demographics: black, female, VA resident 😭, fgli (>45k)

intended major(s): poli sci/public policy/IR

sat: ~1380 — RW 730 math 650, didn’t go test optional avg sat for my county 1000s + uva is test optional anyway

gpa & rank: top 6% in my class w a 4.3/4.5 unweighted

coursework: full ib (13 in jr + sr year) + 2 APs (comp gov 4, us gov self study in free period)

awards + honors (not detailed so i’m not doxxed):

• qb finalist & college prep scholar
• 3x model un awards, 1 local, 1 national, 1 international (gaveled once)
• part of committee that helped create regulations for an academy partnered w/ local university
• student panelist for statewide education convention & presented data alongside superintendent
• worked w/ non profit and huge org. to transform a room in my school + spokesperson for local and national news coverage

ecs:

• student member on county school board
• executive officer for model un @ my school
• co-founded my schools bsu
• nhs prez
• youth naacp officer
• violin first chair
• senior class prez/jr class officer
• tutoring
• digital media creator
• i have a job to help with familial finances

essays/lors/others:

• club director/teacher 11/10
• foreign lang teacher 8/10
• counselor 10/10
• my essays were looked at by even uva students and all of both agreed they were amazing

seriously, what did i do wrong? everyone around me that applied to uva some even with similar stats to me (around 20 applicants per year) got in - i’m like the only one i know who got rejected and i feel like such an idiot

i feel even worse because now people keep asking me how i didn’t get in and “did i even apply because how did you not get accepted” and it hurts so bad i can’t stop crying it was my absolute dream

Demographics: International, Female, Black-African 10k EFC - Applying for Aid Intended Major: Biomedical Engineering, Systems Engineering
Languages: Fluent in French, Spanish, Fula, Wolof, and English
Citizenship: Non-U.S. (Senegal)

Academic Achievements:

• GPA: 16/20 (Weighted), Rank 8/30
• SAT: 1500 (710 English, 790 Math)
• Duolingo English Test (DET): 140
• Honors:
  • Gold Medal in Water4Future 2023 Hackathon (International)
  • Full scholarship to a prestigious science-focused high school (Top 2% nationally)
  • Excellence Award for maintaining a 14+/20 GPA throughout high school

Extracurricular Activities:

1. Hackathon Winner: Led a team to create a solar-powered water filter, winning gold at an international hackathon.
2. AI Bootcamp: Selected among 200 students nationwide to learn AI basics and build a drone model for agriculture with a Princeton Faculty.
3. Robotics Camp: One of the only 2 10th graders selected from my school and 100 selected in the nation. Programmed a robot for an obstacle course, won a computer and robot, and donated prizes to CS school club.
4. Student Government: Class President, organized tutoring sessions, and managed a textbook-sharing server that has over 1k visits now (for a 180-person school).
5. Handball Team Captain: Led team to a school cup victory, scored 19 points in 10 matches.
6. Arts Club Founder: Hosted interschool dance events with 70+ people and taught creative writing and photogra phy for 1 hour/week all school year long
7. Virtual Label Co-CEO: Managing a music label with 47 trainees, working on two albums for release in 2025.
8. Family Book Club Mentor: Helped siblings with reading difficulties and donated 50+ books to a local primary school.
9. Documentary Producer: Created a philosophy documentary addressing stigma, aired it to local authorities, and won "Best Club Project" in school.
10. Blog Manager: Grew a personal blog to 200+ followers and 35k+ views, focusing on mental health, productivity, and study culture.

Tried to link every ec to my passions of CS and help others with authenticity. Essays:

• Personal Essay: Wrote about embracing my middle name, "Dix," that means ten (as in the number), as a symbol of family legacy and self-confidence and how I learned to make a name for myself from it.

-Supplemental Essays: Focused on my passion for engineering, AI, philosophic understanding of books I read, triethnicity, and community impact.

Recommendations: -Strong letters from Physics/Chemistry and Scientific English teachers -Average Counselor rec bc he doesn't really understand much english (had to help) College List:

• EA: Stanford (rejected)
• RD: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, NYU, Vanderbilt, Tufts, Grinnell, Macalester, Bowdoin, Colby, Case Western Reserve, Lehigh, Union College, Wheaton College (MA)

transferring as freshman from rutgers, 4.0 gpa first sem as an engineer taking calc 3 and other first year requirements. 1560 sat, 4.31 high school weighted gpa, 9 AP’s mostly 5’s. ec’s could be better, a lot of volunteer work and jobs, a few clubs, a leadership program, not much else. want to apply to cmu vandy umich unc uva emory william and mary cornell as sophomore and wanted to know if i have a decent shot.

Demographics:

Gender: Female Ethnicity: Arab State Residency: Arkansas LGBTQ+

• i live abroad due to military connection, been away from the us for 4 years

Academics:

GPA: 4.1 Rank: Unclear, but Top 3 15 APs by graduation ACT: 33

ECs:

• German softball league & Captain of highschool varsity softball team
• Published Author x2
• Founded Debate team at my hs, helped develop a district wide debate competition for all dodea schools
• Coached a littles softball camp for elementary at my base who want to play softball
• USO volunteer
• NHS Secretary (24-25) President (25-26)
• STUCO Representative (24-25) Vice pres (25-26)
• Vanderbilt Summer Academy attendee for a legal studies course
• Leader of a mural commitee to make the nursing room at the base clinic comfortable for new mothers breastfeeding their newborns
• FBLA

Awards:

• Softball individual champion (1 of 12 picked out of ≈150-200 players)
• AP scholar
• NMSQT Qualifier

Eligible for a congressional award, working for a silver medal before june 💪

I’m genuinely freaking out rn cuz 20 years ago I would have been accepted into every ivy, but now everyone and their mama wants to start a non profit with 50mil volunteers 😭💔 after i moved, nearly every opportunity that these kids have became unavailable to me. do i have a chance at ANY top college, ivy or not? and if not, what should i do to up my chances?

