hello everyone! i am asking my teachers from junior year for letter of rec and i am giving them maybe this brag sheet if its okay. please let me know if theres anything I should add/delete!
name
Intended Major: International Relations or Political Science
Intended Minor: Linguistics or French
GPA: 3.925

Extracurricular Activities:
i explain all my ec's here exacting how im explaining them on common app (sorry i don't want to see too recognizable)
Awards
same thing as above

AP Classes:
10th Grade:

AP Spanish Language and Culture

AP Macroeconomics

AP World History

11th Grade: 

AP Spanish Literature and Culture 

AP French Language and Culture

AP English Language and Composition

AP United States History

AP Statistics

AP Environmental Science 

Career and Personal Goals: 
My goal is to pursue International Relations or Political Science and build a career in diplomacy, international affairs, or public service. I hope to work across cultures and countries while advocating for communities that are often underrepresented. Personally, I want to continue developing my language skills, learning from different cultures, and using my education to create opportunities for others.
Junior Year Grade Explanation:
ok here's why I added this let me know if I should delete it though. but my thought behind it is that these teachers saw me miss a lot of school in my junior year (i didn't actually tell them because i was going though a lot but i still managed to get good grades)
I was involved in a car accident that caused me to miss a lot of school, including classes, assignments, and exams. As a result, it was difficult to keep up with my coursework and maintain my grades while trying to catch up on missed material. Despite these challenges, I continued to put forth my best effort and remained committed to my classes
Places of Recommendation and Explanation:
I’m asking to be considered for a letter of recommendation for my college applications through the Common Application and QuestBridge.
What I want you to emphasize:
I would primarily like the recommendation to come from your own experiences and honest perspective of me rather than simply repeating my accomplishments or activities. I want the letter to reflect how you genuinely see me as a student and as a person. Please feel free to use this brag sheet as a reference if you need additional context about my experiences, interests, goals, or accomplishments. If you have any questions or would like me to explain anything further, I would be happy to provide more context! Since I won't be able to read the recommendation, I genuinely want you to be honest and write what you believe best represents me. I hope I've given you enough good material to work with, though!

please lmk if this is okay or should I add something or delete something, thank you!!!

As stated in the title, be brutally honest. I would really like to have both positive and negative feedback on my realistic chances at each college. All this information is straight from my Common App. Any blank information is either about the school or anything that reveals too much about myself lol. If you have suggestions or need clarifications, let them be known!!

Sorry in advance for information overload.

Context:

White male

Household income ~150k

Rising Senior

Small public school, 11 total AP's (some don't run) + two total dual-enrollments. Can't take AP's until Junior Year.

No bad conduct ever

Recs from attorney I worked and shadowed with, genocide/AP euro teacher, and guidance counselor

Planned majors/minors/concentrations: international relations + econ with data analysis/language as minors. Prelaw track.

Demonstrated Interest:

I plan to EA to any school I can. I can't do ED, and no REA. If a school doesn't have EA, I will be doing RD.

I have (or will have) toured every school on this list, and some I've held interviews with (when it counts for demonstrated interest).

BU (dec 1st) + BC (nov 1st) scholarship deadlines to showcase a form of Demonstrated Interest

Activities and experiences

Music

9, 10, 11, 12 (School)

18 hr/wk, 17 wk/yr

Will continue

___ Marching Band & Jazz Band, Brass Capt (9-12) Club Member (10)/Leader (11-12)

Led 4-yr brass section (trumpet) | Guided rehearsals | Coached 10+ peers. Managed Jazz Band ops | Coordinated logistics & schedule | Ran IG account.

Internship

12 (Break)

25 hr/wk, 8 wk/yr

Will continue

__________________________. (estate planning & elder law firm)

Drafted, amended, & mailed docs (e.g. wills, trusts, deeds) | Analyzed & reported firm data | Digitized 100+ client files | Shadowed attorneys.

