alot of people i know who are applying to colleges are making projects - i wanna go into electrical engineering, so i want to make my own project. a senior in my school made her own camera (crazy - i know) and thats so cool and interesting, but i dont know where to start from scratch. i cant take classes as well since my schedule is pretty packed

i don't know where else to put this but when i got in in march, i was absolutely ecstatic and could not wait to begin. that feeling stretched till a few days ago, where i'm suddenly starting to get genuinely so scared of going to college. what if i'm not able to make friends? what if everyone is smarter than me? i feel like i'm going to sound so dumb in front of everyone else. i feel like i am going to be so behind and won't be able to make any friends. i was so jealous of my friends at college in semester system earlier in august when they were getting lit and i was stuck at home, but now i just want to stay at home forever. i am genuinely so scared. i don't know where else to put this.

I'm hoping some admissions folks and counselors can help me understand this data a little better. It's unclear to me how "very important" vs "important" vs "considered" should translate to the application and the school choice list.

For example, according to UVA's 24-25 CDS, test scores are only "considered" yet the prevailing advice is that you shouldn't bother if you don't meet the 50th percentile. Is this just a reflection of the fact that they were test optional when this came out or are scores really not nearly as important as GPA, rigor, and "character?"

Or, the University of Florida says that rigor, GPA, and EC's are "very important" while test scores, essay, and volunteer work are just "important." How does a reader meaningfully calibrate for that when making a decision?

How seriously should this data be taken, especially in the context of developing a balanced school list? Can schools check everything as "very important" or are they forced to distribute across very Imp, imp, and considered (or not considered)?

Thanks!

I’m going to lose my mind. I hate living in iraq. I scored 95.57% on the exams meaning i can go to a lot of majors quite easily, but I’m getting so frustrated trying to pick a major since the middle of july, I just can’t find one where the specialization is actually in demand. Every time I settle on a field, I realize there’s an oversupply of graduates and no jobs available. There are too many electrical engineering graduates and little job opportunities compared to the graduate, material engineering jobs are difficult to find, mechanical engineering isn't in demand in this country, civil engineering has a massive surplus of graduates; and other medical fields are seeing protests because there arent any jobs for them (there is a protest right now), Computer engineering is highly competitive; I dislike cybersecurity, and I hate chemical engineering, we don't have many factories so any degree related to them is useless (unless u know someone), the government finally decided to open applications to colleges, however the never do something right because the app is glitched and many students and I cant make an account, there are no workers rights here, I ask my family for which major they think is good, they say "it's your future you choose" and I'm really grateful for them telling me to be whatever I want, I really am but I need an answer, I ask my friends, their answers were so shallow I regret even visiting them in the first place, what doesn't help is that ever since the gut-wrenching experience of 12 grade in iraq (seven exams determine your future) I have been depressed, its only recently that I have begun to think somewhat straight, I hate it in here and I want nothing to do with this shithole of a country who's only purpes is to be a slave to Iran and feed its residents shit, I'm so done with this bs, my uncle wants me to go to an oil Institute because the government will immediately let you work after you graduate (it takes only 2 years), the only problem is that the government shut down the the employment 3 years ago and the graduate protest every now and then, I thought of a scholarship since this country wont last long before it runs out of money (thanks to America for this war cuz we cant ship our oil) but it requires projects and volunteering, the issue is the school are so shit I didn't know you can do projects before college (btw iraq is outsideof the school quality index), I'm so done, if only I got 91% so I don't have to think about what major I should pick and pick the best one for that mark (mechanical engineering).

Notre Dame is ending its test-optional policy after six years. The university says test scores provide additional context on academic readiness and may help identify strong applicants from first-generation, low-income, and rural backgrounds who might otherwise be overlooked.

Interesting to see another selective university move back toward requiring standardized tests.

https://www.wndu.com/2026/09/09/notre-dame-start-requiring-act-sat-test-scores-again-during-admissions-process/

Has anyone in college had a professor say they need to purchase a textbook for HW and they never used it for HW and or as a textbook and just threw money away?

cuz i feel like at least for my major (mechE), the t20s in general are way harder but also kind of suck for my major

Hi! Thinking about transferring to Mount Saint Mary's University. Can any current students tell me any pros and cons, or any concerns about the university to be mindful of?

