u/Cool-Builder-4351

hey y'all would yall be interested in a website/forum type thing dedicated against the toxic culture around college apps?

I am a current junior, and whenever I open instagram or reddit or any social media I am instantly bombarded with so much information from college counselors and old AO's and people selling college services. Almost none of it is genuine, all preying on our and our parents fears and insecurities to make us buy their course. I mean look at people like the Elise Pham (Ultimate Ivy League Guide) who basically is a D1 fearmongerer who occasionally puts out some useful posts. Subreddits like A2C and chanceme send so many of us into spirals, seeing posts of some of the most accomplished high school students and feeling inferior and worthless because of them.
These people and posts encourage us to panic, to resume grind, to do stuff we barely want to do to look impressive to colleges who barely care about us. I want to do some part in combatting that culture, and doing something to make the search for college less daunting and create a more positive culture around it.

The website itself would be a forum where people can drop their realistic stories about college admissions, have mental health resources (mainly on anxiety and depression relating to college), have some tools and resources for college app planning to help reduce anxiety, and tips/tricks on helping people navigate the content creator scene/reddit. Something like that, I am completely making this up as I go along

Would that be something needed/wanted? I don't know how many people would actually want/use this. At the very least, something needs to be done about this culture and I don't know how else to make a difference. This seems like the best way to me.

hey y'all would yall be interested in a website/forum type thing dedicated against the toxic culture around college apps?

I am a current junior, and whenever I open instagram or reddit or any social media I am instantly bombarded with so much information from college counselors and old AO's and people selling college services. Almost none of it is genuine, all preying on our and our parents fears and insecurities to make us buy their course. I mean look at people like the Elise Pham (Ultimate Ivy League Guide) who basically is a D1 fearmongerer who occasionally puts out some useful posts. Subreddits like A2C and chanceme send so many of us into spirals, seeing posts of some of the most accomplished high school students and feeling inferior and worthless because of them.
These people and posts encourage us to panic, to resume grind, to do stuff we barely want to do to look impressive to colleges who barely care about us. I want to do some part in combatting that culture, and doing something to make the search for college less daunting and create a more positive culture around it.

The website itself would be a forum where people can drop their realistic stories about college admissions, have mental health resources (mainly on anxiety and depression relating to college), have some tools and resources for college app planning to help reduce anxiety, and tips/tricks on helping people navigate the content creator scene/reddit. Something like that, I am completely making this up as I go along

Would that be something needed/wanted? I don't know how many people would actually want/use this. At the very least, something needs to be done about this culture and I don't know how else to make a difference. This seems like the best way to me.

hey y'all would yall be interested in a website/forum type thing dedicated against the toxic culture around college apps?

I am a current junior, and whenever I open instagram or reddit or any social media I am instantly bombarded with so much information from college counselors and old AO's and people selling college services. Almost none of it is genuine, all preying on our and our parents fears and insecurities to make us buy their course. I mean look at people like the Elise Pham (Ultimate Ivy League Guide) who basically is a D1 fearmongerer who occasionally puts out some useful posts. Subreddits like A2C and chanceme send so many of us into spirals, seeing posts of some of the most accomplished high school students and feeling inferior and worthless because of them.
These people and posts encourage us to panic, to resume grind, to do stuff we barely want to do to look impressive to colleges who barely care about us. I want to do some part in combatting that culture, and doing something to make the search for college less daunting and create a more positive culture around it.

The website itself would be a forum where people can drop their realistic stories about college admissions, have mental health resources (mainly on anxiety and depression relating to college), have some tools and resources for college app planning to help reduce anxiety, and tips/tricks on helping people navigate the content creator scene/reddit. Something like that, I am completely making this up as I go along

Would that be something needed/wanted? I don't know how many people would actually want/use this. At the very least, something needs to be done about this culture and I don't know how else to make a difference. This seems like the best way to me.

been building a database of hs opportunities for a while now and figured i'd share some of the ones that either still have open deadlines or are worth bookmarking for next cycle

still open / summer deadlines (not all summer program but still cool stuff):

