It's been a guessing game to determine which schools have the most clout around the country, mostly because A2C has its own opinions, but the question has finally been empirically answered. Now, Americans from all over the country were asked to determine which universities are perceived as the best overall and have the greatest public sentiment and goodwill. The results (https://yougov.com/en-us/ratings/universities) were:

1. Stanford
2. Johns Hopkins (makes sense because Hopkins is synonymous with medicine and became really popular due to their leadership with the CDC during COVID, remember this is about positive public sentiment not just who heard of the school)
3. Harvard
4. Yale
5. Oxford
6. Princeton
7. Duke
8. Berkeley (I think people on here forget how prestigious Berkeley is especially for grad school)
9. MIT
10. Cornell (The results were compiled BEFORE the recent scandal became national news, so expect that Cornell has dropped significantly now)
11. Columbia
12. Cambridge
13. Caltech
14. Northwestern
15. NYU (Being in the most famous city in America has its perks with recognizability)
16. UCSD (this is the biggest surprise on the whole list for me, but great school)
17. UCLA
18. UMich
19. UPenn
20. UChicago

Disclaimer: These are general questions I have received from friends and some of my own.

1. Testing - At what point does a lower than typical testing score genuinely bring up a red flag? Yellow? Orange?

2. Personal Statement - Are you looking for different attributes from different majors? A unique quality? A unique story?

3. Favorite - What are your favorite essays, activities, or genuinely standout parts on an application that has even the most average student gain admittance?

Look, I know a lot of people might get mad and think that I'm trolling, but I'm really not, its a genuine worry.

I've just been really focused on the goal of a 1550+ , so its kinda frustrating that i literally just missed it by 1 question, and i dont know if i sould retake or not. how much would it help my college chances by if i had a 1540 vs like a 1570 or smthg?

I've heard that people get into t20's with low 15's or even high 14's all the time, but the people who say that seem to always forget that they had crazy good EC's, which I don't think I have, so I feel like this score is kind of one the points where I should be shining out from other applicants.

If it helps, my split was 750 RW and 790M

Okay ive been bawling my eyes out for the last like hour so I have a pounding headache sorry if this is written crazy. But basically I had been getting consistent 1500s on my practice tests but sOMR how I only got a 1380. I also only have a 3.6 gpa uw and BARELY 4.0 weighted. my parents also only have 15k in my college fund. I have crazy good ECs but that’s it. I live in a pretty rural area so my SAT is very good for it but not my gpa. I really wanted to go to UMD but I’m not going anymore I guess my chances are shot. here are my options pls choose I’m tryna be diplomat or lawyer. I guess I should mention I’ve taken like 9 aps and gotten all 4s and 5s, max rigor and duel enrollment. So yeah

My class rank is like 30 out of 200 i was kinda surprised because I have a bad gpa but idk if that’s helps I’d whatever

- Go to a smaller, less prestigious college (don’t have enough money for a masters after that so idk)

- Take the SAT again in November and apply everywhere but my safeties as regular decision

plese let me know where I can get in. I lowkey had a mental breakdown my freshman year which is gpa is very bad but like I’m not writing than in extenuatinf circumstances I think

um also i have a one income household and a little brother who is also going to college in a couple of years so idk I feel so ashamed and stipid there’s no hope for me idk Ive been cryjnf all monring

and the worst part is i created this whole mess. maybe i had some extenuating circumstances but nothing so bad that i failed this horribly. other people have had it way worse and i know it. all i’ve done the past 3-4 years is be depressed, cry and stare at a screen to distract myself. ultimately procrastinated on everything.lifted my grades up a little bit this year but it’s nowhere near enough. with predicted grades, at best it’s an 87 average.got my sat score today. 1490. the best i could do apparently when the stakes were high as a high school senior. (didn’t put in enough effort ofc) everyone said i had so much potential. teachers, parents, friends, idk where it all went wrong. and I’m an international wanting to study math/cs so it’s even worse. I’ve disappointed myself and my family. i had so much ambition but i never did anything useful. idk if i’ll even get into an okay college. going to a good university for undergrad was a dream and will stay a dream and it’s all my fault. I’m just so lost. i did this to myself.

