r/CollegeAppsAdvice

ok, so i started this youtube channel in middle school, and would make fan edits using softwares like after effects, adobe premiere pro, sony vegas pro. and a lot of my vids ended up going pretty viral. i still upload, rarely though... (every couple of months when i have time to edit), but a problem with including this in college apps is that the vids are like ship vids, yk, with some not exactly being 'family friendlty' or being family friendly tv shows/movies, and ofc the music and media is all copyrighted and stuff like that... so should i include this for college apps or not? ive heard its a good idea but idk.

Hello everyone! I have always been so curious about my own achievement and what I could do to up my chances of getting into good colleges. I see so many people posting their stats, and I decided that I should too since I am now at the halfway point in my high school career. I have not taken the SAT yet but plan to take it in August, plan to take the ACT at some point, and my school only let us take 1 AP in freshman year and 1 AP in sophomore year, but I also took an IB math class in sophomore year. I also come from a low income minority background, and I am not sure if that changes much. I have applied to so many summer programs as well since I wish to pursue a career in medicine, but I have basically gotten rejected from all of them :( anyways here are my stats:

GPA: 3.9 UW 4.2 W

Relevant Classes: AP World History (received a 5 on the exam), AP US Government (exam score comes out on 7/6), IB Mathematics Analysis and Approaches SL Part 1 (I take the exam next year, I received my FIRST EVER B in this class), Chamber Orchestra, and all the other classes I took were honors except for courses where honors dont exist such as PE and languages.

Classes for Junior Year: AP Calculus AB, Chamber Orchestra (yes, I have taken this every year since 6th grade and I have had the same teacher since then too so I think that would make a great letter of rec), IB Biology HL, IB English Literature HL, IB Psychology HL, AP Physics 1, and AP Stats.

I have taken a couple of summer courses as well but I am not sure if they are relevant, they were really for me to just get the credits over the summer and to have more space in my schedule during the school year: Economics and Personal Finance (taken rising 10th), Geometry (taken rising 9th), and US History (taking now/rising 11th).

My school also does an exam where you earn credits for any languages you speak fluently, and I took the exam in Mongolian and got 4/4 credits, and we also do a similar exam in our world language classes (Spanish), and I got the biliteracy/fluency seal for that.

Clubs: Planet Impact Society (founder and president - we plan to make recycling drives, clean ups, raise funds to plant trees or plant around our community, and much more), Model United Nations (Club Member), Math Club (Club Member). I should probably be more active in clubs....

Volunteering: Summer Camp Counselor (2 years; 240+ hours), Creative Arts Camp Volunteer (for my town; 80+ hours), Mongolian School Classroom Assistant (2 years; 96+ hours), Art Museum Classroom Assistant (48+ hours). I have applied to volunteer at my local clinic, and hopefully I get accepted since I feel like that aligns most with my future goals.

Projects: Make Mongolia Smile charity project (founder and organizer; supported a Mongolian orphanage in the winter, raised $500+), I am writing and illustrating a children's storybook (I hope to have it published this summer), and I am working with a group of other Mongolian teens across the US on a research paper (will be published this summer..hopefully??).

Internships/Jobs: I work as a mathematics tutor part time (2+ years), HSIP Medical Impact Internship (this was not really like an internship and was lowkey sad about that because I was really hoping for experience but we sort of just learned to read research papers and the pathways towards obtaining a job in the medical field - but I got into the program for free because of financial aid so...), and I was a teen intern for my town and got to oversee daily operations that occur within my county's government (i know it doesnt really align with my interests, but I took the opportunity). FYI I APPLIED TO SO MANY MEDICAL INTERNSHIPS BUT I LITERALLY KEEP GETTING REJECTED!!!

Awards (the ones I have received are sort of useless I feel): John Locke Essay Competition (Award of Recognition + $500 Scholarship for one of their summer programs), Golden Key Music Festival (Awarded Super Bronze), my county has these film festivals that intrigued me a bit, so I competed a couple years back (Awarded Top Film and Top Filmmaker), PTA Reflections (I won 2 Outstanding Interpretation awards at the regional level and 1 award of excellence in my state division), and Honor Roll (literally everyone gets this).

