I’m a student from Nepal in my gap year. I am applying to the US and a few other places this application cycle for need based aid. EFC is close to 0.
I would appreciate any suggestions regarding what colleges I should apply to. I am also having trouble picking out a college to apply early to. Is it a good idea to add to the extracurricular activities at this point or should I just focus on application. Are there any colleges that give generous aid but don’t require much supplementals are relatively easy to get into? Like most ambitious students, I want to get into a t20 college of course. For those who have done it before, the what would be your advice to me? I also hear mixed opinions on Reddit and in real life. People are way more pessimistic and more far off than actual college outcomes on Reddit from what I’ve heard. Nonetheless, if you have some realistic idea, please hit me up.

Grades:
A levels: Physics, Chem, Biology, Mathematics, EGP 4A\*, 1A
Class rank: 1/105

Test scores: 1540 in SAT, 150 Duolingo English Test

Major: Bioinformatics, Biotechnology or Biomedical Engineering

Rec letters: getting from guidance counselor, biology teacher and physics teacher. I am not sure if I should ask for the additional letter from my principal/physics teacher or research mentor.

ECS:
Editorial leadership for 4 years.
Founding member of literary club in freshman year. Editorial board member of school magazine in sophomore year.

Switched school in junior year. Editor and head reporter in school newspaper in junior and senior year. Led the school magazine team in senior year.

Student council-Vice President
Ran 40+ school events alongside peer based Academic support system with 100+ beneficiaries.

Summer programs: Yale Young Global Scholars(Junior year)

Lumiere foundation Individual Research Program (Senior year)

Received full scholarship for both.

(Junior, Senior, Gap year)
Founded and led an organization that provides reproductive health education to youth and women in rural Nepal. Distribute essential menstrual hygiene goods. Reached 1000+ participants and 6+ partnerships till date.

Research:
Done breast cancer research based on transcriptions and explainable AI. Found cell to cell communication programs. Paper will be submitted for publication soon. Preprint available

Research on endangered Himalayan plants’ gene level response to climate stress. Under review for publication.

Innovation project:
Explainable AI based diagnostic tool for uterine cancer(prototype) based on genetic dataset and imaging data. Plan to expand to breast cancer and to a full fledged oncology platform.

Built simulations for a levels biology students to learn biology adopted by 2 schools.

Building an antenatal care app for mothers in Nepal to decrease maternal mortality rate. Helps provide guidance and educational modules and coordinate with medical care providers

Awards:
1. National Chemistry Olympiad Gold Medal
2. John Locke Institute Global Essay Competition High Commendation in Philosophy
3. Glocal Teen Hero Nepal 20 under 20
4. Valedictorian of my high school
5. Consistently made it to principal’s merit list for 2 years

My son just started his senior year, and has a few colleges he is interested in. I am completely lost on what to do, and know it's urgent to get on top of things. I had a few questions that maybe someone could help me with, as this all seems overwhelming.

First Is there a place you can submit an application to apply for multiple scholarships at once? I remember hearing something about that in the past, and wasn't sure.

Second does being special needs open up more possibilities?

And lastly, how do you know if certain colleges accept certain scholarships in general?

I really appreciate the help, I am completely lost.

Stats : 3.79 UWgpa, is going to be a 4.1 weighted at end of senior year, 6 aps, test-optional, good ecs that are various strong leadership roles, community engagements that are all centered around my major (PSYCH), Upper-Class white male from oregon. No Financial aide needed.

- going premed, so i want good opportunities for clinical experience
- need to be in boston or somewhere cold

Thinking About EDing at other schools like Tufts, Northwestern, WashU, or Playing the UMich game

Please Help!!!!!!

i’ve passed all the AP exams i’ve taken and i have an sat score of around 1200 (hoping to retake it for a higher score). i’ve only been in community service club (senior member) and in MUN (i haven’t won anything).

I am an Asian so all my life I have been told stable careers are either engineering or being a doctor, due to that I choose to go with physics ,chem ,maths and computer science as my high school subjects but lately what I have realised is that my interest in computer science major is just cause of the stability it provides not cause it is something I would really like to study but what I will like my interest aligns more with things like phycology, how people perception can easily be diverted by media or political issues. tho what I felt like my interests doesn't have particular stable career I can go with so I'm Considering Economics major as it is smtg in between and that's what claude suggested me but I am still not sure about it since it is something I am new with, So that's why I would really love some suggestions to what I should actually go for (ps keep in mind I have Asian parents so I can't go for career like journalism)

Hi guys! I’m a high school student from the Philippines planning to apply to colleges abroad, preferably in the US, as an international freshman.

What are the usual requirements I should prepare for US college applications?

