As the title says, what are my chances to get into a top European economics/finance university?

IB Predicted 43/45: MAA SL 7 PHYSICS HL 7 BUSINESS MANAGEMENT HL 7 COMPUTER SCIENCE SL 7 SPANISH B HL 7 ENGLISH LANG&LIT SL 5

Core 3/3: Extended Essay (econ heavy) A TOK B

SAT: 1450

And no, my school doesn’t offer economics in IB.

I’m fluent in English, Spanish and Swedish.

Any thoughts, advice?

Thanks in advance to anybody who took their time to help me out.

Intended major: poli sci

Demographics: male, multiracial, first gen, lower middle class household

Stats:

• 3.52 weighted GPA
• 8 APs (Got a 3 in seminar, 4 in lang, and 5 in gov. Taking enviro, stats, African American studies, euro, and lit)
• Got a D+ in both algebra 2 freshman year and pre calc junior year (im terrible at math) but everything else has been B to A range

Extra curriculars:

• Model UN (all 4 years)
• Student government (junior class president)
• School newspaper (all 4 years)
• GSA club (president)
• Young Democrats club (president/co-founder)
• Congressional Youth Cabinet for a congressman
• some smaller political organizations

I’m applying ED 1 and I’ve showed heavy demonstrated interest (tour, webinars, interview, meeting with my admissions rep). I also attend one of the top private schools in my state with financial aid.

This is my dream school (since I can’t get into Georgetown) so I’d appreciate some insight. My college counselor says I have a legitimate shot but I just want to get other opinions. Thx!

intl, female, no aid, Asian, no hooks

Major: Psych and neuro(for some lower ranked schools)

GPA 3.8UW, no rank

10 AP's:four 5's, four 4's, two 3's

SAT: 1500 subscore

Awards:

60k scholarship, BBO bronze, high honor roll, AP distinction, etc...

ecs:

1. internship. at a company, only HS student. strong bonds, my own research project + helping my prof. spent a lot of time, researching of the mental disorder I'm interested in.

2. created an organisation to help the mental disorder community. helped 50 families. programed a class system to keep families on track, collaborated with 10 other organisations(bc the disorder also effects my siblings)

3. published a book, in the field of the mental disorder i am interested in. 1000+ in sales, supported by school

4. personal blog, about mental disorders in general, top 1% of writers on the platform.

5. founded and pres of School club - related to bio, posted teaching materials, experiments, taught in total 50+ children and did bio experiments

6. leader in magazine club - increased profits by 10 times, programed website, either edited or wrote 10% of all articles

7. member in neuroscience club - planned and initiated a festival at school to bring awareness to the mental disorder, one of my classmates is affected and we tried to make him feel more included.

8.programed a game to better teach people about facts about the mental disorder. 10k plays

9. head of department for an organisation providing free educational resources, increased resources by 15 times

10. regular voulenteer at an organisation that is helping the mental disorder.

the mental disorder I'm talking ab has the characteristics of not being able to learn properly so most of my activities also revolved around education. where i live is very rigid in the educational system so i want to contribute to a change.

I'm applying emory ED as a psych major, PS and interviews are very strong so far, what are my chances?

Hi any suggestions to improve my chances are welcome

Intended Major(s): Mechanical Engineering

Demographics: Male, Indian SPR with primary education in Singapore and secondary and above at India

Academics:  96.4% in CBSE Grade 10 95.8% in CBSE Grade 12

SAT : 1450 (Math 780, English 670)

Extracurricular

Unique stuff: • 6 week stay-in summer research programme with stipend at IITM selected through Academics, Essays and a final interview. Worked along with 4 PhD scholars and a professor on Plasmids and the thermodynamics of knotted Proteins. • MATLAB certified

Usual stuff: • School Volleyball Team in final 2 years • Astronomy Club in Secondary School. • Elected as part of School Student Council a couple of times.

Awards 

1. Top 100 in an International Business Competition where we pitched our idea about a sustainable new gen household thermal generator.
2. High distinction in some Chemistry Olympiad organised by some Australian institute ( there was no Physics Olympiad TT )
3. Several UNSW Global high distinctions

LOR

Two solid ones from my closest teachers who have read my Research Papers I wrote as a personal project and recommended me to pursue Higher studies at countries with better opportunities

Demographics: Male, Indian, first gen, middle class

Intended Major(s): CS, engg.

SAT: haven't given yet( recent test scores; 1535 )

GPA(4.0 scale): 9TH : 3.1 (was admitted in hosp for 8 months straight with 1 month on venti.)

10th: 4.0

11th: 3.8

12th: (haven't given yet)

Coursework: (I am not sure of the equivalents but had to follow the standard indian curriculum - CBSE)

took french, AI, eng lit and grammar , math, phy, chem, bio and hindi in 9th and 10th

CS, phy, chem, maths for 11th and 12th.

Awards: best in IT for 2 consec years, ranked 43 out of 15000+ teams in a national entrepreneurship competition, in top 350 in same comp thrice, bronze in eng olympiad, gold in hindi, one of the top 5% of scorers in AI class 10th nationally, control award runner ups in ftc 2023.

Extracurriculars: Ambassador at my school tech club,

started an entrepreneurship club in my school,

thrice participant @ FTC,

150+ hours of community service as a lead outreach manager at an NGO to provide free steam education to marginalised communities,

played band at my school and won several awards,

corps cadet,

national science exhibition participant twice,

initiated a startup to provide peer to peer technical education,

intern at 2 tech startups for 2 and 3 years respec. as a peer mentor for robotics and programming.

Lead the FTC team for 3 yrs.

ICT prez in the student council.

wrote 3 research papers on quantum computing, ai and poli sci(idk why I did so), writing another one under the guidance of an AI prof.

working to start an AI solution to provide a personalized learning platform for slow learners and mental therapy as well (both are diff btw.)

has made a blockchain-based voting system and is being current;y used by 20+ local companies.

has developed an AI program to take lyrics and vocals as an input and automatically compose the music out of it(kinda debugging it so yeah sorta done w/ it)

have won several inter-school hackathons

also mentored different school and college students in robotics in the American centre (in India)

LORs: 1) A US embassy diplomat out here in India

2. my principal

3. my mentor for the FTC as well as the tech startup

4. an AI prof in an indian college rn (prolly)

idk yet where I stand so just need a reality check and what shld I focus on locking in? : ) What would be approximately my best bet according to these stats(working on my essays rn) for safety, reach or target schools?

STATS

• applying to psychology REGULAR decision
• no sat
• international student
• average 3.75 gpa / 4.00 (no APs obviously) also no class rank
• won exemplary merit award in grade 10 
• best in music subject award in grade 10
• Won my school's speech competition in grade 11
• grade rep for student council in grade 10
• social media administrator of student council in grade 11
• election comittee in grade 12 (also involves dealing with leadership development and training for uprising student council members)
• donation drive to local orphanage with the student council in grade 10 and 11
• taught underprivileged students basic computer skills in grade 12
• generation global international conference on womens rights
• byls national conference on recent global issues and trends
• gold medal english ICAS by UNSW
• 2nd place for psychology national competition
• 3rd place international essay competition by goipeace foundation japan
• executive committee and head of content in school’s sdg club
• was a person in charge/ head for school’s UN DAY event with the student council
• joined school’s singing club in grade 10 (have been singing since like elementary)
• after effects video editor for school’s broadcast club in grade 11 (ive been an after effects editor for 3-4 years)
• have an instagram editing account
• horse riding/ equestrian (personal hobby)

Texas student, Low Income, Going to a competitive high school, Applying for Biology.