Rn I got into Texas tech, Texas state, Texas A&M, and university of Colorado Denver. I’m in Denver right now for the first time and it’s beautiful. I love the scenery, the people, it feels so welcoming and friendly. Yet, there’s Texas A&M, a good school but much more conservative. 😭 I always thought “oh well I’ll just go to Texas A&M” but when you start to have choices it feels damn near impossible to figure out which one you want to make. I don’t want to make the wrong one, which scares me. What factors aside from money should I look for when it comes to narrowing down what college I want to attend?

Edit: yeah so I’m 95% sure I’m going to tamu. Cheaper, a flagship, and it’s not the endgame. Now IF an out of state school were to be generous and give me a lot of scholarship money, then I may look into it. What matters is grad school. Thanks for the comments. I really love traveling, hell, if TAMU has a study abroad program I’d definitely apply. I realize I have time, I have the rest of my life to live somewhere else whenever I get my real job lol. I figured I need to stop rushing things. I appreciate it👍

I am an incredibly boring person. I have no intrest, I've never traveled. I have never had any deep, meaningful character arc in, well, ever. Theres only one thing im good at: telling a story.

So here I am, staring at the blank Google doc on my laptop, mind completely blank. Then it comes to me: they want a story. It doesn't have to be true, it just needs to sound true. The poor overworked underpaid bloke who will be reading this could care less about me as a person. They want to be told a story, so why not give them one.

I think the best way to approach this is by not looking at it as "an essay that will determine if i get into college and therefore the rest of my life", but as 500 word first person short story. I think this will sound a lot more personal than if I wrote about me. I hate writing about myself because I am a very private, and as before mentioned, boring person. But I do love to write stories.

Any advice (or just telling me this is a really shitty, terrible, idiotic idea) is appreciated.

I’m quite conflicted. My essays mention being queer in general, so it’s not like an AO is likely to think I’m entirely non-lgbtq, but idk if I should put that im trans. On one hand, I’m not fully out (only to my friends) and wouldn’t really want my parents knowing, and im not entirely against not putting that I’m trans, but on the other hand idk I feel weird abt lying abt it. Ik not every school asks, but a lot of the ones I want to apply to do (mit and the ucs) and idk what to do abt it

Hey everyone. I have taken the test 4 times and managed to get a score of upper 1500s in my last sitting. However, my previous tests are not as good. My rw scores are 690,670,690,780 and math scores are 750,790,720,790. For the colleges which require all of my sat scores, would my previous attempts be a disadvantage for me?

hi guys! I'm currently trying to decide which Ivies I should apply to. I really want to apply only if my character type seems fitting for the school (obviously not the only thing, but a big part for me). For example, Brown is known for its artsy/quirky kids. So my question is: what is the average personality for each of the Ivy League schools?

Some backstory: My asian mom really wanted me to go to Duke and Northwestern, but turns out they were unrealistic reaches for me. Then we settled for Rice and Emory. But now someone from my school also wants to ED Rice which lowers my chances, especially with his demographics and background.

So talking with my counselor, he said Barnard is actually a great fit for me in all aspects, with maybe the exception of its location. NYC is highly competitive and requires constant hustle. I got expelled for nic and weed and she’s got confirmation bias towards my living and studying habits. So Barnard is a strong no for her. But I truly love it and I love the hustle when it’s working for something I want, not something she wants.

What do I do?? I don’t want to say anything hurtful like “your mind is too rigid” but I REALLY want to go and I have pretty high chances too. Plus Barnard is like ranked 100+ in the US and she keeps telling me I’ll have to take care of my own tuition for anything below 30.

Sorry for the long rant!!

Is imperial college really better than all U.S schools excluding MIT or are the Brits coping

1480 SAT 4.55w/3.97uw Valedictorian/First-Gen from Arizona

Maybe I'm just dumb lol but it seems like all of the schools offering scholarships to out of state have bad engineering? (Except bama)

Do you guys know what schools I should apply to for aerospace?

