haven’t earned the award.
The problem is that I’ve already submitted applications to seven universities with AP Scholar listed.
As soon as I realized the mistake, I started emailing the admissions offices to explain what happened and ask them to remove or disregard the honor. I haven’t even gotten the portal for most since I applied like this weekend except for upitt and usc.
For context, I have a 1510 SAT and a 3.85 unweighted GPA. Everything else on my applications is accurate, as far as I’m aware.
I’m genuinely worried that admissions officers will interpret this as dishonesty rather than an honest misunderstanding, especially since the mistake appears on multiple applications.
My questions:
Could this mistake alone get me rejected?
Does voluntarily correcting it make a difference?
Has anyone experienced something similar and still gotten accepted?
I’m not trying to make excuses. I know I should’ve verified the award before submitting. I’m just trying to understand how serious this is from an admissions perspective.
The colleges are:
University of South Carolina (USC Columbia)
University of Pittsburgh
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
Drexel University
Temple University
Miami University (Ohio)
Case Western Reserve University
Smbody reassure me cuz I’m genuinely freaking out.

How much do 9th-grade grades actually matter in college admissions?
I moved from South Korea to the US in 10th grade. In Korea, 9th grade is the final year of middle school, so I honestly didn’t take academics seriously at all. I ended up getting grades in the 70s in pretty much every subject.
However, after moving to the US, my academic performance improved significantly. I’ve earned almost all A’s since 10th grade, and by the end of senior year, I’ll have taken 12 AP courses.
I also have some decent extracurriculars, including a corporate internship, and my SAT superscore is 1480.
The biggest problem is my GPA. When my Korean transcript was transferred to my US high school, all 12 subjects from 9th grade were included in my cumulative GPA calculation, even though many of them were relatively minor classes. As a result, my cumulative GPA is only around 3.0, despite my much stronger academic performance since moving to the US.
My question is: Am I basically out of luck when it comes to getting into highly ranked colleges because of my GPA? Or do I still have a realistic shot at some good universities given my upward trend, course rigor, and extracurriculars?
I’m genuinely curious how admissions officers might view a situation like mine.
I’d really appreciate any honest opinions or advice!

just got like 3 more essays and a lot of personal statement work to do but ive had zero motivation to finish and ive got it all due in a week. i need some encouragement help me out guys

My school doesn’t rank but my counselor has explicitly told me that I am rank 1 of around 500 students. Do I put this on my Common App or say my school doesn’t rank? I feel as if putting my rank will significantly help as I am applying test optional SCEA to Princeton but I don’t want to seem like a liar since my school doesn’t officially rank. I could also explain this in Additional Info section or tell my counselor to explain this when he sends my school report. Please let me know what to do!

I’m almost done with early apps (1 essay left) and everything just feels so hopeless. It sucks knowing I didn’t put in nearly as much effort during hs as I should’ve and thinking about all the things I could’ve done that would’ve improved my application. I knew this was gonna happen too, I’m not stupid but lazy and unmotivated which might be worse. Then I look at my friends who actually did do cool stuff and I imagine them getting into their dream schools and growing up to be successful and idk I just can’t do the same for myself. Feels like delusion.

Yes ik you can be successful no matter where you go to college and maybe I’ll look back on this in a few years and laugh, but rn it’s hard believing. My life atp just feels like a conglomeration of wasted potential. I’m dreading in a month and a half when everyone’s talking about “so where did you get in early” and I’m gonna have to say some shit like “don’t worry about it” and everyone knows what that means.

Whenever I think about this I get a sinking feeling in my stomach that I’ve never felt before. This is the worst I’ve ever felt mentally in my life and I have a feeling it’s likely not getting better, since now there’s at least still hope.

Run on sentences to encapsulate my run on thoughts

I was supposed to finish my last essay today but in this state Idt I can

So I just submitted my application to Northwestern. One of my activities is this

Built digital art platform with 2M+ views and 735K+ likes; completed 10+ art commissions; engaged audiences through digital illustrations and fan art.

I also submitted an optional resume though, and it contained this.

Built a digital-art platform generating 2M+ views and 735K+ likes through original illustrations, character art, fan art, and visual storytelling. Completed 10+ paid commissions totaling $300+, working with clients to translate concepts into finished digital illustrations.

That $300 was supposed to be made during 3 big orders all which fell through because the commissioner couldn’t pay. So I technically don’t have 300 bucks. I’m currently still charging comms and should make around 300 bucks this month or so. But this is technically still a discrepancy as I did NOT make 300 dollars at the moment of applying.

I did not notice it at the time of applying because it was so small in an otherwise pretty lengthy and thick resume.

I have a lot of other strong extracurriculars all which are verifiable. Do I leave this be or should I email them? And can this rescind me?

Thanks!

