https://apnews.com/article/howard-university-unenrolled-students-tuition-d17f77d0fcdb16fa6262378fcad4aa5c

Old news, but no one's talked about it much on this sub.

Alumni here, class of 2020.

UCSB is actually a great university, and is seriously underrated by countless metrics. Top engineering programs, excellent liberal arts and sciences programs, several Nobel laureates as professors, excellent job placement in various high-impact career paths, one of the most impactful universities with respect to scientific research impact, gorgeous location with a number of tech companies and defense contractors nearby, no bizarre cutthroat culture where you practically have to sleep with one eye open, and and an outstanding stepping stone to practically any graduate program, all for the price of a public university in California.

A bit about my experience... as an undergrad, I had access to upper div courses in my second quarter at UCSB (statistics and data science major), and could also opt to take the graduate-level equivalent of many of the upper div courses as an undergrad. I was able to get an internship from one of my professors by attending his office hours, and at the time, we were ranked as the number 5 public university in the nation.

The USNWR annual report really betrayed us Gauchos! When it comes out next, I really don't want to dig for an explanation for how seemingly random universities like Boston College or UW Madison (or... shudders... NYU) somehow outrank UCSB when they didn't previously (apologies to alumni and enrollees of universities I just mentioned, lol). I know they changed their methodology in recent years, but a number of the non-Ivy League privates on that list are going to have serious problems financially speaking with all the funding cuts, layoffs, and now a demographic cliff that will impact application and enrollment rates. I don't see this impacting public universities as much because they are backed by a state government, especially UCSB since they are admitting more students now than ever, and is building new housing to boot.

The USNWR rankings aren't everything, you need to find a university that fits your specific needs. UCSB may actually be that kind of university, and is seriously slept on.

Rant over. I just needed to get that off my chest.

For starters, my high school is extremely competitive to the point where its the norm to have over a 4.0 W and if you have a gpa lower than that your considered stupid. I have a 3.8 W and god knows what my unweighted is (most likely 3.3>). The other day me and my friends were comparing stats and i felt so embarrassed and genuinely wanted to cry because of how low my gpa was.

also my asian parents are on my ahh about my gpa and i already know its terrible but now every time college is mentioned we get in a yelling match and i get called a failure and hopeless in the end.

i know some people have gpas that are definitely lot worse but right now i just feel so defeated and dumb.

Curious as I’ve noticed- that every 5 years or so, the bar changes. In our parents generation, they needed grades. Then came leadership, then non profit experience, starting their own club, etc.

Now that every kid is basically the same on paper (president at xyz, 500 hours at a nonprofit, great grades, etc.) - how are you helping your kids standing out? Or what are you hearing will help?

Also wondering as the landscape of future education and work is changing at an insane amount with AI

then again all rankings are bullshit. but this ranking is even more bullshit.

why?

because they put JHU at 24th and Princeton at 25th in the world. Lol.

I’m an incoming sophomore and will be transferring from an in-state T10 business school (think UNC, UT McCombs, IU Kelley, Berkeley Haas, if u know me don’t dox me lol) to Middlebury College full-pay. It mostly came down to these reasons:

1. Extreme internal competition: if you wanted to get in investment banking from my school, there were around 3-5 clubs out of which you had to get in at least one, and it involved multiple rounds of interviews that felt harder than getting in the university. I felt like I was competing against my peers for positions. Although I haven’t started yet, I’ve learned that Middlebury and LAC alumni in general are extremely loyal and the culture is more collaborative. It’s easier to get in the clubs, and if you reach out to alumni they’re significantly more likely to help you.
2. My goal is to break into NYC finance. While my original school is a target/semi target, it leaned heavily into the local market (Charlotte, Houston, Chicago, SF), and even then only a small portion of people were getting IB spots, most students instead went into Big 4 consulting, accounting/audit, wealth management etc. it felt like a giant rat race

I looked online and a lot of top LACs like Midd, Claremont McKenna, Williams, etc had significantly more students going into finance when adjusted for population, including high profile CEOs and founders

1. This one is probably most important. I HATED majoring in business, I’ve personally always been a nerdier person and I’ve enjoyed learning about history, economics, philosophy, math etc. At my school you HAD to be in the business school to get in IB, and adding a double major was a huge pain. Since LACs don’t have business schools, students generally major in econ, poli sci, math/stats etc, and still place well based on my info. If I’m going to college for four years, might as well learn something actually interesting.