Preface:
I’ve heard people say my unweighted GPA might lead to auto-rejections, so I’m seeking advice here. Any suggestions are appreciated!

Demographics:

• Gender: Male
• Income: Middle
• Race/Ethnicity: Pakistani/Bengali (South Asian)
• Location: Suburban Illinois
• School Type: Public
• Hooks: None (Mentioned potential walk-on sailing for Harvard app only)
• Applying First Year, Taking College Classes On The Side

Intended Major(s):

• Math (primary) / CS

Academics:

• ACT: None
• SAT: 1550 (800 Math, 750 English) — Highest in my school this year, where the middle 50% is around 910
• Class Rank: N/A (likely top 10%, official rank pending)
• UW/W GPA: 3.55 / 4.25 <<-- My unweighted is my issue :(
• College GPA: 4.0 (community college + T50 university courses)
• Coursework: 16 APs (Physics C, APUSH, AB/BC Calc, Gov, Lang, Lit, Macro, Micro, CSA, etc.), 6 college courses, 6 dual credit, 20 accelerated classes.
• Notable Math: Linear Algebra, Discrete Math, ODEs, Calc 3, Multivariable Calc, AP Calc BC/AB, AP CSA (algorithms).

Awards:

• PVSA (300 volunteer hours)
• USACO Gold (aiming for Platinum soon)
• DECA State (1st at Regionals twice)
• HOSA State
• 3x Math Team State

Extracurriculars:

1. Founded a website with 1M+ annual visits (communication, analytics, game discovery).
2. Four-year, three-sport athlete (XC, Wrestling, Track); ran marathons, designed team apparel, organized races.
3. Built a self-driving go-kart (computer vision + robotics).
4. Created an edX/Coursera-like platform for free certifications (coded myself).
5. Developed a university research search engine for easier access to academic papers.
6. Beta-tested code features on a large platform (~100M user base).
7. Social media influencer (100K+ followers).
8. Managed my high school’s website, network, help desk; fixed 100+ Chromebooks.
9. Expanded an engineering club (1 to 30 members), built an RC Bugatti Chiron T-shirt cannon.
10. Served as 1 of ~10 student advisors to principal/board, advocated for AI in education.
11. Organized interfaith events (400+ attendees) with national coverage; worked to establish prayer spaces.
12. LeetCode: Top 200K out of 5M+.
13. LinkedIn: Top CS Voice, 10K+ followers.
14. 20+ university certificates (Harvard CS50, etc.).
15. Former Fortnite Partner Creator, gained traction during COVID.
16. (Potential Addition) Cancer research at a T10 institution (starting when I turn 18).

Essays:

• Common App: ~8/10 (about making hand sanitizer in my garage during COVID).
• Supplements: 8–9/10.
• Harvard supplementals: ~9/10.

LORs:

• Physics Teacher: Likely strong, supportive.
• PE Teacher (also leadership club advisor): Should emphasize leadership, especially relevant for Harvard.
• Counselor: Wrote letter early; unsure how detailed since he didn’t use my brag sheet.

Schools (All RD):

• Caltech
• Columbia
• Cornell
• Duke
• Georgia Tech
• Harvard <<- My First Choice
• Northwestern
• Princeton
• Stanford
• UIUC (in-state, strong for CS)
• Michigan
• UPenn (my only interview)
• Vanderbilt
• Yale

I’m already accepted to my safeties, but they’re too expensive unless I attend a T25. My GPA dipped freshman/sophomore year due to family/financial issues, which I explained in the COVID essay. I’ve taken 40+ classes total, averaging 12 per year. Currently, I have a 4.0.

A Harvard liaison recently visited my school, oddly the first time they’ve shown interest in coming at our school, and I'm the only person applying this year.

Question:
Out of the schools above, where do I have the most realistic chance for Math/CS? Thanks in advance! Would love Harvard

School list: HYPSM, brown, cornell, GT (Accepted!!!), caltech, rice, UCB/UCLA, UT austin, duke,umich,nyu

Ethnicity/family: Indian male (1st generation immigrant), high income family, competitive private school (best in state, T70)

Scores: 3.92 UW gpa (might not help but the main tank in gpa is freshman yr and uw not accounting freshman year is 3.98), 13 APs, 1570 sat/35 act, school doesnt do rank or weighted gpa

Coursework: calc BC in 9th, ap stats 10th, multivariable/linear algebra jr and abstract algebra independent study senior yr

Honors: aime 3x qual, usapho bronze, usaco gold, NCL award (cybersecurity comp), some less prestigious awards from AI organization

Outside ECs: Founder of asian culture club at my school, intern at an AI company over summer, research, started a charity organization, 200+ hours volunteering at a local library and tutoring kids in robotics, arml competitor, science olympiad team, robotics team driver, math/computer club member, tutored little kids at kumon, research over summer, started a band with my friends for guitar, play piano in free time.

