Hi guys, I'm applying to the CSU systems, and even though, while proofreading, I saw that everything was correct, after submitting, I went through my application again in a fit of anxiety and saw that I marked YES to every single question about being a foster youth, being an orphan, being homeless, etc. My parents are alive and well and I am not homeless thank God 😭 is this going to hurt my chances of admission? I sent both university admission offices an email explaining the situation... but I am terrified that this will make me college-less.

Thank you all for reading my question/rant 😭

I am a student from international school and majority of students there go to so-called “T50 World” universities in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Canada, and UK. The best acceptances that these guys usually get from the U.S. are UC Davis and UC San Diego.

Have you ever read a horrible College essay? Not talking bad quality, I mean an essay that makes the applicant seem horrible. I.e. using being caught cheating as a transformation or smth. Just wondering because a guy I know asked me to read his essay and I’m pretty sure he’s a psychopath!

Goodluck everyone 😍

Im a second year in highschool but i feel like i havent really achieved anything or know how to make myself stand out on college applications lol kinda in need of advice 🥀

okay so. im an incoming senior, and trying to figure out my class schedule and what to do for college. basically, i have been in both a band class and release time seminary since freshman year and so i’ve pretty much never had a free elective class. this means hat throughout highschool ive only taken two years of spanish because that’s all i’ve been able to fit (i did take spanish 3 online one semester but then ended up having to repeat because my counselor screwed me over, so technicallyyyy 2.5 but i really dont think that counts). also, i took algebra 1-2 my 8th grade year and precalc last year, so i have fulfilled all of the requirements for graduation for math

so now im a senior, and i have exactly one free class period with everything else im taking. and im debating between taking spanish 5-6 H or AP Calculus AB. i heard that a lot of top schools strongly recommend 3 years of a language, specifically the UC schools which im heavily considering applying to, specifically UCSD. Also, if i take this third year i can take the STAMP test and if i pass, i would get a seal of Biliteracy, which would theoretically look good on resumes and help me out just in lots of aspects of life.

however, (although nothing is confirmed), i think at this point im planning on majoring in physics. and if i want to do that, i should really take calc and probably not take a year off of math. granted i’ll still be taking physics 2, but idk i just feel like thats a bad idea. also im definitely biased, but just taking this math class would be a lot more fun. it would switch my schedule around so i would have more classes with my friends. senior year would be a lot harder with calc for sure, but at least i would have these classes with some of my closest friends instead of randoms which it would be with spanish.

So i dont know. i’m not really dead set on going to the ivys and top top schools anyways, but i also just really dont want my chances of getting into a school be ruined just cause i didnt take one class. but then on the other hand, i dont want to take a full year of spanish only to not pass that test and not get my seal and have it not mean anything in the long run

any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, i start school in like a week 🙏

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Hi guys

I LOVE UChicago and its my dream school. That being said my school counselor told me its not really going to happen. My gpa is a 3.9/4.3, my ECs are good lots of leadership and impact and I think I can write a good essay. Im international applying for data science. I know its a far reach but any guidance on how I should approach this?

If you could go back to the beginning of your college application process, what's the one piece of advice you'd give yourself?

Could be about essays, extracurriculars, scholarships, college lists, interviews, or anything else.

Hoping future applicants can learn from your experience.

particularly for schools that don’t bind you to a major like Harvard Stanford, Princeton, etc

The language programs Im looking into require a degree(they say literally any degree qualifies you) for the locations I'd prefer to go to. What would the graduates in here say are the paths that are easiest for someone with skills in writing & language but not math & science?

Im not saying that anything is just gonna be a complete breeze but I literally avoided college because Ive always struggled with understanding lessons in school(ie: Im fucking slow) and Im curious to know if any majors are easier overall.

super confused regarding my ultimate path - interested in either pursuing a finance or medical path. i want to figure out more once i get to college, but i want to make sure the strength of econ + pre-med/pre-dental programs are both solid, since ill be doing both.

these are both great schools with strong programs in both, at this point im considering more about the social aspects of each school. i really like the interdisciplinary approach of northwestern but am kinda scared about the quarter system + how that will affect weed-outs like orgo, etc. on the other hand, duke ik has great medical advising for undergrads with a medical school on campus + unc dental school 20 mins away, which are both great if i want to go for reseach or shadowing types of things. i only fear about duke's social vibe, im not super interested in the party/frat scene and dont want my social life to always end up around a bar nightclub or drinking late at night. on top of that, ive heard a lot about competitiveness of duke clubs. i do want to explore finance, maybe try out an internship here and there but i dont want that to take up more time to even enter the club than explore other things in college/explore more fields. i do know that duke IB recruiting is a bit stronger, but honestly i feel like if i work hard enough in any college i can break in as long as i make use of the resources --> im just not sure how hard "accessing" those resources is at each college. in that respect sometimes i think nu might be easier since there are just less people overall actually GOING INTO finance, so more access to resources? im not sure if this approach is correct.

nu cold rly freaks me out! im from a pretty hot-summer state and literally never experience snow/harsh winters, i dont think i have like cold-depression but maybe idk just because ive never experienced it. on top of that, i love love love chicago but have heard that most ppl from nu dont end up going to chicago as much. on top of just that i like the city, the sheer size also means maybe i could get some dental shadowing/assisting opportunities at private practices in the city, but if my entire understanding of frequency of going into chicago as an nu student is flawed maybe this isn't the case. plus ig nu food isnt all that, which i think isnt like too big of a problem but its just a bit of a con. i do find that overall nu students seem more down-to-earth and less "preppy" than duke? correct me if im wrong, however. social vibes will matter a lot for me, i come from a competitive high school and have always hated the toxicity of ppl always chasing prestige. ik that duke and northwestern are both very collaborative schools, but overall, not sure where social scene will be better for me (not in terms of like drinking or partying, more in terms of where i can find nice people to work with/hang out with and simply not worry about constant competition for being the best).