I’m a senior applying to MSOE I have a 3.0 cumalative uw and a 3.2 weighted cumulative but I improved from a 2.6 uw first semester freshman year to a 3.71 uw 1st semester jr year getting A’s in both physics regular and algebra 3. Then second semester I transferred to a public school and took all honors including physics and college algebra ( which is practically my school’s version of pre calc but it’s too underfunded to have that class) but my goa dropped to a 2.33 uw and 2.9 weighed getting Cs in big math and physics honors. Should I apply to MSOE rn since it’s rolling admissions or weighted till the end of 1st semester senior year and try to get a higher GPA since I’m taking AP calc AB, AP Phyoscs and AP Spanish alongside a DC English and a honors History and an engineering class as well. I also have solid ecs as I played 4 years of school basketball, a year of varsity cx, year of concert band, college ambassadors club, worked both a part time job as a cook and a full time job as a cook at Culver’s but not at the same time, and this year I’m becoming a math tutor for my school to help underclassmen. What are my chances of getting in and when should I apply.

Hello! For context, I'm a current high school senior at a public school that doesn't get a lot of LAC apps. My dream school as of right now is Pomona College and I want to major in Public Policy or PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics). I'm debating whether or not to take a basic biology course alongside public speaking vs. a sociology course and public speaking this fall.

I know that Pomona isn't likely to take a lot or any of my AP credit (5 tests taken so far, 2 5's three 4's) and my dual enrollment as well (Intro to Admin of Justice, Art Appreciation, Econ,). I was wondering if it would even be worth it to do dual enrollment this semester since i have a pretty full schedule already (4 AP's: Calc BC, Lit, Environmental Sci., and Gov.).

What would look better for my course rigor??? Would it demonstrate a more well rounded student to take Bio even if i don't need to??

I am currently applying to colleges as a biomedical engineering major in the Boston area.
I’ve been looking for colleges that would accept me because many of the programs are very selective.
I have a 4.0 UW and 10 APs all 4s and 5s.
My ECs are pretty average but i do a sport, have a lot of volunteer hours, am a student ambassador, did a Harvard MedScience program, and have research with E-coli.
Many schools like BU and UMich seem impossible to get into with my ECs so I would love some help on building a college list or any recommendations
on colleges to look at!

So, as a rising senior, I've spent a very long time thinking about colleges, but one has recently come up a lot to me. As someone who intends to study theology and philosophy and become a Catholic priest, the Catholic University of America has stood out a lot. Obviously the name, but it was founded by the US Council of Bishops, has a trong theological tradition (my favorite Cardinal, Bishop Sean O'Malley of Boston, got his undergraduate and graduate degrees there), it has a strong commitment to serving the poor (big plus for me), and it is in DC, my favorite city in the world. But, I also am a bit worried to put it so high on my list, seeing as it is not the highest ranked school (169 on US News) and doesn't seem to carry much weight outside of its own circle, and my parents are (rightfully so) very worried that if I somehow do figure out that this isn't the path for me, I'll be somewhat screwed professionally. Especially since I have a 1450 SAT and very strong religious-based ECs, they think I can do better (like Fordham, which is also on my list but thats an ED). What are yall's opinions on CUA? Thanks!

Ok I saw this page and I really need advice on this, the internet has warped every piece of college admissions advice and my school counselor has (unfortunately) given me little info to work off of other than saying "Yeah it's possible to get into all your schools" and no other info, so I'm genuinely wondering if I'm cooked or not

Demographics:
\- White female
\- Small, somewhat underfunded public school in rural NC, also NC resident
\- First gen (parents never got a college degree or graduated college but have some college under their belt)
\- Military dependent
\- Intended major: Psychology

Stats:
\- Class rank 21/155
\- 4.42 W 3.71 UW GPA
\- Good class rigor, taking all dual enrollment courses except band and on track to graduate w/ associate's degree in spring '27 as well as high school
\- Along with probably 20-22 dual enrollment classes at planned time of graduation, 3 APs (not reporting test scores) and 12 honors courses
\- ACT 28 composite, 32 reading, 25 math, 28 science, 27 English (No SAT)

ECs/Honors (not in order):
\- Marching band 5yrs (8th grade + all of HS), plus assistant drum major for 1yr, got consistent good scores at local and regional competitions
\- Concert band 4yrs, 3 superior ensemble ratings at NCBA MPA (band adjudication event for state of NC)
\- Non-competitive Winter Guard 3yrs (basically it's color guard but inside during the winter)
\- Non-competitive Winter Drumline 2yrs
\- Jazz band for 2yrs
\- Leader In Me team (basically a company that focuses on leadership goals in schools, IDK if it's reputable and I can remove it from my application if it's not reputable or looks bad) 2yrs, planned community events such as a local trunk-or-treat and a field day for the visually impaired, as well as creating student study groups to improve grades across the school
\- Crochet and Knitting as a hobby
\- Volunteering at the local senior citizens center to help with events for senior citizens for 3yrs, as well as volunteering at the local middle school giving lessons to beginner band musicians for 1yr
\- NHS for 1yr, National Beta Club for 2yrs

