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Can you speak about the impact of these factors on an application? I’m done with the process but this is for my underclassmen friends. 1. Passion projects. Some that I’ve seen are research papers, novels, instagram accounts raising awareness. 2. Advanced math. I’ve heard from people that being 3-4 years ahead in math is preferable, is this true? If you were at all involved in engineering and computer science admissions, is math the deciding factor? 3. NGO’s. I was skeptical about if founding a bunch worked, but everyone I’ve seen who has one has gotten into a t25 or higher.  4. Research. Is research still valued highly, and are there ways to legitimize research?  For example, working with a professor. 5. Are summer jobs weighed the same as a summer program? I’m not talking about pay to play programs but reputable, governor’s school level programs. A lot of my underclassmen are freaking out about not getting into programs and giving them some assurance that it’s not going to hurt them would be very helpful. Thank you so much for answering these, I have a lot of people who ask me questions about college because I got into T25’s, so I’d be nice to have accurate information.

> Passion projects. Some that I’ve seen are research papers, novels, instagram accounts raising awareness I'll start with the idea that it's not my job to sniff out passion. I think that's kind of what a lot of students envision AOs doing? It can be something we look for, but it's not really the primary objective of our jobs. So with that out of the way: what it boils down to at the end of the day is really if we can glean any sort of intellectual vitality from the student, or any sort of impact that they might have while on campus. You mention a couple of things, like research and instagram accounts. I tend to look at those differently. Research can demonstrate intellectual vitality a lot of times, instagram accounts raising awareness... not so much. It can! But normally it won't. So the way I look at is different from the passion project of research. The IG stuff is now more about, "Interesting texture to the applicant... Is this what they'll be doing when on campus?" whereas my comments on research might, "Could be a powerhouse at [insert my school]. Passing onto faculty for a read" Hope that makes sense and answers your question. > 2. Advanced math. I’ve heard from people that being 3-4 years ahead in math is preferable, is this true? If you were at all involved in engineering and computer science admissions, is math the deciding factor? This is the cheesy, AO answer, but we want students to just challenge themselves as much as they can. My answer? It's preferable if the student can manage it. Ultimately, I just want them, at least at my school, to get to the highest calc available to them and ideally max out the math curric in HS. So no, you don't NEED to be 3-4 years ahead. For eng/CS, math is not the deciding factor, at least at my school. It can be if the student hasn't taken/isn't currently taking calculus. > 3. NGO’s. I was skeptical about if founding a bunch worked, but everyone I’ve seen who has one has gotten into a t25 or higher. It's honestly overblown that all AO's roll their eyes when they see a NGO created. Some do, some don't. That's just the reality, and it's not black-and-white. But whether we do or don't doesn't stop us from evaluating you as an applicant. > 4. Research. Is research still valued highly, and are there ways to legitimize research? For example, working with a professor. Research is valued, but not everyone needs to do it. I think this is one of those overblown things on A2C as well. Legitimizing research? I think students should really start locally before randomly emailing professors, because professors are really busy! Start by asking your local science teacher, or history teacher, or whatever research topic you want to pursue, start by asking the relevant teacher. Teachers know a lot of people. I'll end on the idea that you don't need to do research, tho, and in fact most students I've brought to committee don't do research. > 5. Are summer jobs weighed the same as a summer program? I’m not talking about pay to play programs but reputable, governor’s school level programs. A lot of my underclassmen are freaking out about not getting into programs and giving them some assurance that it’s not going to hurt them would be very helpful. We LOVED seeing jobs. If a student works like 20 hours a week for the entire year, they'll likely get a high score on their EC rating. However, that doesn't really mean that it's the same as getting into a really prestigious program. Again, we take context into account, so it varies for each student and it's hard to give an accurate answer for this because it really does vary.

If I got into a prestigious summer program but am going to attend a local internship that pays me can I write that I was accepted into the prestigious one or will that be a turn off?

Hi, this is really cool and I just wanted to appreciate you for sharing all this insightful information! I was wondering about upward trends and test scores. I’m not a 36/1600er and while I am trying to make sure I do my best, I just want to know how those will be evaluated. I have a LOT on the extracurricular side of things and while I do well in school (now) as opposed to freshman year, I just don’t want a test score to be so heavy. I know admissions is holistic and all but idk. Hope you don’t get too annoyed when answering. Thanks!

How are people 3-4 years ahead in math?? I'm taking Differential Equations this summer and I'm the most advanced at math at my school, but that's only a sophomore college class, so only 2 years ahead. Are people frequently taking Real / Complex Analysis in high school?