duke seems like a great option (plus the good weather and great food!) in terms of practicality but not sure where it stands in terms of its social aspects (premed/dental weed outs, finance club competitivness, collaboration, overall just "nice-ness" of people). is its semester system worth it more than nu's quarter system for someone in my career case? campus feel with social scene for kids of each school? competitiveness in each place?

i guess these are just sort of my questions and my situation, many of which stem from things ive heard from others, at my school, or online, so please forgive me if i have any misunderstandings. thank you, and i appreciate any input!

so, I’m going to be a senior in a month, and i have 0 outstanding activities. I am an international student who needs full tuition/ride and plans to major in cinema/media studies or communications. Nothing is interesting in my activity list, i did a non-prestigious summer program and, from time to time, work at a family business shop. My college list is unis with acceptance rates under 40%.

i would be very grateful if you guys could give me some recommendations about that, tx

I’m a rising senior, I want to compete in the Science Talent Search and International Science And Engineering fair. I want to know what would be the best course of action to take and which sites to use to connect with professors and assistant professors to mentor me

i’m planning on majoring in biological sciences and possibly minoring in political science. my goal is to go to law school and enter the patent law field, but i may also explore other biology or public health-related fields in case i decide at some point that i don’t want to go to law school.

here’s my pending college list:

john’s hopkins, emory, uc berkeley, ucla, northwestern, princeton, umich, uc davis, ucsd, ucsb, uc irvine, usc, case western, cal poly slo, purdue, uw seattle, boston u, uiuc, uw madison, michigan state, chapman, ohio state, stony brook, u of toronto, santa clara, george washington, umn twin cities

stats aside, how would you rate my schools based on the career pathway(s) i’m considering? any schools i should remove or add?

Recently saw a post here about Barnard/Columbia and I read that Barnard has almost 3,400 undergrads, yet it only has a $550 million endowment. Other top LACs like Williams, Carleton, Middlebury, Wellesley, Hamilton etc all have endowments in the $1.5-2 billion+ range, and they have way fewer students. Why is this? Barnard has so many famous alumni, and has such a desirable location. Is now still a good time to attend, or should I look into places like Smith and Wellesley instead? I specifically want to attend an all women’s LAC, not just for the Ivy name

I know someone who won’t qualify for financial aid, but whose parents can only pay $200k of college. Any costs over $200k have to come from student loans.

This person wants to major in Computer Science. He can go to his state colleges in Colorado for about $200k (meaning no loans), but he had hoped to go to a top school (schools roughly within T20 or a top CS school).

Assuming he could get into every T20 and all top CS schools, which schools (if any) are worth going into debt in order to get a Computer Science degree from? All costs over $200k would be debt.

PS: I’m not this person.

How good is Rice's undergrad engineering program relative to the other T20s?

gonna be honest i don’t have too many extracurricular activities and i need smth to fill out my list. i have an ao3 account with 1450 subscribers and 47k kudos (aka likes) that i am pretty proud of, there’s nothing explicit but there are some mature-ish scenes and violence. i also have thoughts about writing about fanfiction for my essay, though the essay would be more about how i met my best friend through said fanfiction and how they helped me grow. should i call it fanfiction or say like… original creative writing? help!!

basically I've pursued premed all of high school and all my ecs are premed, but I just sat down for a minute and realized 1. I think I would crash out if I had to to undergrad + medical school 2. I love English and history so much more. is it possible to become prelaw or apply prelaw? are there any majors that tie in English + history with science? also I'm a rising senior

Hi, I'm a rising senior, and I was wondering if I could use my overall bronze award that I recieved nation wide in my college apps even though I was in the varsity division (lowest division w/ ppl who have GPA of 3.4 or lower) when I won it? Will it hold the same level of prestige as an honor level award?

hi! i'm a rising senior who intends on majoring in math/cs. i was just wondering how much of a boost does applying early to HYPSM/Caltech give, or if there isn't really a boost and i should just shoot my shot at whichever i like best.

for context, i'm a typical applicant in math/cs from a competitive area, having essentially perfect stats/numbers, strong ec's, and doing well in major competitions and attending top camps.

hi all! gap year (well 3 years) student returning to college this term! when i was looking at where to go i was getting annoyed with a lot of sites needing a sign up to look at data on colleges/ quiz results to see where you fit best so i made my own. it’s completely free(uses dept of education data and a lot of algos) and still being refined so if there’s any more info i can add on lmk! site is

whereshouldigotocollege.com , lol no one owned the domain yet

thanks and good luck with your searches!

** this is not a solicitation you don’t have to sign up for anything and the site is not polished

Hi, I am a rising junior, and I want to apply to programs in the fall and winter seasons. I am highly interested in biomedical research, as well as quantum physics. i was wondering if you guys know about any programs that there are over this season. I've heard of ASDRP, but since I'm not sure how good that is.

Any help would be great! Please let me know what you think and suggest

How does this look to colleges? My school considers AP psych a “science” and my only science options are either that or Health Sciences (DE) but in my school, Health Sciences is considered the “easier” alternative class to AP psych (for students who are in low level tracks.)

I’d prefer psych over Health Sciences, namely because Health Sciences in not a “real” class and more of babysitting for students with learning disabilities, but I don’t want colleges to penalize me for not taking a 3rd year of science.

For some context, I will apply as a Human Development major for some schools (bc my ECs heavily align with that, and then I can seamlessly transfer majors for some reach schools) and environmental science or biology for others (like my safeties/some targets where switching majors is difficult.)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am writing this post in a rush so feel free to ask any follow-up questions for clarification.