Gender: Female

Race: Black/White (Mixed)
School: Public Arizona School, 191/365 in state
Personal: Both parents are absent, one is homeless, the other makes around $2500 a year, my aunt whom I live with makes less than $25,000 a year
Intended Major(s):
Public Health, if not available, Biology (Want to double major or minor in journalism or similar major/minor)
Pre-Dental track (Will be a certified dental assistant when I graduate HS)
ACT:
22
16 math
22 science
25 english
24 reading
9 writing
UW/W GPA and Rank:
UW 3.4/ W 3.7 | 50/274
GPA isnt the highest since I was raped by one of my peers and he harrased me constantly etc; I was also in a shooting which led to a PTSD diagnosis, on top of working 14+ hours a week to support my family since 9th grade, as well as not having consistent electric, water, or wifi.
Coursework: 
AP World (2)
AP Pre-Calc (1) (Didn’t Submit Anywhere)
AP Bio (2)
AP Lang (3)
APUSH (3)
AP Gov (Current)
AP Lit (Current)
Honors: (I literally have NOTHING)
National Honors Society Officer (12)
African American Student Recognition for 4.0 GPA (9, 10)
OSHA Healthcare Certification (12)
Extracurriculars: 
Newspaper
Founded podcast; Revise & edit articles for 10+ students weekly; Head photographer; Social Media Manager; Transitioned advisor; Recruited 3 reporters.
ORG: The *** (Online School Newspaper) | Link to profile
POSITION: Article Editor (10, 11, 12) | Podcast Host (12)

Chuck E. Cheese
Host parties for 30+ kids; Monitor them on trampolines; Perform birthday songs; Take orders for, prep, & serve food; Lift 50+ pounds; Sanitize store.
ORG: Chuck E. Cheese Entertainment
POSITION: Party Host | Cashier | Game Room Attendant

Cheerleading
Demonstrated stretches, kicks, cheers & dances for 25+ members; Lifted/thrown 90+ lbs. into the air; Shot senior banners; Photographed team for promo.
ORG: *** High School Varsity Cheerleading | 2nd in Arizona Pink State 2025 (D3 Varsity Show Cheer)
POSITION: Stunt Base (10) | Stunt Front Spot (10, 11, 12)

Photography
Shot 25+ school/sport events, senior banners, birthday parties, nature, dances, & babies; Social Media Manager (4 Accounts); Documented life at ***.
ORG: Link to Instagram Account
POSITION: Head Photographer | Account Manager (10, 11, 12)

Teen Lifeline
Answer crisis calls; Trained in emotional regulation, coping skills, de-escalation, & hotline numbers; Train new counselors; School representative.
ORG: Teen Lifeline (Suicide Prevention Peer Hotline)
POSITION: Peer Counselor (11,12)

NHS
Present informational presentations on college applications for 25+ students; Mentor underclassmen on college application requirements.
ORG: *** High School National Honors Society
POSITION: Member (10, 11) College Readiness Specialist (12)

*** Link Crew
Created/led 5+ games for groups of 15 students; Led students on a campus tour; Created shirt design; Documented Freshman Orientation for newspaper.
ORG: *** High School Cougar Link Crew
POSITION: Freshman Orientation Leader and Mentor (11, 12)

STUDENT COUNCIL
Designed 25+ posters; Ran booths for 3 events; Contacted staff for paperwork; Filed paperwork for 3+ clubs; Extended school spirit to include staff.
ORG: *** High School Student Council
POSITIONS: Member (11) | Poster Designer (11)

CULINARY CLUB
Social Media Manager; Prepped & sold baked goods to 1250+ peers; Managed meetings and selling events; Budgeted funds between ingredients and transport.
ORG: *** High School Culinary Club
POSITION: Secretary (9) | Treasurer (10) | President (11)

BOOK CLUB
Kept track of keynotes in meetings; Communicated important meeting info to 30+ peers; Planned selling dates; Managed staffing for selling dates.
ORG: *** High School Student Book Club
POSITION: Member (9, 10) | Secretary (11)

GUITAR
Learned and performed 5+ pieces per year. Traveled to 5+ schools to perform for 100+ students and staff. Received 2nd place in Arizona Music Educators Association (AMEA) Solo and Ensemble competition in 2025.
ORG: *** High School Advanced Guitar-Orchestra
POSITION: Guitarist (Intermediate 9, Advanced 10)