Schools:

Baylor University

Florida State

Rice University

Texas A&M University

UT Austin

Trinity University

Tulane University

UC Davis

UC San Diego

GPA: 3.25uw 3.69w

Rank: 145/450 2nd Quartile

SAT: 1360(710 Math, 650 Reading)

AP's: Calculus BC, Macroeconomics, Gov, Biology, Chemistry, WHAP, Physics 1, Apush, Lit, Lang, Precal, Psychology

Extracurriculars: (Simplified & Not in order)

Clubs: Science Bowl, Astronomy(Co-founder and Co-President), HOSA, Tri-M, Chess Club(Co-founder)

1.Astronomy- Founded the club alongside other classmates and organized activities as a co-president

2.HOSA- All State competition runner up; Made top 5 in the houston area competition under the category medical reading, 1st place at school level medical math competition

3.Volunteer at place of worship for 5 consecutive years; estimated 220 volunteer hours, Construction and store volunteer

4.Marching Band and Band- Advanced to all-state auditions, 2x region band qualifier, area musician award, 3 years in varsity band

5.Worked as a sterilization Technician Intern at a local dental clinic

6.Shadowed the head dental surgeon

7.Summer Research Internship at the top medical school in my state under biochemistry, Grad Student and PHD Lab only;

8.Research project, 1 publication pending first author

9. Religious Leadership position

Awards: AP Scholar, Award for Academic Excellence, TMEA Area, TMEA Region, HOSA Area,

Essay: Really good, gotten reviewed by many people and they've all said its impressive

Also I explained all my low grades and the circumstances which led to those.

LOR’s

AP Bio Teacher 8/10: Great relationship with her

Band Director 9/10- known me for 4 years,

What are my chances with my reachers? Any college suggestions? I want to pursue pre-med so I can honestly apply for any major. Are there any alternative, less competitive majors that you would recommend besides biology given my stats?

Intended Major(s): Biology

Demographics: Male, low income (<70k), immigrant

Academics: 

3.8 UW/4.19 W

AP Calc BC (5), AP Psych (5), AP World (5), AP Lang (4), APUSH (4), AP Physics 1 (4)

12 APs throughout HS including senior year courses

1500 SAT (780 Math 720 Reading)

Extracurriculars

1. Varsity Basketball 4 years
2. President of Hospital Volunteering Club
3. Volunteer at special education center coaching individuals with down syndrome through basketball
4. Free private basketball training for local low-income athletes (~30 hours)
5. Church children's guide for summer camp
6. Choir 3 years
7. Molecular bio class/internship
8. Online reselling business generated 1k+ in revenue
9. Shadowed dentist

Awards 

1. AP Scholar w/ Distinction
2. All-League athlete

College List: Reaches - NYU, USC, Pomona, CMC, Bowdoin, WashU, UMich, UNC, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSB, UCI, UCSD, UC Davis, Cal Poly SLO

Targets - UofW, SDSU, Cal Poly Pomona

Safeties - CSUF, UCR, UCSC

Demographics: Gender, race/ethnicity, state, type of school, and hooks (URM, first generation, legacy, athlete, etc.)

• Male
• White, Georgia
• Extremely large Public school (5000), competitive South Florida, for 3 years, moved to extremely small private school (160, 36 in graduating class) for Senior Year in Georgia, (my dad lost his job) 

Intended Major(s): Economics

ACT/SAT: 32 ACT (35R/29M/32S/30E),1310 SAT (650M, 660RW),

UW/W GPA: 3.5UW, 5.23W 

Rank: Private School doesn’t do rank, 51/1300ish for Public School

Freshman Year I was top 10, the first semester of sophomore I was still in the top 10, 2nd-semester sophomore year IT WENT DOWNHILL, all of junior year was kind of a mess but I strung it together, I got a few C’s, I have relatively compensated for pretty much the rest being A’s in ALL AP/AICE/DE classes. I took zero regular-level classes in the first 3 years of high school, all Honors/AP/DE/AICE

Coursework: AP/IB/Dual Enrollment classes, AP/IB scores, etc

• APCSP (4), AP Human Geo (5), AP Psych (5), AP Lang (4), AP US History (4) 
• 2 Spanish Dual Enrollment Classes at local college 
• 9 AICE Courses 2 A Level (Business, Global Perspectives), 6 AS (Business, Global Perspectives, Marine Science, Language, General Paper, Geography) 
• AICE Diploma with Merit

Senior Year Schedule (super small school, limited options)

• IB Environmental Management HL (only the first year will not take test) 
• IB Literature and Language SL (I am doing an accelerated version and will take the test at the end of the year, not enough time to do everything required for HL) 
• IB Economics SL (1 year IB) 
• IB Math AA SL (only doing the first year) 
• Fiction to Film (required writing course for graduation?) 
• Weight Training (required because I am in 2 sports) Online classes necessary for graduation (Health Honors, World History Honors through Georgia Virtual) 

Awards:

• AICE Diploma w/ merit
• AP Scholar w/ distinction
• Freshman Year Top Scholar (top 10 in rank)
• Sophomore Year Top Scholar (top 10 in rank) 
• 3rd in Accounting Applications Florida DECA, qualifier for ICDC
• 7th in Financial Consulting Florida DECA, qualified for ICDC

Extracurriculars: 

• SAC (School Advisory Committee) Voted by my student body, I represented part of the student body (one of ten students) in voting funding decisions and voicing school issues 

• Model UN 3 year member, 2 year officer, PR manager 10th, Field Trip Coordinator/Secretary 11th (competed all 3 years, no outstanding delegates :(, but I got a few verbal commendations) 

• DECA 3 years, was part of class focused DECA Leadership Counsel initiative, selected by teacher to be a leader for the class (sounds silly but ehh)

• Crumbl, worked part time 10th and 11th grade

• Geography club, helped cofound this club in 11th grade, helped inform students about GIS systems and how important geography is to our world (HUGE passion of mine wish i did more with it other than grind geoguessr lol) 

• Varsity football (12th grade only at new school)  

• Early morning church class before school all 3 years, doing it on zoom call at night for 12th 

• want to put reading as one as I am extremely passionate about good literature, I’m a strong fan of the classics

Essays/LORs/Other:

Essays: Haven’t fully finished them but with my background (lived in China for 3 years, passionate about flags and cultures since I was a kid, strong learner, bit of trauma dumping here and there woooo) have many experiences and passions to connect to, my grade for essays would be Strong A, have had many of my teachers and family feel the same

LORs: AP Lang Teacher (B+), Church Leader(A+), Football Coach/Teacher (B) 

Reaches:

• Georgia Tech
• Purdue
• Indiana University Bloomington
• University Florida
• University of Georgia

Targets:

• Penn State
• University of Central Florida
• University of South Florida

Safeties:

