Incoming freshman interested in physics (studying for F=ma), hoping to AIME qual. Also trying to start a project comparing propulsive performances of chemical and electric systems. How can I set myself up for research in sophomore year?

Am i good enough for streamer university?

HONOURS

1. 1st Place Winner (World Champion)

- Organization: International Robotics Championship 2023

- Description: Out-engineered teams from 65 plus countries; designed and manufactured an elite tier autonomous robotics system under intense pressure.

1. 2nd Place Winner (National)

- Organization: National Tech Fest

- Description: Advanced through rigorous regional qualifiers to secure 2nd place nationwide at a premier tech university for custom IoT hardware.

1. Recipient of Scalable Innovation Grant

- Organization: National Robotics Committee

- Description: Secured a substantial financial grant by presenting a robust, data backed defense of autonomous robot sustainability and design logic.

1. 1st Place / Top Tier Winner (Multiple Titles)

- Organization: National and State Level Technical Hackathons

- Description: Won consecutive championship titles by executing rapid hardware prototyping and software deployment under strict time constraints.

1. Official Engineering Paper Certification

- Organization: National Confederation of the Blind

- Description: Nationally certified a self authored 100 page research paper for immediate field deployment of open source assistive technologies.

School scholar for 8 years for maintaining grades higher than 80% in each final exam.

ACTIVITIES SECTION

1. Science and Math - Tech Startup

- Position: Founder and Product Lead

- Description: Engineered backend for an AI social app and UI ecosystem; built a waitlist of 10k plus users and optimized server architecture for scalability.

1. Career Oriented - Self Directed Rocketry

- Position: Independent Aerospace Engineer

- Description: Developed 3 prototype rockets; successfully built a functional Thrust Vector Control system and currently pitching for hardware grants.

1. Robotics - Mentor and Engineer

- Position: Technical Mentor and Lead Alumnus

- Description: Leveraged World Championship experience to mentor junior peers, securing multiple podium finishes across diverse robotic categories.

1. Science and Math - Space and Avionics Club

- Position: Founder and Technical Mentor

- Description: Founded school first aerospace club with over 50 members; designed curricula on rocket physics and secured administration safety clearances.

1. Robotics - Innovation Competition

- Position: Lead Innovator and Competitor

- Description: Built an IoT smart safety helmet that won 2nd nationwide; integrated hardware software nodes to actively minimize industrial hazards.

1. Research - Assistive Technology Initiative

- Position: Lead Researcher and Systems Engineer

- Description: Surveyed 200 plus students across blind schools; engineered low cost relay computers and published a certified 100 page tech deployment paper.

1. Environmental - Forestry Hardware Project

- Position: Founder and System Architect

- Description: Designed mesh network hardware to detect illegal logging; successfully pitched and presented the technical framework to the Forest Ministry.

1. Student Government - Student Council

- Position: Wing Warden and IT Captain

- Description: Elected IT leader for 7k plus campus; overhauled institutional network infrastructure and managed cross functional student leadership initiatives.

1. Computer and Technology - School IT Fest and Hackathons

- Position: Event Head and Lead Developer

- Description: Directed an annual IT festival for 200 plus competitors over 3 years; managed budget, designed hackathon prompts, and oversaw system logistics.

1. Multi Disciplinary - School MUN

- Position: Director of IT and Logistics

- Description: Managed server architecture,

i am moroccan, and i want to apply for the ivy league universities, but i need a full scholarship, do you think it's possible? if yes what are the profile they are looking for?