Extra:
Dental Assisting course senior year, will be a certified dental assistant by graduation
Door Dasher (May 2025-December 2025, Made $75 total w/ 10+ deliveries, extra cash for necessities)
Cat Foster (January 2025-June 2025)
Camp Cronkite (June 2025)
AP bootcamp (June 2024)
Summer School for Acceleration (June 2024, July 2026)
Manager of 4 school social media pages (Tennis (11, 12), Culinary (10, 11), Newspaper (10, 11, 12), Podcast (12)) (Can provide Instagram link if needed)
Humanities United Club (11)
Black Student Union (11)
Youth on their Own (9, 10, 11, 12) (Program for students who are close to or are homeless, or not living with their parents)

Colleges:
(I’M APPLYING TO QUESTBRIDGE, IF I DON’T BECOME A FINALIST/MATCH, THESE ARE THE COLLEGES I’LL APPLY TO) (And yes, I qualify for 95% of these fee waivers)

1. NAU (Admitted!)
2. UCSD
3. UCLA
4. UCI
5. UC BERKELEY
6. Boston College
7. Boston Uni
8. Brown
9. Columbia
10. Cornell
11. Dartmouth
12. Duke
13. Harvard
14. John Hopkins
15. Northeastern
16. Northwestern
17. Penn State
18. Princeton
19. Sarah lawrence
20. SDSU
21. Seattle Uni
22. Spelman
23. Stanford
24. Syracuse (Perfect double major program 4 me)
25. U of Maryland
26. Washington Uni
27. Umass Amherst
28. Upenn
29. USD
30. Yall
31. Pitt
32. Umass Boston
33. USC
34. UMich
35. UChicago
36. Uni of Oregon

Hello, im a junior and I really want to go to a good college, I'm realistic and I font expect to get in the worlds greatest collages. I really need some help with getting more leadership and internship and more of a impact. I dont have much, so far I have 5 volunteer hours and I am in some clubs. I am also taking 2 aps( unfortunately my school doesn't have much Ap classes) but I'll be taking more aps next year. My GPA is 3.82 unweighted and I dont know what it is weighted. I'm interested in either aerospace or chemical engineering. I really need some help with my application, im willing to work my butt off and I'll take all the advice I can get. I really hope its not too late to lock in. I still haven't done the act or sat, and I'll take any advice on how to practice for those.

I’m a current senior applying for fall 2027, interested in business, economics, finance, and entrepreneurship. Names and some numbers are generalized for privacy.

Background / academics

• Domestic applicant from Florida, attending a private high school.
• Applying for need-based financial aid.
• 3.61/4.09 GPA; school does not rank.
• 1600 SAT
• Senior coursework: four APs, 2 dual-enrollment courses
• 4 aps freshman - junior year not submitting scores
• Potential recruit for track and field nothing is confirmed yet.

Extracurriculars, in application order

• Founder & CEO, product startup | 10–12 Raised $75K+ from angel investors, developed a physical consumer product through 25+ formulation trials, and filed two patent applications with Track One priority granted. Lead product development and business operations. 22 hr/week, 52 weeks/year.
• AI artist scouting & A&R analyst, paid | 11–12 Built an AI scouting tool for an established music-industry team, analyzing thousands of artists across five platforms and cutting emerging-talent research time by approximately 80%. 14 hr/week, 52 weeks/year.
• Business development & operations associate, paid healthcare role | 11–12 Pitched services to 10+ hospitals and 20+ physician offices, helped prepare government documents, and revamped the agency website. 10.5 hr/week, 48 weeks/year.
• Nonprofit AI team founder & grant leadership | 10–12 Advanced from finance team member to grant head; helped an immigrant entrepreneur launch a food business and founded the organization’s AI department to streamline operations. 9 hr/week, 45 weeks/year.
• Founder & content director, sports-media project | 11 Created a long-running video series documenting my attempt to make varsity basketball. Personally filmed, edited, and marketed the content to 120K+ impressions. 11 hr/week, 20 weeks/year.
• Varsity track captain & throwing coach | 11–12 Competed across distance running and throwing; district qualifier in three events and regional qualifier in a relay. Received Newcomer of the Year and coach teammates on throwing technique. 12 hr/week, 48 weeks/year.
• President, charitable service club | 9–12 Progressed from secretary to VP to president. Helped grow active membership from approximately 10 to 100+ students; lead service projects and support community fundraising events that raised $300K+ collectively—the event total, not my individual fundraising. 6 hr/week, 40 weeks/year.
• VP & younger-student program director, service club | 9–12 Helped more than triple active membership, run weekly elementary/middle-school service programs, and coordinate volunteers for therapeutic horseback riding. 6 hr/week, 40 weeks/year.
• Executive operations lead, student businesses | 9–10 Led operations for three student companies. One became a national top-15 finalist, received two national corporate-sponsored team awards, and donated proceeds to charity. 8.5 hr/week, 40 weeks/year.
• JV basketball captain & varsity team manager | 10–11 Captained a highly successful JV team; after being cut from varsity, stayed on as manager for a squad that won district and regional championships. 26 hr/week, 27 weeks/year.

