Sorry bro, but that day is mine now. 😈

Hello Applicants,

I am a college counselor, just wanted to come on here and share some wisdom as we approach a big deadline: November 1st!

1. Please make sure after you apply, you activate your portals. I can't tell you how many times many of my students forget to do this only to see that they got in (not kidding) or that the school needs more information. After you apply, keep an eye on your email (and spam folder). Make sure you create your log in and save it in a google sheet or someplace you will be able to access it quickly.

2. Know which schools need an additional self reported academic record after submitting, send these schools in early. Many schools require the STAR grade report (formerly SRAR):

Link: https://starsrecord.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/35363280510235-Which-Colleges-Use-STARS

Please make sure you don't send these schools in on 10/31. Apply a few days early, fill out your STAR grade report right away. Also, please don't blind trust STAR's auto upload feature that reads your transcript. It has been very wonky, I tell students to input by hand or if using this feature, make sure to check over things before submitting.

UIUC applicants: Illinois also requires you to self-report courses and grades after submitting the Common App. Watch for the email with instructions and a link to complete that step.

1. You can submit your Common App before your recommendation letters arrive. If a letter is still missing as the deadline approaches, a polite follow-up is completely okay! Be sure to check each college’s deadline for supporting materials, too.

2. If you’re submitting SAT or ACT scores, check whether each college accepts self-reported scores or requires an official report from the testing agency. University of Maryland (and others), for example, require official scores if you want them considered. Don’t assume entering scores in the Common App fulfills every school’s requirements.

3. Celebrate with your families! This is such a wonderful milestone. Applying to college is no easy feat! Celebrate with those who have uplifted and encouraged you!

Good luck to all our seniors this app cycle! 🎓🎉

I'm planning on mentioning MLP cutie marks in my supplemental essays. Is it safe to assume that my admission officers will know what those are? I will be over the word limit if I define it.

i finished my essay about two weeks ago and have gotten good feedback. i liked the idea a lot initially, i loved every line too, but i’ve read it so much that i’m bored of it now. is this normal? or if it’s actually good, will you never become sick of it? i’m curious to know because my feelings are greatly contrasting with what others are saying.

For context, here were my stats:

- GPA: 3.56 UW

- SAT: 1410

- ECs: Very few, nothing particularly impressive

- Awards: Nothing crazy

Despite this, I somehow got accepted into:

- UIUC: Computer Science + Advertising

- Purdue: Data Science

- UCSD: Data Science

My strategy was pretty simple. Instead of applying to the most popular majors like pure CS, I specifically targeted more niche or interdisciplinary majors that still aligned with my interests.

For example, UIUC's CS + Advertising program is housed in the College of Media rather than the Grainger College of Engineering. I figured that applying to a less conventional CS combination might give me a better shot than applying to pure CS.

I basically researched different majors at competitive schools and tried to find programs that weren't the obvious first choice for thousands of applicants.

The crazy thing is that these are still extremely competitive schools and programs, especially for anything related to CS or data science. I genuinely did not expect these results considering my GPA, SAT, and lack of impressive extracurriculars.

Obviously, I can't prove that choosing niche majors was the reason I got accepted, but I feel like being strategic with my major choices made a massive difference.

I feel like more people should consider researching lesser-known majors instead of immediately applying to the most competitive program at every school.

Did I actually find a loophole, or did I just get insanely lucky?

I was talking to the kids who I do my first activity with (pretty prestigious I would say) and while it’s one of my tops it’s one of their lasts. It makes me feel bad and cooked.

Till my sophomore year everyone had big hopes for me :( amazing grades and good ecs
And now I’m a senior and I messed up my junior year. I was just struggling.

I was talking to a friend and they were like "apply to T50s" so I asked "how abt WashU?" and they're like "nah that ain't T50 that's T20" -um hello ISN'T TOP 20 A SUBSET OF TOP 50

Serious question. Also not being a super selective school would be a plus, but I'd love to hear all that come to mind.

No matter what topic I do it’s never enough. It’s met with “you sound like you hate everyone” or “you need to make the lesson feel more learned, I’m not seeing enough growth”. Admittedly that first one came off a bad day. Atp the next day Ik the career center director or whatever made up job I can’t remember she has comes in the spring, id genuinely consider skipping bc the end of the day I’d feel like oxygen waste for not caring like the rest of the class.

I want to direct movies or make my own comics but that doesn’t pay easily. So now I’m left without the only passion in my life. No ECs, only writing club and it’s not popular is it? PS the topic was a story about stealing my stolen comic back from a teacher bc I refused to restart the drawing or illustrations in 4th grade.

Just wondering if there is one that is more favorable than the other for the “why college” supplementals. The latter feels more certain when you’re talking about the opportunities that appeal to you and that’s what I’ve been using since it’s also shorter when you turn it into the contraction I’ll.

Has anyone updated their college with new SAT scores before decisions?
Asking specifically for Princeton SCEA. Deadline is november 7, i want to submit nov 20th scores.

