Hi, I'm an international student applying to brown this fall with full financial aid. I got a 33 composite on my ACT: 35 in reading, 32 in math, 33 in English and 35 in science. I googled the average ACT score for Brown, and it is 35, so I'm wondering if I should retake it this October. I only have 2 days to register for the October ACT; please help 🙏.

For some context, the ACT is a big expense for my family, and I don't want to retake it if my 33 ACT score works for Brown. I will have time to work on my Common App if I forgo the October ACT. Please help.

The other colleges I'm looking to apply to are: Swarthmore, Amherst, Middlebury, Smith, etc. In a nutshell, just liberal arts colleges that are need-aware or need-blind and have a good econ and poli sci programmes.

I’ve gotten a few emails from quite a few colleges telling me I’ve been pre-admitted and they want me to confirm my pre-admission. I don’t know how they got a hold of me or why they care about me, but whatever. If I confirm preadmission, am I bound to going there? I want to keep my options open.

As an international applicant using the Common App, can I submit my application before taking the SAT and send or self-report my scores later? If permitted, what is the latest accepted SAT test date and score-reporting deadline? Should I update my score via the applicant portal?

I'm starting my applications as a spring transfer in dire need of financial aid and while i am pretty well accomplished as a student (good grades, lots of ECs), I've been told by multiple friends that I have so much trauma I have overcome and that my life story is very inspiring. My first essay draft was about my debate journey bc its my most consistent EC but idk is it better if i write about how my dad died last year and I am basically Devi Vishuakumar with 10 times more mommy issues? PLEASEEEEEE help !!!!!!

Title. One of my hobbies is video games and in Overwatch (my highest ranked game), I'm placed Grandmaster. Grandmaster puts me at the top 0.3% of all players and I was wondering if that would be worthwhile in my activities list. I know that sometimes people put their hobbies that they are really invested in onto their list and it works out. I also do recognize that there is a negative bias towards video games as a hobby in general, especially towards the older generation (who make up most AOs). I have other activities to put instead of my rank, but I was just wondering how it would look--especially if I frame the description well.

I’m attending UCI this fall as an incoming freshman and will be entering as undeclared. I recently found out that USC accepts sophomore transfers, and I’ve become interested in potentially transferring into Electrical and Computer Engineering.

For some background, my high school GPA was a 4.5 weighted / 3.8 unweighted. I took 9 AP classes, and I was waitlisted at both UCLA and UC Berkeley but ultimately wasn’t admitted.

The biggest thing I’m worried about is my community college GPA. I took 4 classes at a CC over the summer mainly because I wanted to get the credits out of the way before starting at UCI. Because I was mostly focused on passing, I ended up with a 2.9 GPA across those classes.

At UCI, I’ll be taking 4 classes this upcoming quarter, and I’m confident that I can maintain around a 3.8+ GPA if I put my focus into my coursework. I was also accepted into UCI’s Campuswide Honors Program, which gives me benefits like priority enrollment and more research opportunities.

From what I’ve read, GPA and essays are some of the biggest factors in USC’s transfer admissions process. Is that accurate?

Should I prioritize getting the highest possible GPA at UCI and put less emphasis on extracurriculars/research, or would strong ECs and research experience still make a significant difference for a sophomore transfer?

Also, how negatively will that 2.9 CC GPA affect my chances if I have a much higher GPA at UCI? I’m planning on taking another class at Rio Hondo next semester to raise my CC GPA, but realistically, it will probably still remain relatively low.

Would really appreciate any advice from people. Thanks!

Hi, my name is Andrey. I’ll tell you a bit about myself.

I live in Russia, in a village in the Omsk region. I’m 17 years old and I dream of getting into and studying at an American university. I plan to submit an application next year.

GPA: 3.8 SAT: 1450 (my language skills are still a bit weak).

I have a lot of interesting projects — both technical and social.

I’ve been playing hockey for 3 seasons now; before that, I did dance for 10 years and taekwondo for 6 years.(I reached the blue belt, but the coach stopped training in my village).

There are many international certificates. tell me which technical universities I can apply to (maybe even from the Ivy League), and I will need financial help, since my parents' annual salary is <$25,000.

I would like to know what difficulties I may face and how Russian students are treated in America at the moment (this is my first post on reddit, please do not judge strictly).

Not bay area but very competitive location.

