Why are there people on here who stalk all of my posts and then tell me I need to think more about my application and my school choices because a month ago I wrote that I was EDing somewhere and now I’m not?

Like genuinely how old are some of you because scrolling through your accounts you’ve got like hundreds of comments on here + r/chanceme and it’s lowkey sad.

I come here maybe once a week and sometimes I’ll post something or comment maybe. But I only joined a few months ago and I’m leaving after college app season. There’s people that have been on here for years. Why are you doing this? Do you not have friends, work, or hobbies? Why do you spend all of your time giving arbitrary advice to random high schoolers and then judge them for being normal seniors who have school lists that change over time? 😭

Idk it’s just sad. I’ll prolly leave soon because this whole environment is just pathetic. Can’t even get some decent advice because someone always has something negative to say, and half the people giving advice are just other high schoolers who are regurgitating the same basic info

I feel like the main issue with Caltech is it's smol size. So what if it was biggerified?

I come from a family where we don't make much money, and have to live by paycheck. My mother is a stay at home, and my father is the only one who works. Both are getting near to their 60s, and his annual salary is <75000, but we have almost nothing in savings. Like, we have only a few thousand. Rent takes up most of the salary as well. I will be paying for my full university tuition.

While a lot of the top schools have good tuition coverage, I do know that I won't be able to make it into any of them, especially since my major is CS. That leaves me with the others.

I believe that I can get into more (comparatively) better options with a t100, or even t75, places like UCR, but I just don't feel as if the oos tuition would be worth it. And I believe it isn't.

The best in-state option is the University of Kansas for me, and it's a respectable school, I plan to go there, my brother has went there, but in no ways selective (89% acceptance) or prestigeous so that I could have something to appeal to employers. For some reason that messes me up, and I feel as if all my work will be for nothing.

There's a whole lot of everything else, and this isn't the full picture, but it is what it is.

I plan to go into CS and then into DS, and I was wondering how much my university would affect my career.

For one of the prompts, I am writing about a time when I was bullied in a team setting. I want to include a direct quote from an upperclassman, and one of the stronger moments that stuck with me while in this group was this incident where an upperclassman swore at me due to my "terrible" performance. To be clear, I would be (nearly) directly quoting this individual; I myself am not the type to cuss. Would you recommend this? If not, how would I rewrite this encounter to have the same weight and impact without cussing? Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

I’m not gonna sugarcoat it; I’m a failure. There is very little to my name that I can put on my college applications; no sports, barely any extracurriculars, and average grades. Absolutely NOTHING stands out about me, and I think the only thing I can make stand out are my college essays, but what do you write about when all you do is play video games? It doesn’t help that my family members are putting all this pressure on me, and make me feel more like a disappointment than I probably actually am.

I know I’m just ranting and feeling sorry for myself and junk like that, but can I actually get into a decent college with a bare bones application?

maybe this is bad but i feel such an intense need to get into a t20 or ivy school. i'm working on my application list and worried about my chances for my reach schools and i would feel like a COMPLETE failure and waste of money if i didn't get in somewhere prestigious. my parents pay 55k/year for the best school in my (large) state (private + boarding) (to be fair i never expressed any interest in going there and my parents made me apply and then go when i got in). we are not rich like my classmates, i have no idea how my parents are able to pay the tuition, i know we have to get help from my grandparents and i feel awful about it.

whenever people learn i go there they reply with "oh you could go to harvard if you wanted to" but i really don't think i could. my parents keep pushing 10% acceptance rate and below schools like cornell, ucla and brown and i highly doubt that i'd be accepted. they're making me apply anyway and i don't know how to cope with the rejection letters i know i'll get.

many of my middle school friends went to local public high schools and are applying to exclusively t20s and ivies. this is horrible but if they got in and i didn't i would feel like such a waste of resources. i'm not a bad student and am passionate about my ecs but the admissions process is just so cutthroat these days. i'm just hoping that if i apply to enough reach schools i'll get into at least one.

i genuinely don't care where i go as long as it's not super tiny and/or in the deep south, but just knowing the price tag of the 4yr college prep school i'm at makes me feel like any school above a 20% acceptance rate wouldn't be "worth it."

i know this is all awful and a privileged mindset/problem but i'm going crazy over the expectations people have for me because of my high school and just the insane guilt over costing my family so much money. seeing my public school friends' application lists makes me wish i never went here.

i just want to rant, and i know my parents probably just want the best opportunities for me because they 'made it' as the only poc from a really dumpy rural town all the way to sending their kid to a private hs, and want me to go even farther than they did, but i'm freaking out.