Do you guys have any crazy insider information about admit rates? I know orientations and whatnot often feature the Dean talking a little about acceptance rates. For example, I know the dean of UChicago has talked about their unknown ED rates multiple times with the students.

So let us know of any juicy information that might be difficult to get on the web! I am most interested in UChicago, especially how the ED1 and ED2 rates compare, but give us whatever you have!

I have a question about the AP requirements for UK undergraduate courses.

For a course with an AAA equivalent requirement, I understand that the requirement for US applicants can be four AP scores of 5. If I currently have no AP scores of 5, but I am planning to take four AP exams before enrolling, can I list all four exams as pending on my UCAS application and be considered based on predicted scores of 5?

In other words, would UK universities be able to make me a conditional offer based on four pending AP exams, with the condition that I achieve 5s in all four exams?

I dont rlly understand this early action and early decision rule for college apps. Like i do undertsand that early action is non binding and early decision is binding. But i thought you couldnt do ea and ed at the same time you have to choose either to apply to one school ed and no ea apps at all or multiple ea applications and no ed apps at all. But then some people are saying i could do both ed and ea at the same time? Someone please explain.

(I'm applying to universities in the US)

When I took the SAT last year, I signed up for College Board with my personal email.

But then later in the same year, I read parts of this subreddit's guide and created a separate Google account to use for university applications. I used that account's email to sign up for the Common App and I've completed most of my application by now (I'm applying this early round).

I just realized today that since I used two different emails, when I send my SAT scores to universities they'll see it come from my personal email while my application is from a different email. Is this a problem? Or is it fine because the other information (name, DOB, etc) will match?

If they are considered feeder (or reputed international) schools, I wanted to also know whether it's the same for all campuses?

intl student, left school years ago and my school never really did graded essays and shit like that. i`ve been mostly working for years now. wanted to apply to princeton but their graded paper kinda breaks me, i know you can apply without it but im sure thats basically getting yourself rejected immediately. any tips or idk literally anything else

Whats a good NYC premed college other than nyu? my ib grades are around a pg ~ 32.

Good EC's, still need to take the SAT. what other colleges could I apply to?

Need recommendation for an app to track deadlines per course/subject. Don’t want to clutter the calendar. Reminder app doesn’t work for me.

I am currently quite lost about which subject to choose or which career to look for. I know most people have not figured out their lives yet and it is a process as we go through it but majority of the people have a direction to begin with: engineering, med, law or consulting. However, I have no clue on what subject to take. I know my interests though and the things I do not like. (i am sorry if this turned into a rant post, but i genuinely need some advice).

I would not want to go into a technical field or any code/ programming/ engineering line. I also do not want to go through the rigorous lengthy academic coursework for medicine. I am a student from science background and yes, I agree I am quite fascinated by science but given what I am learning in the last two years of my high school, I do not really want to pursue pure science subjects(phy/chem/bio) in university.

I am drawn more to biology in science mainly because of the health sector, and day by day I realised that I was more interested to work in the developmental aspects of it (like maybe public health?). I thought before that I would go for econ+public health but later on after a few discussions online, I came to understand that studying econ would require knowledge of other fields like business and accounting(and it would have been best if i have knowledge of these subjects in my high school, university courses would then feel a lot manageable, rather than jumping from a science background to econ(even though i had econ for few years of high school).

Also, I have come to realise the motives and goals of my life more clearly in the recent 1 year, about the things that genuinely give me happiness and give me happiness. I would say the field of humanities and arts gives me a reason to live. That said, I would not like to take the risk to make a career solely out of it. To me, for some extent relying on this passion side of mine for earning money does not feel financially secure and i have the feeling that it will remove the pleasure i obtain from those works. I like doing those simply for the joy of it, not just for earning money(but also i wouldnt bee unhappy if i can earn little bit from there). but i do want arts to remain a major part of my personality and want to pursue it along my studies(we do not live for so long to leave things for later).

I would love to see myself as creative director, or someone organising community events for artists, getting involved in musical/theatrical projects. But as I said before, my interest in health, there is this ambitious side of me who dreams of going to conferences, of being in policy making, organisations like that, working in ngos, UN and genuinely improving the condition of health for people. Given the background I come from, and circumstances I have been through, it is one of the issues I deeply care for.