Student government or politics

9, 10, 12 (School)

12 hr/wk, 30 wk/yr

Will continue

___ Student Council (STUCO) & ___Class of 2027 Officers, STUCO (9-10), Pres (12) Class Treasurer (9,10)

Handled budgets & raised $10k+ for class events (prom, raffles, etc.). Run meetings as STUCO pres. | Drove school events (rallies, spirit wks. etc.).

Student government or politics

12 (School)

3 hr/wk, 11 wk/yr

Will continue

___ & ____ School Committee, Senior Student Representative (12)

Advocate for students (school policy, budget, etc.) | 5+ student population surveys | Aired student issues.

Research

11, 12 (Year)

5 hr/wk, 25 wk/yr

Will continue

___ School Newspaper (The ______________ or ___) & Research Publications, ___: Staff Writer Research: Independent researcher

Researched int'l & domestic issues/policies | Collaborations with fellow ___ writers | School interviews. Published in _________, __________, & more.

Community service or volunteer work

11, 12 (Year)

5 hr/wk, 26 wk/yr

Will continue

National Honor Society, Member (11) Vice-President (12)

Spearheaded TBD project as VP for __________________ | Volunteered 100+ service hours (top 5/80 members).

Other

11, 12 (Year)

8 hr/wk, 12 wk/yr

Will continue

High School & College Prep for ___ Students, Founder

Launched an admissions equity website for 50+ peers | Personally tutored 5 students on application strategy | Newsletters made & promoted by school.

Religious

11, 12 (School)

4 hr/wk, 6 wk/yr

Will continue

Boston College's _______________________ Program, Member (11, 12)

Managed & led in monthly policy-driven discussions ethics to modern crises | Promoted program from school to parish.

Athletics (JV or varsity)

9, 10, 11, 12 (School)

15 hr/wk, 12 wk/yr

Will continue

___ Varsity Coed Ultimate Frisbee, Varsity Athlete (9-12)

Recruited 3 players | Anchored team defensive strategy & offensive strategy | Competed in regional league matches, state qualifiers, & tournaments.

Science or math

10, 11, 12 (School)

8 hr/wk, 4 wk/yr

Will continue

___ Math Team, Member

Mentored & recruited 8+ underclassmen | Collaborations with small groups in practices & competitions | Helped with hosting regional competition.

Responsibilities and circumstances:

Taking care of sick, disabled, and/or elderly members of my family or household

Academics:

Rank

20 / 144, Weighted

GPA

3.86 / 4, Unweighted

Testing

ACT

Composite

35

07/11/2026

Math

34

07/11/2026

English

35

07/11/2026

Reading

35

07/11/2026

Writing

11

07/11/2026

Taken

3

Planned

0

AP Subject Tests

English Language & Composition

4

05/2026

United States History

4

05/2026

Current or most recent year courses

First semester

Second semester

MATH - AP Statistics - (AP)

MATH - AP Statistics - (AP)

HIST - AP European History - (AP)

HIST - AP European History - (AP)

LANG - AP Spanish Language and Culture - (AP)

LANG - AP Spanish Language and Culture - (AP)

ENG - AP English Literature and Composition - (AP)

ENG - AP English Literature and Composition - (AP)

OTH/ELE - Concert Band - (HON)

OTH/ELE - Concert Band - (HON)

ENVSCI - Environmental Science - (HON)

ENVSCI - Environmental Science - (HON)

HIST - Law - (N/A)

Honors

College Board National First-Generation Recognition Award (top PSAT exam scorer).

National

11, 12

Massachusetts Seal of Biliteracy in Spanish with Distinction

State/Regional

12

__________ & ___ Regional Honor Band Selection (Chosen by a selective regional audition)

State/Regional

10, 11, 12

Spanish National Honor Society: Sin Fronteras

National

11, 12

___ Music Dept. Excellence Banner | Sole student recipient for dept. dedication & leadership

School

11

Additional information (I know this is unfinished, I will do full sentences eventually lol):

Activities:

- Student government at ___ is election based

- All outside research was published to these places:

- Besides the trumpet, outside of school I play the piano and guitar

- I am currently self-studying for the AP Comparative Government and Politics and AP U.S. Politics and Government exams

