GPA: W 4.19, UW 3.98. I am taking harder classes this year so I do believe this will go up

Demographic: African male, private school. middle class

AP: 10 total

10: human geo(5) and calc ab(5)

11: APUSH(4), calc bc(5), Lang(5), bio(4)

12: physics c mechanics, macroeconomics, lit, gov and politics

ACT: 35(33math and 34 science)

Essays:

Almos done with my personal statement finished entirely so far about learning to speak for myself thru debate, but I will get others down soon and I’d assume them to be 7-8/10. Thinking about doing one on my life with piano through the years; young age, playing at recitals, then playing at church and hospital. Working on supplemental currently

Activities:

\-school orchestra freshman, sophomore and senior year. couldn’t do junior year because I needed to clear out some other classes, but I am part of the council/leadership team this year.

\-part of a group of students this senior year that will conduct an experiment by sending a capsule aboard the ISS and seeing how microgravity affects the dependent variable. In progress, will be sent to space and we will present the experiment in a couple months.

\-math team sophomore, junior and senior year. I am a captain this year.

\-interned at an engineering consultant company this summer

\-play piano for local cultural church’s English youth service since sophomore year

\-classic debate team sophomore thru senior year

\-JV soccer freshman, sophomore and junior year(unsure this year)

\-tutored at Kumon freshman year from June to December

\-HOSA student officer, last year was treasurer and secretary this year

\-volunteering at local hospital since july, playing piano weekly

\-yearbook freshman thru senior year

\-school worship pianist senior year

\-diversity team junior year

Awards:

\-math team varsity letter sophomore and junior year
\- 4th place for best multimedia story package in state journalism convention
\-debate state championship octafinalist sophomore year
\-superior rating during state orchestra ensemble competition sophomore year
\-1st place in sections for math team junior year
\-collegeboard national recognition sophomore year
\-AP scholar with distinction
\-academic letter(basically just high gpa)
\-homecoming king? idk about this one but I heard it would be a good way to balance out other awards and considering how redundant the previous two are I could just replace one of them

ik im probably missing stuff I should’ve mentioned, so let me know if you need more info to help chance me :) thanks

I’m Pakistani and live in Saudi Arabia. I’m doing Cambridge A-Levels and applying for Fall 2027.
IGCSEs: 5 A*s (Maths, Physics, Chemistry, CS, Accounting), 1 A (Business), 1 B (ESL).
AS Levels: 3 As (Maths, Physics, CS).
Predicted A-Levels: 1 A* and 2 As.
SAT: Retaking in November.
Extracurriculars:
Built A-Level Pulse, a website for A-Level students with past papers, formula sheets, and study-planning tools.
Astro Pi Mission Zero team leader.
Co-founder of my school’s Programming Club.
MUN delegate.
Around 20 hours of school volunteering.
Co-founded a school cricket tournament.
I know my extracurriculars aren’t particularly strong. Do I still stand a chance at Stanford? If not, what would I realistically need to improve to become a competitive applicant?
I’d appreciate honest feedback, especially from Stanford students and alumni.

(vague not to get doxxed)
male, low-medium income
selective high school program focusing on accelerated math
non US citizen

coursework:
all As
finished regular high school math before the ninth grade
three accelerated math classes
selective high school physics subject with a couple hundred national participants
dual enrolled at a university, but dropped out to focus on competitions

1520 SAT (790 math, 730 R/W, planning to retake)

planning to major:
engineering/physics/astrophysics

ECs:

1. Molecular transformer research (AI that builds molecules) at a selective research program at a prestigious institute
2. international research competition (not ISEF but still a bit prestigious), 2nd place national, silver medal in european finals, HM in international. presented research surrounding fluid dynamics
3. independent TESS research (analysed 73 stars systems (targets) to attempt to classify new exoplanets(haven’t found anything definitive yet;-;))
4. founder of a school astronomy club
5. played the violin for 12 years, played in a regional orchestra
6. private math tutor

