E.g. : Get a B in physics in 10th grade and plan on major in physics, but this person takes college physics in 11th grade and is holding an A. Plans on gunning for physics for a specific Ivy(Yale).

Another example: Get a B+ in 10th for Calculus BC, but this person complete a school-credited independent study for Linear Algebra in 11th grade with an A. Plans on gunning for a specific Ivy(Dartmouth).

We understand that these colleges are reaches, but we both have a par SAT score(1550+) & ECs(Band, Choir, etc.). We want to try, but are worried how that one slip-up in 10th might affect us. We know there's nothing we can change about them, but we're wondering if maybe we should readjust our dreams to aim lower.

Thanks.

Pookie Bear #1 and #2

Hi everyone. I applied for Economics as my intended major for both schools, and I would like to go into finance.

I really like both schools, but I'm leaning more towards Cornell because of the campus life. However, since NYU is in the city, everyone is telling me there will be greater opportunities there compared to Ithaca.

BTW financial aid is not a factor in choosing either schools.

I have a question regarding Soka University of America. I am an international student from Central Asia, and I’ve been waitlisted there. According to their most recent CDS, they accepted 79% of their waitlist candidates, with only 15 people being rejected. I was in the process of writing my waitlist essay when I started having some doubts.

Originally, I thought this university was a great option—it's in a fantastic location, the financial aid seemed solid, and I was excited about the opportunity.

However, after talking and seeing to several people, including a professor who posted here on Reddit advising against attending Soka, I’ve been rethinking my decision. Some current students and even faculty have also explicitly told me not to come there, which has raised even more questions in my mind. Additionally, after reading numerous reviews on Google and other social media platforms, I’m starting to question whether it’s the right choice for me.

Given all of this, I’m now considering not submitting my waitlist essay and ultimately withdrawing from the waitlist. If even the students and faculty are expressing concerns about the university and advising me not to attend, it’s making me wonder if I should move forward with this option, especially if I were eventually accepted from the waitlist.

Basically just the title but to give more context I am going to finish this semester with 43 credits out of 60. I really dropped the ball my first two semesters and I am still suffering those consequences with having this lack of credits even after 2 years of CC. Either way I am going to be taking a summer course here, but i was curious if I should just take one more fall semester this year and finish my associates, or just transfer in the fall (I want to go to the university of north texas) I can figure out my tuition and financially it will be possible for me to transfer in the fall, but money is CERTAINLY an object and saving money is always preferred

Side Note: Can anyone make me feel a little better about the fact i’ll be 23 when I graduate my bachelors. I’m feeling bad about myself and it just seems so so far, i’m turning 20 in may. Is this a normal track?

What in the hell is going on these days with undergraduate admissions in Europe?? I am trying to help my girlfriend's daughter (an EU citizen) get admitted to a Danish university, but on top of recommendation letters, a motivation letter for each program, and heaps of paperwork and translations, each university (like VIA) either requires the applicant to complete additional assignments/essays as part of the admission process, or forces them to take an SAT-like exam, as is the case with SDU. What the actual fuck... Now, I'm a fairly smart guy, so I took it upon myself to pretty much make it happen, but after three different universities and four different programs completely unrelated to my line of work, I am feeling burnt out. Are the fucking jeets invading Europe just like they invaded Canada, so the universities were forced to implement additional barriers to weed out the hordes of low-quality applicants? How is it reasonable to expect so much from applicants in the first place? I remember the process of getting admitted to both McGill University and Aarhus University - I never had to provide references, write personal statements or pass glorified IQ tests - I just had to submit report cards and diplomas. The rest is history. Perhaps someone could chime in and tell me what's going on with Western European (particularly Scandinavian) universities these days.

Hello! I am a current junior interested in electrical engineering and biomedical engineering, and I want to double major. Since they are both in the same college, I presume I only need to get into the engineering college of whatever school I attend. But how do I apply for both majors? Thank you!

Hey I got admits for both universities, out of state for both. Which would be a better choice for power electronics and motor drives. I am going for non thesis/ professional track.