Please let me know how I can improve, I feel like I am literally trying my hardest to involve myself into things outside of just academics, but I just keep getting rejected, and that just breaks me :((

this is my college list. is there anything i should take out/add? is it balanced? I wanna be a dentist btw

Reaches: Harvard, Columbia (my schools lowk blacklisted), Princeton, John Hopkins, UPenn, Rutgers 7 Year DMD program

Targets: Umich, UNC, URichmond, CMU, CWRU

Safeties: Rutgers (my mom works here), Binghamton, UMD

these are my stats:
Demographics: Asian, Female, NJ
Household income:150K
GPA: 4.7 (probably top 15 out of 1200 students we don’t rank) our school competitive asf
ACT: 36
Intended Major: Chemistry/Health Science
11 APs
Extracurriculars/Awards:
- Dental Assistant
- Captain of Varsity Tennis team (we won states)
- Youth coordinator for my church
- 200+ volunteer hours
- Waitress
- NHS, SHS, Science league (4th in state), Math Club
- Seal of biliteracy (mandarin)
- Performed at carnegie hall for piano and won first place ($500 i think)
- ABRSM grade 8 140/150 (Distinction)
- Gold Honor Roll

Essay: its pretty fire imo.

I plan to apply to UF ED!

• GPA- 3.67 uw, 5.1 w
• ACT- 31 (i plan to get it to 34)
• rank- 46/811
• Hispanic female
• pretty mid essay..

CLUBS

• History NHS- 3 years, prez 2 years
• Science NHS- 2 years, treasurer 1 year
• English NHS- 3 years, treasurer 1 year, VP 1 year
• Law Club- 1 year, founder/ prez
• Debate- 4 years active, tournament chair 1 year
• MUN- 4 years, prez 1 year
• Democracy Club- 2 years
• MUN AMERICA250 Mural Grant chairwoman

DEBATE AWARDS (all congressional debate)

• Nova Titan Invitational finalist
• CFL 1,2,3,4 finalist
• Nat quals finalist
• novice states semi finalist 
• 480 merit points, degree of distinction
• judge at novice and middle school tournaments

8 AICE Classes (Bright futures/diploma)

6 AP Classes

10 DUAL Classes, 6 of which taken at UF

87 Volunteer hours

job at AMC for 1 month

Broward WIN Fellowship intern (Local campaign managment)