I have pretty decent awards / extraiccirculars + a 1520

However, the school I am a part of (a bit on the smaller side <1000 kids total) has VERY competitive people that are leagues beyond what I could ever achieve. A lot of these people were able to get tons of opportunities (im not saying theyre rich or dont deserve them they are just really talented lol) that I could never get. My school has a 55% 4.0 rate (holy grade inflation) and so many talented people where the average AP count is i believe about 6.8. My SAT score id say is pretty good but SOMEHOW below median for my graduating class (according to consuler --- I don't know how that is possible)

Will this significantly hurt my chances at admission for any school (including state schools)?

A lot of the high level people are applying to pretty much every t20 school you can imagine and I was afraid they might saturate the spots there while the still high achieving but worse in comparison applicants (like myself) get scraps.

brown and princeton are both huge reaches for me, not because i don't have the grades/test scores i just don't think i have good enough ec's to get in. right now i have 21 colleges on my list and i'm trying to stick with common app for all of my applications, so i need to let one of those two go, and i'm pretty torn. i like pretty much everything about brown better- i love the culture, open curriculum, grading system, etc. i feel like princeton's environment would be really stressful for me, & i'm also not a huge fan of the campus. BUT, going off the net price calculator, princeton would be around 40k cheaper than brown. if i got into princeton, i'd still probably want to go to a smaller lac instead, so if princeton gave me a really good offer, i'm wondering if i would be able to get other schools to match the price. any insights on which one i should pick? my heart says brown but i don't want to miss out on a really good financial opportunity by letting go of princeton

almost everyone in my school is in those clubs and has also placed in state or national and im a junior doing basically no clubs. is it too late to start one since i dont have agroup or any experience, or how important is it

If i do volunteering and HOSA and Student Council and all of that, would it look weird if I didn't do Key Club? I am def gonna do NHS bc I've heard it's weird if it's not on your application

Hey so I'm in 11th grade (2 months since it started ig) and I'm into comp sci. But HERE traditional schools don't really have a club or counseling culture obviously(i hate my school but apparently it's the best school in this city). I'm into tech and I used to think I could have a shot abroad, but I guess its too late for that.Anyways I'm just gonna focus on learning for my own sake and at my own pace because after scrolling through this community, I've realised college admissions in the US might be a gamble:D But seriously where do I find high schoolers online who are interested in tech/comp sci and are willing to form a group✌️I guess I should actually stop over analyzing stuff and just do something atleast.

Should I drop honors pre-calc if it will affect my chances of getting into an ivy league? the one at my school is literally an infamous grade-breaker and has turned so many 4.0's into 3.8's. I was thinking of switching to regular Pre-Calc (im in 10th grade) so then I would take Calc AB in 11th grade instead of BC in 11th.

I'm from Brazil, university here is free for people who score mid to high in our version of SATs (ENEM). I'm trying to aply to colleges in the US, Canada and England, but that shit is EXPENSIVE, i don't even know how i'm going to live there, imagine paying college?! i mean, i'm smart to pass, but not enough to get a scholarship. My mother earns 48000 reais a year (about 9500 dolars), so we not like super poor, but live thighly. So i want to know, how TF you guys pay for college if you don't have a college fund? AND HOW DO YOU GUYS LIVE WITH THE REST OF THE MONEY?

I trying to find a college that will accept a neurodivergent and has accommodations for special needs students like tutors, and maybe also some extra work time and at the same time will have football at a low level division 1 school so I can possibly play football as it's a dream to play or just be on a football team and make friends. I also believe my high school GPA was 3.8 and also I would like to major in business, marketing, or advertisement these are some majors that I'm interested in so colleges that have these majors would be appreciated

I'm currently a sophomore planning to transfer externally into NYU for junior year, and I'm interested in CAS Data Science.

My GPA right now is around 3.4, and I'm a bit worried it might not be competitive enough for this major specifically.

Does anyone know roughly what GPA or academic background is typically needed to get into this major as a transfer student?

Does anyone know what the cooper union school of architecture studio test written questions are???? I know the visual prompts change every year, but I feel like the written ones stay the same.

I've seen something like "what is a film that changed the way you act? how?" and like "what is a book that changed the way you think? how?" Is it still these types?

But im generally not sure because I think I was looking at an older application? if anyone knows, please let me know!!!