Everyone in this subreddit talks about being recruited for NCAA teams, but people don’t realize how hard it is to just make the high school team. You can’t make the basketball or baseball teams without starting at 5 years old. “Rich” sports like lacrosse or water polo have massive skill barriers for entry. Lacrosse requires you to be a fast runner with extremely good hand eye coordination, and water polo requires you to tread water in your sleep. Even cross country has a big genetic barrier to entry since most varsity teams only have room for the top 7 fastest runners. You can’t get there if you didn’t start running from a young age.

It just sucks when sports are an interest for you, but you just don’t have the genetics or background needed to be successful.

i’m honestly so stressed for college apps. i haven’t done any supplementals and my essay is a rough rough draft. i’ve been feeling rlly depressed lately so that’s why i’ve procrastinated so much and it feels like everyone at school is ahead of me. what’s my best bet right now? do i just apply to state schools and avoid supplementals? the thing is though that i’m in the top 10% of my class w a 3.99 gpa, but i feel so lazy. and i feel like no one’s helping me and i can’t ask anyone for help..

Specifically for the orientation ones. The race/ethnicity part is just part of the common app, and the gender (name and pronouns) stuff is for like documents and letters and class rosters and such. What does putting your orientation (lesbian/straight/bi) do? And also will it harm your chances at certain schools bc of discrimination? Especially worried under this administration.

If i do put it down (im lesbian) will it get back to my parents. Ik it will for the gender ones bc of the documents but like when will sexuality come up if ever.

Title, i have 6 semester Bs but a 3.9 unweighted gpa, ranked around 26/500 of my class. most ivy admits from our school have been top 10 people of our class but we have sent people to stanford and northwestern in the past that were ranked like 15-20.

I've been writing my personal statement for months. I wouldn't say it's bad; it provides insight into myself/who I am, but it's not necessarily creative or the greatest, and it's a little mundane. I would call it average at best.

I heard the personal statement is usually just something to keep u in the applicant pool unless its super good or super bad. Can you still get into schools like Duke, Stanford, Princeton, etc with just an OKAY personal statement? Ik this might be a hard question to answer bc holistic admission and all but just something i'm wondering abt

Completed the FAFSFA and got barely anything in Pell, and the loan we have to pay is genuinely too much for us. Middle income family that for the sake of not getting to specific, literally cannot afford to send my brother and I to college and also pay for everything else.

I want out of NY. It’s so toxic here and while I’m glad that my in states are far from where I am (Ithaca, Fredonia, etc.) Travel costs are going to annihilate me.

Also academic scholarships are NOT happening. 3.6 weighted, 1390 SAT. I unfortunately have the dumb and middle class combo (even if I can get like… neurodivergence scholarships?).

Also I’m a music ed major so if I want to be able to receive admissions and actual scholarships I have to travel all over the east coast (and Michgan!) to audition. These travel costs are wrecking my family. No fee waivers bc I don’t go.

I’m also missing a ton of school which is why using a ton of money sucks for auditions. Not the smartest, so missing school for the thousands of field trips and auditions I have is detrimental.

Just wanted to get this off my chest.

Yes, Community College is an option, but I’m trying to get my undergrad done fast so that I can get into the field. Teaching music is hard to find. Also I don’t want to go to CC as that would kill my mental health.

This post was honestly dedicated to the fact that WMU, a relatively cheap-ish school, might be too expensive. I went to a summer camp at WMU and want to actually enroll (if I don’t get Berklee ofc) but yeah

Hi guys, i am a high school student who likes research but wants to go to medical school. Is the only way to go about this to get my MD then do research or can i do both? And is it a typical route for med students or a bad decision? I dont know much about the process, so pls have mercy🙏. Any advice will be gratefully accepted. And i know its a bit early to think that far, but I was just drawing out a sketch of my future plans.

Basically: it was always my plan to do Yale SCEA and started drafting my personal statement and supps in early July. Unfortunately, I kept going back and forth about my personal statement and only just settled on a topic (I would rate my prose as above average/very good and my topic as solid/has potential). I'm midway through getting to a finished essay, but I have experience writing 3 others personal statements (this is my fourth idea) so I think I can do it in like ~4 days if I take off some school.
The problem is the Yale supps are still in draft form, and I need to workshop them A LOT. That seems infeasible to turn out well given the 1 wk timeframe.

PROS OF SCEA: At my competitive school, Yale is a very popular RD school, but surprisingly much less popular for EA. Most people ED to Brown or Columbia. I only know one other Yale SCEA applicant from my pool. We're applying for different majors, and I'm salutatorian, so I hope if I apply early I can stand out a lot in my school context. My worry is that this advantage would be lost if I applied RD.

