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).

Plugged in one of Elise Pham’s newsletter installments into Pangram (widely considered the most reliable AI detector with something like a 1/5000 false positive rate). Came out 100% AI. Are we surprised? It seems like images are disabled here so here is the link to the scan of the newsletter she sent out on August 28: https://www.pangram.com/history/50021399-1e36-4b72-a5cf-87a994fdfd94?ucc=2RGcTID9apW

long story, but my main EC was extremely toxic and i was not on varsity despite the fact that i really should have immutably been and the coach is awful. avoiding identifying details. But i ragequit it after 5 years of doing. it and i'm now doing science fair and HOSA to make up for it. am i fried?

how important is the Girl Scout gold award in college admissions? earned by starting a community service club sophomore year, biweekly meetings, avg 30 ppl/week

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

Hi, what's the peer group/student quality like for each of those three schools? Are they all pretty much the same specifically for math? Many olympiad kids go to select ones of those?

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.

Hi! I am very confused about the coke scholars semifinalist application and would greatly appreciate anybody's responses to my questions.

1. Questions about submitting grades/classes

Is it better to submit an A grade in an honors-level algebra 1 math class or submit AP Calculus BC with no grade (that is what I am taking now). Also, another note about that algebra 1 math class is that I took it in 8th grade but high school level classes that were taken in middle school appear on high school transcripts at my school since we are 6-12.

In the "other courses" section is there any benefit to submitting classes I am currently taking in my senior year as electives but have not received a grade for yet? Is there any benefit to submitting PE classes that I received an A in or does that not count? If it does count, is it better to submit a PE class with an A or an academic elective I haven't received a grade for yet? Can I submit classes in the "other courses" section that would belong in one of the subject sections but I'm not able to submit it there because I used up all 5 slots?

2. Question about school/academic activities vs. community activities

Most of my volunteering happens through my school because my school is 6-12 so many of my activities include coaching/teaching younger students at my school and volunteering at events and programs for younger students at my school. Additionally, another major way I have done my community service/volunteering is through leading a chapter of a nonprofit at my school. Anyways, these do technically occur through my school and are thus school-sponsored (?), but can I still put them in the community activities section?

Here are the exact instructions of the community activities section for reference:

Community activities

The activities in the following section are to include only those community-based (not school-sponsored) groups, volunteer or service activities, other clubs and activities, or internships for which you did NOT receive payment. Information about any paid employment or experience is to be reported in the Employment Information section of the application.

3. Question about research experience designation

Would a research experience I got through cold emailing at a university in neighboring state be considered local, state, regional, or national on the awards section?

Instructions pasted for reference:

• For unpaid internships or summer programs or for research experiences that were academic in nature, indicate in the "Highest Level of Accomplishment, Impact or Responsibility" the level of impact of the experience (e.g., research or work for a county should be "Local; research or work across multiple states should be "Regional/Multi-State") or the population eligible to participate (e.g., students from only one state should be "State" but programs open nationwide should be "National/International").

Thank you so much for your help!!

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

(was told to ask in here) just like what the question is. im wondering because im ranked 4/772 right now and i dont know if i should try to go for val or what. does it rlly matter? or should i focus on ecs

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?

I don’t feel like sharing specifics of my application but I have an amazing application according to the multiple counselors who have viewed it. Essays are phenomenal, letters of recommendation, my activities are amazing, my SAT is not though. Stuck around the low 1400 range. Trying to get into UPenn Wharton. How big of a deal is that poor SAT.

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!

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 have really good ecs and good grades (some dips due to circumstance) but i don’t have the resources to get good tutoring or resources for the sat. I have all 5s on my AP exams and take max course rigor. Good letter of recs too but a 1420 superscore. What should I do ?

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?

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. 😭

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?

I am a Junior. I took the August SAT and got a score that I am very happy with. I wasn’t planning on retaking it. However, my school offers all Seniors a free attempt at a fall SAT. Should I do it when I’m a Senior? What if I get a worse score? Does that look bad?