Would love to get some informed opinions and perspectives here...

My wife and I attended Big 10 schools, so can't really provide advice based on lived experience to our daughter who is leaning heavily toward LACs.

She's a senior at a boarding school that has an environment and vibe that's more aligned with an LAC. She really loves the culture at her school and values the smaller class size and accessibility of teachers and faculty. She presents as an extrovert but has struggled with some fairly major social anxiety.

Our fear is that she's potentially clinging to her comfort zone and will miss some of the college social experience by attending a school with a small, mostly regional student body and tame social and sports scene.

We were really impressed by the beauty of the LAC campuses we toured and the holistic learning environment that they offered. But most of them also had the feel of boarding high school 2.0.

Should we be concerned that she'd be missing out on the broader social opportunities that universities offer (both pre- and post-grad)? Or are we misunderstanding what LACs actually offer? What was your experience at your LAC, and any regrets?

(Schools on her target list: U of Richmond, Colgate, Occidental, Bard, Davidson, Middlebury)

I got a 780 in math and a 700 in reading and writing. Since I am applying to the school of engineering, I don't have to actually submit my SAT score as I have CAIE A level results. But I did get a good math score and am pretty sure CMU will give more weight to it. And it isn't like my reading and writing score is bad either.

anyone gotten any post ed form? i’m scared if i haven’t already gotten it im already rejected

So my essay is insanely generic. Its about me playing the piano and ik theres bunch of people who play the piano. Even what my essay is about is probably insanely generic, though im not gonna share that. Does building my essay around the reasons and experiences through which I reached the conclusions I did save it, or should I js make a new one?

Yo guys,

I’m applying for the Fall 2027 intake as an intl student targeting Computer Science / Hardware / Engineering.

Budget-wise, housing/living is ~$12k-$15k pretty much everywhere, so I'm mainly looking at tuition. I'm hoping for scholarships, but paying full or partial fee isn't a dealbreaker IF the school actually has legit job prospects and ROI.

Trying to figure out what's worth paying full price for, what's only worth it with a % discount, and what I should just drop entirely.

Here’s my current list and how I’m viewing them location/job-wise:

• UT Dallas
• Univ. of South Florida
• Iowa State
• Texas Tech
• Alabama
• Mississippi State
• Ole Miss

Questions:

1. For intl students in CS/Engineering, does being in a major city hub make a difference or is it like a skill thing everywhere.
2. Please recommend what's worth full price vs. partial scholarship
3. What else should I add to this list?

So two days ago I applied to the graduate entry programme that I've been waiting for an entire year.

I wrote the application document a long time ago, and didn't reread it thoroughly before submitting it. I know I was careless, I'm still regretting it ;(

Unfortunately the university I'm applying to doesn't allow applicants to amend their application on the website after submitting, so I updated the document and contacted my agency today (I'm applying through an official agency as an international student), heard that they emailed the school to update the document for my application. I also emailed the admissions contact personally just to make sure if updating document is possible. I feel so dumb, and I'm so so worried that this will cause any problems in the future — admissions process, student visa qualification etc.

What I wrote wrong was the graduation dates of my former university and my years of work experience… should have wrote 4 yrs not 3 yrs but at the time I wrote my CV it was 3yrs

The documents I sent again was my CV and Statement of Purpose

Has anyone experienced this kind of situation?

Hiya,

I’m currently stuck in a pickle. I’m a 22M and have the opportunity to study in the US in the next academic year (27/28). However, I do not know which university to go with; the following are my options:

USA - Appalachian State University
USA - California State University
USA - Colorado State University (CSU) at Fort Collins
USA - Florida State University
USA - Iowa State University
USA - Northern Arizona University
USA - Ohio University
USA - San Francisco State University (SFSU)
USA - Texas A&M University
USA - The State University of New York at Albany
USA - University at Buffalo, University of New York 
USA - University of Central Oklahoma 
USA - University of Houston Texas
USA - The University of Kansas at Lawrence
USA - The University of Maryland at Baltimore County 
USA - University of South Carolina
USA - University of Southern Mississippi
USA - University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK)
USA - University of Utah
USA - University of Wyoming

My top choices are FSU, as well as Texas A&M, South Carolina and Tennessee.