It's a new season in the admissions cycle and that means a new category of panicked posts flood this subreddit.

• December to January is "I sent my application 2 seconds after the deadline, will I get auto-rejected? Will they even receive it?" season
• January to March is financial aid confusion and "MIT and John Hopkins, please admit me" season
• March to May is jam packed with "I can't afford my dream school", "UPenn vs Princeton", "I wasted so many years just to get rejected from Stanford", "I got accepted and my friends are being awful about it" and the classic "Can you guys withdraw from UCLA so I can get off the waitlist" followed by discourse about how waitlists work.
• March to May is also home of the infamous rescinded posts "Will I get rescinded for because I had one bad grade?" and the "What are my chances of getting of the waitlist?"

Tell me what other seasons of a2c I missed

title! for all the ivys/t20s yk, please advise what major i would have best chances for applying (esp schools that apply by major but you can just sign up for cs once admitted)

i have cs/ai + urban planning/sustainability stuff going on in my profile

female, asian, bad grades due to pcos induced depression + inflammation in body making me really sick i would snivel and cough on about for months

I got into BU CGS (didn’t get CAS biology) and northeastern NU in. for biochemistry. both of them are crazy expensive, and I do like BU better but the CGS program isn’t what i’m looking for. For CGS, I have to take a gap semester in Fall and then go to the campus Jan 2026, and then later I go to London for six weeks in the summer. It’s also a small liberal arts college and I definitely prefer bigger colleges, and I for sure don’t want to miss first semester because I won’t be able to join as many clubs or make connections. But for northeastern their prestige confuses me.

As someone who is for sure transferring after two years into a different college, is BU or northeastern better for the first two years given the circumstances?

Are there any good programs like this for a law degree? Preferably rolling admissions 🙏

rejecting hutton scholars for an unpaid research internship at a super cool lab hope it works out😭

There was a time when even simple equations felt like walls I couldn’t climb. I’d sit at my desk, staring at numbers and sentences that didn’t click, wondering why it felt like everyone else had been handed a manual I never got. I wasn’t lazy. I wasn’t uninterested. I just couldn’t keep up, no matter how hard I tried. But somewhere in that struggle, something unexpected happened. I stopped seeing school as something to survive and started seeing the world as something I could understand—if I could find the right way in. I became obsessed with breaking things down, asking why they worked the way they did, and imagining how they could work better. When I couldn’t follow how something was taught, I tried to teach it to myself differently. That instinct—to redesign, to rethink, to rebuild—led me straight into engineering.

It’s never been about circuits or code just for the sake of it. It’s about people. It’s about that kid who sits where I used to sit, confused, frustrated, convinced they’re not smart enough. It’s about designing tech that meets people where they are and carries them further than they thought they could go. I want to build learning tools that adapt to every kind of mind, medical tech that doesn’t just treat but anticipates, and machines that can rebuild not just bodies or cities, but hope. I’m driven by the quiet belief that no one should feel left behind, and the louder one that we already have what we need to fix so much of what’s broken—we just haven’t built it yet. That’s what engineering means to me: not just solving problems, but making sure the solutions reach the people who need them most.

PLS only respond if you actually have valuable input/experience with the Berkeley system
Recently admitted Class of 2029 student
I was admitted to L&S for Economics but i am 99.9% sure that I want to Double Major in Data Science or CS (both of which you declare through CDSS.
This may even eventually become my main major as I've heard econ is very different at uni.
Will I be allowed to do this?

If not, it really impacts my decision-making although Berkeley is one of my top choices

Incoming freshman looking for some advice.