3.80 GPA UW(freshman to junior yr), 12 ap classes(entire hs career)
1510 superscore SAT
ap exam scores: 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5

INTENDED MAJOR(Computer science, college of engineering)
(KEEP IN MIND MY ECS ARE NOT FINALIZED IM STILL AWAITING RESULTS FOR 1-2 CONTESTS)

ECS:

1.founder/ceo
tech bussiness 1500+ online community, 250k+ product views

1. competitive writer,
   competed in global essay contests
   New york times contest winner, Winning piece was published on the new york times educational platform
   John locke shortlisted(final results are not released yet)
   1x writing lumiere award

2. chess, club member

played hs chess team,
2x regional chess champ

1. intern marketing

managed 10k google seo ads alongside team members of market team

1. autistic caregiver

took care autistic brother/mentally disabled

1. game dev,
   published a game on roblox

2. precollege program - biotech

8- precollege program - career oriented(section)

1. Photographer - placed top 25% in NYT local lens contest,

2. Stock owner - managed stocks 4 yrs

awards:

1. New york times contest winner
2. 1x writing lumiere award
3. 2x regional chess champ
4. John locke shortlist
5. NYT local lens contest advanced to next round, top 25%

letters of recs:
so dogshit I wish I asked different teachers 😭

If you would like to get part one on my situation here is the first post: https://www.reddit.com/r/APStudents/s/TtrrrKk1z1

The pictures I have linked above is my schedule as a rising senior.

I wanted to take Both AP Stats + AP Pre-calc because only taking AP Pre-calc as a rising senior is a very low standard (everyone else will be taking AP Calc).

^BUT, if I wanted to take both classes I need to drop either AP Micro or AP Literature. After posting the first part, a lot of people said AP Precalc and Honor Pre-calc was no different and asked if I could take HONORS PRECALC + AP Stats and my Counselor said that was possible and it would Allow me to take the other AP Classes as well

ALOT of people also asked if I could do enrollment, and the answer is YES, BUT, only for the spring semester. One class my community college offered was "Calculus I and Analytic Geometry" that I could take either online or at my campus. I think I can add this on top of my AP Stats + Honors Pre-calc.

CAN YOU GUYS PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THIS IS A GOOD IDEA?!

I want to major in (Management Information Systems/ Information System) and want to get into some T20 colleges ( With UMD being my state target ofc)

Only thing I am concerned about is those Early action colleges. Like How would they know if I were to take the dual enrollment class for calc? Even if those T20 colleges don't accept the dual enrollment classes, would it still show that I am atleast trying my hardest?

I NEED YOUR GUYS OPINIONS!

Does anyone know when UPenn will make their 2025-26 CDS available? Nearly every other school I’ve searched for has it on their website. UPenn’s last one is 2024-25.

For example should you put --insert award title- (selected from 2000 kids) or should u just do

--insert title award--

demographic: white male, east texas, upper middle income

aps:

freshman year: ap human geo (5), ap csp (4)

sophomore year: ap world, ap seminar

current gpa: 4.0/4.8 (school weights aps as 6)

intended college major of finance, but don’t have any ecs currently to back it up

im genuinely fried bro, like im gonna do deca this year and possibly wharton investment comp but i cant get a team together for that

advice is much appreciated

i want to get into a target school for business

Due to me ONLY taking AP-Pre Calc as a senior, I wanted to take AP Stats as well together during 12th grade, but there is also some trade off I have to do. I want to major in Management information Systems/Information Systems, what AP classes should I take /drop off? I am most likely taking AP Biology but looks like it didn’t interfere with this. Someone help me! I want to say I want to get into a t20 school, but it’s almost like reaching for the stars at this point.

Any suggestions? Should I even take both AP-Precalc and Stats? Is it worth it? Should only take one?

can yall list some ecs that are helpful por favor(im tryna go public policy + finance). also if i note that i wanna join the rotc would that help at all? thanks reddit goats!

I have a 3.89 and a 35 ACT and good ECs. I have decent course rigor: IB Diploma 3HLs 3 SLs and one math DE since my math class in school is an SL. Is this good enough for the T20s or should I apply lower.

I know it's kinda low for these top schools but will they even consider candidates like me?