Academic Stats/Testing/Course Rigor

• 4.59 Weighted GPA at Public NJ HS
• 4.75 Semester 1 Senior Year
• Submitted 1480 Superscored SAT (680 EBRW, 800 Math); 1470 Composite SAT (680 EBRW, 790 Math)
• 12 Total AP Courses by Graduation + 10 Additional Honors Classes + Multivariable Calculus (1 of 4 Total Kids in School Enrolled) 

Honors/Awards

• National Merit Scholarship Corporation Letter of Commendation
• AP Scholar With Distinction
• High School Men's Soccer 2024 Scholar Athlete
• National Honor Society (2 Years) 
• Math Honor Society (2 Years)
• English Honor Society (2 Years)
• Social Studies Honor Society (2 Years) 
• Spanish Honor Society (2 Years) 
• Science Honor Society (3 Years) 
• Global Seal of Biliteracy for Spanish

AP Exams: 

• AP United States History 2023 = 3 
• AP Computer Science Principles 2023 = 4 
• AP English Literature and Composition 2024 = 3 
• AP World History: Modern 2024 = 3 
• AP Environmental Science 2024 = 4 
• AP Calculus BC 2024 = 5 (AB Subscore = 5)

 The Following I Plan to Take in May 2025:

• AP Physics 1 
• AP Physics 2 
• AP Physics C: Mechanics 
• AP Statistics 
• AP English Language and Composition 
• AP Computer Science A 

Extracurriculars/Activities on Common App

• Altar Server for 8 Years Counting (1-2 Hour Per Week)
• Care to Give Team Leader for 3 Years (4 Hours Per Week / 16 Weeks Per Year)
• RAINE Foundation Team Leader for 5 Years (4 Hours Per Week / 15 Weeks Per Year) 
• Assistant CCD Teacher for 3 Years Counting (2 Hours Per Week / 32 Weeks Per Year) 
• Club Lacrosse for 3 Years (7 Hours Per Week / 52 Weeks Per Year) 
• High School Men's Lacrosse for 3 Years Counting (20 Hours Per Week / 14 Weeks Per Year) 
• Local Soccer Club for 2 Years (6 Hours Per Week / 26 Weeks Per Year) 
• High School Men's Soccer for All 4 Years (15 Hours Per Week / 13 Weeks Per Year)
• Recreation Summer Playground Camp Counselor for 2 Years (20 Hours Per Week / 5 Weeks Per Year) 
• iCode Teaching Assistant for 1 Year Counting (30 Hours Per Week / 11 Weeks Per Year) 

Other Additional Information

• First Choice Major: Mechanical Engineering 
• Second Choice Major: Applied Mathematics and Statistics for JHU
• Experience with Fraternal Twin Brother
• No Financial Aid Needed (Full Tuition) 
• Personal Essay on Foreign Exchange Experience Living with Spanish Family in Spain that scored 88 Overall on maxadmit.com if that means anything
• Teacher Letter of Recommendations:

(1. Physics 9 (H), AP Calculus BC, AP Physics 1 and 2, AP Physics C, Multivariable Calculus Teacher; 2. English 9 and AP English Literature and Composition Teacher)

 Reach Colleges: ED2 - John’s Hopkins (Letter of Rec from alumni/former interviewer)  RD - Olin (Invited to Candidate’s Weekend), Michigan (Deferred), Princeton, Duke, Cornell, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, CMU, MIT (Additional support from Head Lacrosse coach there, DEFERRED to RD after applying EA)

Apparently 3.5 1080 mid Ecs and essay that start with violence (out of context) is grounds for acceptance. The applications in that video can’t possibly reflect a typical applicant to top universities, right?

https://youtu.be/jvXfxs0bTho?si=jOGHcgmMnUoWredH

I just got deferred from Umich engineering(EA) just a week ago, while I do have plans if I end up getting rejected overall, i just wanted to know if i had a chance during RD, considering i am instate and go to one of the schools has had a lot of admittances to Umich in the previous years. given that my GPA will possibly rise to somewhere in the mid 3.8's after this semester ends(upward trend in comparison to my second half of junior year) how much chance do i really have in making it to Umich.

I'm graduating a year early. Feel free to be as brutal as you want.

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

• Hooks: First Gen, Low-Income, Single Household Parent
• Gender: Male
• Race: Black
• Type of School: Public Magnet + Gifted High School
• Income: 48K
• Intended Major(s): Behavioral Economics

GPA and Rank:

• GPA: 3.9 UW/4.35 W
• Rank: 12/302

Coursework: AP, Gifted, + Dual Enrollment classes

• 2 APs: Statistics (now) + Human Geo (9th grade)
• 2 Honors (English 10 Gifted + Geometry Gifted)
• 14 DE Classes: Bio 1 and 2 for Science Majors, Psychology, US Gov, Cultural Geography, World Civ 1, Speech, Art History, Foundations of Education, Multicultural Learning Communities, Environmental Science, English Comp 1 + 2, Engineering Design, 

Awards: 

• District Stem Challenge Finalist + Winner - 10th
• Outstanding GPA - 9th, 10th, 11th
• A Honor Roll 1st Semester - 9th, 10th, 11th
• Top Reader - 9th, 10th

Extracurriculars: 

