I know that there are a lot of really accomplished students at these schools, but how many students are just the above-average student with no crazy awards, Olympiads, or published research? Are T20s students all really super super accomplished or is there still a lot of them that differentiated themselves without having an insane profile?

Im trying to find any good colleges on the East Coast, kinda specifically in D.C., NJ, or New York for poly sci apart from the ones im applying to rn. I got Rutgers, George Washington, American, and Georgetown nothing crazy like Princeton just respectable schools if anyones got suggestions lmk.

Hi everyone! I’m a junior planning on to apply as architecture/engineering to t10s (dream school mit🥹🥹)related major, and I was wondering if I should drop apush to just ush or not.
I go to a competitive t20 private boarding school where there’s a lot of obligations and teachers expect a ‘good’ student to take under 3 aps per year, you’ll need permission if you want to take more.
My schedule looks like this:

AP lit
APUSH
AP Calc AB
AP Chem
Latin III
Orchestra
Research(a signature program of my school)

I didn’t do well in my first apush assessment, and I wanna have time to work on my portfolio(it’s challenging to keep up with every class because there is so much work) but I don’t wanna seem like I’m not taking the most rigorous courses that I can….does apush matter that much? I feel a lot peer pressure at my school so idk what the real situation is, any advice is appreciated!!

for context, i was recently diagnosed as partially deaf/hard of hearing (i've been a part of my school's marching band all four years and i've been positioned next to the drumline for a large portion of every show i've done, so i suspect being near the snares to be the cause). i don't plan on quitting band though, and i'll be playing with earplugs from now on. however, my doctor did recommend that i start dipping my toe into ASL in case it gets worse. i'm decently bummed out about my diagnosis, but what are some schools that would fit that kind of criteria?

I'm not just talking about 10-20 years from now, it's already happening. As high school graduating class of 2030, there's a pretty big brain drain that I foresee will happen over the course of 2-3 years. I just don't see current freshmen/sophomores, in my high school at least, meeting the standards that were set years before them (and it's not only ivy league applications, it's in general). Clubs that used to be brimming with talent such as Math and Robotics are now having much trouble passing on that knowledge, and face loss of engagement, in 2 years time, they will cease to exist. But who knows, maybe my perception is skewed. Opportunities will either become scarcer or less competitive, which is bad in the long run for college apps.

Sure, college admissions is mostly relative based on peer vs peer performance, but the above means that talent will be clustered at the most cutthroat schools (e.g. Stuyvesant, in my case of Fairfax TJ), and the rest will be left to...

Sure, there are some talents here and their, big fish in a small pond, but these are few and far apart, will struggle to find significance in leadership and recognition.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm just underestimating the potential of what the youth of today can become. I'm debating whether or not I should (re)apply to TJ or stick with my base school. It's a gamble either way. Current seniors/college freshmen, how did you view high school underclassmen compared to your generation at the time? Would like to know.

I wanna get like a ba in film and have a filmmakking education but i still want like the traditional college experience and to be able to double major. I live in VA and would prefer to stay towards the east. Looking at vcu, wesleyan, and pitt right now. Any suggestions?

Title lowk stressing bc i have a lot of November 1 deadlines

So basically I got a B in freshman PE. Ikr I'm so stupid.

I know I'm basically cooked because what kind of school would accept a student with a B in their classes.

Should I claim I had gangrene in my left foot in an additional information section to explain my bad grade in the class?

The only problem I can see with this plan is if the AOs decide to show up to my house and check if I still have all my toes, but this can easily be fixed by simply cutting them off.

Is this a good idea? Would I get away with it?

Any and all advice welcome!

I am a current first year biological sciences at a CSU and have been contemplating my timeline for leaving as at this point I am set on unenrolling and going to a community college back home in order to eventually transfer to a UC. It has become a lot more than my contemplations before as a path that I am set on due to my unenjoyment where I am currently on top of my will to attend a school that will benefit my future far greater in my opinion on my journey of pre-med.

I have talked to multiple advisors and resources about my situation to come to where I am standing now and my decision has only strengthened. However, the only problem that remains is when it is I will leave my current university, either drop out within the next week or however so, or stick it out till the end of the semester-which brings out my question here on how important me receiving the credits I am in here now is to my future plans.