College List:

Bentley University

Boston College

Boston University

Bridgewater State University

Clark University

College of the Holy Cross

Emmanuel College (MA)

Harvard University

Northeastern University

Stonehill College

Suffolk University

Tufts University

University of Massachusetts Amherst

University of Massachusetts Boston

Our family does not fit any of the asterisked "assuming standard asset profile" statements that colleges make concerning their commitment to meet all demonstrated financial need. We have a 'low' income (~$65,000) and high assets (~$2,000,000). (There are some dependent family members and their assets mixed in there that give us less freedom than you might assume based on those assets, but those details aren't official enough to come into any official calculation.)

To what degree can we trust the NPC from various colleges? It is fine if the final number varies by 20% or so, but not if we suddenly jump from an estimated 0 cost based on automated estimates made before applying to an actual full cost based on a closer look at our unusual asset profile. This is even more concerning as we consider apply ED.

So I’m getting ready to start applying to colleges and could really use some advice/recommendations. I’m pretty open to a lot of different places, but I live in Connecticut and I definitely want to go out of state so I can experience something completely new.
I’m mainly looking at the East Coast, the South, and Texas area. I don’t really want to go all the way across the country, though so no where really past Texas.

Here’s what I’m looking for:

Around a **3.5–3.6 GPA** (3.6 at the end of junior year, but my overall GPA will probably be closer to 3.5 because of freshman/sophomore grades)

**Test optional** because I didn’t do great on the SAT

Preferably **D1 sports**, especially somewhere with good football games and school spirit

**Greek life** because I’d really like to join a fraternity
A fun/active social scene, ideally a **party school**

Planning to major in **Finance**

Good internship and job opportunities after graduation

Ideally near a **city** or somewhere with good access to one (so finance jobs could reach out to me)

Most importantly, I don’t want college to put me into a ridiculous amount of debt. I’m trying to keep the **total cost for 4 years under \~$160k**

I’m not really looking for one specific type of school. I’d be open to a big state school, private school, college town, city, etc. as long as it fits most of these things.

I’m also trying to balance having a really fun college experience with actually getting a good career after graduation, so schools with good business/finance recruiting would be a big plus.

**What schools would you recommend I look into or apply to?** And if you went to one of the schools you recommend, I’d love to hear what you thought of the social life, Greek life, football/sports, and career opportunities.

Demographics: NC resident, no financial need

Academics: 1430 SAT, 4.52/5.0W GPA, 3.83 UW GPA, class rank 24/612, 34 AP/IB/DE

Extracurricular: art social media w/ 10k followers, intern at art nonprofit, President of 2 clubs, 2 varsity sports, 6 honor societies

Major: Applied as either chemical engineering or economics + chemistry

Results:
UNC Chapel Hill
NC State University (honors + 18k total amongst 3 smaller scholarships)
UNC Charolette (full ride semifinalist +3k)
UNC Wilmington (honors + 4.5k/year)
University of South Carolina (scholars program + automatic 16.5k/year *did not submit SAT here otherwise it would be higher)
University of Minnesota (15k/year)
Elon (9.5k/year)
University of Vermont (25k/year)
Trinity University (30k/year)
Worchester Polytechnic Insitute (28k/year)
University of Richmond (~20k/year)
Rochester Polytechnic Institute (41.5k/year)
George Washington University (25k/year)
Oberlin (30k/year)
Clark University (30k/year)
Kenyon College (30k/year)
Reed College (25k/year)
Creigton University (WashU joint program + 27k/year)
Missisipi State (Automatic, 22k/year)
University of Alabama (STEMMBA + Automatic 31.5k/year)
Loyola University Chicago (31.5k/year)

Thought I would share for students looking to see which colleges offer the most merit scholarships. I applied during periods with fee waiver for most of the applications except my in state ones.

My public in state schools, U of Alabama, and Mississippi State ended up having lowest cost of attendance.