• Community Service (Volunteer) National Honor Society Logged 120+ community service hours as a dedicated member, actively engaging in volunteer efforts that reflect service and leadership. 
• Research STEM CHALLENGE Contributed 30+ hours researching innovative bridge solutions; earned 1st place and High School Finalist recognition for outstanding essays. 
• Student Govt./Politics Vice President, Youth and Gov Club As VP, drafted bills for the state board and assisted members with proposals, fostering collaboration and easing operational challenges. 
• Work (Paid) Sandwich Artist, SUBWAY Personalized customer orders as a Sandwich Artist, boosting satisfaction. Managed inventory, reducing out-of-stock instances by 15%.
• Internship AP Content Writer Intern, FIVEABLE Created study guides for AP African American Studies, collaborating with educators to ensure quality materials for exam prep. 
• Internship Paralegal Intern, The Law Office of Roblox Conducted legal research, providing valuable insights to attorneys. Drafted and proofread legal documents for accuracy and professionalism. 
• School Spirit Ambassador, Gifted/Magnet Program Promoted Magnet/Gifted programs at school, engaging families and coordinating events to boost awareness and participation in the community. 
• Junior R.O.T.C. Cadet Sergeant Mentored cadets in marching and military skills; participated in events reinforcing teamwork and discipline within the JROTC program.

Essays/LORs/Other: 

• Personal Essay: 7.5/10 - Wrote about my heritage + life in my house
• Supplements: 8/10 - I did a lot of research for them
• LORs: Chemistry: 9/10 , Biology 1 DE 8/10, Counselor 10/10;  I wrote my letters of rec, so I think I ate them up!

Schools: 

Acceptances

• Tulane (ED)
• Hampden-Sydney (EA) - 110K merit aid
• Georgia Tech EA2 (Only school I applied Material Sciences and Engineering )

Waiting (Only listing the top schools)

• American Uni
• Brown
• Colby
• Columbia
• Cornell
• Dartmouth
• Duke
• Hamilton
• Harvard
• Princeton
• Rice
• RIT
• Sarah Lawrence
• UPenn
• UCs (UCLA, UC Berkeley, UCI, UC Davis)
• USC
• Yale

Rejection(s)

• N/A

just for fun cuz all my apps are submitted anyway. PLS BE BRUTALLY HONEST IDC

Personal info: Indian male, greencard status (1st gen immigrant), DMV area, STEM magnet school (attend every other day along with base school)

GPA: 4.0 UW, 4.6 W

SAT: 1540 - 790 math, 750 english

Courses - 13 APs, 2 DEs, 8 honors (including senior year)

All AP scores:
AP Calc BC - 5
AP Chem - 5
AP Lang - 5
AP World - 5
APUSH - 5
AP CSP - 5

Senior year courses:
AP Stats
DE Multivariable Calc
AP Physics Mechanics
DE English 12
AP US/Comp gov
AP CSA
AP Macro/micro

main activities:

• VA Governor's School for Math Science and Tech
• SWE Internship - worked on app used by researchers around the world to track wildlife, worked on AI image detection model
• MUN - president: largest school club in area (100+ members), planning first conference, youth summer programs (100+ participants)
• Founded/managed regional org branch teaching kids about business/finance, managed outreach and funding for regional events (15+ locations, 750+ total students)
• VEX robotics
• Technical intern - analyzed user data to reduce startup website technical errors, worked on AI email extension for deal sharing
• Tiktok acc - posted videos about islam/conversion, little clout (1400 followers, 1k watch hours, 500k total views)
• some clubs (cshs, math honor society, self-founded club)

Awards

• MUN Awards
• National Rural and Small Town Recognition Award (i lowk dk how i got it but its there)
• AP Scholar w Distinction
• VEX States (VA) semifinalist
• NMSQT commendation

Commonapp essay is montage style; talks about how i managed and blended my indian roots and american upbringing (came here when i was 2 but visited india many times), how i grew from mun and passed the same growth on to the younger kids, and my interest in world history/culture underneath my technical problem solving mind. everything sounds unrelated but the main thing is that its framed around how i secretly converted to islam in 10th grade (without telling parents) and i use an aspect of islamic lore as a metaphor for each of my own personal aspects.

lots going on but i think its nice, its gotten lots of compliments so far and very minimal criticism/suggestions for improvement

Accepted (EA):

• UMD (CS)
• UVA (CS)
• Purdue (CS)
• UIUC (CS + Economics)

Deferred

• Georgia Tech (CS)
• UMich (CS)

Regular Decision

• Princeton (BSE CS)
• Upenn (BSE CS)
• Duke (CS)

Rejected

• UNC Chapel Hill

Notes/predictions: I think my strong points are my common app essay and my conversion narrative, and I think i wrote some really good essays for all my RD schools just bc there were more prompts and some more flexibility (and more time too lol), so I hope thats somwhat significant for my rd schools, although i feel like my activites/awards kinda cap me off for them so like it cancels out so idk

Can someone chance me for HYPSM, Ivies and elite STEM colleges? I’m from Brazil and I “can study” in the top 1 college here, that’s top 100 of the world. However, I think my profile may be worth a shot(just reach colleges and see what happens) to the elite U.S universities, and if i get rejected i just stay in Brazil. Can someone tell me if it is worth applying?