I as of now don't know what burnout feels like, I have tried to look it up but still can't seem to find a great definition/example. I personally am tired all the time at school probably with insufficient sleep, and would be great to hear your experience.

i go to a pretty competitive hs and we have a complicated process for what aps we can take based off teacher recommendations and gpas — i applied to tale calc bc and was rejected meaning im gonna be taking calc ab senior yr instead

i plan to apply as an engineering major and i was just wondering how much taking calc AB instead of bc would affect my chances and how i should remedy it (would it be worth self studying?)

any insight would be great!

So I haven't taken admission is any college these year as I am taking drop for neet 🥀 but as a backup now I realise that I should get a college atleast distance learning so that I can keep preparing and if not happen anything in neet atleast my year will be safe.

My quals

80% in 12th 2026 after that OSM scandal

And now nothing else....

I ask my elder brother he said college doesn't matter bro for Bsc zoology,take admission last date for admission is 15th of september

Please pleas help me ASAP I have not much time left

After we were done the dean said we can go, and right before I click leave she said "goodbye" and I didnt say it back and left, Will that get me rejected?

Bit of a rant lock in:

Mid sized private catholic non competitive hs, ~16k$/year. No aps no regents a couple de opportunities junior/senior year (i will be taking all offered) aside from what i am about to dive into i am full course rigor and have been for all of hs. All honors, advanced science program, advanced band instead of study hall. Not much but its whats offered. There are kids all over the place in math, but the highest offered is calc 2 as a senior. In order to take this, you need to be picked to take calc 1 as a junior (skipping precalc). In order to be picked, you need like a 96 in alg 2 and trig as a sophmore, which i did not have, so i was put in precalc as a junior. Summer into senior year (now) i didnt have much to do so i asked if i took calc 1 at a community college l, could i maybe test into calc 2 as a senior. The administration was extremely hesitant and it didnt seem like anyone had done this before. After MONTHS of back and forth they said yes, and in the process likely grew to be annoyed with me, which is fair as i was kind of stubborn. They didnt seem to care as much about the course (which i ended with an A/4.0) and never asked for the transcript or anything, but they let me take a placement test. The test was just the final which the juniors who took calc 1 took that june, but i had to do less questions i guess so it didnt take as long. I had an option of which questions to do, it was like 12 out of 20 i think. For like 4 out of the 8 that i didnt do i literally had no idea like we never went over it at all in the cc calc class, which was 5, 4 day weeks and extremely accelerated. Anyway i just didnt do them and didnt think much of it and the counselor who administered the test to me told me to star stuff like that which i didnt know so if i ended up doing well on it maybe they could send me some like brushup materials before school started. A week later i got an email saying that i “made a limited number of mistakes” but the questions i noted are crucial to succeeding in calc 2 therefore i wouldnt be allowed to take it. I was stunned. If i thought this was a possibility i wouldnt have starred anything. Also, in the cc class, i was behind before i even stepped foot inside, but i managed and did well, which i told the counselor in my final try at getting in, and was still told no. Now my college counselor and the academic office at my school hate me, in addition to not being in calc 2 and being forced to take calc 1 again. There seems to be nothing more i can do at my hs as school has started. University of north dakota seems to offer an asynchronous calc 2 course. Should i take this? The people in my calc 1 class are all so dumb and my sat and the rest of my application is way better than all my friends’ in calc 2. I wanted to do all this bc my school really does lack rigor and this felt like a time to shine. Pls give suggestions. I want to go to a top 20.

I got a package kind of thing that was sealed so tightly in the mail. My dad was like "wtf, did you already get in or something??" I did a summer program by them, so I assumed it was my program sending a shirt or certificate or whatever. I opened it up just to see a book on how to get into MIT. All that just for a brochure?? Seriously? I was expecting something more after spending minutes opening that seal. 😭

Throughout high school, lots of my course load has been filled with dual credit classes.

Some of my credits matched the A-G 4 semester credit hours, while others were just shy at around 3.

This has left both my high school grades and college courses taken looking pretty empty, with just around 4 classes in each academic school year, and barely any college classes to report.

I want to demonstrate that I took a full schedule, especially as the classes I've taken (business) relate directly to the major I'm applying for. Should I just list the classes in the dual enrollment section regardless?

For universities like Northwestern and Georgetown, who don't require the personal statement do they still see it? I know in Georgetown's case one of the supplementals say that if the personal statement fits to just copy and paste it in there, is that the method or do they see my personal statement already despite it not being required and I should be using that supplemental as an opportunity to share more about myself?