r/ApplyingToCollege

Mind you I am european and don't really care about US universities but I do share the common believe that some of them are the best in the worlds and should logically receive and train the best students in the world right ?

The thing is during my last internship I had to pass on my project to the new intern which was at the end of his second year of bachelor degree in CS at Stanford.

Obviously I thought that the guy would be a total beast but I really quickly noticed that he didnt know anything practical about our job, I come from an unknown mid university in Europe and here I was explaining to the guy from Stanford basic computer system architecture and programming habits that we learn in first year. And also he wasnt learning fast at all. Tried to ask him nicely why don't he have knowledge of these basic subjects and he muttered something explaining that at his school they dont have a lot of technical classes during the first two years ?

I mean it's the only person from there that I ever met so it may just be an exceptional case but in my mind people that attend these top schools were all basically geniuses,

hi! I got my AP scores back today. Overall, my scores were good, but I got a 3 on AP Physics 1, my dream uni is Stanford, and I can't stop thinking about it. My freshman-year AP scores were great, so this one feels like a huge setback. My major will likely be psychology and neuroscience.

My dream is to get into a T20 school, and ever since I saw my score, I've been spiraling and convincing myself that I've ruined my chances. I know admissions are holistic, but it's hard not to feel like one bad score has changed everything.

For context, I have around a 3.9 unweighted / 4.5 weighted GPA, solid extracurriculars and leadership, and I'm planning to continue strengthening my application over the next year. I haven't taken the SAT/ACT yet.

Has anyone here gotten into a T20 (or know someone who has) despite having a 3 on an AP exam? Did you submit the score or leave it off? More importantly, did one AP score actually matter that much in the admissions process?

I'm looking for honest advice and experiences. I know I still have time to improve my application, but today has been really discouraging.

Thank you to anyone willing to share.

5s are ideal obviously, but what about these cases?

1. applicant has all/mostly 4s
2. applicant has some 5s, some 4s
3. applicant has a 4 on their major subject (e.g., bio major with a 4 on bio)
4. applicant has a 4 on a test with a generous curve (e.g., calc bc) or an easy test (e.g., csp)

*highly selective meaning like T10s

I got a 1390 in June (650 RW, 740 Math) and I'm not entirely sure if its worth retaking. Due to costs, I'm looking to go to community college for my first two years and transfer to UCR since its close to home. Would it be worth it retaking the test? I am doing well academically with a 4.0 at 15 as a rising senior, so its certainly possible I could do better, but I'm not sure if its worth it

which t20s/ivies are the most holistic???

My uncle is a radiologist that I plan to shadow this summer on the weekends. I also ultimately wish to gain a LOR from him, but since he is my uncle, the bias is pretty obvious. Would this not be as impressive as teachers’ LOR?

Preferably law path.

I'm going to be taking APHUG, honors english 2(tested out english 1), biology, honors Geometry, debate, track, and art for freshman year.

I'm looking to join as many clubs as I can and narrow it down before sophomore year.

I don't have a school I'm set on because I haven't taken the SAT/ACT yet, but I have started studying for the PSAT!

Any tips are appreciated!

I'm taking somewhere between 18 and 21 APs (including senior year) total in all of high school, so I do have other stuff to submit (mostly 5s otherwise, but a few 4s) and I got an A in the class. I think I flopped the written exam or presentation, though (my TMP group did NOT work well together). I want to apply to selective schools.

How well do my ecs hold up for computer engineering. What else can I do over the summer or during grade 12 to help with the application process. Any EC's i could do etc

• Founder & President, Engineering Club – Established school's first engineering club; led hands-on design challenges and structural building workshops.
• President, Computer Science Club – Led a major student organization with 100+ members; organized coding workshops and internal hackathons.
• Founder & Creator, AP CSA YouTube Channel – Launched an educational channel for the updated curriculum after taking the 2026 AP exam to fix the lack of resources due to recent curriculum changes.
• Charity Tournament Organizer – Organizing and hosting a city-wide pickleball tournament to raise funds for charity.
• Private Peer Tutor (Paid) – Provided specialized 1-on-1 instruction for grade 10–12 students in Pre-Calc 11/12, Physics 11, coding, AP CSA, and AP CSP.
• Volunteer Tutor at Schoolhouse – Certified online peer tutor covering Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1 & 2, Pre-Calculus, Physics, and Computer Science.
• Tutor at Kumon (2+ years) – Employed for over two years instructing elementary and middle school students in foundational math and reading.
• Senior & Athletic Leadership Teams – Selected for both premier student leadership bodies to organize school-wide events and manage athletic tournaments.
• Club Basketball (5 years) & Certified Referee (3+ years) – Played competitive club basketball for five years; officiated league games for 3+ years managing high-pressure situations.
• General Worker for Municipal Government – Employed by the local municipality to support civic operations, public facilities, and community events.
• Volunteering at Local Temple (5 years) – Dedicated five years of consistent service helping organize large-scale cultural events and community kitchens.
• Software Engineering Internship – Worked at a tech company as a software engineering intern, focusing on artificial intelligence development and implementation.

