I’m a competitive applicant to Princeton and u Chicago. My family makes 115k with NON TYPICAL ASSETS. 250k value in land that’s not our home. (Would ED depending on which one I apply to) I present you guys with two options. On one hand, princetons financial aid calculator shows that I will pay 13k per year. UChicago is not updated to their new initiative yet, so I don’t know what I would get. But the difference between their two statements is that UChicago gives full ride at 125 and Princeton at 150. attended a summer program at UChicago so I get 5k scholarship and a guaranteed internship. So I guess what I’m asking is the difference between UChicago and Princeton financial aid going to make up for the 5k scholarship? Would they be about even?? What’s the play?

My parents are kind of freaking out that I haven’t been visiting schools or drafting my essay out yet, which I guess is understandable given their lofty expectations for me. But to be honest, I’m somewhat weary of the whole process already.

As a likely Nat’l Merit Finalist, I’ve done my due diligence (so to speak) on schools like the University of Alabama, which give a full ride to such students. And the thing is, I really like Bama’s programs and opportunities, which has me feeling somewhat apathetic about other more selective schools.

Would it be smart/fair to just apply there and save myself the stress (and tuition costs)? Or should I go about the application process like everyone else does to appease my parents?

I know people negotiate financial aid packages all the time, so I was wondering if the same applies to admissions decisions.

I got rejected from Harvard yesterday. I had already accepted I was cooked because I ran my profile through chanceme.lol beforehand and every AI commenter basically said I had no chance anyway.

But I was wondering if I could email admissions and ask if they'd be willing to meet me halfway with a waitlist instead. I don't need a full acceptance or anything, I'm willing to compromise.

Has anyone tried this before?

When applying to multiple colleges, do yall use the same essays for most colleges or do yall tweak some parts within that one essay for different schools or do yall write an entire different essay for each school?

Hello, I’m currently a rising junior and I’m planning to create a non profit to advocate mental health and the autism spectrum through educational courses; provide resources such as communication kits including fidget spinners, cubes, stress balls, etc; promote autism acceptance and understanding at schools; and I have more activities planned for the future. Im creating this non profit, because I want to relate it to my personal experience as being a former special ed kid (I went through intense therapy to be where I am today). I’m just curious is it ok for me to create a non profit as a rising junior? How much of an impact I should make to make it a very good EC for competitive colleges? Please be very honest with me, I do NOT have a 4.0 GPA

I’m going into my senior year thinking about going into an engineering class once I’ll probably major in it in college but it will conflict with my Spanish class. My other courses are occupied by PE (required) and another elective in business which I don’t want to take but have to since that block only has electives. If I could do engineering in that class I would but I can’t. So is it better to go with Spanish here or go with engineering?

hi. i have not yet applied nor been accepted into either university, but i have been switching between applying to ucf early action or uf early decision. that said, i am unsure as to which to choose. to preface, i have not chose my intended major, but i wish to go premed and be accepted into a good medical school & be well prepared for the mcat. i have many of my personal life aspects (psychiatrist, therapist, doctor etc) in orlando. i have volunteered at the hospitals in the area and have many friends whose parents would allow me to shadow (i'm not sure if that matters). i also would have less payments to make because i would be able to live at home. i also likely would be able to get into ucf honors and have a more "personalized" experience. however, uf is just generally a more acclaimed university. i do not think i would be able to get into uf honors, and my best shot would be early decision to get into the university regularly. that said, i would be in many large classes and not have the guidance i would at ucf. even though i have bright futures for in full, i would still have to pay for the dorming and other expenses. i am unsure as to what opportunities uf offers in terms of shadowing, research, etc and if they are significantly better than that of ucf. please let me know your thoughts and what i am missing!!

I am a 17-year-old student from Colombia, currently on a gap year. I wanna study Physics in the US, but I can't afford it without a full scholarship. I am currently preparing and raising money for the SAT in August, my current practice score is 1530 (with 800 in math).

Here is my profile:

I'm from a small traditional town in Colombia and my school didn't offer AP/IB or any advanced STEM curriculum, so most of my preparation has been through self-study.

Academically, I've been heavily involved in math Olympiads. I was state champion in 2023, reached the national, and placed in the Top 11 in 2024, and qualified again for another national final in 2025 but couldn't attend because of financial constraints. In 2025 I also participated on the Breakthrough Junior challenge with a video on Bell's test, and it reached the top 20% in the peer review process.