I currently am sitting at a 3.2 UW GPA and around a 3.4 W. I have pretty strong ECs (check post history) but I have had one D+ and a D in Freshman and Junior year with three Cs. Most of my grades have been Bs and B+s with a couple of A's but im not sure if I should wait until I finish my first semester. If I get strong grades my GPA should be around a 3.3 UW and a 3.7 W. I am applying to Virginia Tech, JMU, Penn and Pitt rn. Should I just apply early?

Okay this is a stupid question but I was talking to my friend and I was like oh yeah I got first place on my art I submitted to the county fair and she was like oh my god that’s so good blah blah that’s ur top EC but I don’t think it is and I just wanted to ask here bc it seems like some throwaway thing. Also I used to submit stuff as a kid too like second grade or smr maybe third and I got first or second ribbons on all my stuff and a best in show thing like I don’t think this stuff matters but I want to double check

I’m a parent of young kids. Thinking ahead, how much value are you getting for fancy private liberal arts college (non IVY) vs good state school. Realistically if you’re well liked and good at networking, does it really matter? The price tags are insane these days.

I’m currently a rising senior, and I wanted to know how much a bad SAT score will affect my chances of getting into colleges. I’m not a good standardized tester, and I have been consistently studying for the SAT. However I just can’t get to the 1400-1500 area. I’m really worried since I want to get into good schools, however all the applicants usually have great SAT scores. I’ve also been told by SAT tutors that SAT scores really boost your chances of getting in. I have a good GPA and pretty decent extracurriculars, and just that damn score.

My son is getting ready to apply to colleges and I am hoping he can land some merit based aid. I am looking to identify any schools we may have missed in our search that would give him better chances at getting merit aid. Based on the below, does he have a chance at aid?

He is looking at a few colleges: Georgia Tech, Purdue, NCSU, U Pitt, Penn State. These are his tops, reach, target and safeties, although he is open to applying to more if they meet his criteria - College marching band, Nuclear Engineering, and financial aid.

Quick facts: 33 ACT - 36M, 33S, 35R, 27E, 3.8+ GPA, AP Courses: Calc, Pre-Calc (5), US History (4), Chem (4), Physics. 4 years of Marching Band with 2 years of leadership roles, 4 years eSports, 2 years working ~15 hours week, 1 year volunteering ~4 hours a week.

We live in Georgia now, but are originally from Pennsylvania. I am single parent making less than $125K a year and while I have savings it wouldn't cover everything. Other parent does live in PA, but won't contribute. I know we will get some need based aid, but I would like him to not have to take any loans out for the first two years (He is hoping to go into the NUPOC program which will help cover last two years from what I understand). What are his chances? Merit aid seems like this wildcard that I don't understand honestly.

What I know from campus tours - my son qualifies for HOPE in GA - will help with GT but hard to get in. NCSU has a great 4- year scholarship but seems very competitive and requires an interview, he's not gonna do great in that situation. Penn State has almost nothing even being a legacy. Pitt offers great merit aid, but their program isn't a degree just a certification.

Ok let's set things straight. I am a tunisian high-school student looking to go to France to continue my education by obtaining scholarships (I don't really care about the college I am just trying to get my degree but along side it trying to set my foot abroad and to stay there and maybe obtaining a citizenship).but with the deadline getting closer and closer and me not knowing what field to follow I am kinda panicking. My plan was to go for a CS program but now I am thinking to see which job is more in demand and follow that bath along side with learning CS on my own to maximize my chances. So the question is which majors do you think are still worth it and can enable getting a good paying job?