Can I get into the University of Miami (ED1) with these stats as an incoming senior?
### **Academics & Test Scores**
* **3.71 Unweighted GPA** (Strong upward trend: 3.75 9th grade 3.3 in 10th grade 3.6 in 11th grade Straight A's in Senior Fall)
* **3.76 Rutherford Co. Transcript Weighted GPA**
* **1500 SAT / 34 ACT** (Top 25% of admitted UM students)
* **Rigor:** 3 AP classes taken before senior year; taking 2 more APs and 3 Dual Enrollment classes senior year (Totaling 5 APs and 3 DE courses) submitting 2 ap scores (lang and bio hopefully 4 or 5s)
* **Major Track:** Pre-Med (Undecided). Consistent top marks in major-aligned classes (100 in AP Statistics, A's in Anatomy & Physiology, and Honors Health Sciences)
**Extracurricular Activities**
* **Red Cross Blood Donor Ambassador:** Over 250 total volunteer hours across 2 years of dedicated service.
* **Publix Bakery Clerk:** Employed for 2 years. Earned a performance-based pay raise (from $14.50 to $15.75/hr) and selected to train new employees alongside regular duties.
* **Family Luxury Perfume Store:** Advanced from regular sales associate to Top Sales Associate over a 5-year period.
* **Varsity Tennis:** 3-year Varsity athlete; selected as Co-Captain for senior year. Organized the annual Senior Night for 2 consecutive years.
* **DECA:** Active club member for all 4 years of high school.
* **HOSA (Future Health Professionals):** Regular member for all 4 years of high school.
* **Model United Nations (MUN):** Elected as Club Secretary during a 1-year tenure.
* **Community & Faith Volunteering:** Regularly assisted at place of worship 1–3 times a week since age 10. Served as a youth teacher for 5-year-olds at a religious education center for 1 year.
* **Health Screenings:** Conducted community health screenings across junior and senior years.
### **Awards & Industry Certifications**
* **DECA:** Placed in the Top 10 at the State Competition (Junior Year).
* **Mu Alpha Theta:** Elected Vice President of the mathematics honor society.
* **Science National Honors Society (SNHS):** Accepted member for 2 years.
* **Workplace Awards:** Recognized as Top Sales Associate at family luxury retail business; achieved 50+ hours of service in a single month as a Blood Donor Ambassador; awarded Most JV Wins in tennis.
* **Industry Certifications:** Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA - currently pursuing), CPR certified, OSHA10 safety certified, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Nissan Problem Solving certification.
### **Context & Disclaimers**
* **Financial Background:** Family household income is approximately $100,000/year. Currently supporting an older sibling's tuition at Belmont University. Seeking significant institutional financial aid.
* **Personal Narrative:** College essay focuses on overcoming a fractured foundation following a fatal medical malpractice incident in Pakistan, moving to the US, and using that personal history as the driving mission behind pursuing a career in medicine. this is my essay intro for example College Essay
Living in a house built with structural compromises is deceptive, it may look flawless on the outside, but eventually it catches up to the foundation’s integrity.
One structural compromise was when a medical malpractice in Pakistan led to the passing of my father. As I grew up I learned how working in the medical field doesn’t just matter about the hours or the pay but about how your one action can save or break a family’s future. Like that single preventable error dismantled my structural baseline as a kid, forcing my immigration to the US. I lived with the hole that so many tried to fill, then watching my mother navigate not only a new landscape but also trying to shield me from the fracture of my loss. Growing up I didn’t have any personal memories of the tragedy but no one failed to remind me how I always looked away at the sight of a father buying his daughter cotton candy.
* **Demonstrated Interest:** Applying via the binding Early Decision 1 (ED1) timeline. Visited campus in July, emailed regional officer regarding pre med. voices after undergrad such as grad school and or med school and maintains active engagement across university social media channels.
hopefully end of senior year grades [Fall (Mid-Year): Medical Assisting (A), AP Calculus AB (A), DE American Government (A), AP Chemistry (A), ACT Prep (A), Economics Honors (A), DE Sociology (A), Leadership/Aide (No credit). \rightarrow 4.5 high-rigor credits calculated for Semester 1.
Spring (End-of-Year): AP Calculus AB (A), AP Chemistry (A), DE English Comp II (A). \rightarrow Remaining full-year and spring semester credits completed.]

Let's unpack that. What does it mean to be a TASSer? A surprising amount of people have probably thought of this exact question, as have We.

Well, that is a hard question. We cannot answer that question at the moment. But there are many things We would be able to answer. Whether it be about acclimating, friend groups (exclusionary, against policy (yet people do it, whether it be as an act of protest or natural (?) human instinct)), perceived cult-like manner (debatable; (depends on who you ask) it is sort of in the way that your boss calls your company a family), or the lack of tech. And before you ask the question...

"Are these people okay? Is this an act of coping...?"

First of all, to address the former, We appreciate the concern. Yet again, debatable, depends on who you ask! To address the latter, yes and no.

I am an incoming senior and I have a 2.9 weighted gpa with a 22 on the act. i have lackluster ecs being 2 years of jv football and 2 years of jv baseball, both being my freshman and sophomore year. The main schools I was planning on applying to were Colorado state, Montana state, and Boise state. I live in Illinois too. is there anything I can do to make my application better so I have even the slightest chance of getting into any of these schools?

