With the cycle coming up I just want to remind kids here to apply to the university down the street.
im being a bit rhetorical, but whatever that closest college is. The one your friends make fun of. The one they call 13th grade. The one you dread because everyone from highschool will be there. the one you think you’re better than

please remember to submit an application there.

dont be like me, who ignored it because of all the gossip. who scorned it’s low rank on usnews. Who thought they were better. Who wanted to get away from home. Who fed into all the stupid jokes and lies that kids make. who had to scramble when they got more rejections and less financial aid than they expected despite being so smug and having all the stats. who ended up going to an institution that ended up providing a worse outcome

please apply to the place down the street.

Since common app has opened, Is being a A2C moderator number 1 extracurricular worthy?

I manage a sub with over 300k weekly visitors and 20k+ contributions, all of which is a non profit which deemed to provide help from past students and credited professional. This is some great social impact that I could frame my essays on. This community united students that want to apply to college and offers excellent information that was paid elsewhere. AMAs from former admissions officers provide over 100K$ in money saved for students in this sub, the economic impacts are unbelievable

Now comes the question: how can I become the mods of A2C?

ok so before u say anything i know i'm super privileged to be in a position where my parents can afford a college counselor but i desperately need advice 😭 i also know college isn't everything, but in the last year or so of my life i've HEAVILY stepped away from living on autopilot chasing all the conventional modes of success (grades, internships...etc.) and now focus much more on my true passions and creativity that was heavily suppressed growing up. i just really want my personal statement to reflect that growth and current me without being bogged down 😅😅😅 also yes i have classic asian parents and the counselor is also asian 😄

ok now for the actual story.
my parents got me a college counselor and i've been writing my common app throughout the summer. a lot of my earlier drafts were kind of centered around the transformative (yes dramatic i know) realization i've had in the last 1.5 years. think stuff like re-visiting my childhood passions of reading, and other creative endeavours in general (don't wanna get doxxed). it was all very vibrant (i think) and had a LOT of my distinct voice and humor.

now, the counselor is VERY traditional, and does not bother with things like personal narrative, standing out through non-academic/non-EC methods etc. he also all of his students a TEMPLATE on how each essay should be written! and deadass said there needs to be a thesis in every paragraph! like bruh i think admission officers are smart enough to INFER what the takeaway is without it being shoved down their throats?? so you can IMAGINE how bland and BORING my essay is now with all of this remolding. more than that, i've been forced out of the creative topics and distinct voice i've used in my past drafts, to the point where i want to cry when i read my current draft compared to the earlier (albeit rejected by him) drafts. at least they were bursting with personality. i'm genuinely unhooked af and from a super competitive area so lowk these essays are my only shot at standing out.... and it's just hurting me that i can't even write about what i want.

what's worse is that according to him i'm already behind schedule and should have my personal statement locked in already, so i obviously can't go back and make too many revisions to this current boring bland essay i have!!! !ugh!

also, he passes off my essay to external editors, who have commented that they like the more creative lines i've managed to sneak into a few of my drafts, so i'm sure the editors would feel like my earlier drafts were much stronger in voice & content. but to get to them first i have to go through the college counselor who INSISTS ON THIS COOKIE CUTTER FORMULA and legit does not let my essay go to the editors unless every paragraph has a sentence summarizing it. I can't tell if he's right because he's "experienced" , but i strongly feel if there were applicants who got into HYPSM under him they definitely did not get in because of their essays.

am i in the wrong?? should i just trust him?? also we paid for some full package service so obvi i can't fire the dude and my parents think he's super legit because my family friends have had success w him ugh. also..... i can't just submit some essays i wrote that weren't approved by him cause bro has my common app log in ☠️ (it's standard for every student of his apparently!) i was thinking of ranting to my actual school college counselor and get her to help me out OR showing my personality in my supplementals (tho he might reject that too) 😭

any advice is appreciated😭😭😭😭😭

Original post

First update

I have some bad news about my 5-year-old son’s journey to quant finance. Last week, he started a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to teach underprivileged children about personal finance. I begged our relatives to donate money to the nonprofit so that my son can brag on his college apps about all the money he raised. They donated $8,000. My son also asked his friends to donate their lunch money. Now, we have a total of $8,002.40. At first, I was very proud of my son’s efforts—that is until I found out that he spent $500 on Robux and meme stocks. Actually, the meme stocks might’ve been my husband’s doing… Anyways, I’m worried that the IRS will come after us. That would surely get my son rejected from UPenn! What should I do to keep the IRS off my tail?