I would appreciate any advice or insights.

They all seem like really cool schools but those are my top 4 and I don’t know in which order to place them. I really want a memorable experience that would be considered the classical college experience, however I feel like I may be slightly too old for the FSU vibe.

Cheers.

I'm currently a sophomore in Honors French 3. I was planning to take AP French next year, but after looking at the course for a bit I realized I might be kinda cooked for that class (I'm not a native speaker).

Right now I have a really good GPA (97+ in every class) and I'm ranked top 3 out of 500, so I don't want AP French to be the reason my GPA and rank is a lower number on my college application.

So I was thinking maybe I should take AP French senior year so that it doesn't really affect the numbers on my college application. Yes, I'm aware that the first quarter grades of senior year do count, but usually the first quarter is easier than the other quarters at our school, and I won't have to worry as much about the AP exam as well.

However, my concern is if having a gap year between French 3 and 4 might look bad, and if it signals I was too "scared" to take it junior year.

I took French 2 in 8th grade, if that helps.

I have requested, and received my three recommendations for my transfer applications. However, I didn't know that it would only attach these recommendations to the one school I selected (Common App has updated since I had to use it in high school so I was very confused). I was just wondering if I added these recommenders to other schools, would it notify them each time? Just wondering if I should warn them through email first, or if I'm good to go. Thank you!

Title. Applying biochem, my gpa is 4.62 w 4.0 uw i am also oos for both

I keep seeing conflicting information about how to order your ECs on common app (e.g., by commitment, impact, prestige, relation to major, etc.), so i'm hoping for some advice on my order. Also, i'm a bit worried that some of my hour counts will seem a bit inflated, but they genuinely are all truthful. idk maybe im just anxious because im applying to some pretty selective schools, but still. Any help would be greatly appreciated 🙏

1. Founder, youth health advocacy initiative — 21 hrs/week, 52 weeks/year. Built a peer community, created educational resources, launched mentorship and pen-pal programs, organized fundraising, and connected with established organizations.
2. Debate team captain — 24 hrs/week, 36 weeks/year. Four years of participation, multiple state qualifications, tournament organization, and novice mentoring.
3. Legal internship — 15 hrs/week, 8 weeks/year. Analyzed case evidence and legal documents, built a database from internal affairs records, and observed legal proceedings and client meetings.
4. Founder and president, local HSDA chapter + ROC committee — 16 hrs/week, 52 weeks/year. Founded and lead a local chapter, coordinate with national leadership, and contribute to an initiative expanding civic outreach to underserved communities.
5. Founder and president, school events organization — 5 hrs/week, 36 weeks/year. Recruited 20+ volunteers, helped organize events, created decorations for multiple school events, and supported fundraisers.
6. School history club president — 5 hrs/week, 36 weeks/year. Lead meetings, organize a field trip, oversee educational announcements, and coordinate outreach and volunteer opportunities.
7. Youth council member at local indie nonprofit cinema — 3 hrs/week, 30 weeks/year. Four years of participation; help select films, plan screenings, create promotional materials, volunteer at film events, and collaborate on short films.
8. Digital content creator/video editor — 4 hrs/week, 28 weeks/year. Create and post pop-culture video edits; account has accumulated 40K+ views and 5K+ likes.
9. Model UN participant and former social media manager — 2 hrs/week, 30 weeks/year. Research global issues, deliver position speeches, debate resolutions, and collaborate with other delegates.
10. Civic service fellowship — 3 hrs/week, 24 weeks/year. Recently starting a program involving youth civic education, community action planning, and youth-led campaigns.

I can’t seem to find any videos on TikTok about this school. I’ve heard that student life there is very quiet and everyone there are nerds