• OOS for each school, all expenses would have to be paid by me

UMich

• Pros: Top 10 school for CS (CSrankings), top choice based on wanting to go
• Cons: 70k/yr

TAMU

• Pros: Top 50 school for CS, strong alumni network
• Cons: 15k/yr

Please help with advice or anecdotes about your experiences, or maybe if you think there is something I'm not considering. I'm leaning towards TAMU because it seems to be the best pick for price vs what I'm getting out of it, but I still am not sure.

i have no clue of this is a silly question or not but n e waysss i recently committed to uci but now im super paranoid all the time that in august or september ill get an email saying my offer of admission has been rescinded SO i went to go cross reference my transcript and my uc app for the millionth time and i JUST now noticed that i didn’t list the health course that i took over the summer (no, it wasn’t a failing grade) and now im worried i might ACTUALLY (!!!!!) get rescinded for the difference between my transcript and reported courses CAN ANYONE PLZPLZPLZ HELP OR TELL ME WHAT TO DO IM TWEAKING

These are top schools I've been admitted to as an international and I'm trying to narrow down.

My aspiration has always been to create a startup, possibly in FinTech (pursue entrepreneurship - not study it), but I could also see myself going into Quant and I want to also keep the doors to high Consulting or Investment Banking, on either coast, open.

I applied and was admited for Economics at the Colleges of Arts & Sciences at both but am 99% sure I want to double major in Comp Sci or Data Sci or maybe even Engineering - and perhaps this becomes my main major over Econ as I've heard it is very different at uni.

I would really appreciate your input, especially if you are a student at any of these or had to make a similar decision.

Title. I just went through a massive failure (in a comp), even though I put in so much work. Please give me more opportunites and motivation, I feel so heartbroken and im crying like every hour. It's actually crazy because I swear the win was out of my hands bc I did my best and the judges said my 'thing' at this comp was the best out of all?? sorry for being vague but yeah. I don't even know how to deal with this. My best friend got gold, and I didn't place at all.

I am a senior in high school and having trouble deciding which college to attend. I am interested in studying business, but I’m also interested in technology and math. I’m drawn to careers in investment banking and consulting since I’m interested in business and they are well paying, but I’m also kind of turned off by the long work hours, and part of me feels like I’d rather do something where I’m creating something new, as I’ve always been a big problem solver. I’m also lucky enough to be in a position where cost isn’t a huge consideration. Also, going to a prestigious school has always been a dream of mine and is pretty important. The three schools I’m stuck between are UCLA, UW-Madison, and IU Bloomington. 

1. UCLA: Kind of feels like the obvious choice but is definitely the most expensive and would also be super far from home as I live in Minnesota. The quarter system also bothers me as I’d miss a lot of time with my high school friends, who I’m super close with. Also does not have an undergraduate business school. However, it feels super hard to turn down, and I know I’d really enjoy it.  
2. UW-Madison: Closer to home, cheaper, and would be fun, but also not as prestigious. I also did not get into the business school here when a lot of my friends did, so I feel like I’d be starting out behind a lot of them, but I could try to transfer in later. Also, lots of people from my high school are going here, and I kind of want a new experience. 
3. IU Bloomington: Cheaper (got 10k per year scholarship), but also not as prestigious. I got into the Kelley School of Business, which I know would set me up really well for many business related careers, but the whole environment at Kelley seems very cutthroat. 

I am honestly pretty stuck between the three of them, so any advice or input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

To the knowledgeable people out there on Reddit who have already applied to college and gotten in, college would it be plausible to add the ranks I've reached on the games I've played as an EC on my Common App? My resume currently isn't a degenerates one. I have a 3.91 UW GPA and a 1530 SAT. I've won awards for bio and engineering competitions, done debate and medaled a few times, taught an entire class of children debate and helped some of them place in competitions, interned in a professor's lab and a biotech company, done a lot of volunteer hours at hospitals, founded two decently sized clubs (50+ active members), shadowed a surgeon (this is stupid btw don't do this), worked in the MICU, run track and cross country for 2 years (3 in senior), published with a professor, published solo as well, taken 6 APs so far with 5s on all (I have 4 more this year), etc. Yet I really want to mention the ranks I've played in video games, as it's a big part of my life that I'm not sure whether or not to mention. I hit diamond on Brawlhalla (2231), diamond in Valorant, Grandmaster in Marvel Rivals, #1 in classic duels on Hypixel for the week, masters on Brawl Stars, and hit 10B net worth on Skyblock. Would this get red-flagged on my Common App, or would this be something kind of refreshing or new for some admission officers to see? Not really sure; just wanted to ask. (Also I don't sleep lol)