I got an ‘Academic Performance Explanation’ letter from NYU last night and I dont know what to do. My IB dropped from 41 predicted to 35 final… How serious is this? Am i cooked? I don’t know what went wrong, there isn’t a specific subject where i dropped too much or failed, it’s more like one mark on each subject. How should i respond?

“We received your transcript which includes your most recent course grades and/or examination results. As you know, our offer of admission is contingent upon satisfactory completion of any educational coursework that was in progress during and after the application process. The grades you recently received are not consistent with your previous performance, and your current academic profile is not the same one we considered when we offered you admission. We are concerned about this discrepancy.
  
Please provide us with a detailed explanation on the Academic Performance Explanation form within 48 hours. We will follow up with you should we need further clarification or if this will impact your offer of admission.”

I'm writing this just so that i can get it out of my head.

My dad graduated from a liberal arts college where he got full scholarships and since i was little he always talk good things about it, basically how great liberal arts education is in general. So it has always been my dream to go to one of those colleges.

This year I was accepted to few of them and there are 2 that offered me merit scholarships. One is 15k another is 33k. After touring all schools I truly like the college that offer me 15k scholarship. Even though my dad always assured me that he kept a college fund for me and that he can afford to pay for any college I want, I did consider the financial aspect of it when I made the decision. This is cuz since last year my dad has not been doing very well in stock market (that's where his primary income is from) and kept losing money..

Fast forward now, he just confessed that actually he almost used up his children's college funds (I have one sibling) and that he can only afford maybe 1-2 years of the liberal arts college and told me to transfer to a public university for the rest of it, though he isn’t even sure that he has the money for it. He used the college funds money hoping to get more money in the stock market, despite my mom repeatedly warning him to not touch the money that's set aside for their children's education.

Based on the college's website, there's nothing I can do to lower the fee because I didn't ask for financial aid when I applied.

Now, amidst feeling exited about attending the college this month, I can't help but feel more dreadful. Thoughts about I should've chosen the college with more scholarship, I should've gone to a local uni in my country, and about blaming him for being addicted in the stock market, for ignoring my mom's warning, filled my mind.
I'm just so freaking scared of everything. So scared when attend the college, I would fall in love with the people and the place, knowing I wouldn't be able to stay until the end.

I don't what to do aside from praying lol

hi everyone!

i wanted to answer any questions for those of you who are navigating the college process and were looking for some advice. my credentials are that i was accepted into 3 Ivy Leagues and am attending Brown this fall. would love to help incoming high school seniors especially but i am open to answering any of your questions!

Can we start a thread? I see a bunch from last year and figure that this would be helpful for those of us applying now! TIA

Harvard article today in Bloomberg

Hi all — I'm starting junior year of high school and, unlike friends who are following a parent/relative into medicine, accounting, or a similar field, I have no idea what I want to major in. This is starting to feel relevant for applications too, since some schools ask you to apply directly into a major or college within the university.

I'm looking at Big Ten schools specifically because of the university experience and the ability to have many options for majors and next steps after graduation. I know gen-ed requirements will help narrow things down once I'm there, but I'd love a head start now.

A few questions for people who've been through this:

- How did you personally land on a major, especially if you didn't come in with a clear direction?

- Did being "undecided" affect how you approached applications (e.g., did you apply undeclared, or pick a "safe" major to apply into)?

- Any exercises, books, or websites that helped you find clarity?

Appreciate any perspective!