Breakthrough Junior Challenge — $250k scholarship where you make a short video explaining a hard science concept. submissions open until september so this is a legitimate summer project. finalists get announced in december which means it can drop on your college app right before RD deadlines. worth a shot honestly

Perimeter Institute GoPhysics! Workshops — free virtual physics workshops run by one of the world's leading theoretical physics research centers. covers quantum mechanics, cosmology, and relativity taught by actual working physicists. open to anyone globally, no cost

IYNA Neuroscience Summer Courses — free online neuroscience courses from the International Youth Neuroscience Association, one of the largest youth neuroscience orgs in the world. good entry point if you're pre-med or just genuinely interested in brain science. youthneuro.org/summer-program

INO-NEXUS Essay Competition — neuroscience essay comp run by the International Neuroscience Olympiad. you pick a prompt about neuroscience, neuroethics, or neurotechnology and write an original essay. niche but legitimately prestigious if you're interested in the brain or medicine

Global Research Challenge — international research competition where you conduct and present original research across STEM and humanities disciplines, judged by university faculty. distinct from science fairs in its emphasis on the written scholarly presentation

Code/Art Competition — exactly what it sounds like: generative art made with code, judged on both artistic and technical merit. one of the only competitions that rewards the creative side of CS rather than pure algorithmic performance. genuinely unique if you sit at the intersection of art and programming

US Army Educational Outreach Programs (High School) — includes paid research apprenticeships at Army research labs through programs like SEAP, placing high school students in actual federal science facilities. more accessible than it sounds and a real paid research credential

We the Future Essay Competition— civic engagement and youth leadership program for students who want to turn passion for social issues into real action. good for building an EC around something you actually care about. has an essay competition that has some really good prompts

for next year's cycle, mark your calendars:

RSI at MIT, GMU ASSIP (free, february deadline that sneaks up fast), Garcia Scholars at Stony Brook, NASA SEES (virtual, free), Genes in Space, Congressional App Challenge, Yale YSPA

study resources that actually help:

• The Organic Chemistry Tutor — covers chem, physics, and calc on youtube, completely free
• Paul's Online Math Notes — calculus lifesaver, written by a Lamar University professor
• Fiveable — free study guides for literally every AP subject
• iLovePDF — free browser-based PDF toolkit, merge/split/compress/convert any file without installing anything
• Symbaloo — visual bookmark manager for organizing your study resources, tools, and links in one place so you're not hunting through tabs and bookmarks constantly
• College Essay Guy — free college app resource hub, the values exercise alone is worth your time

most of this is from thehscompendium.lovable.app, there is more on there

I found a lot of these too late but for my rising freshmen, sophomores, and juniors check these out, you can apply next year. For my rising seniors some of these are still open

A few interesting programs/opportunities:

NIH HS-SIP — paid federal research internship, more accessible than it sounds (deadline closed for this year, open next year)

Perimeter Institute GoPhysics! Workshops - virtual two week physics program where you learn about space topics, really interesting (still open, deadline June 1)

Breakthrough Junior Challenge — $250k scholarship for explaining a scientific concept on video - submissions are due in september, so work on this over the summer. Finalists drop in December, so it can become a last-minute college app award if you want lol

INO-NEXUS Essay Contest - prestigious neuroscience essay competition run by the International Neuroscience Olympiad, where you pick and research a prompt about neuroscience, neurotechnology, neuroethics etc. (still open, deadline May 28)

Some cool study tools:

Paul's Online Math Notes - this site is run by an undergrad professor and can teach any math concept. Also use Albert.io and Wolfram Alpha, these have been a lifesaver for calc 1.

SAT Question Bank - unlimited free SAT practice questions

Mostly sourced from thehscompendium.lovable.app, check it out if you want

Title. I am a hs student, 18m, getting 6, 6.5,7 hrs sleep each night. I am currently 5'7" and have grown very slowly over the past couple years. My dad is 5'11" and my mom is 5'6", but my maternal grandfather is 6'1"

Does it truly affect me as much as people say it does? Will 8 hours a night have that many beneifits? (I am making this post bc my younger brother, who gets 8 hrs sleep every night is now taller than me lmao).