Hi everybody this post might seem similar to a few of you which i posted a month before . I am an indian , my class 12 starts from tomorrow and i want to study abroad . Academics 92.2% in class 10 97 sci 96 maths ( eng killed my overall %) 11 th dummy so gave exam did not went to collect marksheet Class 12 confident enough to score good marks like 96-97 and maybe above

Currently i am in middle of harvard cs 50 free one ( i am submitting projects weekly so hopefully i will get certificate , dont wanna pay edx for certificate ) Learned basics of cs from a series of courses from mit ( on open course ware ) and few indian cs teachers in yt I have done some courses on a website saylors academy i have 5 certificates Recently started github right now a newbie , but after HCS50 i will do some pull reqs here there for sure Also working on a simple github tool Stated a yt channel for teaching what i learn ( in hope that it gets big and make a significant point on my application)

School sports captain in class 10 1700 rated chess player NCSC state level medalist ( enviromental cause) Will give sat 27 may demo:_ 1460-1510 max 1560

Made a website notesia ( dont have paid domain so dont search it thats why i may not even show case it)

I am anxious My uni list is Nus Hku Ntu Hkust Kaist City u Cuhk Smu

I want 100% scholarship with stipend , that kinda scholarship please if you have any exp or suggestion or advice , tell me how do i make my profile go from this to a profile which is no brainer for a uni to home deliver me that

If this post feels uneccesary for this community i am sorry i just saw the namw applying to college and a few posts so i am posting just tell me i will delete it .

Thank you

I just heard back from many of my classmates, and it looks like the results came back with patterns..? Maybe coincidence, but every classmate I’ve asked who received great fortune to be accepted at UC Berkeley also had the great misfortune of being rejected / waitlisted by every other UC? It really seemed odd to me since they were pretty great applicants as well—they just got rejected / waitlisted by every UC until Berkeley decisions came out, turning out to be their savior (that is if they were gunning for a UC). I’m happy for them, but also very intrigued by such a coincidence. Has anyone had this happen at their school where senior classmates who got rejected / waitlisted everywhere seemed to be accepted into one school? I’m not saying it’s true, but I’ve got my beliefs of why this is so. But…maybe it’s just my school and just coincidence? Anyway, GO BEARS! 🐻

Pretty please if you don’t plan on going to Vanderbilt, please withdraw your application I really want to attend 😭😭🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

I've never made a post on here before but I wanted to make a post about the Brown video for people to maybe use for advice or as a reference in the future because I personally found it helpful to look at other people's posts about the video before making my own.

I was accepted into Brown Regular Decision this year. I saw several different viewpoints on how best to make the video introduction for Brown, but I'll just tell you all how I went about it:

• Keep it Simple: It is really easy to go on YouTube and see people's videos for Brown that have insane editing that look like their own short films. Do not worry about all that crazy stuff. I literally just recorded on my phone and it was just 2 minutes of me talking to the camera. No editing of any kind, nothing fancy. If you are able to do all that editing stuff, I am sure it probably wouldn't hurt, but I want to let people know that it is definitely possible to have absolutely no editing or complex stuff of any kind and be fine. I also didn't have any crazy background or anything. Just sat in my room and spoke into my phone camera.
• It Doesn't Have to be Perfect: Brown's website says that it is fine to have the video be unrehearsed, and it definitely is. I think I did my video in a single take on the same night I found out there even was a video to submit. I just wrote down some bullet points that I glanced at during the video to guide my train of thought, but other than that I literally just kind of talked for a couple minutes in a way I felt was natural. I did my one or maybe two takes, thought I got across what I wanted to say and then just sent it in.
• How to Choose a Topic: It was a little challenging thinking of what I wanted to talk about since they leave it very open ended, but if you don't know, I recommended picking something you are passionate about and just talking about it and your connection to it, since that is what I did. I literally just introduced myself and then got into talking about one of my favorite hobbies/interests for the whole two minutes and its importance in my life. I didn't talk about achievements or huge topics, I just kind of talked about my interest and the place it has had in my life. This is definitely the point that is going to differ from person to person, and I am sure there are many different things you can talk about if just talking about one of your passionate interests doesn't feel like you.
• Personalize It: I think this is probably the most important part. I already mentioned that I just talked about one of my interests I am passionate about for my video, but I think the key part was connecting that interest to my life and me as a person. Whatever you talk about, make sure it connects to who you are not just as an applicant but as a person, since I think the point of the video is to try and see you as a person rather than just as the applicant information you send in with your application. Also, when I mean connecting your interest to you as a person, it doesn't have to be some deep metaphorical or highly complex connection. I just talked about the influence that my interest has had on me, big or small, and just some examples of I how interact with my interest in my life.

