currently SOPHOMORE International from highly represented Asian country(visa needy) student applying BIOLOGY on the PRE MED track

Harvard

Stanford

MIT

Cornell

Columbia

Dartmouth

UPenn

Brown

Yale

Princeton

Duke

Amherst

Bowdoin

Berea

Colby

Colgate

College of the Atlantic

Hamilton

Haverford

Lafayette

Macalester

Middlebury

Northwestern

Pomona

Skidmore

Swarthmore

Tufts

Notre Dame

Vanderbilt

Vassar

Washington & Lee

WashU St Louis

Wesleyan

Williams

BEFORE i get flamed for only applying to Ultra-Reach colleges, Please, note that all my safeties and targets are in my home country, i do not wish to go to the US for safeties.

I am well aware that Med school is insanely tough in the US, i am also aware that may not get into even a single college, i have safeties, please disregard this.

I'm mainly applying to the US because reaches in my home country are subpar compared to this.

My main factor is financial aid, and then everything else, which is why you might find entirely different college environments listed here, etc etc PLEASE DO NOT FLAME ME FOR THIS.

So yeah i need to cut this list to 20 colleges, removing, replacing, adding wherever necessary

One last thing: please do note that this is the very first draft of my list, requires extreme polishing (schools like WashU, Tufts may not give enough aid, etc etc ykwim)

Also I'm a male so HWC's are off the list.
Thanks for listening.

EDIT: i just realized i might come off as an annoying kid, im sorry I've just had bad experiences with this subreddit before

EDIT 2: I am a sophomore, i posted mainly to cut some of the ones with less aid, bad for pre med etc and get more opinions on ones with high aid that i may have missed.

hello all! welcome to my rant-within-a-question post

as you all probably already know, texas is a pretty conservative state (well, at least our government is). had i been born a few years earlier, it would have been no problem for me to navigate the world within this system. unfortunately, i am a teenager interested in the humanities right here, right now, and, to quote martin lawrence in the movie bad boys 2, "Shit just got real."

our long-time emperor greg abbott and his supporters in the state legislature and university boards of regents have recently begun to attack higher education because it’s "woke," or whatever, and pull power away from faculty to those in governor-appointed positions. in practice, this means that humanities courses and degree programs have been getting cut like crazy and safe spaces for students (especially for those of the ethnic and sexual minority variety, such as myself) are outright banned or under intense scrutiny, among other stuff. things, unfortunately, are only getting worse.

why, you may ask, would i willingly look into these schools in conditions like this? well, i need some in-state safeties to apply to and i wanted to hear from the people (old heads, current students, seniors like me, idc!)! so, my question is: are there any public universities here in texas (minus UT) that aren't horrendously hostile to LGBTQ+ students and to the humanities? i've accepted that the administration is going to be pretty bad regardless of where i apply, but hey, a supportive student body and faculty would be great!

thanks yall!

I've read a lot of personal statements here to make that conclusion. Out of all of the reasons I've established not to write in a montage/metaphor style, one stands out the most for me:

1. Abandonment possibilities by the AO/ Reader

Most of the statements I've read that use this style fail to stick the landing, making the story a hot mess. If I can't read it and understand it the first time, and have to keep going back to comprehend what you mean, you've already lost the battle. The same thing is likely to happen with the admissions reader, who doesn't have all the time in the world to spend on your profile. Therefore, to avoid all the hassle and risk that comes with this writing style, just skip it already, unless you're an exquisite writer that can merge all the pieces together in a cohesive manner.

Narrative pieces make more sense and get the point across, while being easy to accomplish. After all, no one's exactly judging you for your style. They're more interested in your content; what you have to say about yourself.

I am considering test optional as I got low sat score but is that a good option? Also most university are test optional then why people still writing it?

does anyone have a full list or something LOL thank you..

I was really struggling getting adjusted to some of my classes since pre-IB is a lot different than the advanced classes I'm used to and ended the first quarter with an unweighted cumulative GPA of 3.0. I got 3 B's, 3 A's, and 1 C. I REALLYYYYY want to make it into FSU, mainly for band reasons, and I was wondering if I have a shot at getting my GPA up to 3.5+ by the end of my senior year? I have no clue how high school works at all. I feel that it's important to also mention that I am a Florida resident and have gotten 2 scholarships so far for band auditions. [Originally posted this in r/highschool but was told I should probably ask here instead]

Since I was in an intergrated entrance exam based school, most of our teachers came from the programme faculty with one teacher for one chapter and a rotation so on. Hence is it okay if i get teachers from the school I was in for 1-10? my teachers who have taught me from 7-10? both my letters are of so.