• Georgia College & State University 
• Georgia Southern 

Gonna do AS MANY ED as possible, I will be grinding this month 

Would love some good advice and help, I'm feeling very apprehensive about this process and if I even have any chance with my horrible grades

• Volunteering Experience

Banner Hospital Phoenix- Supply Chain Department, Information Desk - 50+ hrs

Red Cross Club, Key Club- Community Outreach, Events - 40+ hrs

Tutoring - SchoolHouse, LearnToBe - 10+hrs

Hamilton Library Teen Tag - Volunteer at Events - Ongoing

Feed My Starving Children(food package) Warehouse member - 45+ hrs

• Academics

8 Ap (4 in junior, 4 in senior)

GPA unweighted 3.97/ GPA weighted 4.62

SAT superscore - 1450

Paper on CrisprCas-9 function and its recent improvements

• EC+clubs

Captain on Under 12 cricket team and member of Volleyball Team when I was in India

Martial Arts - Orange Belt(6months)

Founder and President of Cricket Club

Treasurer at Continuous Improvement Club

Member of National Honors Society, Link Crew, robotics,

Member of events committee in Red Cross

• Awards, Others

Brahmastra Drone Internship- Certificate/LOR

Active Citizens Program - Certificate of Achievement(2023)

Student of the Month, (2021-2022 school year)

Certificate of Excellence, (2022-23 school year)

Olympiad-English: 2017-2018 (Bronze)

AP Scholar with Honors

Foreign Language-2 indian languages + 3 years of Spanish

Demographics: white, (trans) male, mentally disabled, middle class, from LA

Intended major(s): Creative Writing, Japanese language

SAT: 1140 (all schools im applying to are test blind tho)

UNW GPA: 3.4 W: 3.7

Class Rank: 89/161

Coursework: 4 APs and 12 honors (including senior year) APs include: AP Bio (3) AP US History (4) AP African American Studies (currently taking) and AP Lit (currently taking)

Awards: High Honor roll & biliteracy seal

ECs:

-Published in my school’s Creative Writing magazine which is selective

-Have been creative writing since I could write (have been published three times officially and am a published author on a writing website)

-Club Rep/future VP of Japanese Club (I should have VP before I submit my app)

-25 hours community service (plan on getting more)

-Japanese language (self & class taught for 4+ years)

-ABA therapy for autism twice every week (idk if I’m actually gonna include this but it does eat up my time and is very important in helping me function like other ppl)

PIQs:

-“overcoming autism” n all that stuff schools like to hear about being successful even with a disability (challenge I overcame)

-How I used creative writing as a way to face my problems and help myself understand the world better (creative side)

-how I essentially fixed the dysfunctional Japanese club at my school (leadership)

-how I fought for my right to gender-affirming care w/ my birth mom and being able to stand up for myself (this will translate to me being able to actively get the help I need and knowing how to be independent)(what makes me a strong candidate)

I’m applying to all UCs except Merced

**Demographics**: Middle class, white, First-gen college student. From New York

***Intended Major**: Computer Science (second choice Engineering)

SAT: 1510, 750r 760m

**GPA:**

8th grade (counted cus of HS courses taken then) : 81
9th grade : 84
10th grade: 94
11th grade: 102

**Class Rank:** N/A

Coursework: 8 AP's, 4 DE's, (including classes for senior year)

\*\*Awards:\*\*School-issued awards for excellence in Criminal Law, Computer Science, English, and History.

Will do Seal of Biliteracy probably gonna get it

**Extracurriculars:**

Solo-coded Roblox game with 100k+ visits

Member and Group Leader of Superintendent Student Advisory Council Led a group that conducted a focus group at the elementary school and wrote a paper on methods used to promote belonging in the K-2 environment. Presenting to the superintendent of the school system

100hrs community service - quick question. This was court mandated cus of a speed ticket. Can I write it down on college?

President and Founder of Albanian Culture Club, organized large bake sales where we sold ethnic food

President and Founder of Computer Science Club, small club of about 20 students i taught them all how to code w/ python and use OpenAI api.

Made discord server for 1000 ppl over summer, hosted events in games. Self-coded discord bot in the server which ranks people in duels which has hosted more than 3500 duels since its creation.

Student Senate

self-taught coding. learned rbxLua, python, javascript

weightlifting - i just think its a big part of who i am there's not much else to it

**Essays / LOR:**

LOR 1 is from my italian teacher who likes me a lot. im outgoing in her class and i speak to her often. i am also great with italian so she probably prefers me over many students.

LOR 2 is from my AP Lang teacher who seems to like me a lot and is a really good writer, someone that I respect a lot. Probably gonna be 8/10. I perform very well in both of these classes and i heard from my 10th grade English teacher that she brought me up as a good student.

(sidenote, should i get a LOR from one of my STEM teachers instead since im going into Comp sci?)**Schools:**

UMiami, UFlorida, USC and Binghamton.

Look in no way am I saying that these stats are terrible or "cooked" or whatvever terrible stuff you guys say to each other, but nor do I say they are good. So before commenting "OH MA GOD I HATE THESE OVERACHIEVER KIDS THERE SO BLEHH" pls hear me out :).

is my sat ( 1530 790 math, 740 ela) a big difference from these kids with 1560, 1540, 1570 etc? Like I know the AO isnt gonna laugh , proceed to pee on my app and burn it but will I be at a disadvantaged stance if I apply to Duke, Vandy, HYBMS and UPenn?

GPA is 3.97 - I really hope this isnt gonna disadvantage me cause my course rigor is insane ( 24 APS lol)

Stats

• Class President

• President of Econ Club

• Debate Team Officer

• Intern in finance at a global corp

• advocacy organization that lobbies and instrumented policy and saved over 300 lives and over 6. M dollars in in house hospitalization costs ( not entirely us but yk we did do lots of protests)

• economics research at a local uni ( hopefully one pub but this lady said I wasnt getting any accreditation).

• medical research ( 4-5 pubs)

• health economic volunteering at a local therapist practice where I manage filing for drafts

• VP on entreprenuership club

• house of representatives internship.

I go to a highschool thats competitive ( so far rank 7 or smth).

CAN SOMEONE FROM A t20 pls tell me if I should retake or focus on other aspects of my app.

Okay so I have a 4.51 W and 3.92 UW rank: 2/57 which is fairly high HOWEVER I got 6 bs, 4 of which are in Spanish 💔 and 1 in basketball freshman year( my gut is still wrenching).

I took 20 dual enrollment mainly related to my major, sociology. Got As in all. Do you guys think that I still meet the threshold that schools are looking for? I’m eding to Columbia and I think my ecs and essay are fire but the Bs ARE RUINING MY LIFE

Hello everybody! I did a chance me a little bit less than a year ago, and now that my application is more locked down, I'm interested to see my chances again. I appreciate your feedback in advance.

Demographics: White, mid income, male, mid to small high school in New England. Both parents have graduate degrees (only one is employed). 5 children in household.