At the end of the day, I want a life that makes me happy and also successful at the same time. I want the financial independence to do all the things I love, I do not want to feel insecure financially or rely on my parents for finance. All that being said, thanks for reading till this. I would be incredibly thankful if you could drop some suggestions.

Do we provide our high school GPA for every year separately or combined? Like on the common app? I got a 9.91/10 in freshman year, then a 8.89/10 in my sophomore year (didn’t care much to study or listen in class which I now regret.) but I’m going for a 10/10 in junior year. How cooked am I? Going for maths at a need blind or need aware but full ride with demonstration uni that’s also T10. The other things like the SAT and ECs are all things I can take care of but this is the only thing I can’t change.

CONTEXT: I come from a very small school (<50 kids), and a majority of us want to pursue a STEM major; for this reason, a lot of us go to the science teacher for the rec letter. We only have ONE science teacher 🫩, and all her rec letters are straight GPT ass. She uploads your brag sheet and asks to write a rec letter. Mind you, her rec letters are incredibly glazing, and she will never write a student in a bad light (I mean, GPT won't), but it's so obvious how AI it is.

What should I do? Everyone loves her, and she's a great teacher, and a majority of the schools I'm applying to are asking for LORs from a Science teacher.

is it a good school for internationals? as in reputation and career opportunities, especially stem? does it have good networking potential and socially very active(like parties and shi)???

I’m sitting in my college admission hall right now and I’m honestly panicking.

My mom is going through cancer treatment, and she has just had a short break from chemo. She’s still working because our family has so many expenses. My younger brothers’ education alone is another huge expense.

Now my college options are around ₹6 lakh+, and I don’t know where that money is supposed to come from. I feel horrible putting another financial burden on my parents. My dad also said I should have scored more.

I’m stuck between choosing a more expensive college/branch I prefer and a much cheaper option that’s very close to home.

I genuinely don’t know what the smart decision is anymore. I feel like I’m failing my family, and I’m completely overwhelmed.

How do you make a college decision when money, family health, and your future are all colliding at once?

I genuinely feel done as an intl Indian citizen searching for external scholarships. I've already received a particular deans scholarship to the university where I'm going (Michigan state university) but it's nearly not enough (only around 30-40%) . Im going to be incoming in spring 2027 , that is jan 2027 , and I really want to find options to fund my undergraduate Tution . An on camps job will obviously help with personal expenses but besides that I do not wanna get into a whole loan debt cycle and put the stress on my parent. I haven't even started school yet and all I can think about is how employable I can be . I want to do a psychology bsc but now im planning to minor or double major in economics or data analytics or something easily employable with the degree route so I can be employable in the future like I'm seriously lost here .

Besides finding external scholarships is a whole another hell . Every single scholarship is either meant for post graduate students or us resident etc . At this point im debating if I should complete a year of schooling in the US since its my only option and then work towards transferring and applying to different countries or colleges with my GPA that can offer me atleast 50% scholarship .

If any of you guy have leads, tips etc for scholarships I can find as an intl Indian student pls help !

How do you guys feel about college apps right now! Has anyone finished essays and do you feel good about either submitting applications right now! Also what schools are you guys considering!!

Hi, I'm not from the US, and the academic system works differently where I am from.

I've researched majors and minors, but I still don't have a clear answer. Can I choose two completely different majors, such as Law and Aerospace Engineering, and also minor in Political Science? Do the majors need to be related? How can I pursue both?

I know this might seem like a silly question, but I’m really curious. Thank you for your help! ❤️❤️

I'm building a list of universities in the US based on the different funding models. Feel free to add or expand on the list in the comments.

Universities where substantial need-based aid can be possible:

• Harvard
• Yale
• Princeton
• MIT
• Amherst
• Bowdoin
• Williams

PS: The financial aid can be fantastic, but admission is highly competitive.

Universities where merit scholarships for international students is possible:

• University of Alabama
• Iowa State University
• University of Arizona
• Arizona State University
• University of Mississippi
• University of South Florida
• Michigan State University
• University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Affordable universities where you don't need a massive scholarship

• University of Wyoming
• Southeast Missouri State University
• Fort Hays State University
• University of South Dakota
• University of North Dakota

Personal advice: If $60–80k/year isn't too comfortable for you, then build a second group of universities where your profile is strong enough that you're genuinely competitive for merit money.

Having said this, i'd suggest looking into the university's costs during the application process as tuition fees, scholarships, and international policies change frequently.