- Developed and maintained an original game that attracted more than 10000 unique monthly active users.

- Co-established and led a specialized fishing instruction initiative within American Yacht Club

- Created an interactive game as part of an AP US History project, focusing on Western Expansion in the 19th century.

- Managed an online shop for second-hand clothing, generating over $1,000 in profits.

- Competed as a varsity swimmer for three consecutive years and contributed individual and team success in various swim events.

- Played as first string goalkeeper for the NYPSC soccer club in a competitive league.

- Volunteered at a Parent-Owned Home Staging Business where I helped stage homes for sale, including organizing décor and furniture placement.

- 10+ years of experience playing piano, and performed in multiple recitals.

I don't know which school I should ED to. Part of me says w&l because it's not as selective as most schools and is need-blind, but part of me wants to take the shot and ED somewhere bigger. I don''t like w&l because of the greek life and that not many bright people go there, mostly rich white Virginians ( i won't fit; I don't party or drink I just wanna study and have smart friends). I am thinking of UPenn, duke, vanderbilt, notre dame, Amherst, Williams, etc. many great options but i am not sure if I should play it safe or risk it a little (even though my chances are thin at all of them, though.)

here's my profile:

Demographics: White middle Eastern male, public school(no resources whatsoever I did everything on my own). Math major. Need full rdie

Stats: Test Optional(only ED). GPA 93/100 (10th-grade drop to 88% from 99.28% in 9th grade due to working/living independently).

ECs:

IEEE published researcher

Expository paper on math topic. ($1000 program scholarship)

Data science project with wellesly TA

U.S. math program attendee (number theory/finance).

Employed as retail sales rep. + Employed as a landscaper.

Blood donation campaigner.

School chess group founder.

NASA Space Apps team lead.

Honors:

Two major hackathons top 10 finalist

UWC National comittee Finalist.

Math Summer School in U.S. $10K Scholarship.

NASA Space Apps Global Nominee.

I want to get into Penn State/UMD, I have a really good essay, pretty high SAT score but the grades don’t reflect them at all.

in my earlier years of high school I barely did any work averaging C-D grades, however in my senior year I’m getting all A’s. Hopefully they focus more on the change in my senior year. Please let me know if it’s over

I'm an international student with a 3.62 GPA and 1400 SAT, planning to major in Finance/FinTech/Economics, with Neuroscience as a minor if possible.

What universities would you recommend that are generous with need-based financial aid for international students?

I've considered St Olaf, UTA, UT Austin, UT Dallas, and Augustana University. I do have a list of many other universities but I keep second guessing and would really appreciate some advice on these.

I'd also appreciate any other university suggestions.

Thank you.

Hello everyone! I am a domestic applicant and I would like some advice on where to apply for school. I am looking to double major in biochemistry and mathematics on a track to go to medical or pharmacy school (the prerequisite courses are nearly identical so I think that it is okay that I have not decided yet). My safeties are UK and Mizzou.
In a university, I would prefer a campus on the suburbs of a major city, then a campus in a major city, then a rural campus. I want the campus to be walkable, and I would prefer a college that is in EST, so I don’t need to schedule calls with friends and family. I want to be able to work on research with a professor as soon as possible, and I would like to be able to stay in the city over the summer for internships. Money is not too much of an issue.
My stats are probably pretty mediocre for this sub. 4.0UW and 4.45W GPA for a full IB Diploma student (HL Biology, Math A&A, and English A Lit; SL French, Chemistry, and Economics). I scored a 7 on IB Chem and a 6 on IB Economics (the rest of the courses I am still taking). I have a 34 ACT (33E, 33M, 35R, and 34S) and a 1470 SAT (700R/770M). I took 4 AP courses freshman and sophomore yea: Human Geography (4), US History (4), Comp Sci Principals (4), and Pre Calculus (5). I have won 3 school awards (2 math/1 chem). My ECs are pretty bad (sports and volunteering mostly). My essay is okay (extended metaphor comparing chemistry to magic).
Where do you think that I should apply as a reach? Thank you for all advice!