PROS OF RD: My essays would be better. Also, I'm currently increasing impact on two of my ECs (I just took on a club president role, so we have some things planned, and I have some relatively impactful events related to my major planned for a fellowship I'm doing). If I do SCEA, I'd include these items as app updates once the events take place.

I also currently have in my Add'l info that I was selected for a (highly impactful) internship that will begin in early November. For RD, I could actually list this and anything I accomplish on my Activities list.

TDLR: Given that SCEA is supposedly not advantageous, should I do RD? I would push it back for more time on ECs and essays but I'm still very concerned about standing out amongst other applicants from my school.

All advice is appreciated!!

I am from an underrepresented country in Central/Eastern Europe. My extracurriculars and a few national awards are exceptional given my country. I also attend two schools simultaneously, will have taken 13 APs, and I'm now doing an exchange year on a scholarship.

But I am a junior and I know I won't have published research. Next quarter, I'll be having an academic internship at my DE community college + I'm doing research regarding political falsification in my school district, but it's largely local and won't ever be published.

I know that research is mostly for STEM majors and that even most of STEM research is just paid bullshit, but I often see people here who did research at a T20, published in a real journal etc. That's never happening for me, and it makes me want to off myself. I have a good profile but not nearly good enough. I know that local, unpublished research that addresses a genuine concern (genuinely WHO is researching AI optimization in quantum computing in biotech molecule-generating) but it will always feel small.

I can't go a single fucking day without comparing myself to others and wanting to off myself. It's taking so much of my time. What am I supposed to do.

I'm a sophomore, and I have the option to switch orchestra for Intro to Programming and Web Design at the semester break.

For context, I barely hold a leadership position in the orchestra (I'm second stand, and it's practically impossible to move up because my teacher has personal bias towards the section leader outside of school, loves her sm and basically acts like she hates everyone else). For other ECs, I can continue to do orchestra and recitals outside of school and I'm founder and VP of the MUN at our school. I'm also in Academic Decathlon.

In this case, would dropping orchestra look bad? Or would colleges value programming more?

FYI: I think I want to do Pre-Med. My most likely majors are biophysics, biochem, microbio, or math. Maybe biomed engineering, but I'm not sure.

Any advice is appreciated!! Also I'm sorry if I sound pretentious or anything I just rlly want advice and I'm tired.

Extra info: Four APs right now as well (Calc AB, Physics 1, Bio, Psych)

I accidentally sent all my attempts to one school instead of just my highest 2 and I don't want it to see my other attempts, can I just email CollegeBoard and have them fix it while it's still pending or am I fried?!

i have some words in spanish, song names, and movie titles in my essays. do these get italicized or like what do i do with them

My daughter just took the PSAT and scored a 970. Against our advice she didn’t not study or take the practice test. She is of course bummed but this should have been expected. She claimed some of her friends tags didn’t study for over 1000, so she’s feeling down about it.

My question is what are the best resources or ways for her to study and get ready for the real test. I’ve gotten emails from Empowerly and saw Varsity tutors online. Amy advice would be great.

Its hard. I’m still writing and refining it right now. But it was honestly a kind of therapy.

I’m not a reflective person. I don’t make conversation about myself to other people, I don’t vicariously live through life and remember important moments and think of how it’s impacted me, and I don’t sleep much, which probably all contributes to my struggle to recall and reflect and talk about my experiences and how they’ve shaped me. 

And that’s why I’ve been so demotivated to write the essay. I generally don’t do jackshit that’s important, and I couldn’t recall anything worthwhile about myself. Until I finally had to sit down, get my shit together, and throw together some bullshit that still felt true to myself. In all honesty, most of my material is really recent; reflections I’ve made about myself, the way I think and process information, scenarios that occurred the day of writing bits and pieces of my essay. Grasping onto these small bits, and being forced to flesh it out- i’ve been thinking more recently, “hey, there’s more to me than I thought?”

And I think what’s really been helping is 1) interacting with other people, maybe after an argument or a conversation on a particular topic, and then thinking about how your responses were and 2) being by yourself in various scenarios and noticing where your mind wanders. Really my issue has been seeing myself, and when I finally did, I finally thought there was substance to me. 

Basically, this essay is legitimately forcing me to grasp things about myself, expand on it as I’ve never had to before- say “I matter”- and try to win the audience over with these experiences. 
And I think its winning me over too.

And overall, what I mean to say is- I’ve been approaching this essay as thinking of it as the big finale, the culmination of my life experiences, and then getting terrified at the idea that I’m not enough. It’s okay though. This essay doesn’t capture all of me. There’s still more to come. There’s stuff happening everyday. This essay just captures me in the past few weeks, even days. And it's enough. 

Now sorry for basically rambling, you can imagine the state my actual essay looks like right now if I’m struggling to get concise points across here. But I hope I’m getting the message across.

Don't think that there’s nothing. Start looking. :)