4.0 weighted gpa
Ap Bio+Ap gov+honors pre calc + statistics senior yr

22ACT/1100SAT

Apes and Apush junior yr (all a)

Architecture de junior yr (A 1st sem B 2nd)

3yrs rowing, 2yrs vb, 1yr track

Inaugural member of youth non profit with mayor of oakland (15k raised to schools)

Co chair of politics club, member of UNICEF club

Tutor science to first graders

Is this competitive for UC neuroscience/pre med? 🙏🏽

I’m currently a junior, my weighted gpa is 4.4, unweighted 3.2. I have been in all honors and AP classes throughout high school and have yet to take the act/sat.

be honest pls. btw i’m also planning on doing ed2 for boston university

Demographics
-Female
-rising reason
-private high school in NYC
-Asian
-High income

Intended Major - economics and human health joint major

GPA - 3.7 UW (school doesn’t rank)
- lowest grades were B+’s, mainly in math and spanish

Testing
-SAT: 1330 (680 ERW, 650 Math) school average is 1340 tho. i’m definitely not submitting sat
-ACT recent practice tests: 31-33 composite
-Goal: 33+ on the official ACT in September

Coursework - took the most rigorous elective course load available, with all electives at the advanced level. school doesn’t have aps btw

Extracurriculars
-Interned at a dental clinic in India for three summers (summers before 8th, 9th, and 10th grade) as the youngest clinic employee, assisting with patient check-ins and scheduling.
- Volunteered w/ a non profit foundation in india for 5 yrs, supporting oral health outreach and preventive dental education for underserved communities.
- Competitive swimmer for three years (10 hrs/week); I do not plan to swim in college.
- Leader of my school’s finance club chapter for two yrs
- Member of my school’s pre-med club.
- This summer (before senior year), I spent 2 weeks volunteering/shadowing a physical therapist at a post acute rehabilitation hospital.
- also spent one week shadowing a gastroenterologist in an nyc hospital this summer

3.8 UW and 4.007 W, test optional (sat was abysmal) and school doesn’t do class rank.

ECs include varsity soccer captain (3 year letterman), vp of Hispanic honor society, president of animal outreach club, club soccer captain, NHS, etc.

Senior classes as follows: AP Spanish, AP gov, honors speech/comp, stats, senior internship at law office, and other random electives.

Oh, and edit: majoring in criminology is what I put and I’m female in state!!!

I'm trying to figure out if I want to ED to UChicago or UPenn. Both are really good schools, and I thought I wanted to ED0 UChicago, but they don't have the engineering majors I was thinking of pursuing (electrical or mechanical), and I'm worried this is going to affect my future career if I want to go into engineering (the only careers I've been interested in are biomedical engineering or a biomedical sales rep, mostly because I don't know a lot of people in other careers).

UPenn, on the other hand, has these engineering majors, but I'd be stuck in the engineering school, which I'm not completely sure I want to do either. I was also thinking of majoring in economics, business, or applied maths (no matter what college I'm in).

I'm worried about wasting UChicago ED0 since my chances of getting into UPenn are definitely lower. Should I...

1. ED0 UChicago and ED1 UPenn

2. ED1 UPenn and ED2 UChicago

3. None of the above??

I have ZERO clue what I should do, so any advice is much appreciated!

- Notre Dame

- Georgetown

- Villanova

- Wake Forest

- Boston College

- University of Richmond

- Lehigh University (Double legacy - both parents)

- Fairfield University

- Bucknell University

- College of the Holy Cross

- Fairfield

- Dayton

SAT:1490

GPA: 4.5/4.0 W

12 AP's

EC's:

- Student Government Vice President

- Varsity Baseball & Basketball

- Student Admissions Rep (Paid position at my high school)

- Member and Manager of the school investment fund ($140k) (selected among a group of business students)

- Vice President of FBLA and one of the 8 original members at my school

- Founding Member of Spiritan Youth Group (Hearts on Fire)

- School News Anchor

- Co-Chair of Pediatric Cancer fundraiser

- Created and produced youtube content on a channel helping athletes struggling with mental health during injury. (The channel is called "Still In It" please go take a look or subscribe) still trying to get meaningful impact to put it on an application

- National English, Math, Spanish Honor Societies and National Honor Society

- Shadowed a Finance professional at Comcast for a day and was a member of my schools Business Institute

- Athletes Helping Athletes Volunteer 25+ Hours

- Private High School, Upper Middle Class, White, Male.