I have debated this as neutrally as I can throughout some time now in addition to my retention counselor and I am leaning toward leaving before finishing this semester. This is because I believe after being backed by my counselor that I could catch up on these when at CC, let alone do better there because of the environment. It would serve as a reset in a sense for my grades and mental, as not to say that I am doing bad in my classes as I have pretty much all B+ or above in them, but then again I am striving for a 4.0 as I have been told how important GPA is for a transfer, especially to a top UC. I of course have some bias as to me wanting to leave the earliest as possible, but also am forcing myself to hold an open mind in regards to my future above all.

And so I inquire on W's and the 4 of them would look on my transcript-given that I would take at the minimum my bio and chem course again at CC so it is not as if I failed them and had to drop, it is a far different circumstance and one that people have told me I could explain in the box for this on the UC application. I am just worried about the potential for this to truly harm my chances and how much weight they hold let alone if the admission officers truly read the box. Overall I just would hope they see my process and not think of it as failure on my end but rather a journey that taught me a lot and one that benefitted my future through my time here at my CSU.

I am truly ready to just embark on the next step of my process at CC back home.

Any help is appreciated.

Can someone please explain this to me? Our college advisor says that if one applies to Georgetown REA then you cannot apply EA to any private schools.
I don’t see anything of the sorts on Georgetown website.

Is it worth it to bring my car with me if I attend UChicago?

My daughter is struggling in HS. She is a senior. She is smart but not an organized kid and misses a lot of homework hence grades are not great.
I don’t think she is a good 4-year college candidate right now (she can’t even get up for school and always late).
If you were that kid or if you are parents of such kid, is there a degree that you/ your child pursued (maybe like a certificate) that worked out great for you?
I am looking for general advice and guidance on how to help my daughter. I do t want her end up with no direction post high school.

I’ve just been accepted into a local grad school.

The school asked me to complete identity verification through a third party company that uses biometric facial scanning to verify.

I told them I didn’t want to upload my biometric data to a third party company and asked if I could verify my identity via video call, or by coming to the school in person.

They said that there is no other option, and if I don’t want to do the third party verification, I can only attend there by self paying (like most folks, self pay is not an option for me).

Has anyone else run into this? Surely this school admitted students and dispersed student loans prior to this technology coming on the market.

Is there anything else I could try that might help the situation, or do I have to decide between attending this school and protecting my biometric data?

Im applying to many colleges and NYU wants me to have a "yourselfie" video. I need to explain who I am and why im unique. Any tips and tricks are appreciated, thank you!

Anyone know the vibe or have any experience with JPP at Georgetown? I’m considering between applying there and College of Arts and Science. Which one would be easier to get in? Also, if I do choose JPP, is it easy to transfer to college of arts and science?

How are women's only summer program (eg. MIT WTP) viewed vs one that's open to everyone? The MIT WTP says it's highly selective but it's limited to women. Would you pick a selective program that's open to everyone instead as you are competing against a larger crowd? Maybe I'm overthinking it and it doesn't really matter?

These are 7 activities that I plan on adding to my list for the activities section, but I need three more.

• Cofounder of company
• Leadership in nonprofit
• Conrad Challenge (my team got the conrad innovator distinction and idk if i should put it honors section or activities)
• CyberPatriot
• AllPath
• Girls who code
• Code2College

Here are the option for the extra 3 plus a little description of each:

Church related:

• VBS (volunteered for ~30 hours in total, took care of kids, only for this summer tho)
• Altar Service (been doing this for 6 years,)
• LFML treasurer (

Activties

• dance (i've done group performances on multiple occassions for church and competitions all outside of school)

Volunteering

• Library Summer Reading Challenge (i did this for two summers, ~40 volunteering hours earned, ran a booth where i explained the program and handed out prizes)

Other school clubs

• NSHS, MAO, SNHS (could i list them in honors section? i didn't participate much outside of attending meetings and i got kicked out of them after a year or so)
• DECA, CSUIL (i competed once but never won anything and i only parcipated for one year)

I'm honestly leaning towards dance, Altar Service, and Library Summer Reading Challenge. lmk what you think.