I’m low income, first gen

ACADEMICALS

-1570 SAT -4.0 GPA -130 DET

EXTRAS and AWARDS

	•	Research about AI and sustainability competing in Brazil’s biggest science fair and got published
•	Math Olympiad Winner in national, state and school levels
•	Passion Project (and non-profit) about Math and AI
•	Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blue belt and competitor
•	Multiple hours of volunteer work and founder of a group in one ONG
•	Math tutor and student council leader

• I’ve applied for Stanford SuMaC so there is also a chance it can be an EC too.

ESSAYS AND LoRs

I can create pretty good essays and I plan to hire a counselor if it’s worth so really good essays

I already have 3 LoRs(Math, English and School Counsellor). One of them is exceptionally good ( math ) and the other two are good but not perfect.

Do yall think it’s worth applying and that I stand a chance in a T10-T20 college? I know my ECs are weak but it is what it is. Thank you so much for your time.

Grades: (British Curriculum) IGCSE - 3A, 3B , 1C Alevel- predicted AAA or AAB

Predicted SAT: 1400-1500range

(Bit of background , did my high-school education in Pakistan , home schooled here , have a Canadian citizenship cuz I lived in canada for a while and requesting for little-none financial aid , willing to pay a lot , always down for scholarships 😤) - also wanting to major in a GOOD finance school

1. Manager of a online community (relating to school) with over 15,000 people (in my essay will include how this impacted my life and allat yap)
2. Did many excel courses and very familiar with excel
3. Part of an online team and I manage expansion work , eg reaching out to different people doing a lot of expansion work making connections (highschool community + lots of big creators with 12m+ YouTube subs and hundreds of millions of views)
4. Working for a company doing podcasts whos generated over $60,000 (topics mostly ab healthcare)
5. Volunteering work at a school for homeless children/orphans to provide them an education
6. Part of a team doing research on healthcare/skincare
7. Go to the gym 6x days a week (in my essay will include how this impacted my life and allat yap , include weight loss journey as well) Play basketball and do boxing
8. Tutoring family lil cousins across 3 years , level of middle/high school math and English by starting a club (use emails for proof)
9. Started a discord blog tracking what I eat everyday and cooking what I eat
10. Average in python coding
11. Baby sitting for the summer for 3-4 years
12. Passion In gardening and self care improvements (in my essay will include how this impacted my life and allat yap)
13. A lot of experience in advertising (selling a lot of things)
14. Event planner for an online tech community hosting coding sessions or events for members to engage in

ECS^^

Thinking I’ll get accepted to: Baruch and Fordham VERY FARRRR Reach: NYU, Cornell , Colombia

Demographics: Indian international, male, full pay
Intended Major: Computer Science

SAT: 1550 (790 Math + 760 English)
APs: CSA (5), CSP (5), Calc BC (5)
English proficiency: IELTS (8), DET (150)
Grades (CBSE): 88% 9th (💀), 96% 10th, 95% 11th, 97% 12th predicted

Extracurriculars:

1. Attended the prestigious IOI Training Camp and ranked 5th in the team selection tests (one away from team 🥲).
2. Founder of training program / community for Indian IOI aspirants with 300+ students (endorsed by the official Olympiad organizers in India).
3. Problemsetter for the ICPC India Prelims. ICPC is the world's most prestigious programming competition, participated in by college students. Created the hardest problem, solved only by 10 out of ~3000 teams.
4. Developed an AI-powered website to preserve cultural stories.
5. Ongoing AI research under an IIT professor
6. Open-Source Contribution
7. Worked on discord bot with 1M+ users
8. Citizen Science project on asteroid discovery by IASC & NASA
9. Finalist in a story writing competition
10. YouTube gaming channel with 65K+ subs

During EA #2 was at 200 students and I hadn't done #3 yet.

Honors:

1. Gold Medal in the Indian National Olympiad in Informatics (INOI), awarded to top 10 participants
2. Official Indian team member, Asia-Pacific Olympiad in Informatics
3. IIT Delhi Lockout (competitive programming) finalist, top 16 out of 250+ participants (mostly college students)
4. Top 3 in IIIT Delhi Procon Jr. (competitive programming)
5. $100 award winner in an international hackathon, made an app teaching algorithms visually & interactively

Essays/Recommendations:

• My RD essays are wayy better than EA cuz I didn't put much efforts into EA but worked my ass off for RD and I think they turned out pretty good.
• Common app personal essay: talked about my love for storytelling and tied my cultural roots with my passion for CS (EC #4)
• Solid recommendations from CS, Math and English teachers.

Schools:
EA: UIUC (accepted), UW-Madison (accepted), UMich (deferred), Purdue (deferred), GaTech (rejected), MIT (rejected)
RD: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, CMU, Caltech, UPenn, Columbia, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, University of Washington

EA felt super random with the UIUC accept and Purdue defer, I'd appreciate if y'all could tell me whether you think I have a shot at any of my RDs.

TIA!