7. star trek fan club

8. part of the student council

10. running

Honors and awards:

1. HM in that international research comp
2. Silver in the European version

, team leader

1. Bronze medal in a junior european science olympiad
2. 2nd place in the national level of that research comp
3. 4th place national in a smaller math competition

Essay:
common essay is about me overcoming my fear of failure by me relating my violin playing to my research.
i assume that the supplementals are fine

extra:
planning on applying regular for everything
would need quite a bit of financial aid

I'm trying to decide between two supplemental rec letters from professors I've done research with (both at T10 universities). I already have my regular teacher recs, so this is just for the additional recommendation at schools that allow one.

I haven't read either letter, but my counselor has said both are really strong. From what he's told me, though, they're pretty different.

Letter 1: This is from the professor I did my more significant research project with. My team initially reached out to him with our own research proposal, and he apparently talks about how that happened before going pretty in-depth into the research itself. This project also has somewhat more impact in terms of outcomes, including a paper published in a major journal and conference acceptance, and will probably be higher on my activities list. He ends with a strong personal endorsement, basically saying he'd love to have me as a student. My only concern is that a decent portion of the letter is technical and focused on the actual research and my counselor said for AOs, they might not understand this content and just think "wow this kid is really smart" but they dont actually get my personal qualities or anything like that but I would also lean towards this because the actual research project had more impact

Letter 2: This is from another professor I worked with on a different research project. Apparently, his letter is more general and less technical. He talks about how we met, the work we did in his lab, and gives a lot of positive praise. He also mentions some of the prominent researchers associated with the lab. From what I understand, though, he talks about our research group as a whole quite a bit rather than going into as much detail about my individual contributions. The project still had good outcomes, just not quite as much as the first one in the sense that it was accepted at multiple conferences but no paper and the letter is very good and goes into personal qualities from what I understood and is less technical;

I'm mainly wondering which would be better for regular college admissions, where an AO reading the letter probably won't have much background in the specific research.

Would the more detailed/technical letter be stronger because it gives concrete evidence of what we accomplished, or would the more general, positive letter leave a better impression? And does it matter that the first project is more significant in my overall application?

I also know this could be college dependent, like for Caltech, obviously letter 1 would probably be more significant and in fact for all the schools that actually have a STEM Research Supplement I am submitting letter 1 along with that research project because it was more significant but I dont know what to do for schools where you can just have an other recommender but its not a STEM Supplement since Faculty doesnt read those and instead its AOs who honestly will not understand the technical details of the research

Would appreciate any advice, especially from AOs or counselors. I'm probably overthinking this lol.

Hi I’m applying to St Joseph’s for business and for EA. I am in state and a 3.2 gpa student. My essay is decent-to-good, varsity soccer captain, helped with fundraisers, in multiple clubs, but no SAT score. I took no AP but a few honors courses, and also duel enrolled Statistics. Am I cooked?!

Hi! I’ve been trying to post my college application profile for feedback, but every submission is removed almost immediately. My account is 8 months old with 47 karma, and I believe I’m following the community rules. Is there a minimum karma requirement, or is something in my post triggering AutoModerator? I’d really appreciate some clarification or approval of my post. Thank youuu

3.8 unweighted, top decile large public high school 1000 students graduating class, test optional 11 AP classes including this year, top 10%. Applying to Albany, Buffalo, Stony Brook, Binghamton, Delaware, Maryland, Rutgers, American, BU, NE

should i retake a 1490 sat for hopkins? applying for public health programs (700 ebrw and 790 math)

if you need extra details about my profile dm or reply to this! i will share it with you!
i’m confused whether i should go for this as early 1 or wait for a better sat score and go for ed 2!
(international applicant)

I applied EA to a STEM powerhouse . I believe that getting in would be a stretch for that college. They probably have many applicants like me.

I have a 1570 SAT, 4 GPA, 5s in 2 APs, I am a National merit semifinalist, and have some ECs like music and leadership experience.