The other day I was looking at the Common Data Set for many of the top business schools (Upenn, Stanford, etc.) and for some of them like UPenn and Stanford over 60 percent of incoming students had a 4.0 gpa in high school. I got an A- in a hard course where only 2-3 people got above an A- in the entire grade and now my unweighted on the regular 4.0 scale is a 3.97... Does this automatically put me in the bin of needing to makeup for it somewhere else or a red flag? I know some people say you can makeup your GPA in other areas of your application but does anything under a 4.0 get you put in that pile? If so, would a SAT score above a 1550 be sufficient to make up for it?

Profile:

• Gender: Male
• Race: Asian
• High school: Competitive public (not magnet) in new york
• income: middle class (150k ish)
• Intended major: Biology

Stats:

• uw/w gpa: 3.9/4.5, top 6%
• psat: 1520
• sat: 1570 (800 rw 770 math)

Awards:

• USABO semifinalist
• AIME qualifier
• USMDO Bronze
• a few science olympiad regional medals and state medals - never made nats :(
• scholastic writing regional silver key 2x (critical essay & poetry)
• new york all state violinist (3 years)

ECs:

• computational biology research (virtual) at a university medical center- no publication
• one of (BU Rise/Garcia/SSP)
• more research under mentor @ ivy - accepted at conference, presenting soon
• nasa genelab participant
• science olympiad (4 years)
• varsity orchestra (4 years)
• founded a nonprofit where me and other violinists perform for children at daycares. 20+ daycares reached, 1000+ students performed for, taught 50-60 kids over summer
• senior editor of a high school poetry magazine
• biology club vp
• amc bootcamp lecturer; 30+ students taught, made the curriculum and materials by myself

Applying to:

• HYPSM
• Columbia (ED)
• Cornell
• UPenn
• Brown
• UChicago
• Northwestern
• UIUC
• Georgia Tech
• UT Austin
• UC Berkeley
• UCLA
• i have other targets and safeties that i'm not putting on here

I am going into senior year and very stressed about college applications and where Im going to end up at. Please help my fears and based on past experiences and thoughts where I can get in realistically and reaches

My Stats:

Academics

GPA: 3.48 UW / 4.396 W

ACT: 34

Competitive public high school in Texas

12 AP classes:

AP Human Geography (3), AP Computer Science Principles (3), Freshman Year AP Psychology (3), AP Chemistry (3) Sophomore year , AP US History, AP Language, AP Calculus AB, AP Biology Junior Year AP Literature, AP Calculus BC, AP Economics, AP Physics (senior year)

Intended Majors

Mechanical Engineering / Aerospace Engineering

Economics / Finance

International Relations (backup option)

Extracurriculars

Day trading portfolio

CAD Engineering Project

Google courses

Football (7th–12th)

2 years varsity

Part-Time Job ~15–20 hours/week

DECA (11–12)

State qualifier in 11th grade

Business/marketing competition experience

HOSA (11–12)

Participation, no major awards

NHS (11–12)

Volunteer Work

~100 total hours

Awards / Recognition

AP Scholar with Honor

College Board National Recognition Program (academic achievement)

Any past experience and advice would help alot

Hi, I’m working on my Common App personal statement and I’d really appreciate some honest feedback on it.
I’m a junior in high school and I wrote my essay about my experience doing CNA clinicals at a nursing home and a moment that changed how I view healthcare and patients.
I’m open to any honest criticism. I really want to improve it before I finalize it.

hi everyone! i'm currently a upcoming senior and it's time for college applications, but i really don't know what major or field i want to go into. I know you can apply as undeclared + many don't really figure out what they really want to do until in college, but i have some interests that have been weighing in my head! At first I really wanted to major in architecture, mainly because of the design factor. However, finance and something around marketing seem interesting to me as well, so now i'm just in a spiral thinking about what to do.

i'd say im a very creative person and have always wanted to do something around design + content creation, but if anyone has any tips or advice on how they chose their major / for me please share!!!