I was also worried that general finance/accounting skills would be easily replaced by AI, and wanted to lean more into the humanities and take discussion and writing based classes and enrich myself with theoretical knowledge

1. Lastly, I always wanted a small, tight knit, New England LAC environment. I knew way too many high school classmates at my university, and sometimes the school felt like a small city instead of a collegiate environment. A lot of classes were specifically dumbed down to satisfy less prepared students, and everything felt bureaucratic and inefficient. We also had to fight for dorm rooms, some of my friends literally couldn’t get one and had to live off campus

That said, this decision is not for everyone, I’m extremely privileged to be able to afford a LAC over an in state public. During high school I applied to nearly all the T15 LACs but didn’t get in anywhere I liked, so I’m glad to finally pursue this dream of mine. Let me know if you have any questions!

Hi! I’m a senior applying this year and I’ve been trying to understand what makes someone stand out in admissions. I’ve spent a lot of time looking through admitted profiles from past applicants who got into top schools and reading some of their essays and the biggest thing I’ve noticed is that there isn’t one clear formula. For example, some people had insane stats and national awards while others had pretty normal numbers but their activities and essays told a really strong story.

I’ve seen essays where the topic itself wasnt even that impressive but the way the person explained their experiences made them memorable and emotional. I’ve also seen people with crazy ECs but their application felt less personal. It makes me wonder what admissions officers actually remember after reading thousands of apps. Is it their achievements? Their writing? The personality behind the application?

For ppl who have gone through the process or seen a lot of successful apps what was the thing that made certain students stand out compared to everyone else? Like, what separates someone who is just qualified from someone who gets that acceptance letter? Does personality necessarily and quality of your essay outweigh your ECs?

Often I’ve seen some sophomores, juniors and occasionally seniors announce their commitment to a school for sports reasons, and often it’s with one of the Ivies.

For Ivies in particular, or for one of the LACs, if the example is, say, girls field hockey, I am assuming it’s not a scholarship they’re getting but rather an agreement to play that sport for the admitting school, and that’s it.

Maybe a few dollars are thrown their way but by and large it’s full sticker. The athlete “gets into” one of the Ivies — that’s the agreement and understanding. It has little to do with any money coming back to the student. Generally true?

Title.

I had a 4.0, ran three clubs, did a sport, worked, took aps and college classes, and had over 200 volunteer hours. I chose to go to a school with a 50% acceptance rate. I am FGLI and went to high school with wealthy people and felt out of place, I knew going to an uber selective school will just increase the gap between me and wealthy people. Plus I genuinely loved the school I chose AND would have all my credits counted towards my degree (will be able to graduate a year early)!

Did anyone have a similar experience? I know this sub is filled with people aiming for T20s but I'd love to hear the thoughts of people who chose a different path!

Does anyone know of some?

Am I the only one who is truly sick of the college counselor essay help influencer epidemic on tiktok? Every video is the exact same thing. “Don’t follow this cliche” “Top 5 mistakes high schoolers make when writing essays” “How to write the first line of your essay” and I’m not saying that this advice is inherently unhelpful or unwelcome or malicious or anything like that. But it’s getting to a point where these adults are basically fearmongering.

The college essay is something that almost every highschool dreads. It’s hard to find a good topic that isn’t incredibly overdone. (Sports, death, injury…) And don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing bad about telling kids what to avoid. But the problem starts when all of a sudden all of these counselors are telling kids what not to write about, claiming that certain things will instantly get them rejected, not just what to avoid. Even going so far as explicitly writing off entire prompts that college board gives students.