Hey everyone! I’m currently in Year 12 with predicted A-level grades of A, A, A, and B, and I’m hoping to score over 1400 on the SATs (1400 has been my lowest score on multiple practise tests )I’m really interested in studying in the USA, and I’ve been looking into universities like: • University of Kansas • Arizona State University • Penn State • University of Arizona • university of Miami

A bit about me and my extracurriculars: • Digital Champions UK: I help elderly people navigate technology and feel more connected to the digital world. • NHS Cadets (Level 1 & 2): Completed both levels of the NHS Cadet program, where I got hands-on experience in healthcare and volunteering. • Weekly walks with an elderly neighbor: I make time to spend with a neighbor, offering companionship and helping with anything they need. • NHS Interview: Took part in an NHS interview, which gave me a lot of insight into healthcare and reinforced my desire to pursue it. • Age UK Certification: I earned certifications in elderly care, which have helped me develop empathy and better communication skills. • History Essay Competition: I won a history essay competition and got a chance to visit Auschwitz, which really expanded my understanding of history. • Work Experience at Lloyds Banking (Leeds HQ): Did a week-long work placement at Lloyds Banking, where I learned about business operations and customer service. • Swimming & Brass Instruments: I spent a year swimming and playing brass instruments, though I had to stop due to health issues. It was a great way to develop discipline and teamwork. • Leeds Cathedral Reading (Age 10): Had the opportunity to do a reading at Leeds Cathedral, which boosted my public speaking confidence.

•i also took part in the university of Cambridge biology programme

•	Piano: Played piano for two years, building patience and perseverance.
•	Fundraising for Schools: Actively participated in fundraising for my high school, helping raise money for different causes.
•	Gym: I regularly go to the gym to stay focused and healthy, which helps me stay disciplined.
•	Tutoring Younger Children: I tutor younger kids in various subjects, which has really helped me develop communication and teaching skills.

these are just some of my ec im in the process of doing volunteering at my local hospital and more throughout summer.

the 1400 on the SAT is predicted based on multiple practices tests this was my lowest score .

I’m reaching out to anyone who can give me advice on different colleges to apply with my grades and ec.

I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences or any advice you have.

For context, I have a 4.0 UW, 1400 sat (public school average 1050) no APs (school doesn’t offer em), 5 DEs, minority from a underrepresented group from a US territory (still considered domestic). Have a ton of internships, clubs, student council, research, community service ECs etc, and a couple of awards (including one given to me by the government’s legislative body, twice). I applied to 4 EA schools OOS as a computer engineering major or a close equivalent :

UMiami - Deferred, UF - Deferred, UMich - Accepted, Georgia Tech - Accepted

I basically applied to only ivies, CMU, BostonU, Rice, Stanford, JHU, NYU etc for RD. Is it just me or do I actually have a solid shot?

I applied ED2 to NYU I am a hispanic female and have a 4.12 GPA I got to a public school. I take IB CP for art and I’ve taken 7 APs and 4 IB classes. Applied test optional. I have been on 2 Varsity sports for 4 years (cross country and track). I won a team State Championship if that matters. I am a team captain of two years, I am a 3 year member of National Art Honor Society and a 2 year member of National Honor Society. I started a non-profit charity and have over 200 hrs of community service. The nonprofit was recognized in the local newspaper as well. I am a published artist and my work has been displayed in galleries in my area and I have won accolades for my pieces. I was also a nominee for GHP which is kinda a regional thing but I was a finalist for art. I have a diverse portfolio but it leans more towards sculpture and ceramics with some drawings but I have a range of work. I also have a part time job on the weekends. I really want to get in but ik admissions is super competitive this year even for ED. Thanks!

all of these activities are since 9th grade except the hospital volunteer(10-12), research with professor(11-12), and both of the independent researches(10-12).

Major: bio(pre med)

GPA:3.77 unweighted (i did get a F in calc 1 during fall of junior year with the dual enrollment college. however i was also taking calc AB at the same time and i got an A in the class and a 4 on the ap exam. the f isnt used on my gpa calculation. it just shows up on my transcript.)

also unforntunately i got an F this semester in the fall in calc 2 becasue my grandpa got diagnosed with stage 3 cancer so my mental helath took a toll, i spent time caring for him, and it affected my study habits.)(hopefully they will understand...)

ACT: 35 superscored

1. raised a lot money for surgeries of underserved people in another country

2.organized monthly lectures to people about health. 100 + people per month. brought physicians in to talk to them as well.

3. shadowed 10 doctors in clinics, hospitals, and other centers

4.hospice volunteer

5. internship with radiologist for 4 summers. observed procedures and prepared patients for surgery

6.hospital volunteer

7. 2 independent researches: 1. independent research on arrythmias and 2. independent research on treatment vs prevention for diseases. one paper published(first author) the other paper is done and just got to send it for publication.

8. research with professor on microbial genetics

9.swim

10.karate , led younger students, brown belt so far

Honors: acls/bls certifications, national merti commended, pvsa gold, on the other country's newspaper for the cardiac initiative, published first author research paper, one more on the way already submitted for publication. Phi theta kappa nominee, 100+ swimming awards regional level, brown belt karate, on presidents list for dual enrollment college,

I am currently a high school senior and plan to major in CS, I am also a resident of VA. Here are my stats:

3.95 W/GPA

1290 SAT (Test Optional)

Course rigors consists of all IB and Dual Enrollment classes, where my school has offered them

In my senior year I am taking 4 IBs, and two Dual Enrollment at my local CC, first semester GPA was a 4.5 for senior year

I have a few extracurriculars relating to some technology hobbies

100+ service hours

Two of my essays were about computer/engineering experiences in my life

Idk if VT acknowledges legacy, but if they do two of my family members graduated from VT

I

(I know I have 0 chances, so if you have any advice please share it with me) (I have safeties dw)

International student from Italy, female, low income (applying for financial aid)

In my high school we have a law and economics class

Intended major: Political science and government (pre-law)