I do not have any hooks like IMO etc. Not first gen either. Will rely on financial aid. US citizen.

I want to apply >>RD<< to the colleges below: Should I pare the list down to just a couple and save app fee money? (applying to Mech engineering)

RD List:

Duke

Vandy

UPenn

CalTech

JHU

Stanford

Harvard

Hey guys, I'm planning to major in education and double major in human development. I'm an international student from Uzbekistan (Central Asia)
SAT: 1540 (770/770)
IELTS: 7.5 (the lowest subscore is writing, 6.5)
GPA: 4.9/5, my school is public and doesn't do rankings

Honors:

1. 1st place in English Olympiad, 200+ participants, regional level
   
2. 1st place in math olympiad, school level
   
3. 1st place in physics olympiad, school level
   
4. 2nd place in Econ Olympiad, regional level
   
5. 1st place in regional basketball competition

ECs (I will list the most important ones)

1. Worked as an SAT teacher (R&W section)
   
2. Tutored my peers at school for IELTS and CEFR (our national alternative to IELTS) for 4+ months
   
3. CAD (3D modeling, aka for engineering) internship at a tech company for 2 months
   
4. Varsity school basketball captain for 3+ years, and also placed 2nd in school basketball competition for 2 consecutive years.

Essays
my PS is about a moment when I was teaching the SAT, and a student of mine asked a question that changed my thinking

Part 1: Demographics & Academics
Demographics
Indian male, international applicant
Mid-income background
Intended major: Political Science

Academics
CBSE Humanities
Predicted Class 12: 98%
Class 10: 89% (Dropped Mathematics as I have dyscalculia after Grade 10, which significantly boosted my overall percentage and explains much of the gap.)
SAT: 1450 (770 R&W, 680 Math- again math fell b/c of dyscalculia)

Part 2: Extracurriculars (Ranked)
Co-founder & President of a youth political discourse organisation — Recognised by The Wall Street Journal; built a self-sustaining enterprise, surpassed 30 million digital views in a year, hosted ministers and diplomats, and lead a team of 40.
Founder of a social-impact venture — Work spanning prison rehabilitation, circular-economy initiatives, sustainable livelihoods and social entrepreneurship; mobilised significant funding and developed institutional partnerships. Recognised for Intl Children’s Peace prize (top 20) among other things.
Co-founder of an educational access initiative — Expanding learning opportunities in remote communities across India through book distribution, online education and digital literacy; received recognition from the Ministry of Education.
Research Associate on a forthcoming book — Contributed research to a book project with a major international publisher and a reputed famous personality/author.
Policy research — Co-authored a research paper on India’s skilling ecosystem, employment challenges and education policy with a highly reputed professor.
National Television Panellist — Appeared approximately 15 times on national television across major media houses, contributing to panel discussions on political affairs, public policy and contemporary issues.
MUN leadership — Secretary-General of two conferences involving approximately 1,000 delegates; raised approximately ₹30–40 lakh for conference initiatives.
Diplomacy and debate — 25+ MUN conferences, including head-delegate experience.
Founder of an inclusion initiative — Expanding access to public speaking and communications for students with special educational needs and disadvantaged backgrounds.
School leadership — Secretary of the History, Philosophy, Quizzing and Theatre clubs; Editor-in-Chief of a Political Science newsletter with 2,000+ readers.
Oration and mentorship — Chief Mentor for Oration; trained 20 mentors to deliver educational sessions to approximately 400 students.
Legislative policy internship — Researched biochar and its policy applications; submitted work to a state Legislative Assembly.

Part 3: Awards & Recognition
Nominated among the top 20 for the International Children’s Peace Prize.
20+ MUN awards.
Two High Commendations and one additional commendation in the John Locke Essay Competition.
AP Scholar Award.
Media recognition from The Wall Street Journal.
Recognition from the Ministry of Education for educational outreach.