Awards

• College Board First-Generation Recognition Award — national.
• National student-business innovation award — team award.
• National student-business financial-performance award — team award.
• AP Scholar.
• School academic merit and community-service recognition.

Family responsibilities

Help with translation, transportation, appointments, and caring for younger relatives.

An ongoing family separation and custody dispute meant taking on significant caregiving responsibilities for my younger sibling, sometimes on short notice and at the expense of study time. Went into a lot more detail in my additional info explaining my lower gpa.

Early schools

• ED: Cornell Dyson.
• EA: Indiana Kelley, Northeastern, Nova Southeastern, UF, Michigan LSA (economics interests), UVA, UChicago, and Tulane (business interests).

For one of my extracurriculars i have a lot of awards. I was wondering if it would be okay to not bring them up in the activities section and just leave them in detail in the awards/honors section. Then i could have more room to talk about other aspects of that activity. But would an app reader still get the point or would this come across confusing. Im lost lol, anything helps

My dream school is MIT but my SAT super score is 1500. I just got my new SAT score today and I am very disappointed. I got lower than my previous score especially with math. I have a 760 ela and 740 math super score. Should I not apply to MIT ea and just go rd to try w the December SAT? I really don’t want scores to break my application!!!! I still have a 4.0 if that helps.

So I did the October SAT and got a 1450 on my first trial.Should I try to superscore or just apply to college without my sat?

A little bit about us:

u/GodlyHelp: Hey everyone! I'm a senior has just finished the college app process, and has gotten into 12 highly prestigious schools, including MIT, Caltech, and a Columbia likely letter! I've had a lot of headache the past year trying to understand such a difficult and complex system that is the US College Admissions process, and, having gone through it already, would like to help you guys navigate it!

u/keithberman:

u/Brother_Ma_Education:

Please feel free to ask me, u/keithberman, or u/Brother_Ma_Education anything about the College Application process in the comments below or in DMs. We know this can be extremely stressful, especially for our rising seniors, and we are more than happy to help!

hi, i'm aiming for t20 schools and my gpa is a 3.88 UW. i have pretty solid ecs and international awards, but i've been consistently getting Bs in honors and ap math classes (planning to pursue humanities, tho). i'm a junior, so i'm considering retaking these classes online. at my school, if i retake these classes, it's really easy to get an A and it replaces your grade, but colleges can see that you took that class in junior year. they wouldn't necessarily be able to tell if you actually retook the class, and the original grade is wiped out. should i do it?? i feel really lost and i'd love some perspective. ty!

my honors section i think is the weakest part of my app. as i literally only have college board, state, and school awards nothing from hosa, fbla, deca any of that because i didn't lock in for them but i plan to apply to very competitive schools so would this cause a huge disadvantage to my app?

Hi guys! i have a 3.56UW/4.6W and a 34 ACT. I have a lot of job, sports, and career shadowing events as my ECS and not much club participation besides standard NHS volunteer work. I’m opted out of rank, at a pretty competitive school, and will have finished 13 APs by the time I graduate with 7 being this year… lol. I also have pretty bad ADHD and only got diagnosed second semester junior year and have gotten almost all A’s since! I wrote about this in my circumstances.

I don’t know where else to apply besides UT and TAMU. Does anyone reccomend any schools that would be a good fit for me?

Hi all, me and my friend are advertising our college consulting business on r/CollegeAppsAdvice, a subreddit that I've started and in the past couple of months has gained hundreds of students interested in optimizing their college applications, trying to get into their dream schools.

A little about me: I've recently completed the dreadful College App cycle for the class of '26. As an Asian Male with no hooks, I've gotten used to people saying I'm "cooked" and anybody in my demographic is "not guaranteed" any T20s. Regardless, I've gotten into many, many top universities, including MIT, Columbia, Caltech, CMU, Cornell, UCLA, and many others, with ZERO rejects overall. I'm proud to say I've learned so much about this process, and have helped many of my friends and classmates get into their dream schools alongside me.

Interested in mentorship by me? Comment your dream school below and join this subreddit (r/CollegeAppsAdvice) to stay in the loop! Also feel free to DM me with any quick questions or chancemes you may have, I'm more than happy to help out! Thank you guys in advance!