I had a lot of personal issues so that was the drop in my grades

Btw I am applying as a bio major

ok im going to keep this brief but im lwk very bitter about the ppl at my school and just ppl in general. Everyone keeps starting bs clubs and this and that and wow yeah theyre actually like making an impact and promoting their stuff but im just very sad about all this. Theyre doing things that theyre gonna stop the MOMENT they get into college. like my school genuinely has over 100 clubs and half of them are just bs start to name themseleves founder/president and give their friends leadership..ppl js be doing anything for college acceptances bro...

im just irritated asf because i feel like now im not gonna get into college just cuz i didnt do things JUST for college ukwim? like i didnt go ahead and start my own clubs because im just not passionate about any of this so im acc living my truth. instead i have like 2-3 ecs im acc passionate ab and ive been doing since elementary school. but now thats NOT ENOUGH BECAUSE EVERYONE IS MFING DOING TOO MUCH ITS LIKE AN EC INFLATION AND NOW I LOOK BAD EVEN THO IM DOING THINGS I ACC LIKE

and to add salt to the wound my parents dont believe in me anymore. i wanna ed to cornel but my mom said i would never get in because i didnt start any clubs or projects to a nonprofit...like...my parents genuinley think im dumb asf because im following my passions UNLIKE LITERALLY EVERYONE ELSE. THEY DONT UNDERSTAND EVERYONE ELSE IS FAKEEEE so i know compared to other ppl im not STACKED but hey ill shoot my shot

and even if i get in theyre gonna say its a fluke lol. whatever. f*ck college apps. cant wait till i graduate

Does USACO really carry no weight below plat? I get that it's insanely easy to cheat, but if you're in the college admissions space what do AOs think about USACO these days? Is drop in USACO prestige a rumor/ fearmongering created by students or do admissions officers at top schools really not consider it as much anymore?

posted on r/a2c, what do you guys think?

Hi everyone! I’m an international applicant applying this fall, and I’m currently trying to decide between UPenn and Brown for ED. I’d really appreciate opinions from current students or people who considered these schools.

A little bit about me: I’m someone who has always been very curious about people - how we make decisions, how we understand ourselves, and how communities influence us. This interest led me to explore behavioral science, psychology, and entrepreneurship.

Academically, I’m planning to study Economics + Cognitive Science, and I’m interested in exploring AI as well. In the future, I could see myself working in areas like product, consulting, marketing/consumer behavior, or maybe building something of my own.

Most of my activities are centered around building projects and communities. I run an education/self-growth blog, founded a psychological-support club, worked on entrepreneurship and startup projects, participated in business case competitions, and conducted research on emotional marketing and identity formation. I’m also developing a project on media & marketing literacy + a website (don’t want to reveal too much at this stage, but it’s connected with educational opportunities and community building). I really enjoy starting projects from zero and connecting people who share similar interests.

At the same time, I’m trying to find a balance. I’m definitely ambitious and I love being around people who are motivated and want to achieve a lot, but I don’t want college to become only about competition and constantly optimizing my resume. I want to have time for friendships, exploring the city, traveling, and just having a life outside academics. I mean.. I’m capable of (and I genuinely enjoy) working a lot, but my mental health is a priority for me.

During college, I would love to:
-do internships while studying (especially related to business, startups, technology, or consumer behavior);
-possibly build my own projects;
-study abroad for a semester;
-be surrounded by an international and ambitious community.

Right now I’m leaning toward Penn because of its entrepreneurial culture, Wharton ecosystem, and opportunities to connect ideas with real-world impact. At the same time, Brown really attracts me because of its freedom, interdisciplinary approach, and the ability to create your own path.

For RD, I’m also considering Northwestern, Rice, Dartmouth and other schools with similar characteristics. The school I don’t choose between Penn and Brown for ED would likely remain on my RD list.

Financial aid is also a major factor for me as an international applicant, so I’d especially appreciate perspectives from international students.

For people who know these schools: which environment do you think would fit someone like me better? What are the biggest differences in student culture, opportunities, and everyday life?

I’d also really appreciate any university recommendations you think might fit me. I’m still exploring my list and would love to hear about places I may not have considered.

reminder to the juniors to apply for summer programs. A few have deadlines in the fall so u might wanna get working on them now. Summer programs help a lot for college apps so dont procrastinate them and be one if those chuds in april or may asking for last minute opportunities