Academics: Junior year gpa: 8,5 (italy’s grade scale is from 1 to 10) Cumulative gpa: probably around 7,7

Extracurriculars:

-volunteered for homeless shelters -volunteered at my school’s summer camp -I run a blog for self-improvement and study tips -I learned Russian and French without any course -Model United nation -been my class’s representative for 2 years -I’ve been modeling for my school for years now -internships -part-time job

(Please don’t hate on me, I need help😭)

Chance me for hypsm’s

Gender: Male

Race/Ethnicity: Black/African descent

Hooks: URM (Underrepresented Minority), FGLI

Intended Major(s)

Biology Public Health Neuroscience

GPA (UW/W): 3.85 / 4.68 (6 b's sophomore year explained in Additional info section)

# of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 12 AP courses, Johns Hopkins University (Dual Enrollment, 3 credits)

Standardized Testing

SAT I: 1440 (680RW, 760M) SUPERSCORE

Submitted to all schools.

Extracurriculars/Activities

#1 Researcher on Hypertension: Conducted and published research on the cognitive effects of hypertension under mentorship at T5 Uni; presented findings to professionals.

#2 Intern, Epigenetics on Neurological Disorders:Researched epigenetics, presenting findings to leaders at a nationally recognized research institution.

#3 Youth Advocate and Event Organizer:Organized 20+ protests and 10+ cultural events impacting 5,000+ participants nationwide, focused on advocacy and cultural preservation.

**#4 Vice President, Intro to Coding Club:**Hosted workshops for 30+ members and led coding sessions for under-resourced middle schools.

#5 Co-President, National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE): Mentored members, coordinated conferences, and arranged STEM-related guest speakers.

#6 Church Volunteer: Taught 42 K-8 students in christianity teachings; led a fundraiser that provided school supplies for 65 students Abroad.

**#7 Assistant Teacher:**Educated 54 first graders transitioning from virtual to in-person learning, focusing on core academic subjects.

**#8 Health Literacy Advocate:**Created and distributed 500+ health literacy guides to community libraries and centers.

**#9 Officer, Anatomy Club:**Organized meetings and internships, and mentored a student who competed nationally.

**#10 Programming Team Member, Robotics Club:**Collaborated on robotics competitions, and programming in Python and Java with a 10-member team.

Awards/Honors

Published Author for Hypertension Research in Curieux Academic Journal

Qualified Robotics Team, FIRST Global Competition (International) 3x

STEM Academy Completion and Capstone Presentation (School)

Science National Honors Society and Psi Alpha National Honors Society (School)

Certificate from World Health Organization (International)

220+ SERVICE HOURS

Additional Information Section

Health Challenges: Diagnosed with severe hypertension in sophomore year, resulting in frequent doctor appointments and difficulty maintaining focus in class.

Led fundraisers raising $2,500 for abroad students and contributed to a $90,000 campaign for a children’s hospital program.

School List

Brown University (RD)

Cornell University (RD)

Duke University (RD)

Emory University (RD)

Harvard University (RD)

Howard University (EA)

Northeastern University (EA) Deffered

Northwestern University (RD)

Stanford University (RD)

UMBC: University of Maryland, Baltimore County (EA)

University of Maryland (EA) Rejected

University of Michigan (RD)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (RD)

University of Pennsylvania (RD)

University of Southern California (RD)

University of Virginia (EA) Deffered

Vanderbilt University (RD)

Yale University (RD)

Edit: Just got deffered from uva and rejected from umd life couldn’t get any worse.😔

I got 37/45 for my PG and applied for Electrical engineering. My Predicted grades are below

HL: Math AA 6 Physics 5 Korean 7

SL: Chem 5 Econ 6 English A 5

EE and TOK: 3

Do you think it is too low to get offer? if there is anyone who got offer or studying in UBC. What was your PG? I am worried since ubc engineering is hard to get in compare to other majors in ubc

stats: GPA: 4.0 Weighted, 3.55 Unweighted. Test Optional. 4 APs

extracurriculars:

• over 7k+ work hours as a business manager since i was 12 years old, i manage three 5 star businesses in the DMV, which makes over $800k yearly, managed a staff line and conduct interviews, housing for staff, finances, and community projects.

• 2 medical internships at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. over 100+ hours of interning/research under surgeons/mentors.

• HTML, Python and Javascript Programming internship abroad for 4+ years where I made a iOS application sponsored by Apple, raised $13k for less fortunate kids in Hyderabad, India, and created/manage 3+ business websites, and organized a $10,000 hackathon.

• Started my own food business which holds $13k in inventory weekly and delivered to 1k+ customers monthly on average.

• over 300 service hours at my temple and spoke to 500+ people about religion, learned an instrument to play for religious services. spoke to youth and created fundraisers for temple. (i’m a small minority in a small town; sikh).

• SALDEF (Sikh American Legal Defense Team in Washington, D.C.) intern for 2 years. Conducted meetings & used programming skills to create blogs. also worked on media team for a short time.

• Fitness trained for over 150 clients monthly via WhatsApp and made $1k monthly from it.

• Minority Student Union Secretary represented Sikh population and raised over $2k for school. (as a whole, not individually).

• Internship under CEO of MedStar hospital organization in Southern Maryland, conducted research on Kinetic Molecular enzyme breakdown and created a presentation and blog for it.

• Over a decade of guitar experience (11yrs) and live guitar performances, played at senior homes & children’s hospitals.

