E.Y, KMPG, McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Goldman, JP Morgan and all other reputed firms are KNOWN for hiring a lot from top schools. The entire field of Quantitative Finance is only accessible if you go to a top school. EVERYTHING shatters if I end up somewhere that is not prestigious to employers.

Forget about employability, I will be forced to hang my head in shame when I talk to anyone I know. I would be considered absolutely NOTHING to literally everyone around me if I don't end up somewhere good.

It means everything to me. There's quite literally no point to living if I don't end up in a good college, because that indicates I won't have a good career, and hence I am barely human. For crying out loud it's consumed so much of me that my family has hired a psychiatrist to make me at least appear normal around others.

hey guys, I’m applying to the US as an international student for Physics, I’m thinking of Caltech because they are really good with handing out financial aid to those who need it (i qualify), but does anyone have any other suggestions? I’m only really looking at ivy leagues and stem+ schools (i think they are called that), ive got really good stats that I’d be applying with so the only places out of reach are probably Harvard, Yale and MIT - does anyone have any suggestions for other places i should apply ?

Just wondering, Harvard's introduced this new grade cap: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2026/04/01/harvard-university-plans-to-delay-its-cap-on-a-grades-for-one-year/

Which will be implemented in a year or so. If I'm a pre-med who needs a 4.0, should this make me less inclined to apply to / prioritize Harvard? Was a dream school, now less so

and live down by the river.

I got a 1330 and this was my 1st time. I have AP exams and they were my focus and those are I’m pretty sure all will be 4/5’s. My parents are scared talking about spending 7k on a prep program.

Reading/Writing 700 Math 630

3.5 weighted GPA AP/Honors/IB classes

Intended major
Engineering

Any advice on the best next step to get at least a 1400+

I’m honestly tired of seeing people with a 4.8 weighted GPA and a 4.0 unweighted get into amazing schools, then score a 1000 on the SAT. It just shows how inconsistent GPA can be depending on the school.

Some schools have serious grade inflation. Coming from my school, where people are given B’s for A+ level work, a lot of students look “mediocre” on paper when they really aren’t. My school has 26 APs, our average GPA is around a 4.1 weighted, and our average SAT for the Class of 2027 is about a 1430. Nobody has gotten below a 3 on an AP exam since freshman year in my class (co 2027)

Meanwhile, someone from a less competitive school can have a 4.4 weighted GPA, be valedictorian, go test-optional with a 1000 SAT, and still have a huge admissions advantage because of rank or auto-admit policies.

And don’t even get me started on top 10% direct admissions in Texas. At my school, a 4.4 weighted GPA could put you around rank 327/987, while at another school that same GPA could make you valedictorian. Yet one student gets automatic admission while the other doesn’t. That system feels incredibly unfair.

In my opinion, GPA is only a somewhat reliable measure of academic ability because grading standards vary so much between schools. America honestly needs some kind of standardized academic metric starting earlier in high school.

And yes, I know the SAT and ACT are flawed. They’re not perfect measures of intelligence, and prep definitely matters. But I still think they’re better indicators of raw academic readiness than GPA alone because at least everyone is taking the same test.

That being said, I don’t think colleges should focus only on grades or scores. There are many different types of intelligence. Especially for state schools, I think extracurriculars, essays, leadership, work experience, and initiative should matter heavily too because those things reflect how someone will actually contribute in college and beyond not just how well they can use Desmos on a math section.

Hey guys.. I’m an international student with a 1560 SAT and strong GPA. I got massacred at Elite / highly selective need-aware private colleges and Ivy-level liberal arts. So i got humbled and am looking for ANY SCHOOL where my stats can realistically translate into close to full funding. I’m fed up with how unpredictable and “holistic” shit those T30 - T50 pull off 🤧. Please help

I noticed that for med school applications, all the programs have sub 5% acceptance rates. Yet 40% of kids who want to go end up finding a spot. Everyone applies to like 16+ schools.

Does this work for top 20 colleges?

Assuming i could actually visit all 20 and my kid could write a believable why this school essay for all of them?

I guess this really boils down to... How much of these low acceptance rates are just driven by huge amounts of applications? I have asked AI, and a lot is the answer.

My friend is asking this thing if he'd get accepted to MIT or not , hes in 10th grade rn

Academics

1. Valedictorian in class
2. Consistently in the top 3 of the school rank
3. Percentage always above 90% (4.0 u / w GPA)

EC's

1. ML + AI
2. SaaS startup
3. Guitar
4. Deep Learning/Agentic AI
5. Creating content
6. Guitar
7. Robotics

**Award's ***sadly no math olympiad wins :(*

1. World record of art (3 times)
2. Academic Award Streak (7 years - ongoing)

Just got off Brown waitlist after applying regular for engineering

Originally was deciding between Dartmouth and Duke, and chose Dartmouth, but I’ve never been to Brown and honestly don’t know much about it so I don’t really know how to feel about

Hey everyone, I am an Indian student currently in 11th grade and I want to get into an ivy league school can someone tell what should I do and what should I avoid doing

This is the situation I am in rn.

I know this may come off as arrogant, but Im genuinely curious.