Hello! I just started highschool as a senior and I’m thinking about college. I’m from California, but I really want to study in NYC. My stats aren’t bad, but they’re definitely weaker than most students who get admitted. I’m wondering if it would still be worth a shot. Here are my stats:

• 1210 SAT/No ACT
• 4.0 GPA throughout HS, 4.32 Augmented
• 8 APs taken so far, 3’s & 4’s in all of them (except a 2 in Calc AB & a 5 in Lang)
• Only notable extracurricular is sports, all 4 years of HS.
• Most of my time spent at home babysitting & studying

I know compared to other applicants, I don’t stand out. I’ll have 13 AP’s completed by the end of senior year. I come from a poor, uncompetitive area. My household is single-income and makes less than $65,000. Although my stats are mediocre, I am really great at writing essays. I want to major in either humanities or engineering (haven’t decided yet). I’m not sure if my school can cover the cost of sending an application to either school, which is why I’m asking to see if I’d even have a good chance.

hello everyone! i keep hearing mixed opinions on how many safeties/targets one should apply for. if you were applying to some top 20 schools, how many target/safeties should you also apply to? also want constitutes as a target? thank you!!!

ok so ik my stats aren't very good but its worth a shot to apply and im wondering if I should use my ed on miami or nyu and which would give a better chance of acceptance?

3.2gpa, very strong upward trend, circumstances fresh year. all a's junior year

2 aps, will be 4 by end of senior(lang,gov,psych,stats)

1390 sat(retaking) . female. uppermid-high income, can maybe pay full? still deciding if im going to apply for aid for miami or not depending on parents. solid essay idea connecting individuality with my phone case business case, w personal background tied in

also would like to preface I do like umiami better because of the weather and just overall vibe of the city but its pretty close id be very happy with either

1. Founder — E-commerce Phone Case Brand

• Founded and independently operate an online phone-case business
• 300+ orders
• Around $10k+ revenue so far
• Built social media presence to 38,000+ followers / 250,000+ likes
• Handle product development, marketing, content creation, customer service, fulfillment/supplier coordination, analytics, and overall business operations
• Goal is roughly 600 sales / ~$25k revenue by applications

2. Social Media / Digital Marketing

• Grew a TikTok presence to 38k+ followers
• Created organic content that generated significant views, engagement, and sales
• Used social media analytics/content strategy to drive customer acquisition

3. Medical Office Work

• Worked at medical office fortwo summers
• Front desk/patient assistance
• Scheduling patients, taking blood pressure, recording symptoms/notes, escorting patients, etc.

4. Syrian Community/Refugee Service

• Donated/distributed necessities such as clothing, food, and rice to people in need in Syria

5. Self-Taught Gymnastics

• About 9 years
• Self-taught skills including splits, ~2-minute handstand, front/back walkovers, one-handed cartwheel, contortion/flexibility skills

6. Gel-X Nail Side Business

• Provided Gel-X nail services
• Earned approximately $1,500

7. Piano Tutoring

• Taught younger children beginner piano from home
• Charged for weekly lessons

8. Work Experience —

• Worked at a smoothie shop for roughly 1–2 months

--------------
proficient in 3 languages;arabic,english,spanish

national spanish exam bronze

google search ads certified

----------------

do I have a chance if so which one should I use my ed on

I just finished making my list, but was told that I need some safeties. My current safeties are: state flagship (~50% acceptance), Rose-Hulman, and CU boulder, but after more research, I guess those are more like targets for me.

Intended major: I'm not entirely sure yet...but probably mech, industrial, or EE

criteria: Not super picky, but I'm not really a party person...so maybe not a SUPER party school? Like not ASU level...mid party is fine! and a decent reputable engineering program.