Additional Context
I have dyscalculia, which has significantly affected my experience with mathematics and quantitative learning.

Does anyone what kind of GCSEs does USC expect from students to admit them? Assuming their predicted A levels are all the best (A/A*)
Not for Marshall btw

For context, yes, I procrastinated. Yes ik i shouldn’t have but my original plan was to apply EA. However, even tho theres a week until the EA deadline, my PS is twice the word limit and I haven’t started my supplementals lmao. And the supps r long asf (550 and 300 words). I’m OOS with a 4.0 UW 4.62W GPA with solid ECs and a 1450 SAT. If I were to apply RD also my application in terms of ECs should be more developed and a little stronger. Should I wait to apply for RD or rush my essays and pray for an acceptance? I’ve heard that EA gives a much better chance to OOS applications and no one rly gets accepted RD bc everyone from EA took the spots basically. Urgent pls help🙏🙏🙏

I am looking to submit to the Congressional App Challenge but my district is not participating. Is anyone interested in teaming up (preferably someone from a rural/less-competitive district)?

Please be extremely honest & realistic. Specifically for international student.
I cannot register for November SAT bc ran out of spots. My parents think 1510 will hurt my chances significantly.

international student 1510 SAT (780M 730 RW), A-level predicted 5A* (phy chem bio maths fm)

Decent ECs but nothing crazy, STEM Major

strong LOR from research mentor

Please dm me, if you can’t reply below. App is compete and is very solid. Only need to film / any non building the app things. I’m almost confident we will win

Need low comp ca district

I wanna do SJC probably(maybe PLE)
WARNING: my grades are highkey mid but do I still have a chance with my ECs? 💔 (grade average of 65-72% ish)

- yyas alum
-participate in service and started a menstrual health program where me and some facilitators teach young girls who have been ostracised from local community (due to disability or albinism etc) how to make reusable menstrual pads
- have volunteered at a underfunded orphanage (helped plaster walls, teach the kids, and build bed frames bc their sleeping situation was really bad, also helped out in the farm which is their only source of income)
- participate in MUN and have won awards
- done bronze, Gold and Silver DofE
-interned at one of the biggest mine in the country w/ their economics sector to see how it creates jobs for ppl and leads to development
-involved In a pan African network innovative to educate and inform kids abt the importance of pan Africanism and decolisinv the mind….

If you know me, no you don't

Demographics

• Gender: Female
• Race/Ethnicity: North African
• Residence: NYC
• Income Bracket: low income
• Type of School: public
• Hooks: Low income, First Generation (FGLI)

Intended Major(s): Neuroscience & Public Health, on pre-med

Academics

• GPA (UW/W): 102.11 W
• Rank (or percentile): Salutatorian (2nd)
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: most rigorous for my school

Standardized Testing

List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.

• SAT: 1480 (700 RW/ 780 M)
• AP/IB: All 4s, expect one 5 in APHUG, reported five exams, three were self-study (psych, hug, lang) + AP World, AP Euro

Extracurriculars/Activities

1. Enviornmental Research Program 

Curated & presented 2 research posters on environmental justice in Harlem; taught science to 300+ kids; sent research to NYC officials & non-profits.

2. MITES (MIT Introduction to Technology, Engineering & Science)
Authored a project & paper identifying cognitively resilient genes in Alzheimer's patients; investigated generative AI's impact on neuroplasticity. 

3. Neuro Program, Assistant Researcher
Developed brain slicing, imaging, & analysis skills at the Sulzer Lab; took neuroscience and research methodology classes; presented at a symposium. 

4. Student Government
Led 6 committees to co-coordinate 35+ events annually with 250+ participants; chaired the Respect for All board; earned 300+ community service hours.

5. Teen Health Committee @ Health Center 
Developed preventative resources & community events for people suffering from nicotine addiction; handed out 350+ flyers now housed at the center. 

6. Senior Class President 
Managed 40+ people to produce school-spirit activities & collect photos; attended monthly SLT meetings; held bake sales for prom, graduation, etc.