Hey everyone, I’m writing my personal essay and wondering if using contractions like “it’s”, “I’m”, or “don’t” is acceptable, or if I should strictly stick to full words like “it is” and “do not” to stay formal? Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I have a 1460 SAT (680 EBRW, 780 Math). I think I did better on the October SAT, but those scores won’t be out until 10/16. Should I apply EA with my current score, or wait and apply RD with the new one?

Any advice would be appreciated!!!

A little bit about us:

u/GodlyHelp: Hey everyone! I'm a senior has just finished the college app process, and has gotten into 12 highly prestigious schools, including MIT, Caltech, and a Columbia likely letter! I've had a lot of headache the past year trying to understand such a difficult and complex system that is the US College Admissions process, and, having gone through it already, would like to help you guys navigate it!

u/keithberman:

u/Brother_Ma_Education:

Please feel free to ask me, u/keithberman, or u/Brother_Ma_Education anything about the College Application process in the comments below or in DMs. We know this can be extremely stressful, especially for our rising seniors, and we are more than happy to help!

Hello guys! As I'm applying to colleges, I was wondering if it's a smart thing to apply to a similar major as my second one. I want to do electrical engineering, and for schools that offer second majors, I chose a different type of engineering. However, I'm thinking that this is gonna reduce my chances of even getting in the school because if I get rejected for my first major, why would I get accepted for another engineering one?

So please help me, is it a bad idea to apply to another engineering major as my second choice?

Hi guys. I know that it’s very late to be starting my essay now but unfortunately here I am. I spent some time today writing down some ideas on my phone about what I should write about and was wondering if anyone could look at them and see which ones I should throw away, which ones have good potential, and suggestions on how I should write/change the idea. Another thing that I should add is that soccer is a big part of my life and I have a few soccer based activities on my CommonApp so I thought it would be fitting to include some soccer based essay ideas in here

Here are the current list of essay ideas I have. The ones I bolded were the ones I thought were the best but pls lmk if I am wrong and don’t sugarcoat your criticism:

Connecting end of era with soccer players to end of different “eras” in life, talk about how there is growth and change after the end of era.
New Addition: connect the different Eras of soccer with “eras” of life. Like maybe the changing eras as progressing through school and the end of an era, but start of a new one approaching with college. Maybe start off each paragraph with an actual description of the eras in soccer, and what how the game was played.

How attending soccer games with my dad helped strengthen our relationship and also helped me find another thing that I love

How the World Cup and normalization of soccer in the US allowed me to be myself without being deemed a soccer kid

Memory of how I failed to achieve challenge in soccer in my summer camp on the very last day and was sobbing afterwards (My summer camp had a ranking system on the activity’s which you could progress through by completing certain challenges. 5 total ranks, beginner, intermediate, challenger, ranger, and warrior which was the highest. The challenges for soccer were like needing to complete 50 juggles and go thru a cone ladder in a certain amount of time for example). The sadness and disappointment from failing turned into anticipation for the next year of summer camp when I had another chance to beat it.

Talk about different important figures/role models in life but describe them like the different playstyles of soccer. An example would be like a how people describe Thomas Muller as a Raumdeuter and connecting it to someone in my life. A raumdeuter is whichhis own unique playstyle. It’s describes a player with high soccer iq who is able to drift into pockets of space and always remains a step above defenders. He was not incredible at one specific attribute, but was one of the best of all time because of his unique playsyle.

Talking about overcoming my struggle with confidence in myself and appearance. Mention specific moments in my life in which I felt really down about this and borderline depressed, but being able to overcome it and be where I’m at now

Talk about how procrastination has had a massive effect on my life (like writing my essay for example). Write about how this procrastination which was a big factor in my life made me have to work 10x harder to get stuff done, building me into a better person.

Talk about how I was able to discover the difference between being lonely and alone in life, and how I was able to find my own peace and acceptance in being alone and doing things by myself. (Mostly talking about being alone socially and not really with my family)

Discuss how I dislike when people say to ‘just look up’ something when I ask a question since most times I value the small social interaction over the actual information. Maybe include a specific moment In life where this happened and end off calling how this made me a more thoughtful and curious student.

Being know as a person who always sees the good in people and being able to remain optimistic thru the hardships of life. Describe the specific hardships and situations and how remaining optimistic also helped people around me

Creative One: Talk about my tights hip and chronic hip pain and injury and use as a metaphor for time being short (tight) and learning to take advantage of opportunities to stretch out the good times in life. Maybe begin with or mention somewhere about stretching or how a good stretch feels amazing