For some context, here is a quick overview of my stats:

• 4.03 GPA UW, >4.3 GPA W
• 1530 SAT (790 M, 740 RW)
• 3 APs (school doesn't offer them)
• high rigor
• very competitive high school, I'm probably in top 20% of class
• Only awards: *most likely* national merit commended scholar, AP scholar
• No engineering ECs or leadership🧍‍♀️
• other ECs: pretty bad 😭

other info:

• female
• assume out or state for everything
• budget: most likely full-pay

Okay so i’m in my senior year and im starting to apply to colleges.

Right now im applying to texas state, texas tech,

I wanna mainly do business and finance.
I have a 3.2 uw gpa and a 3.7 weighted gpa
My SAT was a 1060, my rank is 540/870
I took APUSH and AP Lang junior year i got B’s in both classes but i didn’t qualify for college credit.
This year im taking APES, AP Comp Sci Principles, Dual Credit English 4, and Dual Credit Gov/Econ

EC: Boy Scouts, DECA (qualified for district but didn’t make state), Photojournalism, Volunteer with decent amount of hours, Choir for one year, TA and part of STUCO for my mosques religious education classes, camp counselor for a religious camp, went to all 4 high adventures for Boy Scouts, member of my schools muslim student association, member of my schools photography club

Awards: Eagle Scout

I wrote my personal essay about my stutter and how i developed as a person even with a speech impediment. I have two rec letters from my counselor and my speech therapist.

My main question is if Texas state is a realistic school for me

Also any advice for senior year?

I'm applying for University of Alabama as an international student. I have a decent status expect my gpa. I have 1500 SAT, IELTS 8.0 tons of decent EC's + certificates and Recommendatory. I also did good enough essay that express my leadership and hard times; however my gpa is awful 2.3 gpa. I picked hard subjects in high-school Physic, chemistry and computer etc.
Is there a chance that I could get Presidential scholarship base on my profile. I know I can't get presidential elite scholarship.

Chance Demographics: CA resident, junior (rising senior)

GPA:

• Unweighted (10th/11th): 3.08
• Weighted (capped, UC): 3.40

Coursework: AP Biology, AP US History, AP English Lang/Comp, AP World History, Spanish 4, Integrated Math 2/3, Theater 2/3, plus dual-enrollment coursework (Python programming, CIS 247) taken over summer between 10th/11th

Test Scores: N/A (UC is test-blind)

Essays: PIQs are strong — specific, conversational voice, grounded in real leadership/theater experience rather than generic narratives. Feedback so far has been consistently positive.

Audition/Portfolio: Audition material is strong — built around competitive-level performance experience (state placement, professional-adjacent directing work), confident in this being a genuine strength of the application.

Activities/Awards (UC format):

1. Directing intern for a professional-adjacent musical theater production, working under the show’s director — attending production meetings, assisting staging/casting, coordinating scheduling
2. VP of high school theater program — 4+ years involvement, lead roles in multiple productions, budget/production leadership
3. Unpaid performance internship at an improv theater — weekend show performances, long-form/short-form training
4. Independently taught improv fundamentals to junior high students
5. Appointed board seat, district-level youth council (Arts)
6. Youth board member, professional theater company
7. 1st place, state-level comedic monologue competition (juried)
8. Nominee, countywide “Artist of the Year” recognition
9. Featured performer in a professional music video
10. Dual enrollment: college-level Python/programming coursework
11. Trilingual (English, Hindi, Spanish)
12. Founding a community arts partnership between school theater program and a local senior center (in progress)

Intended major: Theater (directing/performance emphasis)

also good letters of recommendation

Schools applying to: UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley (reaches), UC Santa Cruz, UC Riverside, UC Merced, Chapman (Dodge College), NYU Tisch, SAIC, other audition/portfolio-based theater programs

Question: GPA is on the lower end for these schools, but essays and audition are strong. How much can that offset the GPA gap, especially at audition-weighted programs vs. straight academic-review UCs?