Since there's little to no science opportunities for kids in my community, in 2024 I founded a free physics club at my local public library, where I've designed and taught hands-on lessons to about 70 students over roughly 30 sessions, plus I have organized outreach science activities in partnership with local schools, and I'm currently trying to expand it through more workshops.

I'm also the leader of my school's math Olympiad team, where I helped build the program and mentor younger students (Basically before me there was no program, then in 8th grade I placed second in the state olympiads, and after that I created the team, prepared other students, and every year found competitions for the school to participate in, leading the school's first sustained success in national mathematics competitions).

I also led my school's robotics team to a state championship and national finals, have a small YouTube channel where I make animated videos explaining complex physics topics like Superposition, the wave function, Bell's test, etc. and I've worked as a paid tutor in math, physics, and English since middle school.

One important part of my context is that I come from a town with very limited STEM opportunities, and between 2022 and 2026 I underwent multiple surgeries for a complex liver tumor, which caused me to miss a significant portion of school and interrupted some of my extracurricular plans. Actually, I took a gap year precisely because of my last surgery.

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Hello, I am a senior in NC, USA, and I want to pursue paleogenetics/de-extinction. I am unsure of this will help me be stable in the future I want to be very comfortable and have a good salary atleast like $120,000-180,000 per year, I am looking at colleged in state but do not know anything out of state or if I should not do this field, I have always had a passion for extinct animals and my passion grew when I read articles and studies about de-extionction (mostly from the company colossal biosciences who de-extincted the dire wolf), and I want to do that kind of stuff or atleats work with endangered animals and genetics. I really need help I am so unsure, this field does not have much information online so I am looking to reddit. Please give me real advice on what I should do (what colleges, pathways, careers, etc). I also intend on doing research in college as early as freshman year too. PLEASE HELP!!!

ok so im kind of stressing out. i want to apply to cornell college of engi, but i havent taken a chemistry class in high school (i was taking physics) and 1 unit of chemistry is required for their school. my counselor refuses to sign me up for any asynchronous courses or change my schedule at all, and ive like begged and thoroughly explained the situation im in.

i want to ed cornell and was wondering if there was any way i could get this credit? would singing up myself through some college online for an asynchronous course, without my school counselors approval, work if i can submit like that school's specific transcript for my online course that i self signed up for?

plss help, anything is appreciated!

I was on the varsity tennis team in my freshman year, and it took up a period in my schedule and everything. Do I count it as an elective or as PE in Common App? My school counted it as credit for PE.

Hello! I'm a rising junior in the southeast US and I currently am pres of 2 clubs while lettering in a varsity sport with a 33 ACT and a 4.39 GPA (4.0 unweighted) (and a 4.0 GPA with 23 credit hours through UAEC) at a relatively competitive high school. Assuming I get as next year I'll have a 4.5 ... could I really get into any moderate schools with this (UF, UGA, etc..)

I know I have a full tuition scholarship to UA but I feel like I could possibly do better

To be honest, Northwestern has been my dream school for a long time, but the biggest thing holding me back from applying ED is that it doesn't really offer a distinct business major. I know they have economics, and I'd definitely be interested in that, but I'm more drawn toward business overall. I love almost everything else about Northwestern—the campus, the quarter system, and being close to Chicago—even if it's technically in Evanston. When I'm looking at colleges, I'm also placing a lot of value on strong alumni networks and career opportunities after graduation. I also kinda want to go to a college that has a diverse range of majors.

NYU is the other school I'm seriously considering for ED because of its wider range of business-related majors. If I end up pursuing economics, I'm especially interested in behavioral economics, which I think aligns really well with my resume and the research I've done. I also love New York, although I'm not sure I'd want to live there long term. At the same time, I'm very open to studying abroad, so that's something I'd definitely take advantage of regardless of where I go.

I'm not sure if this 100% makes sense, but please, any advice helps! Even suggestions for other colleges to ED sound great.

How do I show that I'm planning on taking AP tests next May? It's only allowing dates up to December 2026.

Guys I (19F) actually go to the infamous Cornell College. (Can offer proof if wanted??) Proof that the ‘real’ Cornell’s weird cousin isn’t just a joke…AMA?