Okay so I asked my history teacher if he could write me a rec letter and he agreed but since he's one of the more lazier teachers, he told to just write one for myself and he'll endorse it. How does that work?

Goal: Electrical engineering in maybe a Top 20!!
academics is not rlly a concern
wondering if there are any specific competitions that i shd participate in.
info about myself:
PSAT NMSQT score (8th grade S1): 1400
PSAT 10 score (8th grade S2): 1430
Actively participating in math competitions
USACO (potentially)
Trying to get in NTHU Science Talent Cultivation Program (Mathematics Group) & an AI program this year
Preparing for IEO cuz less competition in Taiwan
American citizenship
Conrad Challenge
John Locke Essay Prize
Math & Badminton Club member
will add stuff if i think of smth
would appreciate any advice thanks!!! :D

I’ve seen multiple people on Reddit/TikTok picking Duke over “HYPSM”. Even in my own life, I’ve seen two people from my small school switch their commitment from MIT and Stanford respectively to Duke after getting off the waitlist. When I was at a function, I asked them about it, and they just said it’s cause they “liked Duke more” and ”thought outcomes were similar for what they wanted to do” (NOT due to finances/scholarships) Maybe I should think about ED next year?

i just finished up freshman year and so far i feel like i have accomplished nothing. at the beginning of the year i had school volleyball season and found myself burned out and motivationless during the starting. btw i have good grades and have been high honors roll every term/semester since 6th grade into now (mostly A's and A-'s). i didnt join any clubs and i feel like that is a huge problem. i also do club volleyball and i want that to be an outlet for helping me get into MIT since they are division 3 in vb. the club i played with this year was in close relations to MIT since one of the coaches was a former (or still is idk) mit assistant coach. the problem is i wasnt a standout at the club though i played for a national/top level team. i talked to my guidance counselor but she is not very helpful in much and just sends me to look at the school website. im not doing any programs over this summer either soooo. my school doesnt offer ap until junior year and you cant self-study until junior year either. i will prepare to take the psat however. i feel like what im doing is basic stuff that all other applicants that i will be competing with will be doing, nothing special. im unsure what to do to make me special/unique and add to my ecs. i will be joining clubs and more stuff next year for sure! if anyone can reccomend anything that will help me aim for this goal i'd appreciate it. (and btw im aiming for something in astrophysics, quantum physics, or like that relative area).

Please I lost all of my hope💔💔 We have only 2 APs and we have IB but I am not a big fan of IB DP so I decided not to take any.

I'm going on a couple of campus tours in the next few days, and I'm not really sure what to expect/do. I'm the first in my family to go to college in the US system, and none of my friends have been on tours, so I don't really have much irl sources for advice. I signed up for an info session at one of them - but at the same time, will I really be learning much from these, especially since there's so much already available online? Are they just going to be regurgitating what's already on their websites, or are these actually useful? I'm pretty much going into it blind, and some people have said that tours helped them decide where they wanted to apply/go, but I'm still a bit on the fence about the merits of the whole thing. What are some questions that are actually worth asking during campus tours and sessions, etc?

In my Soph-Junior yr i was slacking off so hard and it came and bit me in the ass. My GPA is a 2.7 entering senior year, but I’m taking dual enrollment next year and transferring into my community college. Whats really worrying me is my mother telling me that its harder to get student loans now, and thats been sitting w me for a while and wont leave my head.

Idk what to really do now, and i doubt i can get a scholarship anywhere due to my GPA. I didn’t do any extra curriculars either, so im actually so lost.on WHAT i can actually even do?

Im probably gonna go through the CC transfer method but is FASFA that bad now? Im worried for my future.

Sorry if this is a low quality post. Thank you all.

https://airtable.com/appVjnlQ4X4KXiyux/pagy22Xz042hU2m12/form

Above is the link for an admissions support program from most popular company in my area. They have a lot of success stories, but I cant decide if it is worth buying it for 1700$.

So whenever I look on this sub about Skidmore I see nothing but negativity like “it’s very cliquey”, “dorms suck”, “faculty are controlling and not top notch” and “don’t waste your money”. But I’m going there in the fall and don’t notice any of those things, in my experience people are nice and also I got a great package from them. I mean I don’t see the problem really, it has a 20% acceptance rate and high median SAT/GPA so it’s gotta be rigorous, and the campus is beautiful. Ik I’m trying to defend my own school but I don’t see all the negativity on this sub

I just finished making my college list and I realized im going to be be writing up to 40+ supplementary essays and I am already exhausted. I come from a low income school in a low income area so we get to apply to 20 colleges for free so i have 15 colleges in my list. Are supplementary essays the thing that makes or break your application? I feel like i have a good profile but im just not a good enough writer. Im scared guys I feel like ill get rejected from all the schools I will apply to just because of the supplementary essays 💔 (what even is the point of it when we already have our main college essay ugh)

title. same goes for any ivy league tbh. can someone attest to the circulation that the ED round is more competitive due to the types of people in its applicant pool?