Major: Applied Math

GPA: Weighted 107.013, unweighted 96.913 (my school only reports on a 100 scale)

Rank: 1 of 154

Standardized Tests: 36 ACT (35 English, 35 Math, 36 Reading, 36 Science); 1570 SAT (790 EBRW, 780 M); 4 APs so far (all 5s) plus 3 being taken this year

Notable Coursework: 5 AP classes, 6 DE classes

Letters of Recommendation: 8/10 from math teacher, probably 6/10 from history teacher

Extracurriculars:

• FIRST Robotics Competition. Head of Marketing & Drive Coach. 100K+ social media reach annually. Led team to most prestigious award 5 times over.
• Scouts BSA. Senior Patrol Leader, Eagle Scout. Mentor younger Scouts
• Business Manager at local Scout Camp. Manage a budget of $300K+. Supervise 3-4 employees each summer.
• FIRST Volunteer. Serve in key roles at robotics events, including Head Referee, Emcee, Game Announcer, Planning Committee, and more.
• Significant role in local nonprofit. Student liaison to the board of directors. Director of FIRST Programs. Oversee a program that involves 100+ kids annually on youth robotics teams.
• Varsity Outdoor Track. Captain. Best in Track Events Award
• Varsity Boys Soccer. Captain. 2023 Conference Champions
• Student Government. Previously served as Treasurer and committee chair (directly managed 30+ students).
• Varsity Indoor Track. Captain. Best in Track Events Award
• US Soccer Referee. Referee youth soccer games. Served as referee and assistant referee for many state cup games.
• Other, less notable ECs

Awards:

• AP Scholar with Honor
• National Merit Commended Student
• Notable statewide award for outstanding STEM achievement (was only recipient in 2024)

Top Colleges:

• Stanford
• MIT
• Princeton
• Yale
• UConn
• Purdue
• RPI
• RIT
• Notre Dame
• UVA
• Plus schools where I'm more confident in getting accepted

Any thoughts? Do I have a decent chance of getting into at least one of the above schools?

Thank you in advance!!!

Intended Major(s): Urban Planning, Political Science

Demographics: Female, Filipino, mid tier magnet school, low income (<40k), first gen. immigrant

Academics: 

3.7 UW/4.4 W

AP Computer Science Principles (4), AP Human Geography (4), currently taking AP Precalculus, APUSH, and AP Lang. Also currently taking 3 dual enrollments.

Extracurriculars

1. Assistant editor-in-chief of school newspaper
2. President of FBLA
3. President of book club
4. Volunteer at city hall (~130 hours)
5. Street photography; Instagram account showcasing photos has 5k followers
6. Secretary of environmental association
7. Varsity quiz social media coordinator and team member

Past member of my school’s psychology, filipino and skills usa club

Next year I’ll be joining We the People, too!

Awards 

1. Best of SNO Distinction (x2), basically most online school newspapers use the SNO platform to create their website, and then the moderators of the platform pick out the best stories (15% acceptance rate)
2. 2nd place FBLA Journalism in the state
3. Quill & Scroll George H. Gallup Award, Editor Contribution
4. NSPA All-American w/ 4 marks of distinction

College List: University of Pittsburgh, UW, USC, UC Davis, Rutgers - New Brunswick, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Emory, Vassar College, University of Virginia

(reposted bc i need feedback) Hi! I would love to hear your thoughts on my chances. Also, if you have any suggestions of other schools where I could apply, that would be highly appreciated!

Demographics: Female, International, Hispanic, low-income, first-gen.
GPA: 94/100. Coursework: No AP or IB since they weren't available in my school, 2 honors classes (US history and World Literature)
Tests: 140/160 on Duolingo English Test, applying test-optional
Major: Political Science / International Affairs / Environmental Policy

Main ECs:

• MUN Club Founder and President: Raised $13k MXN to organize free MUN events in my state, peer-tutored for international MUNs, hosted weekly MUN meetings, and participated in 2 international. conferences.
• Student Council: Class President for 3 years, organized events for 120+ students, served on the education committee.
• The Pad Project: Ambassador in the Environmental Track, created social media posts reaching 100k+ views, helped collect menstrual products, conducted research about menstrual sustainability, and painted a mural in a local park.
• Environmental Club: Treasurer, responsible for designing sales strategies to raise funds, co-organized environmental fairs.
• Research: Authored a paper on microplastics in Mexico, supervised by an undergrad bioengineering student.
• Art Exposition Organizer: Organized a virtual art exposition highlighting LGBTQ+ young Mexican artists in honor of Pride Month.
• Whale Conservation Volunteer: Raised money at local farmers' markets, spread awareness to boatmen and tourists, participated in field trips for whale research.
• Bird Shelter Volunteer: Volunteered weekly, took care of endangered birds, fed them, ensured their well-being, and cleaned their areas.
• Science Summer Program: Attended a summer program at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (best public uni in the country).
• Public Policy Program: Participated in a program exclusive to young women interested in public policy organized by the National Electoral Institute; developed an online blog, gave weekly talks to schools around the country about preventing SA in children, and illustrated a comic about the same topic.
• Museum Guide: As a Museum Guide for the virtual Anne Frank Center Argentina, I led tours for groups and individuals across Latin America, providing insights into Anne Frank's life and ensuring an engaging, interactive experience.

Awards

• First Place ($3000 MXN), Public Speaking Competition: Gave a speech on gender violence in Mexican youth - State level.
• Renaissance Award: Annually given to the most outstanding student in the graduating class.
• Humanities Award: Annually given to the most outstanding student in the humanities field.
• Honor Jacket: Awarded to outstanding seniors in recognition of academic excellence at the school level.
• Talentum Award: given to the best project of the public policy program

LORs:

• History and Philosophy Teacher:  advisor of the MUN Club, can speak about my critical thinking and passion for humanities.
• Biology Teacher: helped me secure volunteering opportunities. advisor of the Environmental Club, and recommended me for the summer program, can attest to my dedication to environmental issues.

Schools:
Early Action: Centre College, DePauw University, Drexel University, Furman University, Gettysburg College, Colorado College, Loyola University of Chicago, Macalester College, Rhodes College, St. Olaf University, University of Richmond, Wake Forest University, Union College, Loyola Maryland, Simmons University, Wesleyan College.
Early Decision I: Smith College
Considering for EDII just in case: Brandeis University

Hi! I'm a college senior offering high schoolers assistance with writing and revising college essays and supplementals in my free time. I primarily use Zoom to give feedback. I will be accepting only a few students as of now since I already have a couple. Feel free to DM me for more details on rates, and good luck with your applications, everyone! :)

not a bot btw lol

International student

High School Graduate (Academic Year 2023-2024) GPA: 3.8/4

Test Scores SAT: 1400 TOEFL: 102 Certifications ICDL (International Computer Driving License) Score: 97/100 Extracurricular Activities Painting (7 years): Participated in online classes during the pandemic. Artwork, including oil paintings and charcoal drawings, was exhibited in a gallery.

Guitar (7 years): Studied continuously until 11th grade. Performed in a venue.

Soccer (6 years): Played before the pandemic, participated in Provincial league .

Chess (5-6 years): Competed in both team and individual tournaments. Continued online training during the pandemic.

Community Service Teaching Technology to Underprivileged Children: Taught ICDL to children with limited access to technology.

Teaching Technology to the Elderly: Assisted elderly individuals with learning basic computer skills.

Volunteering in Food Distribution: Participated in providing food and essential supplies to those in need.

Skills Technical Skills: Proficient in computer science, artificial intelligence, and technology education.

Languages: proficient in English (TOEFL 102).