Does it affect your growth by permenantly stopping (you have lost that growth) or putting it on pause (if I get a consistent 8 hours later in life, like the summer, will I grow like I would have normally)? Are the mental effects actually that bad? What are some other disadvantages?

As in the title. I will be 19 when I graduate, but wont turn 19 till after I finish applying to colleges (after january). I know I will be one of the oldest in my class to graduate. Do colleges look at that in any meaningful way?

Note: I was not held back, rather when I moved from state to state I did the 5th grade again for social reasons (or smth, ask my parents lol).

Junior year I spent probably 40 hours trying to find research programs I could apply to. I kept finding the same 5 programs on every list. I knew there had to be more, but there was never a list of the programs that acually can help and arent just scams.
So I built a free list and database of 780+ programs, competitions, scholarships, and resources. Everything I wish I had been shown earlier (as a freshman or a sophomore) is on there, along with advice.

I could not find many of these programs before their deadlines happened, and I do not want that to happen to ANYONE else. I want everyone to be able to have access to the knowledge I never did in time to do something about it

A few underrated programs/opportunities:

NIH HS-SIP — paid federal research internship, more accessible than it sounds (deadline closed for this year, open next year)

Permiter Institute GoPhysics! Workshops - virtual two week physics program where you learn about space topics, really interesting (still open, deadline June 1)

Breakthrough Junior Challenge — $250k scholarship for explaining a scientific concept on video - submissions are due in september, so work on this over the summer. Finalists drop in December, so it can become a last-minute college app award if you want lol

INO-NEXUS Essay Contest - prestigious neuroscience essay competition run by the International Neuroscience Olympiad, where you pick and research a prompt about neuroscience, neurotechnology, neuroethics etc. (still open, deadline May 28)

Some study tools:

Paul's Online Math Notes - this site is run by a undergrad professor and can teach any math concept. Also use Albert.io and Wolfram Alpha, these have been a lifesaver for calc 1.

SAT Question Bank - unlimited free SAT practice questions

Everything else is at thehscompendium.lovable.app, completely free, no signup required. I hope it helps some of you.

I spent four months on this lmao and its not even near to completion. This is just the beginning. I will build out the advice and make it less intimidating of a list soon dw (I will make more concise targeted sheet with all the info for studying, specific careers, etc.)

TL:DR - check out thehscompendium.lovable.app

note: I typed this up in like 20 minutes sorry for the bad writing lol

I just got an email from Genes in Space with a participation award. Is it wraps? I would assume so, but I’m holding out hope that they will also send out semi finalists soon and I get one of those, but I think that’s also delusional.

Junior year I spent probably 40 hours trying to find research programs I could apply to. I kept finding the same 5 programs on every list. I knew there had to be more, but there was never a list of the programs that acually can help and arent just scams.
So I built a free list and database of 780+ programs, competitions, scholarships, and resources. Everything I wish I had been shown earlier (as a freshman or a sophomore) is on there, along with advice.

I could not find many of these programs before their deadlines happened, and I do not want that to happen to ANYONE else. I want everyone to be able to have access to the knowledge I never did in time to do something about it

A few underrated programs:

NIH HS-SIP — paid federal research internship, more accessible than it sounds (deadline closed for this year, open next year)

RSI at MIT — the most selective free research program in the country, worth trying for (deadline closed for this year, open next year)

Breakthrough Junior Challenge — $250k scholarship for explaining a scientific concept on video - submissions are due in september, so work on this over the summer. Finalists drop in December, so it can become a last-minute college app award if you want lol

Everything else is at thehscompendium.lovable.app — free, no signup required. I hope it helps some of you.

I spent four months on this lmao and its not even near to completion. This is just the beginning. I will build out the advice and make it less intimidating of a list soon dw.
note: I typed this up in like 10 minutes sorry for the bad writing lol