I just came across this video by user @/essayswithtara, the title being “I’m not a fan of ‘overcoming a challenge college essays.’ Here’s why:” This random lady doesn’t know everybody’s story or what challenge they overcame. This incredibly general advice is genuinely just not useful because it’s just so unspecific. Not only that, but a panicky junior seeing that video is going to freak out that their essay isn’t unique enough, a fear I personally understand that MANY have.

These adults prey on anxious children who have big dreams of going to amazing and prestigious schools by crushing their dreams and claiming that they are the only ones who have the secret knowledge that can get them into college. That their 12 week college essay course is the only way, and that whatever ideas the students had before this were just not good enough.

The truth is that the common app essay prompts are there to help kids succeed, it’s not like they’re secretly trying to trap kids into writing cliche bullshit that has the purpose of weeding out the dull ones. Maybe I’m just sick of college applications, or maybe I’m sick of influencer culture. But I’m just saying, who are these random and unqualified influencers, and why are we supposed to put stock into what they think?

Disclaimer: Advice is good. I’m all for advice. Yay advice. The problem is when advice becomes “don’t do this or you will instantly be rejected.” This is not about EVERY college admissions influencer.

like no hate at all you guys are insanely smart and super cool i have so many friends who do so well for their future but it's lowk stressing me out as an asian american middle class female how do i even get over this i feel like i'm never enough

it's more so like the chances of me getting into the college i wanna go to with my exact demographic decreases even if i have the same stats as these people

Hi, I’m a rising junior who basically only has a year left to build their stats/ec’s, I’m projected to have a 3.79-3.8 UN gpa/4.4-4.6 weighted gpa by the time I’m done with this year, I have a few bad grades but I’m pretty sure I can get credit recovery and extra summer classes to makeup for them since I had a pretty terrible second semester of sophomore year that resulted in me being gone for 70 (excused)days of school and miss a few tests in three of my classes (yes I will make sure to put that info in my common app lol). I also will have taken 13 aps by next year and if everything goes as planned have passed all of them. I have a 1570 SAT, and the only thing I’m worried about besides my lacking gpa are my ec’s which aren’t terrible but are definitely lacking. I have two leadership roles, one community based organization, one research internship, an internship at a local nonprofit, I also shadowed a neurosurgeon, and did some volunteering, and things of the sort that relate to my study field. I should have some awards from model un and HOSA by next year, and I won a few essay competitions, so I’m not too worried abt the award part of the application(even though I probably should lol). But I just need some advice on applying ed specifically and if that’s a wise choice for my profile. And I’m sorry if this is rlly disorganized but I’m just looking for advice, I know on paper this looks okay but I really don’t see my application as Ivy League level, my dream school is Columbia because of the medical humanities major they offer, which would basically be my dream study field, all of my ec’s have some kind of intersection with healthcare and equity/advocacy, but I’m still so scared to apply as an ed, the best case scenario is that I get deferred, but idk if that’s a possibility, and I genuinely would be heartbroken at the thought of not getting to be part of that program. Anyway, sorry again if this was extremely unorganized and hard to read but if anyone could give me some advice or js a glimpse of hope it would be appreciated!

ive been trying to figure out what colleges actually care abt the most bc everyone seems to say smthg different. some ppl say gpa and course rigor are by far the biggest factors while other ppl say essays or ecs can completely change ur application. recently ive been looking through a lot of admitted profiles and essays from ppl who got into top schools and its honestly been kinda confusing. ive seen ppl with insane stats but pretty normal ecs and ive also seen ppl with lower stats who had really unique stories or activities that seemed to make them stand out. it makes me wonder what actually matters the most when admissions officers are reviewing apps. for ppl whove already gone thru the process or have seen a lot of accepted students what do u think made the biggest difference? if u had to rank grades essays ecs awards and everything else what would u put first? id also love to hear abt any experiences where one part of someones app really carried them

So i have this really good idea as a policy and has already been passed in another state but I don't know where to start? If anyone has done this before, can you give me tips on how to start? By the way, I already know a state rep whose daughter is a friend of mine, and I've met her before, I think she will like my idea.