Give your lists of: * things applicants (and their parents) think are extremely impactful but are actually way less impactful than they think. * things applicants (and their parents) do **not** think are very impactful but that are actually way more impactful than they think. * top things you **commonly** saw on an application that were likely to induce eye rolls from everyone * top things you **commonly** saw on an application that were more-or-less disqualifying, that the applicant almost certainly didn't **realize** would be disqualifying

Apparently my reply keeps getting deleted, so I'll try again. Re your first bullet point - I'll start with an EC. Students that make testing organizations (like SAT tutoring). These often are started in junior year to senior year. I think students think this is a large amount of impact, but quite frankly, it's not something of consequence. It doesn't help me imagine what a student would be doing at my school any better. And imo, it's just wasted time to be doing something much more interesting. Another thing I think students think are really impactful but end up being less impactful is their essay. Essays are one component of the entire application process. And rarely are they the focus of the committee discussion. Most AOs give one or two sentences when they present the essay; what we really focus on is the total package. So I think students often believe it's their essays that got them into a school, but it's often the entire application as a collective, not usually a single part. re: your second bullet point: Art/music supplements. They never hurt you if they're bad. If they're good, they make your app more compelling. re: your third - Pioneer Academics. 4+ LORs. Extremely long additional information sections. "Thick" files; not physical files, but when we load the Common App and other materials in Slate, sometimes I just do a quick flip through to see if I have a lot. LORs that don't do the student justice (the ones that are just bland and mid, which is a majority of them) re: the last - Can't say I've seen many that match this description! Most of the disqualifying apps I get are transcripts filled with Cs, Ds and Fs. The student still applies, but as I quickly run through the rest of the app, they're not a recruited athlete and there are no other parts of the app that make them compelling.

Re: the last, there's a presentation from a senior MIT admissions person on YouTube where she references the stat that about 85% of MIT's applicants are deemed "capable of doing the work", then around 10% are eliminated because something in their application suggests they're "not nice people", then they admit from the remaining 75%. Presumably they're getting this "not nice" vibe from essays and/or LoRs. That was sort of the genesis of my question re: things that are "disqualifying".

Ah, so you do see my reply!!!! And thanks for clarifying. Yeah, so it varies from school to school. I did not think this student had a very... nice demeanor overall in their app. I denied them, but they ended going to a peer school. So yeah, that "not nice" vibe comes from essays and LORs, but different schools can read things differently or have priorities that might make them take the student in

Is Pioneer Academics really that bad? As an international student, it’s kind of the only research program that offers financial aid. Could you please tell me if I should include it on my application, or if I should just mention that I did research under the mentorship of a professor?

Do you similarly disregard Sat tutoring if it’s a summer job? I am working 32 hrs per week @ $18/hr under a larger organization. Thank you!

Regarding SAT tutoring, that’s my main EC rn. I do archery, do some programming projects, and bike/do video essays, but the main EC that I work on each day is SAT tutoring because it’s a volunteer opportunity that I genuinely enjoy. What could be done to make it ‘more interesting’ ?

What are some areas of the application that A2C under/overvalues (for most applicants)?

I think there's a lot of things. A2C overvalues essays a lot. The best essays might not do anything for you if the rest of your application is still mid, like you have weak grades or your involvement is lackluster. Those essays won't, in many cases, save you. Mid is still relative, especially when talking in this sub. I think A2C undervalues the meaning of holistic admissions. ScholarGrade has a GREAT post somewhere that talks about holistic admissions. I wish every student would start there. Understanding holistic admissions makes you realize that every part of the application matters. Some students that are admitted are what I call "sum of parts" type students -- they were admitted because the sum of their parts made them compelling. Then there are individual parts students, where one part kind of overshadows everything else. Most students fall into the former, but students still think it's the essays or one or two ECs that saved them. I think A2C overvalues ECs. They're important, but imo, students focus on *the one* EC that will put them above the rest. We're looking for impact and continued duration. Ben-MA has a great post on this that should probably be read at the same time as ScholarGrade's holistic admissions post. https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/vxeqri/how_top_schools_actually_score_your/

How important are the letters of recommendation, which is something not talked a lot in this sub.

Here's that post - from *seven* years ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/7m5lvt/holistic_admissions_what_it_means_and_why_you/

As parents how can we make sure to a provide a supportive home environment to counteract all the peer pressure and high expectations from a good above average kid through high school and the college admissions process?

I love this question. I'm not a parent, but I'm around them frequently. The best things I've observed is when parents foster the innate ability for students to just love learning. When a student loves learning, I think it's less about competing against everyone and more about just doing something (going to school and participating) because you like doing it. And not just learning subjects, but learning about other people. Other cultures. Things that are different from them. Music. Films. Literature. Nature. Technology. Anything. I find that those kinds of students who are just open to anything often are the kindest. That kind of parental teaching, more than anything, I think prepares them for any environment. As for specific advice re: peer pressure and high expectations, I think also teaching them to love failing is a good idea? Sounds weird, but learning how to get up and say, "It was just one of those days" when you have a bad day really helps a ton. Because those bad days happen all the time (as you well know), and high school drama and pressure is nothing once the kid grows up and starts planning for things and suddenly life hits them.