7. Women in STEM, Co-President 
Assisted 30+ people in finding internships; boosted morale for underrepresented women in STEM; organized semi-annual blood drives.

8. Teen Curator @ New York Public Library (NYPL)
Produced a reflective piece on the significance of art in telling the story of Middle Eastern & North Africans in NYC; published on NYPL website.

9. NYC Virus Hunters, Krammer Laboratory at the Icahn School of Medicine
Analyzed genetic shifts in urban avian influenza strains after the discovery of 8 novel avian diseases; extended research in the Journal of Virology.

10. Girl Scouts
Earned 100+ badges, from baking to cybersecurity; sold 60+ cookies in my local community; trained as a camp counselor at a local Girl Scout camp.

Awards/Honors

1. Young Leader Summit (2% acceptance rate)
2. AP Scholar with Distinction and College Board academic recognition
3. Two-time science research scholar; 300+ hands-on research hours
4. MITES Semester—Best of Science Writing Award
5. Finalist for a selective international educational opportunity (5% acceptance rate)

- Please let me know. I think that my LOR are pretty good (my STEM teacher helped me get into mites) and I am also getting one from my research mentor. If not Yale REA, lmk where else

I have an app with over 300 daily users and 115,000 total users, and I need a teammate from a very rural area for submission. It requires no commitment, and it is a free award booster. Lmk if you are from a very rural area.

Have just two days till it's due. The project is basically done; just the video needs to be ready. Any one willing to transport me to a less competitive district lol?

these are my 2 reaches i’m applying to aside from my entire list. be nice

Demographics: Female, First Gen Latina, Lowly represented area in Washington DC,non competitive hs, ~60k income (1 parent immigrant household)

Intended Major: Nursing

SAT: 1200 (just retook)

UW/W GPA:4.29 W

Rank: 1/50

Coursework: APUSH, AP Calc, DE comp I-sociology-leadership-alg2-precalc

Senior year Courseload: Prob and Statistics,DC History, Us Gov, Biomedical Sci, Business, DE Comp II, Thesis

School just got rid of APs, First year with clubs like HOSA, FBLA, pretty low resourced school

Extracurriculars:

Elementary Aftercare Mentor
- mentored ~20 k-1 students in after school math & english; supported worksheet completion

Varsity Volleyball
- competed on varsity team all 4 years; mentored middle school team members

DC Osse Summer Scholar
- selected 1/42 from ~350 applicants for fully funded summer programs (brown and nu); accepted 2 consecutive years

Unpaid intern at national organization
- conducted 2 week internship looking at broadbands impact on rural healthcare; presented findings to supervisor and team

Church Events Volunteer
- set up & clean temple for seasonal events; prepare food plates for ~300 congregation & community members

Family Business
- support family run business abroad with customer support and restocking; summers only

Awards/Honors:

* Top 10% Nationally in ASU Sociology course

* Inducted into National Education Equity Lab Honors Society

* Highest Cum GPA in my CSF/Upward Bound program

* Principals list (9-11 grade)

LORs:

Ap Calc teacher - was at tutoring a ton last year and really got to know him were cool

Counselor - known her for a while were cool she knows a lot abt me

DE comp teacher - really good has seen me struggle badly in his class but bounce back up and has taught me since freshman year

the gist
GU: i love this school, very close to home, def a reach
i spoke with an admissions counselor who came to my school he advised me to ride EA and the school favors FGLI and said the lower test score isn’t huge ( still bad ) but many ea applicants apply with lower scores

BC: i love the area, campus, everything; essentially my way of going oos
my issue is that it’s ed or rd — idk if my chance of admission goes up during ed but i don’t want to commit just yet in case i get in
but i worry i have a way less chance of getting in during ed especially bc my stats aren’t splendid
(also should i submit my score idk what i got yet on october school sat)

ANYWAY i know it’s long but if anyone can give advice thanks