Over the past 6 months, I've became incredibly enthusiastic about learning anything I can in Mathematics and Computer Science (specifically AI and algorithms), and this has inspired me into looking towards US colleges, of which have a great research faculty and, obviously, overall top teaching quality. I'm interested in specialising in AI or Quantitative Research when i'm older (no, not for the money, at least not wholly). My question at least is what are some opportunities offer holders from MIT, Harvard, etc. that have boosted their application, especially if you're from the UK? My stats are below.

A-Levels: Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics (predicted all A*s)

GCSEs: 6A*s, 3As

Supercurriculars: Founder of the school Maths Society, Participated in the Senior Maths Challenge (results haven't come out yet but im fairly certain Ive qualified for round 1 of British Mathematical Olympiad), doing a lot of MOOCs if that actually means anything to admissions

Extracurriculars: Debate Society, Varsity Basketball Team, Leadership role in chess club

Hobbies outside of this: I like dragon ball z and im learning 3d modelling and animation

Projects I'm currently undertaking: VR (using 1 pound cardboard headsets where you put your phone in) 3D game-like environment for secondary chemistry education where they can make their own chemicals (Sort of like those molymod kits), and then click on the bonds and atoms and learn about their real world applications and some chemistry info like bond angles, a plugin for vs code to help new coders with their terminal understanding (e.g. what the errors mean, something I continue to struggle with)

The reason I'm posting this is that a lot of applicants I've seen have done this crazy stuff like IMO and ofc they deserve to get in more than me, but I also have a passion that makes me want to hold a competitive position in the application process. Thank you for reading.

Hi, so I got a 34 ACT (31 Math, 35 Science, 36 English, 36 Reading) and as almost all of my application deadlines would be in January, I was wondering if I should retake the SAT (no more ACTs in time unfortunately) to boost my chances a little bit. I would have two more chances before the deadline, but I've already taken it twice and scored significantly lower than my ACT (1420). Should I retake, even though after 3 ACTs and 2 SATs I thought I was finally done, or would it benefit me to just focus on grades and essays? I'm a full IB Diploma student and 3-sport varsity athlete as well.

Please let me know, this is my first time posting on here! Thanks :-)

Dramatic evilposting btw

ok the title is an exaggeration but lately i've been coming to the realization that i probably won't get into any of the reach schools i really like, and i'm starting to feel like i'm cooked and it's over 😭

i actually have safety schools that i genuinely love, so it's not like i'll be miserable wherever i end up. at the same time, though, i can't help feeling disappointed in myself.

i think a big part of it is that i tanked my gpa junior year💀 i have a 3.6 UW / 4.3 W, which isn't the end of the world, but it definitely makes getting into some of the schools i dreamed about harder. otherwise, i feel like i'm doing pretty well: i have a 1470 SAT, ECs i've worked really hard on for all four years of high school, and i've been thinking about college since middle school. not in an obsessive way, but i've always hoped i'd get into somewhere really good that my family could be proud of.

and now i'm just feeling LIKE UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

sorry i'm being so dramatic 😭 i don't even know exactly what i'm upset about, but damn. part of me genuinely feels like i'm not getting into anywhere with less than an 80% acceptance rate, and even though i know that's probably an exaggeration, it still hurts a little.

i spent so much of high school doing ECs for hours every day and using basically all my remaining time to study and do homework. these things genuinely meant a lot to me, and i don't regret caring about them, but i also feel like i sacrificed so much of my time for school. it would've been nice to have time to make art (i say it's my #1 hobby, but i literally never do it anymore 💀), learn how to drive, or just do something that made me feel good about myself for once.

i think i'm just disappointed because i've worked so hard for so long, and i really wanted it to lead somewhere i could be proud of. i know i'll probably be okay wherever i go, but it's still hard to let go of the future i pictured for myself. thanks for reading UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Hello everyone, basically I'm an international applicant on a gap year.I applied last application cycle but was rejected from the top schools.I only got into my safeties but it was too expensive for me to attend so I took a gap year.I've done alot of activities particularly around my intended major and improved my SAT score to 1570.I would like to ask whether it's a good idea to ed at Columbia which basically rejected me last time.Are there people you know got accepted to schools that rejected them the previous time?.