Additional Information Due to respiratory issues during the COVID-19 pandemic, i remained in quarantine longer than most peers, studying independently without external help. Despite challenges, successfully passed all courses and returned to in-person schooling in the 12th grade. I was in complete quarantine from the middle of the 8th to the 12th grade. (Getting a Python degree on coursera) I talking about American universities.

I’m a bit nervous to be posting here, but if I get any useful advice it’ll be worth it I suppose

I’m a first-gen Latina, lower-middle income in CT, currently planning to major in Environmental Studies/related environmental majors

• GPA/Classes: 3.7UW/3.8W (had to convert from a 5.0 scale - idk if that’s relevant), 2/200 rank, 9 APs by graduation, with four 5s and one 4, high honors every year

• ECs: Mostly environment related - Task Manager at my school’s Environmental Club, member of an environmental initiative group that has conducted plantings to protect our coast/butterflies (both joined end of junior year-ish), library volunteering over this summer to present, Keyettes member since end of sophomore year (but I didn’t really do anything there). Hopefully I’ll have around 50 hrs for volunteering by graduation.

• Honors?: I got student of the month for Social Studies, an award for a position paper at a state MUN conference, AP Scholar w/ Distinction, Collegeboard National Recognition Program for Latina/First Gen, Dartmouth Book Award, medals for AP Spanish/APUSH (if anyone can tell me how to order these on common app, it would be appreciated!)

• My essay seems to be pretty mid - not bad, just not the most unique - and I expect pretty decent LORs from two teachers.

Here are the schools I’m most interested in:

• Mount Holyoke College
• Connecticut College

(I got into the fly-in programs for both)

• College of the Atlantic
• Franklin and Marshall College
• Bryn Mawr College
• St. Lawrence University
• Wesleyan University
• SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry

Also applying to Colgate University and Union College, mainly for their financial aid

Please be brutally honest, I’d rather be met with more surprises than disappointments when seeing my acceptances.

I’m just gonna preface this by saying tons of stuff here is unorthodox, from coursework to my college list…. I’m graduating high school next year but here’s where I’m at rn. Trying to see how I can improve, I’m open to suggestions about extracurriculars etc.

Intended majors: I’m going to be pre vet med, so I’m applying animal science at the places that have it and bio otherwise.

Residence: Chicago

Hooks: female, learning disorder (is that even a hook?), might be low income? My family has too many assets.

ACT/SAT: not planning to take either, I’m not great at big standardized tests.

Gpa: 4.0, would be much higher if my school weighed.

Coursework: I’ve taken 10 DE so far, by the time I graduate I’ll have 16. I’ll end high school with an associates in bio. Rest of my classes are normal.

Awards: being in my colleges honor society. I know this is a weak point so I’ve been entering local competitions. I don’t see myself winning anything prestigious that is related to my major.

Extracurriculars: Small unique team sport that I won’t disclose: I’ve taken part since third grade. My team wins tons of local competitions each year and we won sectionals my freshman year. I won an award that is basically the same as being named team captain in other sports three times, twice in high school.

Phi theta kappa: started this year, my DE community college’s honor society. I’m vice president of our chapter rn. There’s a good chance I’ll be president next year since I’m one of two current officers that isn’t graduating in the spring. We write a “study topic” once a year and submit it to get a score (it’s like a research paper but it has fewer sections and is formatted weirdly). It’s my first year so I don’t know if we’ll get a score worth noting. My role is to organize our annual college-wide community service project. We are fairly involved with administration, we speak to the college’s president once in a while, etc.

Figure skating: since first grade. Nothing interesting here. Passed a few tests that are considered above average in the skating world.

Internship at rink’s newsletter: since sophomore year. I do the graphic design of the newsletter and write one article per newsletter. It only goes out 3 times per year.

Skating coach: during sophomore year. I had to leave because my course schedule became too intense. I know this looks bad, but I figured it would be better than bad grades.

Volunteering at animal shelters: again nothing interesting. About 200 hours. I just do it because I enjoy it and I guess it fits into wanting to be a vet.

LORs: one of my professors in a random class really liked me and asked to use a paper I wrote as an example for future students. Also the two STEM professors I have right now should write great letters if I’m not close to the profs I have next year. LORs are probably where I’ll stand out.

Schools: I need to go somewhere where I’ll get at least full tuition, so my list reflects that. I honestly don’t care too much about prestige, I just don’t want to rack up debt when I also have to go to vet school. I have a really complicated financial aid situation so I probably won’t get much fafsa money. I don’t think I’m going to be applying to many targets, because T20s give lots of endowment money and I’ll hopefully get merit aid from safetys.

Reach: UChicago, northwestern, Cornell, UPenn, - will add more

Target: Berea college, uflorida, ugeorgia

Safety: Warren Wilson Illinois state (I know someone with similar DE that got full tuition) Barry u Aurora u Northern Illinois Southern Illinois edwardsville Southern Illinois Carbondale Northeastern Illinois Eastern Illinois
Western Illinois U of I Springfield I know this part of the list is ridiculous “___ Illinois university” but if I actually want my DE to transfer it’s easier to go somewhere in state.

Overall takeaways: How do I improve my extracurriculars and ideally get a job? I’ve tried before but I just don’t know how to manage it while being a college student half time + high school. Even if my app isn’t strong enough for top schools it has to be good for merit aid at safetys.

Demographics: black (african descent) female :)

Intended Major(s): Political science, alternates are human rights, literature

ACT/SAT/SAT II: going test-optional which is apparently AWFUL for an intl lol (i got an 1160 we don't talk about it i cried when i opened collegeboard, although i only studied for like two weeks at most)

UW/W GPA and Rank: 88/100, probably by the end of grade 12 it will be like 95😉 (this is probably the worst part of my whole application lol)

Coursework: my school doesn't have ap/ib or anything like that... but i took the hardest and most beneficial classes available to me

Awards: Delf b1, another french exam (international) academic honuors (school) and school nominee for a diversity and inclusion commitee (school/regional)

Extracurriculars: Include leadership & summer activities

Writing (i'm a novelist in my freetime)

Co-founder of school's BSA

Volunteer at local food bank (raised $800 for charity through fundraising)

Did a co-op at a local non profit, organized a job fair

Language learning, self-studied French with certificates of proficiency

Nominated member of equity and inclusion committee

Two part time jobs

Essays/LORs/Other: 

I ❤️ my common app essay, I wrote it about novel-writing. IMO it's very strong, I've had multiple people tell me that. For my LORs, I asked one humanities teacher at my school, we have a good relationship i guess, he's taught me twice and was happy to write it. I also asked my French teacher. And I asked the supervisor of the BSA :). I'm also going to ask my work manager.

Schools: In the US, I narrowed my list of only 5 schools: Columbia, New York University, Howard, Boston University, and University of Chicago.

I'm also going to be applying to others in Canada, in the case that I get rejected from all my US schools.

okay byeeeeeeee (and good luck to everyone this cycle!! although not really good luck cause we're all competing lol!)