Awards -

• Aspirations in Computing Affiliate Rising Star x2 (Nationwide)
• Youth Entrepreneurship BK (Whitehat, International)
• Future Medstar Role Model (Statewide)
• Principal's Honors Roll
• Student Class Delegate x4
• Student Scholar Leadership Award (National)

essays & letters of recommendation -

my personal statement & supplements for these schools were all very solid in my opinion, they touched up on diversity, being a sikh in a small community, how i overcame personal issues, etc.

4 letters of recommendation submitted

• one from spanish teacher i had for 2 years and built a great connection with. 10/10 letter
• one from bio med teacher who i had for 3 years and had a good connection with. 8/10 letter
• one from employer i worked under for my internship for programming. 9/10 letter
• one from my counselor. 7/10 letter

Hey, I'm an international student doing IB and I applied to UofT (both St. George and UTSC), UBC, and Waterloo. I applied relatively early (1st Dec) but didn't receive anything yet while i have acouple of friends that got their admissions. I'm literally shaking with the thought of not being admitted anywhere. my predicteds are: Math AA HL: 7, Physics HL: 6, Eng LL HL: 5, Chem SL: 6, Business Management SL: 6, Turkish Lit SL: 6, ToK/EE: 1/3 (horrible ee supervisor),

So 36/42 or 37/45

I had around 94% average at 10th grade before starting the IB program if that helps.

I applied: CompSci, MechEng, CompEng, CivilEng, Physics, and Mathematics to all schools (not exactly these majors for every school but it would be too long if i went into detail for all, but they are all similar to this)

I'm ok with getting into Math or Physics as well, and I don't need a high scholarship. can anyone tell me if i have a decent chance?

I have decent ECs too i believe (NASA Space Apps Global Nomination, Computer Olympiad, Research on AI in renewable energy, etc)

I am literally shaking, not sure if i can get in. Can anyone give me their opinion please???

International, 4.0/4.0 gpa, 1530 sat, Ap calc bc 4, ap csA 5, rise finalist, have a crazy ass biology research (thats what ive heard from others😭) and submitted an abstract, volunteered at a vet, i can draw and play electric/bass guitar, wrote a machine learning in breast cancer diagnosis paper and programmed a model, did math olympiad for two years (no awards tho), ielts 8.5, and have REALLY good essays!

Lastly, i applied for aid. I can pay $30k. 😐

Arab asian female, dual citizenship, 3/25 rank, gpa 96/100, good ECs I’m guessing ??? Idk I’m sooo out of touch with the admissions process can someone please like either reassure me that my app isn’t dogshit or tell me straight up if it is?

I’ll send u my application deets

EE bachelor graduated from one of the top Unis in my country (Iran).

While Asian 23m (idk if that's relevant).

low cGPA: 3.29 / 4 | last two years GPA: 3.92 / 4
Basically I didn't have any intention for applying for Unis abroad until my 6th semester. So I was mostly working and spend less time studying for my Uni, so my grades were generally low.

But from my 7th semester, i decided that I want to apply for Unis in other countries for my Masters, so I started to study pretty hard and I was able to get Last Two Years GPA of 3.92 / 4 (which was pretty hard in my major and my Uni)

3 research assistantships + 1 arxived paper

planning for join another research group and more papers until next cycle.

multiple TAships

very good LoRs

very good skills -> programming skills, teamwork, etc

GRE: will take if it's necessary

what are my chances of getting into my dream US schools?

some of my dream schols:

US: UCSD, Cornell, Yale, UCBerkley, Northeastern, UCLA, Rice

what are some other things I can do for improving my CV and increase the chance of getting into my dream schools? thanks

I realised that the UIUC applications do not take into account your final score. Instead, they take your course scores and "holistically" approach the admissions process. My IBDP course scores were on average 35/42. My final score was 40/42 + 2/3 from EE/TOK.

SAT: 1480 760M 720EBRW

My portfolio:

- 2 National Physics Competitions (Bronze, Distinction)

- 1 International Science Competititon (Silver Medal)

- Queen's Commonwealth Essay Competition (Gold)

- Captain of an obscure sport in my school - ended up having to fight for venues and allocation of resources it was quite bad

- Got a bunch of merit certificates from the government for being in the top 25% of my cohort in the country

- Participated in a cybersecurity based hackathon (got like a certificate of participation)

- Planned mindfulness and sign languages discussions and seminars for secondary students

- Planned visits to Old Folks' Homes

My essays focused on my physics interests and creative expression through writing and how the two work together in informing how I solve problems in the real world. I substantiated it through my leadership in the obscure sport and through my IB extended essays and IAs. I applied for both CE and EE. Am I cooked?

So I am a junior in high school and I have NO idea which major to choose. As a child, I loveedddd astronomy and I still do. But in the start of my junior year, I dropped out of physics and chemistry classes because of the horrible teachers and the extremely competitive atmosphere in these subjects, specially in my country, I have mostly humanities subjects now other than maths. But I just don’t have an interest in them. My childhood dream was to get a career in astronomy but since I don’t have the core subjects physics and chemistry , I am not so sure whether I will be able to live up to my dream. I want to give open school exams for these subjects but my mother isn’t happy with that decision, saying that I can’t do it and I am just forcing myself to go into STEM. Idk guys, I am in a dilemma, I tried to force myself into liking the idea of becoming a lawyer, that worked for a few weeks but now I am back to square one.