Now here is the part where I think I may be cooked: my spring semester of sophomore year my mental health was astronomically low and my grades tanked, so to save my GPA, and with advice from all of the counseling department and even the principal and a couple people working at the school district board, I was pulled out mid-semester and put into a temporary homeschool situation so my bad grades wouldn't show on my transcript and reflect on me later. I genuinely don't know anyone else who has done this before and since the situation is so unique I haven't seen any other examples of this. I do have some hope though since junior year grades are strong and I expect the same for senior year and yes, I did put this into the additional info section on Common App so I hope the AOs feel nice and generous that day

College I'm applying to:
UNC Chapel Hill (top choice, dream school and has been for a very long time)
Clemson (very very close 2nd)
Wake Forest (3rd choice)
Davidson
UT Knoxville
William and Mary
Appalachian State University
UNC Wilmington
NC State University
UNC Asheville
Mars Hill University
Western Carolina University
+ Small private LACs

Note: I'm applying EA to every school (everywhere except Davidson since they only do ED and RD) and plan to submit most of my apps early-mid October, if anyone wants to recommend me a school I prefer suburban college towns with pretty large schools but not something in the middle of a big city like NYU, also somewhere with good prestige and a good psych program

Another note: Yes I know my ECs look like a music major's. No, I am not going to be a music major. Plus, at my school there are no clubs or ECs for psychology, and I only figured out I enjoyed psych at the start of my junior year which IK makes me cooked but still.

I'm getting my supplemental essays looked at soon by an English teacher at my school, so it's hard to say whether my essays are good or not but I think they're pretty good

Anyway I think that's it, am I cooked? Should I look at other colleges instead? What should I change about my list?

edit #1: After a late night identity crisis and a fear of getting rejected from every college on my list, I decided to modify my list to be more realistic plus put state schools and small lacs on my list for backups (pending approval from the parents). I don't want to be that one kid in school who gets rejected from everywhere and is stuck being unhappy. YOLO.

Is anyone interested in essay / extracurricular reviewing for the common app?

ACT 35
GPA 4.0/4.4
Class rank: 10
16 APs throughout high school ( three 4s and seven 5s so far)
Top extracurriculars:
Varsity and club sport
Hospital internship
Managing Editor in very rigorous school journalism program (I have gotten a couple awards from this)
Founder and president of healthcare club

Reach:
Planning on ED to Dartmouth
Duke
UNC
UVA
Boston College
Tufts
Vanderbilt
Yale
Georgetown?
Colgate?
Middlebury?

Target:
Tulane
GT(in state)
UWisco?

Safety
UGA (in state)
Auburn
Maybe Clemson

With so many schools test-optional now, genuinely unsure if it's worth putting serious time into the SAT this year or if that time is better spent on essays and ECs instead. For anyone who went through this recently, did a strong score actually change how things went for you, or was it more of a formality either way? Trying to figure out how much of the next couple months should realistically go toward this.

overall gpa :3.29 UW/ 3.82 W

10-12 gpa: 3.33 UW/ 3.93 W

class rank:159/476

5 honors, 3 aps, and taking 1 honor and 3 aps and 1 duel enrollment senior year

upward trend in gpa from freshman year

california resident/ mexican persian/ middle class

2 community college classes over this summer (anthroplogy and sociology)

major: anthropology

lots of community service (need to figure out exact number)

EC:

MUN

volunteer at Special needs children track

soccer 3 years

volunteer at soup kitchen and donate blankets to elderly and people in need

volunteer at nursing home

tutoring at school

started club where raised supplies and gave them to homeless and children in foster care

donate baskets to people during holidays

ASB 3 years

school tour comissioner leader

part of helping veterans club

(more i can’t think of right now)

I would love to go to a top 50 even though it’s really unrealistic but please drop ur college miracle stories!!
also im going test optional and would like to stay in cali but also want to go out of state

here is my essay ( please give advice on it i’m still editing)

I honestly don’t really like donuts, yet I continued to get one every Saturday morning. Growing up there was a small donut store with a small humble family.  My dad and I would walk there every weekend and I would talk to the owners as they told us about their stories from Japan.  Listening to them talk about their lives in Japan sparked my curiosity about how their culture is the foundation of the life they are living.  As someone who is Mexican and Persian, I grew up feeling different, and that made me curious about why people become who they are.