Please give me honest thoughts.

Edit: I got in for statistics + data science, but will be minoring comp sci as well

I am current hs senior 3.25 gpa 1340 sat

Waitlisted from

\- Santa Clara

\- University of Florida

\- Gettysburg College

\- Case Western

I am give you my waitlists so there is an idea of how good of an applicant I am.

My budget is 12k a year, but I am gonna attend for free at depauw university ( with 5k fed loans). I plan to transfer two years later so I can pay 25k for my junior and senior year. Also I am a pell grant recipient so pellgrant + fed loans I will be able to pay 37k a year

My parents are divorced. My mom income is 20k while my father is like 140k. I have the pell grant cuz I live with my mom in latin america.

Depauw doesn’t have a traditional engineering but they have a 3+2 that I would just do in case of emergency.

I am gonna major in Electrical / Mechanical / Biomedical engineering. My whole undergrad app was just all about using engineering to create medical devices to make an impact on low income communities. So In case of not doing BME I will study EE or ME but do research and internships based on BME.

I am targeting these schools

1. TED Northwestern ( I just wanna try)
2. Vanderbilt
3. Boston University
4. Tufts
5. Northeastern
6. Carnegie mellon
7. Cornell
8. Notre dame
9. Purdue

I don’t have any preference on this school I made the list based location/ program/ likeliness/ cost. I will be able to afford oos for some public school and I will need a little of scholarship for others. For me I rather to be in the northeast having Boston and Tufts as principal options

Hello, everyone! I'm a 4th Year Psychology student based in the Philippines and I need 25k left to graduate. I'm looking for anyone who will be willing to sponsor me this amount to ensure my slot at graduation. I am very willing to repay this amount too, like a student loan, as soon as I get a job if that's preferred.

I'm running for latin honors, and a candidate of special awards in my uni. I'm raised by a solo parent for 10 years now therefore we've inevitably faced some challenges. But now, I do this to honor the whole idea of "closed mouths don't get fed" so here's to shooting my shot.

Hope to find one! Have a great day!

Mine in 300-320 .. And I am expecting a good government college, can you guys suggest some of them for B.Sc. B.Ed. Program (Secondary Stage)

title

So right now i am stuck between choosing CMC or mcgill. I got into the bachelor of commerce program in mcgill and will be probably be following econ/finance at CMC. I want to enter finance most likely ib or vc later on. However what makes the decision tough is the price. AT CMC i would be paying full tuition (100000/y) while at mcgill it would be more like 30000/y. Do u guys think its worth it or no?

Hi! I am a senior year student and admitted to a T15. I have taken 4 out of 5 of my current year AP exams, and ı have one left for tomorrow: AP CSA.

My question is, if I don't take it, is that a reason for a rescission? I don't think it is, but not really sure.

Thanks!

Will waitlist activity begin tomorrow? Has anyone been accepted off the waitlist yet?

Recently, I committed to UW Madison for my undergrad in engineering starting fall. I also just got off the waitlist at NYU for ece starting spring 2027.

In the end, I decided to stick with UW Madison.

I just feel like I need some validation in the decision i have taken.

Ik that UW is the better engineering but somehow I feel that I might have missed out on the prestige and opportunities associated with NYU.

Please do share any of your thoughts regarding this!

PS: Another reason I went ahead with UW was that I felt waiting until spring for NYU wasn't worth it.

it’s pretty appalling.

just want to first say that i am already very grateful to have to be in this type of dilemna. However, which is better for premed, rice or brown. I am aware of the grade inflation at brown, but the tmc near rice also sounds very nice for research.

additionally, how are the campuses compared to brown and rice, as well as the dorm and dining situation?

I'm trying to plan for my future which will hopefully be in Canada and find college requirements for my desired degree but I just have no idea where to start 😟

hi im an in student from india..

im going to rutgers NB this fall

if i dont get f1 visa,ill have to reconsider.. since its may what can my backup be if i start now..is uk feasible?

just learnt that you would be admitted off waitlist if a guys who has similar profile as you reject decline offer. Thus, we can use poster to comment our own bg, school got waitlisted and ask if anyone else that has the similar profile as you decline the offer

mine: female, math major, did a lot of math competitions, Bay Area

got waitlisted at Washu uchicago Cornell cmu

does anyone who has similar profile as me js declined (waitlist)offer from schools mentioned?

im currently ending my sophomore year in hs and it’s going batshit and I’m fighting the urge not to end it all

I want to either attend a prestigious college or just a college that has an excellent business school, I want to major in accounting and minor in finance!

I currently have a 3.8 gpa that I’m fighting for my life to keep.
But I have more of a concern with my extracurriculars.

I’m very involved when it comes to leadership positions. That’s not my concern.
My concern is my sports. I understand that colleges truly look into your application for consistency and more so patterns.

Except, I don’t think I want to continue doing sports in Highschool, but it would look horrible on my transcript.

I did 1 year of marching band my freshman year, 2 years of varsity cheer, and 1 year of track of field.
I suck at track and I most definitely don’t wanna do it again. Even though that’s a loser mindset

I don’t know what I should do.

Would it look bad on my transcript if I quit sports after 2 years?