Demographic: Indian Male - Midsize Public High School - 200-300K

Stats:

• 4.0 UW /5.22 W (My schools does weighted weirdly, but I'm near if not highest in the school)
• School doesn't rank.
• 1600 SAT

APs Taken:

• 9 taken, all 5s

Major Applying For:

Computer Science

Extracurricular Activities:

1. Human Computer Interaction Research at t20 - 1 year, Avg. 12 hours school year 40 hrs summer (Should I include commute times? If so add 3.5 hours *5 days during the summer.) Co-authored a paper (third author) at a high impact conference in the field. (Generally considered to be one of the top in the field by researchers. Also, conferences are more reputable in CS, my lab doesn't even submit to journals). Led a project during the summer, but didn't get too far.
2. Taekwondo+Tang Soo Do - 10 years, avg 8 hrs/week: 3rd Dan Black belt, multiple national competitions. Selected for AAU National team last year, and represented U.S. at WUKF World Karate Championships.(Tang Soo Do is considered korean karate so I could compete in this).
3. Program leader Karate Program at nonprofit - 2 months, 2 hrs/week: I create karate lessons to improve balance, motor skills and confidence in kids with a specific physical disability. I started this at the end of summer this year, but def my most meaningful extracurricular.
4. Tech Club - 3 years Co-Captain, 2 hrs/week: We do tech projects and stuff. I also founded a competitive coding team sophomore year, which became a branch of the club. I also organize tech help volunteering at a retirement community.
5. Math Team - 3 years member, this year President, 2 hrs/week: Top scorer on our team, I like math team a lot. I run a weekly Honors Math Team practice, completely student led, compete in arete labs and prep for AMC and the state competition.
6. App Developer - 6 months, 7 hrs per week (mostly for fun during the weekends): I made an app that uses google's mediapipe pose detection to provide feedback for physical skills. Instructors can make courses teaching martial arts/dance/sports and upload videos. Users can access courses, and watch the tutorials. Then they submit a video and they are evaluated against a vid by the instructor based on key body angles. Think Khan Academy, but for physical skills. This started as a project for my Comp. Sci class, but I eventually took it to the next level. Also, this is NOT going to be published in time for college apps.

Awards:

• Honorable Mention at the conference I mentioned previously. (~600 papers were submitted to the conference, ~150 were accepted, and this award makes our paper top 8)
• Silver Junior Olympics Taekwondo (Open Poomsae)
• Bronze Junior Olympics Karate (Kumite)
• 2x AIME Qualifier (I got a 6 at AIME last year)
• National Merit Semifinalist
• USACO Silver (Didn't focus on this too much. Am trying to lock in and get gold in december for RD)

Senior Course Load:

• 6 AP's, pretty hard classes relative to the school.

Letter of Recs:

• Comp. Sci. Teacher: I have had him all of high school, I expect a good letter. He is also the head math team coach and made me president. He speaks very highly of me, and I am def the best student in his class in my grade.
• English Teacher: I like to contemplate a lot lmao, and we did a lot of socratic seminars in that class. She made it clear that she would love to write me a letter.
• Research Advisor: Idk abt this one lol, he expects very highly of people. But he is super kind, and I think I have done a good job throughout so hopefully a good letter.

Essays:

I hope they are good lmao, not the best writer so this will probably be my weakest part of the application.

My Schools (in order of where I wanna go most):

1. Stanford (Not sure if I should do REA or RD. This is my dream school, so I want to wait till RD to make my app better, but I also want to get it over with so I can get the decision sooner. Advice?)
2. MIT (RD)
3. CMU (RD)
4. UC Berkeley 
5. UIUC (EA, in-state - but pure CS)
6. Princeton (RD)
7. Harvard (RD)
8. Georgia Tech (EA)
9. UW Madison
10. If I don’t get into any of these I will probably go to community college, because it is not worth it to spend that much money.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you all think!

Intended major: Finance / accounting

Go to a very competitive public HS

3.73 UW, 5.34 W - mid gpa ik

1520 SAT Superscore (780 Math, 740 English)

11 APs- mostly 4s and 5s- took all honors if not an AP

Low income asian american first gen

ECS:

Founder and president of 501c3 nonprofit (has good stats),Finance company internship, insurance agency internship,Stage manager and treasurer of theater company, treasurer of honors society,Leadership in another club, 2 jobs, Competitive Dancer & assistant teacher for 10 years, Summer program at umich for econ

Strong essay

List of just my reaches:

ED- Boston College

EA- Umich, USC

RD- UCLA, UCI, UCSB, UCD, UC Berk, NYU

Is it possible for me to get in ED to Boston College?? I know their acceptance rate for ED is higher, so hoping my kinda mid stats can be overlooked a little.

Need help on ED. Considering ED to Cornell just see what happens.

Gender: Male

Race: Asian

Income: no financial aid

Area: US

School: Moderately competitive public High School

Rank: there are no ranks at our school

Intended major: Computer Engineering/Physics

SAT: 1530 (780 math, 750 reading writing)

GPA:

Freshman Year: 4.01

Sophomore Year: 3.8

Junior Year: 4.65

CUM. GPA: 4.11

Coursework: 4 AP's completed. Taking 6 senior year.(I always took the hardest courses available at my school)

Essays: For my Common App essay I was about my struggles with academic failure after transitioning from remote to in-person learning, leading to unhealthy coping mechanisms. They ultimately find balance by embracing failure, asking for help, and shifting their mindset, drawing parallels between cooking and life.

(I had former IVY league admissions officers read it, they said it was one of the best essays they have read)

Supplementals:

I focus on how I intend to solve issues drug discovery for rare diseases using quantum computing. The admissions officer of an IVY said it was very good.

ECs:

