u/AU_Memer

Demographics

Gender: male

Race/Ethnicity: White

Residence: PA

Income Bracket: disability checks broke

Type of School: Public HS to CC

Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): Disabled, former political prisoner.

Intended Major(s): public policy

Academics

GPA (UW/W): 3.77 UW

Rank (or percentile): not listed

Standardized Testing: n/a

Extracurriculars/Activities

List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.

#1 Led an effort to recall a big city Mayor, the only attempt on record to my knowledge.

#2 Got that same Mayor's endorsement revoked from his party. Only time in the history of the city for this to have happened.

#3 Ran for City Council

#4 some work with non profits as a volunteer, secured the allocation of millions $'s from a HUD grant to housing repair.

#5 volunteering with wildlife

Awards/Honors: n/a

Letters of Recommendation

One from a professor that I'm not super tight with for my academic one and a fellow organizer for my professional one.

Interviews: n/a

Essays: focused on my political work in one, my health struggles and upbringing in the other. Spent a decent amount of time on it all.

Decisions

Acceptances:

NYU (can't afford it but at least I get bragging rights)

Pitt (got into honors which is fairly selective)

Syracuse University

Duquesne University

Rejections:

CMU

University of Rochester

Swarthmore

Haverford

University of Chicago

Wesleyan University

JHU

Case Western

UPenn

Boston University (took forever to give a decision just to reject me smh)

Tufts

Lehigh

Cornell

Body: I kinda also got some political charges which I feel like negatively impacted my results. Worked hard on essays, trying to keep my GPA up as high as I could, and had non BS ECs. But I went through all this application stress just to end up staying where I am. Kinda wish I could've just avoided all this hassle and just went straight to my safety. But at least I got into their honors which seems to be worthwhile compared to my initial choice for transferring. But I suppose I'll just have to settle with the bragging rights of the NYU acceptance I could never afford.

I went up to bat for Joe when Hellyar was after him with baseless attacks so this comes with a great disappointment. A lot of us were hoping for change with him but so far a let down.

On the budget itself: funds cops at an unsustainable level by draining water funds, establishes a garbage fee without options for low income residents, and other trash* stuff. edit: *metaphorically

More in depth info here: https://emilytakesnotes.com/2026/06/11/6-10-2026-budget-vote/

So as the title says I have been rejected from nearly every school I applied to or they are unreasonably prices. I am likely gonna have to do some digging to find the documents to prove citizenship but I have two relatives born within the timeframe of that recent law.

Are there any major downsides to taking this route? bc at face value the cost of tuition seems like a steal compared to my $23k/yr public school here. Getting kinda desperate at this point, have a decent 3.77 GPA and strong extracurriculars but I being pretty politically active has limited my options.

Got rejected almost everywhere and looking to fill up another 20 for FAFSA. What are good choices? Looking to study policy related stuff, 3.77 GPA and high impact ECs related to major.

Rejected from pretty much everywhere I'm interested in attending at this point. I have a 3.77 GPA, public policy major, very high impact ECs (endorsements revoked, successful issue based campaigns that have delivered policy wins and funding in the millions) but it seems like none of that has gotten me anywhere with admissions.

Should I have done more stupid extracurriculars like knitting or something? Entered competitions? Retook some classes for a 4.0?

I got kinda wiped this cycle personally, 6 decisions left but at least a couple I've heard are already out of space.

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3.77 GPA Policy major with a lot of political ECs that I feel like had a good amount of impact personally (got a major city Mayor's endorsement yoinked) but I've been met with rejection after rejection. Currently have about 6 decisions left right now but feel like it's all schools I can't count on. Idk if it's my GPA, my political endeavors being too controversial, or the being broke. Feel like I'm fucked all around rn

current acceptances: Pitt, Duquesne (seem to really want me but expensive), NYU (also very expensive), Syracuse (yet to give me an aid offer though I am expecting one, not certain it will be enough)

Rejections: CMU, URochester, Swarthmore, Haverford, UChicago, Wesleyan, JHU

Awaiting: UPenn, Northeastern, Boston University, Tufts, Cornell, Lehigh

Demographics: White male, low income, disabled

State: TX to PA

Good public HS (almost dropped out with a 1.55 GPA due to poor health, then graduated a year early at an alternative HS.) been dealing with chronic illness much of my life and has put college on hold

Intended Major(s): Public policy/environmental policy/health policy

ACT/SAT/SAT II: didn't test

UW/W GPA and Rank: W: 3.77 GPA at CC with 54 credits

Coursework: AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores, etc: regular classes at CC though took my math and chem classes in 5 week form (5 week chem is torture don't do it I barely got an A)

Awards: no formal awards but have had sitting public officials recognize my work

Extracurriculars:

1. Recall campaign: was on the steering committee of an org trying to remove a certain politician from office via recall petition.

2. Budget campaign: advocated for City funding to go to services that prioritize the working class over giving a supermajority of funding to police.

3: Council campaign: A seat opened up and since I was already organizing around City issues I decided to jump in and run for a city wide seat to put the eyes on the issues being neglected. Ended up catching some political charges (got dropped within a week) but worried that may affect my chances.

4: Immigration campaign: worked with other orgs around my city to pack Council sessions to push for an end to the ongoing collaboration with ICE and local PD.

5: Barring of endorsement: same guy we attempted to oust via recall petition we were able to rally his party around a resolution barring him from further support. Was involved with this effort early on and personally collected signatures from precinct chairs to get it into committee and later to the general body.

Schools:

Acceptances: Pitt, Syracuse University, Duquesne, UMass Dartmouth

Rejections: Rochester University, CMU, Wesleyan

Waitlist: William & Mary

Awaiting decision: UPenn, Lehigh, Swarthmore, Haverford, Boston University, Tufts, Case Western, NYU, Cornell, JHU, Northeastern.