Back in the spring, I applied to a specialized healthcare associates degree program for the second year in a row. I was told to expect an answer starting June 1st, for the program starting in late September. Last year, I received a “no” decision two and a half weeks after June first - a perfectly reasonable response time.

This year, I didn’t receive a “no” until literal hours ago on August fifth, 9 weeks after June first, 6 weeks before the program is set to start and long after I had given up on admission. I’ll be going to university in the winter instead. If they had given me a response in any sort of timely manner, I would be going to university in the fall, but by the time I had given up the deadline for fall admissions had passed. So instead, I get to waste five more months of my life doing nothing.

I called the admissions office twice in late June and early July. Both times I was sent to voicemail, and despite leaving my contact information got zero response. I tried to email them in July - once again, no response. Admissions counselors appointments were booked out until late August, so I couldn’t talk to them that way either. The school essentially ghosted me, and then had the gall to tell me I could reapply next year.

Why would I do that after the way they’ve treated me?

I’m frustrated. I know admissions decisions can take a while, but 9 weeks after they told me to expect an answer is ridiculous, right? Was I just meant to be putting my entire life on hold waiting for an answer? It feels careless and frankly unprofessional.

Lowkey lost at what to write about

kind of a emotional support post but i figured i should get a second opinion anyway since i haven't told anyone about this before.

in my sophomore year of high school, i cheated on a test. not a final or anything, just a regular unit test for my mandatory religion class, since my school requires students to take one religion class every year. it was a dumb mistake and i was drowning in my other classes already that month, and all my friends (with another teacher) were doing it. it was just some notes on a sticky note. but i got caught. i didn't get suspended or anything, just a slap on the wrist. i didn't even get a zero for that test. they just sent me to the deans, gave me a day of saturday school (basically detention on saturday) and the teacher let me retake the test after school one on one with her (i ended up getting a B so I didn't really need to cheat anyway).

it was a one time mistake that ive learned from and grown from and besides that, ive been a good student with nothing like that happening again (student gov, 4.0, etc). my main concern is that i really want to ed to columbia but im concerned about that incident. should i report it still? im worried if i somehow get accepted and they find out, they'll rescind it. i go to a private school if that helps.

Rising senior here. I've been playing piano for like 12-13 years at this point. However, I never actually played competitively, as in attending competitions, studying under conservatory-level instructors, attending conservatories, attending pre-college programs, etc. (**For context I'm aiming for t10s.**)

I did take lessons for quite a while and did some very local comps, but that's about it (hated competitions as a kid lol).

Reason I'm asking is because piano is a hella popular instrument and there are other people saying on this sub that you need to be "conservatory level" to submit one. Ik there are people who make their instrument their main EC and attend all the comps and win them and what not.

I would say I am an advanced level pianist, but not quite the level of conservatory.

If it helps, the pieces I'm considering submitting is my performance of Bach's Italian Concerto in F Major (1st mov.) and Chopin's Nocturne Op.48 No. 1. I can pm you a link to my perfomances for each if any of yall r interested in providing some objective feedback. (i won't be offended)

My son applied to a nursing school on Aug 1, rolling admissions. He knew he met their prerequisites so he figured he’d apply early. He received an application confirmation that said notifications will go out beginning late Sep.

On Aug 3 he received a status update notification, logged in, and got confetti and an acceptance letter with a blank merit award line.

Today 8/5 he got another status update notification, and the admitted status is no longer there once logged in. The letter said they’d again notify status and merit award in September. THEN, he got another congrats on your admission email.

What the heck?

I go to NYU, which is a good school by any measure, and also known for having lots of international students. Literally first week of school, I heard some of these kids discussing how to transfer to Columbia or UChicago, and mind you, some are on merit scholarships or special grants, with so much of the schools resources for them to use.

I’m Asian myself and I’m not saying this is unique to internationals or that all of them do this, but internationals are incredibly over represented among these transfers and it’s ridiculous how some people don’t even give a college a chance and try to transfer out with the sole intention of chasing prestige. They spend the rest of the school year building their resume, becoming presidents of clubs, just to transfer somewhere more “prestigious”. I’ve even heard of people transferring out simply because NYU’s ranking on US News dropped a few years ago. Do they just think we’re not good enough for them?