To what extent do elite schools’ college counselors sway admissions in favor of their students? I went to a very expensive Bay Area private school and heard tons of rumors about our counselors, who were all ex admission officers themselves, writing special letters of recommendation to their ex colleagues for students or meeting AO’s one-on-one for dinners. Does any of that help and, if so, how much?

Ah, the juicy questions. Well, it's a complicated one. Usually, when we have ex AOs working at high schools, we can form a tighter and faster connection and make a pipeline. That is how feeders usually happen. In cases where ex AOs are school counselors, usually they already have enough insider knowledge to let students know *how* to strategically apply to schools. Like how to set up their application, what to avoid, what to really focus on. The special letters might help, but honestly, it depends because an ex AO usually only worked at one or a handful of schools. So their special letter will only help for some places. 1-1 dinners is not common. Don't think I've seen that happen to my colleagues. In the end, I think having an ex AO as a counselor helps when you're trying to be strategic and get insider tips. The other advantage is the pipeline the school builds to the top college. Other than that, I'm not certain there's much else as a benefit

I have heard that top private school counselors do a lot of calling into admissions offices to promote a student or assure them the school is their top choice (helping yield management). But I’ve heard conflicting statements that admissions offices are banning this practice in the name of equity. What can you share with us about current practices?

Did you read the recent Chetty and Deming article by chance that was published? Shows extraacademic factor of teachers recs and guidance counselor recs (mostly from private schools) were one of the MAIN reasons (along with legacy and athlete recruits) as the notable differences in folks getting into elite colleges beyond what you would expect from their academic credentials. So looks like the data DOES support the pipeline of having the RIGHT teacher recs and guidance counselor recs makes a big difference. I am assuming it is not poor public school recs that were the ones getting their kids swaying AO in the elite institutions. Surprising to see you don't notice the influence more profoundly from the inside?

First of all, Thanks so much for doing this. A lot of these answers are pretty re assuring and I’ve seen a lot of really valuable information. I have two questions: 1) You’ve mentioned a job being looked at very favorably, how does a paid internship (as in they pay you) in your area of interest compare. Are they viewed roughly the same? 2)You’ve talked a lot about duration in activities, but by nature, a lot of your more impactful activities are most likely stuff that you’ve been able to do as an upperclassman rather than earlier in high school. So how do you guys view an app that has many impactful things (especially at the top of the ec list) but they were mainly started in junior year (with some stuff at the tail end of the list that may last longer) Thanks again for taking the time!

1 - I don't think they're generally the same. When I think of a job, I think of a HS student working at McDonalds or something. That's a very different experience to a paid internship. Both are valuable but in different ways. It's up to the applicant to articulate what value they got from those experiences and how it changed them (if they choose to write about it). 2 - That's fine. By duration, I'm not just talking about years, I'm talking about hours and weeks. That's very important to us as well. It's totally ok to do something for only one or two years, but that description and hours spent should give me an idea of your impact.

Is there a difference between someone who scored a 1540-1560 and someone with a 1580-1600? What about a 1500-1520?

Me with a 1570 who’s neither here not there edit: i’m not bragging im just confused

I'll start with saying that there are some AOs that kind of gasp at a 1600. I've noticed those AOs to be the more senior ones. So there is a difference in seeing a student with a 1580, 90, 1600. The 1540-1560 range is fine. Really, anyone that's in that 1520 to 1560 range, I look at as relatively the same. At the 1500 range, it's a little lower for us. Still high, but we have so many students that are competitive that there would have to be other parts of this app that are compelling.

Would you say there’s a difference between a 1580 and a 1600?

Would you say being first gen, low income, minority, etc, are beneficial, negative, or neutral in admissions? Would colleges be more lenient with lower standardized testing grades and lack of opportunities? Also, I've heard that AOs know when a student uses AI to write their essays. Is that true, and what do you do when you believe they used AI?

What was the most interesting, entertaining, or impressive application you’ve read so far?

The most impressive app I've seen is a student that was a coca cola scholar, maxed out their HS curriculum in in junior yr while taking DE classes since freshman year, managing huge amounts of funding in a nonprofit to help the homeless, involved in some prestigious summer programs. The most entertaining student I had was this student who was in the circus. The most interesting student I had? Man, I don't even know. I think a lot of the students I brought to committee were interesting lol

Was the student in circus accepted?

I had a student this year who was in the circus and got into Stanford. But I don't think their time in the circus was a major factor.

Do you remember how huge the amount of funding was? Is there a good benchmark for those types of numbers?