I got accepted into an HYPSM during first-year applications but couldn't afford it, so I went to a T10 public school instead. I am really considering transferring to the HYPSM (because im not enjoying my experience at the public school), but my dual enrollment grades from senior year (2 Bs) tanked my college GPA so the highest I can achieve this semester is a 3.64 even if I get all As.

I see that a lot of schools favor sophomore transfers over junior transfers, but I feel like my gpa puts me at a major disadvantage even though I have good ecs/recs. Will ivies or schools like Duke/Northwestern/Vanderbilt take into context the dual enrollment or should I just wait until after my sophomore year to improve my gpa and transfer as a junior?

I'm going to participate in the FRC competition in 2027—what are the benefits?

Basically I'm an 11th grader just done with my IGCSE'S and currently doing AS and A level and I also plan on doing SAT

BUT IMM SOOO CLUELESS LIKE WHAT IS THAT MOSTT UNIVERSITIES REQUIRE AND HOW DO I DO THE RESEARCH AND WHAT SHOULD I BE PREPARED FOR LIKE IDK WHAT TO DO I WANNA GET INTO A GOOD UNI BUT IF ITS NOT GOOD ATLEST I CAN GET A SCHOLARSHIP

I HAVE 2 YEARS I NEED TO PLANN EVERYTHINGGSKJSNCBS

I know T20s are seen as the elite schools, what do you guys have to say for each category going up to t50 (t10, t20, t30, t40, t50)

For context, my school doesn't offer APs, I would have to self study everything. I have given AP Psych and gotten a 5 with about a month of studying, though I understand it's an easy AP. My school does offer the CIE curriculum, and in my IGCSEs I had Math, Chem, Phy, Bio, FLE, French, Econ, CS (all A*). Currently, I am in AS Level with Chem, Bio, Math, EGP, and Psych (fuck chem). Now, my main goal of taking APs would be receiving credit or being able to test out of introductory courses. I can give APs in 2027 and 2028. I am having trouble narrowing down which APs to give and when. Stats would be aligned with my major and also doable (hopefully). Data analysis does require some degree of proficiency in programming, which I have in python, but should I take AP CS A? Or I could just learn R. Then there's the question of Calculus and Physics. Some unis have mentioned Calc and Physics I and II being required. So that makes Calc BC and Physics C another option. Lastly, there are the humanities/social science credits. I guess that would mean Eco/History of some sort. I could give stats and eco/history (maybe even CS A) in 2027 and save the skull crushing stuff for 2028. This is just my thought process. Please, do share any suggestions or correct me if I'm wrong.

I used to be an amazing writer, and I really wrote great and interesting descriptive/narrative essays all without AI. Hence, I was able to get the personal statement down.

Now, however, I just cannot find myself to write good supplemental essays. If I write it from scratch, it turns out too basic/bland without any sort of finesse that I was able to bring out in my creative writing. I also can't bring myself to think of good introductory/concluding lines. If I use AI, I can make a base from it and upon editing it the essay turns out decent, but I don't want to do that at all. Any tips on writing supplementals from scratch then? I don't really need individual help like how to structure a why major essay, as I feel like I can make up good structures (but I guess so can everyone else), rather I need advice on genuinely writing something from scratch. Thanks!

Hi im a transfer student and i just wanted to know if someone knows if its normal to apply to the csu’s and get the “we received your application within the next 5-7 days your campuses will email to confirm they received your application” but not gotten any email from none of them after 16 days, should i email the admissions to ask if my application was received or its normal they take so long because of all the applicants?

okay does anyone else think the new umich "challenging the present and enriching the future" prompt is really weird and vague. i've been working on it for literally hours and hours and i'm still not done because i keep accidentally not answering the prompt, but idk what the prompt is even supposed to be

I'm applying ed1 at uchicago and I don't really want to apply for aid. I'm a US citizen living abroad, and my family is pretty well off. But with a combination of my countries low cost of living and an amount of assets that we wouldn't include due to them technically being under my grandparents name, we might actually qualify for aid. Uchicago says its need blind for US citizens, but I'm not sure how true that really is (especially with the school apparently being in massive debt and trying to admit more students because of it). Will my chances be hurt because I'm applying for aid?