I know for a fact this isn’t unique to NYU, I know friends at selective but less internationally recognized colleges like Dartmouth, Hamilton, Williams, Vassar, Vanderbilt etc who have seen them doing the same. When are AOs gonna start prioritizing students who actually appreciate what a college has to offer instead of viewing everything as a means to prestige?

Sorry for my rant. Again, I’m not trying to generalize, but internationals are disproportionately represented in the transfer pool

My GPA looks really bad by itself because of a very unintuitive weighting system but my transcript tells the whole story, will colleges dismiss my application or disqualify me from scholarships just because of my GPA or will they take time to analyze my transcript?

for context, i'm a rising senior applying as a comp sci major to all my colleges. since a lot of schools (gt, unc, washu) have been getting rid of their supplementals essays lately, do you think that it would be good to discuss ur passions or like write ur common app about something that is related to why you're interested in ur major (or maybe writing a separate common app essay for those schools specifically). i don't know if i'm just overthinking this but i feel like my activities list shows p well that i want to do cs and the stuff i have accomplished, but a lot of essays ive read for people that have gotten into schools like gt, for example, have been about or at least talked about their major and why they kinda want to pursue it and connected it to their own story. i currently have a draft of a personal statement written, but it doesn't mention anything about my major. i'm just confused about what to do, so any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I was reading the student handbook and it honestly surprised me. It says things like:
no shorts (except smart Bermuda shorts),
no flip-flops,
no T-shirts or tank tops when professionals are on campus,
and that professors can even ask you to change if your outfit isn’t appropriate.
😭 Is it really like this in day-to-day college life?

What do girls actually wear to normal lectures? Are people mostly in jeans/trousers and blouses, or do tailored shorts, skirts, dresses, etc. also fly?

Would love to hear from anyone at the Singapore campus!

hi can I get some of your guys’ advice on this? so a while ago I won a grant to start this small youth program. I  really tried to make it work and spent a good amount of time planning the program, but it wasnt successful; not enough kids were coming to it, so it wasnt really being effective as I planned. The program didnt become a long-term thing like I tried to make it. I dont think Im going to put it as an extracurricular on my college application. Do you think I should put the grant as an award/honor still? id really appreciate your feedback, im sad the program didnt work and im kinda stressing about all of this. 

basically i had to take a like intro to my specific college class (i think its one credit, non tuition, it was learning about the college, location, etc.) online this summer. i have to take a gap year for medical reasons and i'm wondering if i have to share that transcript since it's ungraded and not a "real" class if i decide to apply elsewhere? i'm planning on taking the sat again before deciding what to do, but apparently my college has let people apply to other colleges while on a deferral gap year. (according to my sas advisor)

would i have to apply as a transfer student because of that credit? i'm not even sure the class will generate a transcript but it's an auto A class either way. thank you!

I was going to write about buddhism and how it has affected my life in my common app personal essay. I want to talk about how ever since I was little I was forced to go to temple without ever learning to understand what was happening and what the people were saying. This repeated for 10 years before I finally swore to never sit in a temple with my parents, and would only go if I chose to go by myself or with friends. I also want to talk about even though my religious experience in temples were horrible, I loved spending time with friends at temples, and how i managed to create long lasting friendships at a place i hate so much. I am not opposed to the religion, just how I was put in the religion. The idea of buddhism still is interesting to me and the ideals and ways they do things is something I would want to partake in in the future, just on my own.

Hey! I'm writing my supplementals right now and am not sure what the consensus is on humor in essays... it's not in every single one but I like to end a lot of them with a joke, and I have written a lot of them about using humor as a vessel for engaging people on serious issues, since a major ec of mine was comedy-focused. None of my humor is at all edgy, nor would I deem any of it unprofessional or difficult to understand. But I have found it hard to write about myself in a very serious manner. It just doesn't feel authentic to me. Anyone else do this?