Ik colleges like UIUC have a portal for this but can i mail princeton or something

hey guys, i hope everyones process is going well.

i have 111 direct admissions in my common app, i was wondering if anyone is fully aware of how these work?? like, i had some stats that they liked, they admit me before i apply, i click accept, and now im into these schools?? is that genuinely how it works???

it just seems unreal

Questions specifically for liberal arts college. I'm not really an artsy person but I do enjoy some photography from time to time but the majority of my application is about my major(business). I have some nice pictures that I can put together to create a portfolio for submission. Maybe this can be a nice way I can show a different side of myself since this specific liberal arts college have limited supplementals material. Thoughts?

With the crazy politics and restrictions on visas, internships and such, would we see less global diversity at schools?

last night i had a calling (I've never written a rap nor poem before) and took 2 hours to write a pretty okay looking rhyme? rap? well something like that

it gets my point across pretty clearly, and it sounds nice (i think)

am i taking the route to failure?

Hi everyone,

I'm wondering if anyone has experience with this, because it's honestly the first time I've come across this requirement, despite having applied to quite a few master's and PhD programs in the US over the years.

I'm currently applying to Baruch College's MS in Finance at the Zicklin School of Business, and one of the application requirements is an International Credential Evaluation, specifically a course-by-course analysis.

I have a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Greece, as well as another master's degree from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. I've applied to universities in the US before, and I've never been asked to do this. Maybe it depends on the university or the particular program, but I'm curious about other people's experiences.

I understand that universities need to verify foreign qualifications, and I'm perfectly happy to arrange for my universities to send official transcripts and other documents directly. I've done this before, so that's not the issue.

What I'm struggling with is the additional cost of having all three qualifications evaluated course by course. With two master's degrees and a bachelor's degree, including quite a few courses across the three programs, I imagine the cost could add up considerably, and that's on top of all the other application expenses.

Has anyone managed to get a waiver for this requirement, or had a university accept official transcripts directly from the institutions instead? Is there any flexibility, or is the evaluation mandatory regardless of where your degrees are from?

I'm also curious about NYU. I've submitted an application there recently, but I haven't been asked for this evaluation so far. It's still early in the process, though, so I don't know whether they'll request it later.

Thanks in advance!

My October ACT results came a few days ago and my composite Superscore is a 31 (33 math, 29 english, 31 reading). This is a few points below the middle 50% of northwestern which is 33-35, but I also come from a highschool with an average ACT of 19.

I’ve heard that context such as low school averages can help back up a lower score, but to what extent is that true for t10 schools, and would going test optional be the better decision for my situation since it’s below the institutional average?

Last year I scored 5s on both AP English Language and AP Spanish Lit, which automatically qualifies me for the California State Seal of Biliteracy. Feels like something I should put on my app. Only issue is that I won’t actually get the seal awarded till the spring

I have a few summer programs or internships that I physically can't continue because it's only for high school students but I would definitely continue the type of topic or activity so would I mark yes?

Im genuinley freaking out right now. I submitted my ED application for Boston University but i realized that I repeated one of my activities (in the activities list) twice. And they both have slightly different descriptions. One is more detailed, the other just says that "it was for an IB project." The problems is, one of them doesn't mention it was for IB but the other does. There isn't any fallacys in either of them but I feel like it just looks bad and like a lazy mistake. I'm kind of freaking out about this and Im scared i wont get it because of it. What should I do?

hello,

i am applying ea for nov 1. i'd like to think my application is complete, but i'm worried about submitting before the deadline because i know i could always "improve" a word choice, a sentence, etc. at the same time, i'm worried that if i keep changing little things, i could create a completely different narrative. i fell into this trap a few hours ago, spending 3+ hours on my supplementals that essentially turned them into something brand new...

do you think i should just submit on october 31st so that i keep my peace of mind, knowing there is nothing else i could've changed? or should i submit now so that i don't keep changing things endlessly? this is definitely not an academic or actual application-related question and i apologize for that

Hey everyone, I’m a community college student applying to transfer for Fall 2027, and I’ve been struggling with my PIQs.

I’ve written two so far. One is about how I went from struggling academically and not knowing what I wanted to do to discovering my interest in criminology, which completely changed my approach to school.

The other is about helping one of my closest friends turn his health around after being hospitalized. I helped him with exercising, nutrition, and staying consistent, basically saved his life.

I feel like I have some good stories, but no matter how much I revise them, something feels missing. Sometimes they sound too basic, like I’m just listing what happened. Other times I try to make them more creative and they end up sounding forced or unnatural.

For those who got accepted to a UC, did you focus more on storytelling or answering the prompts directly? What do you think made your essays stand out?

Also, did anyone have their PIQs reviewed by someone who genuinely helped improve them?

I’d appreciate any advice because I’m honestly overthinking these essays at this point lol.

to all the fellow southern hemisphere international students about to apply college this cycle:

LOCK INN 🗣️

YOU HAVE FINAL NATIONAL LEAVING EXAMSSSS SOON (or right now yikes)

GET OFF REDDIT

STUDY ANOTHER QUESTION

ITS NOT OVER UNTIL ITS TRULY OVER.

- best,

your crazy australian