• Ranking: 1
• Activity Type: Other Club/Activity
• Position/Leadership description: Founder and President
• Organization Name: Pre-Med Club
• Description: Founded and grew club to 60+ members. Led bi-weekly meetings about medical fields, hosted doctors as guest speakers, headed outreach campaigns.
• Participation Grade Levels: 9 (I started this in my junior high school so could not continue in upper grades)
• Timing of participation: During School
• Hours spent per week: 2
• Weeks spent per year: 16
• Intend to participate in college: Yes
• ____________________________________________________________________________________________
• _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Ranking: 2
• Activity Type: Research
• Position/Leadership description: N/A
• Organization Name: Research
• Description: Used molecular biology techniques to analyze & publish gene sequence of Theiorodoxin from Duckweed to NCBI; presented research to district directors.
• Participation Grade Levels: 11
• Timing of participation: During School Year
• Hours spent per week: 3
• Weeks spent per year: 8
• ____________________________________________________________________________________________
• _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Ranking: 3
• Activity Type: Academic
• Position/Leadership description: N/A
• Organization Name: Columbia Pre-College Summer Program
• Description: Studied Data Science/Machine Learning. Led team to build real-time stock prediction AI model using TensorFlow, scikit-learn, pandas, and Seaborn.
• Participation Grade Levels: 12
• Timing of participation: School Break
• Hours spent per week: 40
• Weeks spent per year: 3
• ____________________________________________________________________________________________
• _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Ranking: 4
• Activity Type: Academic
• Position/Leadership description: Co-Captain
• Organization Name: Science Olympiad
• Description: Placed 5th in state for Bio Process Lab. Organized weekly meetings, created practice exams, mentored teammates, and led mock competitions.
• Participation Grade Levels: 9
• Timing of participation: During School
• Hours spent per week: 2
• Weeks spent per year: 20
• ____________________________________________________________________________________________
• _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Ranking: 5
• Activity Type: Academic
• Position/Leadership description: Member
• Organization Name: Code Club
• Description: Organized presentations on circuit basics for elementary students and hosted data science and quantum computing bootcamps.
• Participation Grade Levels: 11
• Timing of participation: During School
• Hours spent per week: 1
• Weeks spent per year: 20
• ____________________________________________________________________________________________
• _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Ranking: 6
• Activity Type: Religious
• Position/Leadership description: N/A
• Organization Name: Volunteer, Temple Assistance
• Description: Organized events & marketing, assisted with ceremonies during weekly services and festivals. Prepared food offerings, maintained temple grounds.
• Participation Grade Levels: 9,10,11,12
• Timing of participation: All Year
• Hours spent per week: 2
• Weeks spent per year: 45
• Intend to participate in college: Yes
• ____________________________________________________________________________________________
• _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Ranking: 7
• Activity Type: Community Service
• Position/Leadership description: Member
• Organization Name: Community Volunteering
• Description: Hosted 8 SAT tutoring classes. Special need soccer coach volunteer. Assisted park cleanups. Staffed flea market, chess & ceramic courses.
• Participation Grade Levels: 9,10,11,12
• Timing of participation: All Year
• Hours spent per week: 2
• Weeks spent per year: 50
• ____________________________________________________________________________________________
• _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
• Ranking: 8
• Activity Type: Community Service (Volunteer)
• Position/Leadership description: N/A
• Organization Name: Butterfly Project
• Description: Organized fundraiser, raising $100+. Led promotion, managed donations, coordinated volunteers. Boosted engagement by dressing teacher as clown.
• Participation Grade Levels: 9
• Timing of participation: During School
• Hours spent per week: 4
• Weeks spent per year: 5

Personal Stats: Male, White (European), Missouri, Private Catholic All Boys School, Intended Major: Biology (Pre-Med) Intended Career: Pediatric Neurosurgeon

GPA/Scores:

ACT: 32 Science 35 Reading 34 English 32 Math 28 (Test Optional for Reaches)

UW GPA: 3.98 Weighted GPA 4.60 (Don’t do class rank)

Classes: 10 AP Classes 11 Honors Classes

5 AP Bio 5 AP Lang 4 AP Chem 4 APUSH 4 AP World

Honors:

AP Scholar With Distinction, Academic Letter/First Honors, 2x Academic Student of the Semester, Winner of the De La Salle Scholarship, NHS/School Honors Program Inductee

ECs:

NHS President: created nhs toy drive and donated 500 toys to charity made new service project voting system, created NHS groupchat/event calendar, tI tored chemistry for 10+ hours to multiple kids, had an additional 50+ hours of service related to nhs

President(Former Secretary) Pre-Med Club: Recruited 20+ new members Coordinated 5+ speakers/15+ labs; Led reaffiliation with HOSA, Gained funding for club events/trips from school. Got permission to attend SLU cadaver lab

Crisis Nursery Volunteer: Oversaw care of 50+ children, aided in 25+ speech, occupational, and physical therapy sessions, and supported nursery operations volunteered 100 hours

Lifetime Fitness Facility Operations and Safety Response team member: responded to 5+ medical emergencies; CPR/First Aid Trained/Certified; assured Safety/Security for 6000+ Members

2x Esports Team Captain: 7th HSEL National Championship;4th HSEL Fall National Qualifiers; Recruited/mentored 5 new players; developed strategies for 10maps played 50+ matches

SLU Aims camp Atendee: Engaged in 5+ simulation surgeries on cadavers; interacted 20+ guest speakers;did 5+ hands-on dissections; Engaged with 70+ Healthcare inspired peers

3x School Lacrosse Team Captain: Made permanent team groupchat+assured attendance; led team to a 9-1 season as sophomore; Defensive MVP in 2023; Started in 60+ games

Freshmen Mentor: Assisted 30+ freshmen in homeroom; provided weekly tutored 50hr in and out of school. Assisted in class registration, tech setup and campus navigation

School Ambassador: Guided 5+ prospective students on shadow days; volunteered at 5 parent showcases and 2 open houses; promoted school to 30+ potential students/parents

School Honors Program: Created portfolio detailing achievements; delivered 2 presentations on school career; produced 4 videos showcasing project contributions.

Letters of Rec: AP Bio Teacher: 10/10 she did extensive groundbreaking biology research well known throughout the state known her since before attending school and has talked with her multiple times a week every week for the past 4 years+ have been in 3 of her classes and the president of her club which I have also attended all 4 years

APUSH Teacher: 8/10 writes phenomenal rec letters and is a nation renowned APUSH teacher leading many conferences writes down specific instances of amazing instances from you as a student

Essay: 8/10 wrote about saving someone’s life at my job and how it revolutionized solidified and changed my passion for medicine from just a Career to a commitment to myself to always be there for others when it matters most

Additional Info:

Completed an additional 50 hours of school required service at children’s religious summer camp

List of Schools

EA: University of Missouri Columbia SLU Creighton (Pre Prof Program) Case Western (Pre Prof Program)

RD: Notre Dame Emory Northwestern U Chicago Vanderbilt Wash U STL Johns Hopkins Duke

FAFSA is SO SO SO important when you're determining how to fund your college. Here is exactly how you can navigate FAFSA and how you can apply for and win as much money as possible! Even if you're not applying this cycle, save this post for the future and send it to anyone who might find it helpful!

1. Understanding What FAFSA Is and Why It Matters

The FAFSA is a form administered by the U.S. Department of Education that determines your eligibility for federal financial aid. Many states and colleges also use FAFSA data to award their own aid.

Why It's Important:

• Access to Federal Aid: Grants (like Pell Grants), federal student loans, and work-study programs.
• State and Institutional Aid: Scholarships, grants, and loans offered by states and colleges often rely on FAFSA information.
• Annual Requirement: You need to submit a new FAFSA each academic year to remain eligible for aid.

2. Important Deadlines to Keep in Mind

Submitting your FAFSA early increases your chances of receiving aid since some programs have limited funds. Be aware of federal, state, and institutional deadlines.

Key Deadlines:

Note: State and college deadlines may be earlier than the federal deadline.

• State Deadlines: Check your state's specific deadline here.
• College Deadlines: Visit your college's financial aid website or contact their financial aid office.

Tip: Mark all relevant deadlines on a calendar or set reminders to ensure you don't miss them.

3. Gather Necessary Documents Before Starting

Having all required information on hand makes the FAFSA process smoother and reduces the likelihood of errors.

Documents You'll Need:

• Personal Information:
  • Social Security Number (SSN)
  • Driver's license (if you have one)
  • Alien Registration Number (if you're not a U.S. citizen)
• Financial Information:
  • Federal income tax returns (yours and your parents', if you're a dependent student)
  • W-2 forms and records of money earned
  • Bank statements and records of investments
  • Records of untaxed income (e.g., child support, interest income)
• Other:
  • FSA ID (create one for yourself and one for a parent at fsaid.ed.gov)

Tip: Keep these documents organized in a folder for easy access during the application process.

4. Determine Your Dependency Status

Your dependency status determines whether you need to provide parental information on your FAFSA.