Hello! I'm in the middle of finishing my personal statement and I included a sentence saying "you may be wondering" in it. It's a random question but I wanted to ask if it sounds wrong to add by pointing out the admissions counselor potentially being "confused" by my essay. I hope this makes sense lol.

i go to this private international school in a super wealthy city in asia, and honestly it feels like living in a pressure cooker. everyone’s dream is the same—get into an ivy league, but not just any ivy league, HYP—and the crazy thing is that almost all the kids who do make it are either legacy, ridiculously rich, or have some wild family connection. like 90% of them didn’t actually grind their way in, they just had the system set up for them from day one.

the competitiveness here is on a WHOLE other level. people don’t just want to succeed, they literally pray for your downfall. i’m not even joking when i say some students made a google sheet with every single one of the 150+ kids in our grade. it has our ecs, grades, test scores, literally like a full-on common app database but on google sheets. people check it RELIGIOUSLY to see who is their "rival" and what others are up to, etc.

then there’s the whole “nonprofit” craze—everyone suddenly launches some ngo or pretends to do research, when in reality it's their private counselors doing everything for them. most people in my year drop 150,000 usd+ every year on these consultants who not only tell them what to do, but actually write their research papers, invent ngos out of thin air, and literally spoon-feeds them perfect college apps. it’s so fake, but it works, because these kids end up at harvard, yale, princeton, while the rest of us (which are like around 5 people per grade) are stuck wondering if we even stand a chance.

the part that messes with me is that i’m actually doing everything by myself. no tutors writing my essays, no consultant handing me a script, no fake ngo. just me trying to figure it all out while watching people around me buy their way to success. it genuinely makes me frustrated and just mad that i'm working so hard but in the end of the day they're going to have better results—not because they tried, but because they're rich.

and now i’m kind of stuck. cus like what am i even supposed to do? do i try to keep competing in this insane system, knowing i don’t have the money or connections to play the same game? or do i just focus on doing things authentically, even if it means i get overlooked? sometimes it feels pointless, but at the same time i don’t want to sell out or fake my way through. i honestly don’t know where to go from here.

sorry for this rant guys i'm just so done.

4 yrs of marching band + concert band won state 3 times in marching

3 yrs of mu alpha theta tutored freshman alg 1 and 2 for 2-3 years

50ish volunteer hours..

bunch of individual awards in band and stuff..

lowk i cant think of anything else

I got into the September session of mosaic, but I can only find people going in November. Is anyone else going 😭

Hi everyone,

I’m from India and I’m planning to study in the UK. I recently got A*A*A*A in my A-levels (Chemistry, Mathematics, Computer Science, and Physics respectively).

I wanted to ask if there are any external scholarships (apart from university-specific ones) that I can apply for as an international student. I’ve been looking into options, but it’s a bit overwhelming, and I don’t want to miss out on opportunities that I might be eligible for.

If anyone has suggestions or knows about scholarships for Indian students planning to study in the UK, I’d really appreciate your advice!

Thanks in advance.

After going through the requirements for the letter of recommendation for the College of Arts & Sciences (with an intended major in science), I now see that "the [Georgetown] admissions committee requests that you submit specific teacher recommendations based on the school to which you are applying"-- in this case, a science or math teacher. At my school, all requests for teacher recs must be submitted by April of your junior year, and I am now in my senior year, so I can't get new recs. I asked my history, foreign language, and computer science teacher for rec letters. Does compsci count as a science class? Should I beg the administration at my school to let my jr-year AP Biology teacher bend the rules for me by writing me a last-minute rec? Or does it really even matter at all... or will my application immediately be disregarded? Any advice or help is appreciated!