For reference, I have a 2.4 W GPA, my SAT is 990 (480 Eng, 510 Math).

I also took the ACT (18 composite), but I feel like I really bombed my Math section, so I feel it could be higher.

My academics are pretty great, but I feel like what's gonna make me stand out are my ECs.

I'm the president of 35 clubs, all of which were founded by me from the start, and all of which are held in the same room during lunch on Wednesdays (just for ease of access, yk). I have a combined 4 members among all of these clubs, and I feel like I've really made an impact, y'know?

I also used Base44 to create a few websites, and I'm really proud of my creative abilities and my coding skills.

Are my chances at an HYPSM closer to 80% or 90%? A lot of people are saying I'm being a bit modest with these estimates, but I really don't think it sits right with me to call myself an auto-admit.

I feel like to raise my chances that extra 10% I should start a nonprofit granting quant opportunities to babies in the Congo Basin. Is this a good idea?

Hello! I self reported 4 ACT tests on my Common App, as I planned to superscore. On my Michigan applicant portal all tests are displayed as well and the date, but the score columns are empty except for one. Is this a common occurrence? I really want them to consider my superscore as opposed to the one score that appears as my ss is significantly higher and michigan is my dream school.

I am currently a senior in high school, and I plan on applying RD to all the schools on my list. Just recently, applications for a competitive program designed for high schoolers interested in pursuing medicine through my local hospital system just opened; however, the program does not take place until March of next year. If I were to be notified of my acceptance in November, would it be appropriate to include it under my activities? Or no, since I would not actually be participating in it until after applications are due. Just wondering as I know you have to describe what you did for each extracurricular and any notable achievements made in it, and I obviously will not know have that much to put down.

hey yall! needed advice. I'm a junior and I'm planning to apply for a summer program in the US. I already applied to one but I think I'm not getting in because it's pretty selective. Are there any alternative good humanities programs I could possibly apply for? I am planning for an Econ major but I love all sorts of humanities. I'm thinking of applying to Brown's summer school too. Lemme know if yall have any advice!

Computer Science has been a popular degree choice among young men for over a decade. Has it bottlenecked yet?

I see discourse online that programs are still extremely competitive to get into, but also that job prospects and tech hiring have slowed down recently.

Are people still pursuing CS hoping to be among the few making six figures straight out of undergrad? Are there less competitive, lower-key tech roles that people target instead?

CS has never personally interested me, but I'm curious to hear how CS as a major and career is viewed culturally today in 2026 compared to 2016.

Also, how is it with ladies pursuing a CS degree? Has the demo increased, stayed same or been on decline?

I’m a freshman at UCI hoping to transfer to UCLA or a Cal State for Electrical Engineering in Fall 2027. I’m trying to figure out if transferring after one year is possible or if I’d need to wait until I have junior standing.

Over summer, I took four classes at Rio Hondo College: Calculus I (C), Introduction to Business (B), Microeconomics (A), and CIT 127. I also passed these AP exams in high school: World History (4), Environmental Science (4), English Language (4), US History (4), Statistics (3), Biology (4), Computer Science Principles (4), US Government (5), and English Literature (4).

Has anyone transferred from a UC to UCLA or a CSU after just one year? Specifically, would my summer college credits and AP credits help me meet the requirements, or do I generally need two years of coursework and 60 transferable semester units? I’ve contacted admissions offices but haven’t gotten a clear answer.

So this is definitely a vulnerable and embarrassing post but I’m stressing so bad about colleges and I need some help figuring out what to do.
For background I am in my last year of highschool (class of 2027) and will be graduating with a GPA of 2.7 unweighted and 3.3 weighted. I’m getting straight A’s senior year but those grades don’t get factored into the submitted gpa, and I finished sophomore and junior year with mostly B’s and C’s.
I’ve also consistently done honors and now AP classes.
I had lot of struggles with mental health about halfway through high school and really just “locked out” regarding school, hence the sophomore & junior grades.
Now that I’m in a better place and also a senior everything feels more real and I really want to be able to go to a good school and be successful.
I would like to major in psychology and maybe go into social work, and I live in New England (mass specifically) so I’m wondering about some good, achievable options in this area.
Thanks in advance to anybody who answers !!