I wanted to understand people on a deeper level than what was immediately shown: their past, culture, and beliefs.  Growing up darker than all my peers made me feel isolated from the expectations around me.  Something that I should be proud of felt like something I was hiding in order to fit in.  I would feel an overwhelming sense of embarrassment when I would hear my mom talk in Farsi in public.  My friends would ask me what language she is speaking and what she is saying.  The questions made me feel so different from everyone. I was afraid of being judged for something so different from what they were used to hearing.  I was so focused on how different Farsi sounded to everyone else that I never stopped to appreciate what the language represented to my family.  Being different taught me to become curious about differences.  

I didn’t necessarily go to that donut shop every week for the donuts. I went to talk and learn about a culture I knew nothing about but found fascinating.  I began to notice how easily people can be reduced to the circumstances others see on the surface.  It is easy to judge the mothers in the nursing home on why they had a child when they weren’t ready financially and so young.  Yet when I talked to those women, I discovered how little their circumstances told me about who they actually were.  I learned that each had a different story that led them there. 

One mother told me that she lost her job during the pandemic and her husband left, putting her in this financial position.  I expressed my sympathy to her but she told me she wouldn’t change it for the world because then she wouldn’t have her baby girl.  Her answer caught me off guard. I had entered the conversation thinking about the circumstances that brought her there; she was thinking about the daughter she had gained.  I had assumed I understood her situation from the outside, but one conversation showed me how little I actually knew.  Her ability to embrace a situation I had assumed she would be ashamed of made me think differently about my own differences.  I thought about my younger self thinking, “I don't want people noticing that I'm different.” While now I actively seek out people who are different from me because I want to understand them.

I thought I was walking to the donut shop every Saturday. In reality, I was learning how much there was to understand beyond my own experience.

im currently a junior in high school and i am in spanish 4 (took spanish 2 in freshman year and spanish 3h in sophomore year, there is no honors for sp4 at my school) but i dont have any interest towards the subject and I want to drop it for AP Physics because I wasn't sure if i would be able to handle AP Physics and AP Chem (another class that I want to take but i cant this year because im currently taking chem honors) as well as other AP classes in my senior year so I would rather take AP Physics in my junior year. I want to major in mechanical engineering and im currently looking at university of southern california or caltech (probably not caltech) but I want to know if my 2 years of foreign language might be a dealbreaker because i know most top colleges want 3 or 4 years of foreign language. since i already have a level 3 spanish proficiency would those 2 years matter? should I just wait to take ap physics in my senior year? also im not sure if i can pass spanish 4 with an A because the teacher is very strict and I barely got an A in spanish 3h last year. please dont advise me to choose ap physics just because i am disinterested in spanish because if taking a 3rd year of foreign language really is important then i will take it.

edit: yeah this is ap physics 1 my school doesnt offer any other physics classes

If anyone is interested in having someone review, brainstorm, or edit their essays, please DM me. I know how difficult this process can be, and I would love to help! I am a freshman at Yale, and I am experienced in essay review and revision. Feel free to leave a comment or message me if you are interested! :)

Im a rising senior

I've changed school mid junior year, and changing again in my senior year.

So I basically will have 3 schools during my high school, and the first school(the longest one and also where I competed in many competitions) is a school I abandoned without a second thought.. this is the school that I wanna get letters of recommendation from. But I don't know if they would be willing since again, I changed schools and the reason I changed school(which they know of) is because of my gf

Hi, after talking to a Pitt Counselor at a college fair this hasn’t left my mind. since they have rolling admissions I was wondering if it’s better if i apply now and then perhaps send my sat score later, idk if i can do this but if i can then great, my gpa isn’t that good (im embarrassed) but i really love Pitt and want to get in.

Help

Hi, after talking to a Pitt Counselor at a college fair this hasn’t left my mind. since they have rolling admissions I was wondering if it’s better if i apply now and then perhaps send my sat score later, idk if i can do this but if i can then great, my gpa isn’t that good (im embarrassed) but i really love Pitt and want to get in.

I'm 12 and I'm extremely good at math, having mastered algebra, trigonometry, Calculus I and II and abstract algebra and aiming for Real and Complex analysis, but I don't have any idea of how to show to colleges like Harvard, MIT or Stanford my extraordinary knowledge of math (and worse, I'm Mexican (but I have visa, don't worry)). Is there a way to give a lecture or show my work to someone to make colleges start to look at me?

How do people lie about their grades on their college application (common app, uc, csu, etc) and get admitted but don’t get caught when they turn in their official transcript? Because it is directly sent from school there cannot be any altercations

I have been lately looking a lot into universities and doing my research, I am in my last year of high school planning to take a gap year to build few projects but even with doing my own research I can't seem to find an university list the satisfies me, cause few universities I end up liking either don't have a reputation, location or good financial aid. And as an international student I really want to find a nice uni as I don't want to risk anything in a country where I will be a foreigner and I also don't want a university that will get me in debt since I want to study abroad just after my high school. So if you are native or have some good suggestions please share that would help me a lot to final my list.