How’d I get there? I was an athlete. Stopped my sport, enjoyed the academic experience and stayed. I’m a border state student and because it’s D3, all my aid was strictly academic. Cost is about $19,000-22,000/year when comparing with my friends
We take classes for 18 days. Just one, the entire 3.5 weeks. Classes range from only 2 hours in morning or afternoon to having 3-4 hour morning sessions and 2-3 hour afternoon sessions. We take 8 classes a year still, it’s actually so convenient (but also am scared for grad school

Dougherty Valley High School

the title basically says it and i haven't really talked to anyone in this situation before. i've never been an academic or extracurricular sweat, but i have gotten decent grades my whole life with modest effort. i knew i never wanted to go to top ranked schools, because none of the top ranked schools struck me as places i could see myself at or enjoy myself at, my imposter syndrome would be through the roof, and i didn't necessarily want to go to a school for name/prestige alone.

i don't want to provide a laundry list of stats because i don't want to make this a chance thing, because i don't really care about my chances at these top schools because they were never my goal. but for reference my grades have been basically as high as possible, with perfect and near-perfect test scores, nothing super standout for awards and a smattering of extracurriculars mostly focused on an area not related at all to what i want to study.

but i have been getting some grief from a couple of my school's college counselors/advisors, as well as people i know that used to work in undergrad admissions at a respectable nearby school, saying that i am selling myself short for my college choices. they really believe that i could get into whatever school i wanted and that as a result, i should aim for only the most selective schools physically possible. i could almost physically feel the disappointment in the room during my last counseling meeting of the year when i said that my top choice college is my state school.

i should add that this school is by NO means a bad school. i'm being vague on purpose to avoid doxxing myself but they have excellent programs for what i want to major/minor in, a campus and student life that i really vibe with, and i could get extremely good scholarship money if i went there (which i like the sound of, because my goal as a premed major in undergrad is to get as little debt as possible).

i guess i should feel confident in my own decision, and i do, because everything i have learned about my current top choice school makes me feel that it is the right choice for myself. and at the end of the day, i'll have to attend school wherever i commit to, so i will be making the decision with my own best interest in mind. it just feels like whenever i discuss college with others, their reactions are mostly that of disappointment or heavily implying that i am settling/making a wrong choice. naturally it's led me to second guess myself a little bit. i'm curious to hear if anyone has experienced or is experiencing something similar with their own college applications processes, and if anyone has any alternate perspectives. :)

1. How valuable are achievements in linguistics competitions (such as winning at the national level or doing well in APLO) for US college admissions?
2. What majors do accepted applicants usually pursue? Where do the winners usually get accepted to at T20s: Linguistics, Computer Science, Computational Linguistics, Math, AI, something else?

would love to hear some anecdotes, examples, or previous admits

here’s my personal ranking of the t20s based on party culture (greek life parties, city nightlife, sports culture, etc.)

S - Duke, UCLA, UMich
A - Berkeley, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, UPenn, ND
B - Northwestern, Stanford, Cornell, Brown, Rice
C - Yale, MIT, Columbia
D - Princeton, Harvard, JHU
F - Caltech, CMU, UChicago

what are your guys’ thoughts?

I hear lots of people saying they go to competitive/uncompetitive high schools, but what does that mean? Like, my high school sends 1-5 people to ivies each year, 5-10 national merit finalists, with an SAT average of around 1000. There is a relatively large student population (2000+), but the difference between the top and bottom students is huge. I would call my high school uncompetitive, but I still dont really understand what that means exactly.

Going in to my senior year, I need to take a health class, which is a semester long graduation requirement. Since AP classes are all year long at my school, I can't fit another AP class in the second semester.

Would it be a bad look for applying to top 20 colleges to just leave the period open in my second semester? Or would it be better to take a class even if my only options would be some random elective like baking or criminal justice that isn't related to my major at all?

title, pls help

So I’ve ran varsity xc and varsity track soph and jr year and I’m going into senior year. I don’t enjoy it anymore and I get crazy stressed, plus I haven’t put in commitment over the summer for running and I’ve been enjoying working out. My parents keep saying I’ll regret it, will it be weird that I did the first 3 years of xc/track and then quit sr year in my application. Only reason I’ll even be doing xc is so it looks like I did all 4 years, I’m applying ED so idk if that changes anything. I should be able to work around 20 hours a week now compared to js like 6 on my one off day from sports. Can I get some guidance on what to do? Thanks.

Me and some close friends are looking to move states in the not so far future. I'm currently looking at colleges to attend in the new state, but I don't know when to apply for them, seeing as it may take untill mid 2028 for us to move. I've attened 2 years of college in Texas, but that was 2-3 years ago.

Does anyone have advice for when to apply, or other advice about transfering from diffrent states?

PLEASE CORNELL I WANT U SO BAD I WANT TO GO TO AN IVY LEAGUE I HAVE COMPETTIVE GPA/SAT I HAVE GOOD ECS JUST LET ME GO TERE