Dependency Questions:

• Are you 24 years or older?
• Are you married?
• Do you have dependents (children or others) who receive more than half of their support from you?
• Are you an orphan, in foster care, or a ward of the court?
• Are you a veteran or active duty member of the U.S. armed forces?

If you answer "Yes" to any of these questions, you're considered an independent student and generally won't need to provide parental information. Otherwise, you're a dependent student and must include your parents' financial details.

Table: Dependency Determination (Example Template for You to Fill Out)

5. Create Your FSA ID

Your FSA ID is a username and password combination that allows you to sign your FAFSA electronically.

How to Create an FSA ID:

1. Visit fsaid.ed.gov.
2. Provide your email address, and create a username and password.
3. Enter your personal information (SSN, date of birth).
4. Set up challenge questions for account security.
5. Confirm your email address through a verification link sent to you.

Note: Dependent students will need a parent to create their own FSA ID as well.

6. Use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT)

The IRS DRT allows you to securely transfer your tax information directly into your FAFSA, simplifying the process and reducing errors.

Benefits of Using the IRS DRT:

• Accuracy: Minimizes mistakes by importing exact figures.
• Convenience: Saves time by avoiding manual data entry.
• Speed: May reduce the likelihood of being selected for verification.

How to Use It:

• When prompted in the FAFSA application, click "Link to IRS."
• Enter the requested information to authenticate your identity.
• Transfer the data into your FAFSA.

Limitations:

• Not available to everyone (e.g., those who filed taxes recently, filed as "Married Filing Separately," or amended their tax returns).

7. Complete Each Section Carefully

The FAFSA is divided into several sections. Taking your time to fill out each part accurately is crucial.

Sections Overview:

1. Student Demographics: Your personal information.
2. School Selection: List the colleges you plan to attend.
3. Dependency Status: Questions to determine if you need to provide parental information.
4. Parent Demographics (if dependent): Parents' personal and financial information.
5. Financial Information: Income and assets for you (and your parents, if applicable).
6. Sign and Submit: Review your information and sign with your FSA ID.

Tips:

• Double-Check Entries: Ensure names match exactly as they appear on official documents.
• Use Exact Figures: Avoid rounding numbers unless instructed.
• Answer All Questions: If a question doesn't apply, enter "0" or "Not Applicable" as directed.

8. List All Schools You're Considering

You can list up to 10 colleges on your FAFSA. These schools will receive your FAFSA information and consider you for financial aid.

Why This Matters:

• Financial Aid Offers: Each school will use your FAFSA data to create a financial aid package if you are accepted.
• State Aid Eligibility: In some states, the order in which you list schools can affect your eligibility for state grants.

Tips:

• Include All Potential Schools: Even if you're unsure, it's better to list any school you're considering.
• Updating Schools: If you apply to more than 10 schools, you can submit your FAFSA with 10, then replace some schools with others and resubmit.

9. Sign and Submit Your FAFSA

An unsigned FAFSA is incomplete and won't be processed.

Steps to Sign and Submit:

1. Review Your Information: Carefully check each section for accuracy.
2. Sign Electronically: Use your FSA ID to sign. Dependent students will need a parent's FSA ID for their signature.
3. Submit the Application: Click "Submit" and wait for the confirmation page.
4. Save Confirmation: Print or save the confirmation page for your records.

Note: You'll receive a confirmation email once your FAFSA is processed.

10. Review Your Student Aid Report (SAR)

After submitting the FAFSA, you'll receive a Student Aid Report summarizing your application.

What to Do:

• Check for Errors: Review all the information to ensure it's correct.
• Expected Family Contribution (EFC): Note this figure; it's used by schools to determine your financial need.
• Make Corrections if Necessary: Log back into your FAFSA account to make any needed changes.

Tip: Corrections should be made as soon as possible to avoid delays in financial aid processing.

11. Respond Promptly to Verification Requests

About 30% of FAFSA applications are selected for verification, which means you'll need to provide additional documentation.

If You're Selected:

• Don't Panic: It's a routine process.
• Provide Requested Documents: This may include tax transcripts, W-2s, or a verification worksheet provided by your school's financial aid office.
• Meet Deadlines: Submit all documents promptly to avoid delays in receiving aid.

12. Understand How Financial Aid Is Calculated

Financial aid is based on your financial need, which is calculated using the following formula:

Cost of Attendance (COA) – Expected Family Contribution (EFC) = Financial Need

Components Explained:

• Cost of Attendance (COA): The total estimated cost for one academic year, including tuition, fees, room and board, books, supplies, transportation, and personal expenses.
• Expected Family Contribution (EFC): A measure of your family's financial strength calculated from the information provided on your FAFSA.

Example Calculation:

Note: Schools use this financial need to determine how much aid you are eligible to receive.

13. Explore Additional Financial Aid Options

The FAFSA is a gateway to various types of financial aid, but it's also important to seek out additional funding sources.

Other Options:

• Scholarships and Grants: Offered by private organizations, companies, nonprofits, and your college.
• Work-Study Programs: Part-time jobs offered through the college to earn money for educational expenses.
• State Aid Programs: Some states offer grants or scholarships based on FAFSA data or separate applications.
• Private Loans: Should be considered carefully and used only after exploring all federal aid options.

Tip: Regularly check for scholarship opportunities and be mindful of application deadlines.

Common Mistakes to Avoid (Important)

Avoiding these common errors can help ensure your FAFSA is processed smoothly:

• Missing Deadlines: Submit your FAFSA as early as possible.
• Incorrect Personal Information: Ensure your name and SSN match your official documents.
• Incomplete Fields: Don't leave any required fields blank.
• Using the Wrong Website: Only submit your FAFSA through the official site at studentaid.gov.

School: Harvard, Duke, UPenn, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Cornell, Northwestern, Columbia, all ivies

Demo: Midwest area (state: IL) Big public school (900+/class) White male

Stats: 5.33/5.33 WGPA (max weighted gpa) Class rank: 1/933 SAT: 800 Math 760 Reading 9 APs (school only lets us start taking aps in junior year) 14 High honors courses 5s on AP Calc BC, Biology, and US History 4 on AP Lang 3 on AP Latin (might not submit) Currently taking AP Physics C, AP Chemistry, AP Econ, AP Lit, and Honors MV Calculus

Major: Applying as Bioengineering, BME, or Chemical engineering

ECs:

• Started service club for homeless at school (50+ members) 11-12

-BU RISE program (<5% acceptance) 12 -1/7 on national board of large student economic organization with multiple chapters world wide (1000+ members) 12 -School Math Team 9-12 -School captain for homeless organizations student service board 10-12 -Astrophysics Research program at NU 11 -Club soccer 9-11 -School soccer 9-11 -Internship at chemical engineering startup 12 -Piano 9-12

Awards: National Merit Semifinalist (probably going to get finalist) M3 Challenge Second round Various math competition awards from school math team National Latin Exam Gold 9-10

Letters of Rec: 9/10 from AP Bio teacher-i’m probably going to major in bioengineering and he helped me become interested in that 9/10 from AP Lang teacher-We got along very well in class

Essay: Personal statement is 9/10-wrote about interest in genetic engineering basically

Please help me!