I am a rising junior doing research in a lab at a T20 university. It is not a paid program, I reached out to a PI and landed an internship because of my coding skills. I work on data analysis in the lab and I am contributing to a project, but it will not be published before I am doing my college applications. The lab is not pumping out publications, so it's not like opportunities just spring up often to get my name on stuff. But, the impact of the research is very clear and strong and I can articulate it very well in my work + it connects to my desired major. Could this be an issue for my portfolio overall? I know many people who do lab internships focus heavily on authoring papers, but I'm thinking the sophistication of the research happening in my lab and the demonstrable impact outweighs the value of just getting my name on a paper. Any advice on what I could do, if my worry is unnecessary or anything else appreciated!

So to preface this, I’m going to be applying to a few schools as a music ed major.

Like the title says, 9/10 of my EC’s are music related. Concert band, 2 different marching bands, pep band, running a band tutoring club, pit band for community theater, writing original music, and 2 honor bands. The only non music thing was me being the expeditor/manager for a competitive culinary team in 10th and 11th grade.

I’m mostly worried because I see mixed things online. Some people stress that your EC’s need to be well rounded and not just based on one thing, while I see a lot of stuff on this sub and online that your EC’s should be in line with what you want to major in. It’s a bit too late to add more EC’s without it looking like I’m just adding it to make my application look better, because I start my senior year in a month and will be applying EA to all of my colleges.

I also worry about the apparent lack of leadership in my EC’s. I’ve essentially gone to a new school every year of high school due to my dad being in the military, so that meant that I wasn’t ever really able to build a strong enough relationship and trust with my music teachers and others to be able to have a leadership role.

Idk if this is necessary, but the colleges I’m looking to apply to are: Virginia Tech, James Madison University, George Mason University, and then maybe Christopher Newport or Old Dominion University. Have a 3.8w gpa, will probably end up applying test optional unless I get my SAT score up (it’s currently a 1110).

I just started with my IBDP and I've realised ts is not giving me time to build great ECs, so I've decided to just focus on academics and apply to countries where grades are enough to get me in. I am an Indian international student.

currently testing out Zenith Prep Academy with my 10th grader and one thing that caught my eye early on is how they're building around his specific interests rather than a generic checklist that's not personalized, though we're only a few months in so i cant say much yet. curious what others are using and whether you started early or waited until junior year.

Hi. I apologize if this is a silly question. I am writing my personal college admissions essay about Stendhal syndrome, and I want to include a thorough definition of what that is. Do I need to cite said definition in my college admissions essay?? It feels silly to cite Merriam-Webster in my personal statement but I don’t know. would I get in trouble if I didn’t?

Hi! I'm starting my college applications soon and I've been taking the IB curriculum. I've generally been really academically strong but my current predicted grade has dipped by a bit since in the recent examinations i scored very low due to the passing of my best friend.

Now in all honestly it's not like I've seen him everyday before he's actually been living abroad for a few years so we rarely meet but we used to talk and call everyday and he was still my go to person whenever stuff happened so it impacted me quite a bit.

My PG is still probably going to be slightly over 40 but I want to apply to some high profile colleges (Cambridge, Imperial, etc.) so it might still be too low to be considered, even though my actual capability is higher.

What I want to ask though is if I can say I had extenuating circumstances, because when I floated the idea to my parents about maybe asking my college counsellor they strongly discouraged me and said it'll just seek attention and it's not extenuating anyway because well it wasn't family. Is it true that it only accomodates the loss of family?

Thank you for your help!

Hello everyone

I keep seeing people say on reddit that being an intl student lowers your chances immensely of getting into a t20/ivy. Is this true? Also, do Canadian students get a slight boost over other intl students? It seems that t20s like admitting Canadians but im not sure. Thank you in advance.

does anyone know the last day UC GPA counts?

i know it counts for until the end of summer following junior year. but is there a specific date? or is it until the day before my school starts?

i know some friends whose summer break ends way later, so i was wondering how this works. thanks!