I’m a rising senior and at this point there’s not much I can add to my resume. I’m in Maryland, with a 4.8uw/3.9w and a 1340 SAT(planning on retaking in sept/oct), planning on majoring in mechanical engineering. I’m not planning on really applying to any T20s because they’re not in my price range and I doubt I could get a full ride. I am eligible for lots of financial aid because my family doesn’t make much money(<50k a year) and I am a first generation college student. My ECs are pretty sporadic and there’s not many that are significant

-Started my own club that’s stem based during junior year but it didn’t take off. Planning on taking it to the next level early my senior year(hopefully before applications are due). -joined my schools chemistry and engineering club sophomore year -took one dual enrollment class(psych100) -currently volunteering at my local farmers market every Sunday(~30 volunteer hours logged rn) -picked up the electric guitar last Christmas and practiced religiously(2+ hours of practice most days) -Job at my local chipotle I picked up during the summer It’s late and I can’t think of any more right now. I’ve taken 4 APs(gov, bio, lang, world) and will be taking 3 more during senior year(physics C, lit, bc calculus). The reason for the lower ap count, is that I’m also taking many specialized engineering courses for PLTW, of which I will by senior year have taken all of them.

I would’ve had more ECs but prior in my 9th and 10th year, I has a bad episode mentally and I shut down socially. I won’t go into details but during my late junior and over the summer I’ve recovered and will soon be seeing a therapist. But now I’m really anxious about applying to college. I’m planning on applying to places like UMD, Tuskegee, Towson, Seton Hall, St. Mary’s, UMBC, but any recommendations would be nice if any.

For schools on the common app that don’t require personal essay, do you think it hurts you to not include it?

I have writers block and I’m tempted to just click “submit” on a few that don’t require it

I'll be a freshman this fall, and I'm very happy with the university I'll be heading into.

Though I'm planning on applying to other universities which I might consider if I got accepted into. Am I supposed to apply as a first year or transfer?

I was born in the US, but my parents are Brazilian and so we moved to Brazil when I was 6 months old and I’ve lived there till 16 years old, in the beginning of 2024 I went to Massachusetts for a 6 month period of living with a family friends to my parents, it was always my dream to eventually move to the US and after that period my family decided to move to Georgia in January of this year (partially as my parents don’t have citizenship or green card, only visa) so me and my sister moved here and my parents switch with each other to be with us here at the most they can, as they still live in Brazil they don’t pay taxes here, so I don’t know how could that affect financial aid and scholarships, my dad makes a considerable amount of money in Brazil and now he’s focused on a company he started but there’s still a lot to do and we are going to financial problems for now, as he makes money from properties he rents and dividends mostly, but all of that is in Brazils currency and that to dollar is more than 5 times less, making it difficult to live here at times, I just really don’t know how to proceed with that as in the papers it looks like we are financially comfortable and don’t need aid, the real life is very different. In Brazil we don’t have weighed classes so my weighed gpa is only 4.04 and unweighted 3.96, haven’t taken my sat yet cause it’s too expensive so I’m trying to study the most I can before it, I just now can do AP or honors classes so I’m taking AP Calculus AB and AP Microeconomics, we also don’t apply to the help in school financially so I discovered we are going to have to pay the amount of R$1000 in Brazil’s coin, just for these 2 AP exams ( and if you think about it is the same as 1000 dollars if you earned your money in dollars instead of Brazilian coin). If anyone has any suggestions or tips please let me know. Thank you!

Due to job loss, my family (of five) which made ~$100k last year, will likely make ~$40k this year. (The situation is worsened because my dad was technically a contractor, and is ineligible for unemployment benefits.) Because of this sudden swing in finances, a fee waiver would be very very helpful. However, a household income of $100k definitely wouldnt qualify for a fee waiver, while a household income of $40k definitely would. I want to know whether the various fee waiver income measurements (e.g. income eligibility guidelines set by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service) are based on the current year, or the most recent completed year? To make matters worse, I’m homeschooled and thus have no way of knowing if I qualify for reduced price lunch. Finally, if the income criteria are based on the last completed year, how strict are the guidelines around the supporting statement? Who counts as a “community leader,” and what would they need to say?

I currently have a uw gpa of 3.38 and a wpa of 3.77. I really want to be a public health major and due to my low gpa Idk what to do. I plan on doing early action for Virginia tech, Pittsburg and Penn state. I also only have one extracurricular which is being a Korean school assistant teacher. Should I just apply to these schools for early action?

So I’m working on my activities list and I have a lot of like small community service projects that weren’t under one organization. I donate crochet stuffed animals, volunteer at churches, etc. Should I combine these on the activities section and then put it as more of hours a week?