Obviously, everyone is different, but these are just some tips from how I went about my video. Sorry if this is a little wordy, but I personally found it always helpful to just soak in as much advice from other people's posts as I could.

If people do end up using this post and leave questions or comments or stuff, I will try and reply or whatever but seeing as this will be posted well in advance of the next admissions season its hard to say lol. Anyways, good luck everyone!!!

Based on many sources including the Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, and Georgetown, and even my own experiences, MCPHS (Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences) is the most underrated school in America and should receive more attention as it is a hidden gem and it promises a very lucrative future.

l attended Northeastern between 1999 and 2000 as a Chinese international student before transferring to WPI after realizing that Boston sucks and Worcester is better while my wife attended MCPHS Boston between 1999 and 2000, also as a Chinese international student where she then transferred to MCPHS Worcester. Even though Harvard, MIT, and Stanford (schools my 13 year old son is obsessed at) are the most well known colleges, in my opinion, they aren't the best colleges in America and they are overrated. You essentially pay like hundreds of thousands of dollars and thousands of your high school hours for a piece of paper when you could have been laid back and just attended MCPHS. Even a state school wouldn't cut it because many are mediocre at their premed and predental courses and instead, make you take redundant courses and then, have essentially O internship opportunities. Instead, MCPHS (where my wife studied, short for Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences) is the most underrated university in America, especially if you are into Pharmacy, Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Optometry, or even plainly, Biology, Chemistry, or even Data science or Business.

Even though there might be some haters of MCPHS (who also happen to be fanboys of Harvard and MIT or even BU/NEU), MCPHS is still the best and most underrated college in America as it doesn't get the respect it deserves.

My wife went there between 1999 and 2003 as an international student (first in Boston and then in Worcester since 2000), became a nurse, then a nurse manager, and now she is further promoted. She makes 6 figures while I had to suffocate with a master's at University of Houston just to make several times more than her as l am a C-suite at a Houston based biotech company.

According to MCPHS website, it said it is the highest paying and the most transformative school in all of America (according to Money and Georgetown) and the best value and mobility as well but people keep on complaining and hating it. Case in point, many international students and people all the way out to California as well as many Vietnamese people (I know a few coworkers who went there and is highly successful) chose MCPHS over supposed "good" schools like BU, Northeastern, NYU, Rice, and UHouston. If MCPHS wasn't good, then people wouldn't go there, but many people go there and are relatively successful, especially in Massachusetts because a lot of my coworkers went to MCPHS and are either managers or directors at my biotech company.

I do believe that MCPHS is not only easy to get into compared with other universities with lower social mobility like BU, Northeastern, UHouston, Rice, and of course, Harvard and MIT, they are also very diverse, have a lot of great alumni, is a feeder to many medical and dental schools because I knew of a former MCPHS Boston student (one of my wife's colleagues) who went on to become a director of a medical department at Mass General, has good mentoring opportunities, the best professors, and high graduation rate.

https://www.mcphs.edu/academics/schools/arts-and-sciences/public-health-field

https://www.mcphs.edu/news/meet-the-young-leader-driving-innovation-at-cvs-pharmacy

https://www.mcphs.edu/news/routine-eye-exam-helped-lilly-phan-see-her-future

https://www.mcphs.edu/news/dentist-from-nepal-pursues-public-health-to-address-inequalities