1. How much will not taking calculus affect my chances as a history major? I moved around a lot during high school, and the highest math I'll complete by senior year is AP Pre-Calculus. 2. How will admissions compare me to my classmates if I have moved frequently? My latest move was from a rural southern area to a highly competitive region with many more opportunities. Will I be penalized for not having as many accomplishments?

Hi, hopefully this question doesn't get lost in the crowd. How do top schools truly consider extenuating circumstances? I was homeless throughout my entire sophomore year, and my family and I were moving from hotel to hotel each night. I couldn't really do any ECs besides working, because someone at my mom's office (she doesn't work a fancy job idk if that matters) was looking for an assistant and I was able to get hired. I was able to maintain a 4.0 while taking 4 APs + honors. During my junior year I switched to a more competitive smaller school and picked up the pace since my family's situation improved. I became involved at school clubs, and am now president for two of the largest clubs at my school. I continued to work but also began volunteering a lot, and was able to secure an internship that is related to my prospective major. + Int. and National level awards for speech/debate. I am now a rising senior putting together her application, and am worried that my chances at any top school are basically over because most of my ecs were started junior year. Yes I did stuff freshman year but most of those ECS died because of my family's housing situation. My grades are perfect and I take very difficult classes, but I am worried my ecs are just not enough. The only EC I have prior to junior year is working 15-20 hrs a week. * also worth noting that my counselor and I have spoken about my circumstances and I am sure she will include them in her letter.

How much of the selective admissions process is just subject to just an individual admissions reader? Like how they felt that day, if the applicant connects to something the AO can connect with, even the time of day (I’ve even heard morning applications are more likely to be accepted than apps read at night)

This is the biggest misconception people seem to have. We are full time working adults. If we don't feel in the mood, we will just take a break. We don't just deny students if we feel bad. Like imagine that: I, an adult, feel like shit so I will feel better by denying kids??? Doesn't make much sense, does it? There is no morning vs night acceptance rate thing. The admissions process is mystic to high schoolers; to us, it's a job we do and we retain professional judgment in it.

Are there cliche essay topics/themes that aren't commonly discussed? People talk about sports essays and mission trips a lot, but are there others?

It's not so much the topics that are common; I think the wiki of this sub has a post about common topics. The most common thing I see that isn't talked about enough (probably because no one would know) is structure. I see the same kinds of essay structure and syntax A LOT. It's come to a point where essay reading is actually quite predictable. That's not really a bad thing, but it can get tedious, and those who have a good structure and interesting prose have better chances of standing out

Thank you! That's for the CommonApp essay, right? What about supps? Like, are there common why major or why [school] responses that don't give specific insight into the student?

It applies to both, actually. Supps are the worst because the structure and syntax there is almost always the same. I'd say a fair amount of why major or why responses give insight, but how they write it lends the answers to all be the same. For example, "[insert class] is a class I'm excited to explore and ponder [insert other niche subject interest here and how the two subjects collide]." As you can imagine, many students do this, and it's not their fault, but because they all think of writing this way, they do nothing but write in this way. It's still insightful, but can be restrictive in the end since so many students write this way.

So, if done well, a student using a different structure could help them stand out? From my own experience, I’ve been advised against doing anything too against the grain (though this was a few years ago).

Do you overlook poor grades (like Cs) on courses that are considered irrelevant to the applicants major. For example I got a C- in digital art and a C+ in food and nutrition back in freshman year but got As in the rest of my classes and Im planning on going into CE or CS.

How important are awards, especially for international students? As an international student, I've seen many well-rounded students with great ECs, essays, awards, SAT scores, and GPAs get rejected. Instead, applicants who are accepted are often those who put most, if not all, of their focus into Olympiads, despite having otherwise "mid" application. Is this truly the norm, or is it just survivor bias and coincidence among the people I know?

Are ECs that don’t align 100% with a student’s intended major seen as less than for being less intellectual, or are they better because it shows personality and more niche connections between things?   For example, if you see a bio student who was president of the school biology club vs. a bio student who ran their own scientific illustration blog — is the first person more likely to be accepted for their academic EC, or is the second person more likely to be accepted for having a more specific EC despite it being less academic?   If it’s case-by-case, how so? Eta: also which T10 if you want to share

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We start with school groups. So you're viewed in relation to your school's applicants first. The AO might decide at that point to pass you onto second reads. Your AO finishes reading your school group, then they move on to the next one. On and on this process goes until they finished reading all school groups for their region. By this point, they've denied a good majority of students. The ones sent to second reads are the ones they need to comb through again. If you're one of those applicants, you're viewed at the regionally level now before the AO decides to bring you to committee. So no you're not really competing with Bay Area kids. You're looked at in the context you're in, and your AO should understand that context well enough to determine what is compelling WITHIN that context

>We start with school groups. So you're viewed in relation to your school's applicants first. Does this mean only x number of people can get in from a given high school?

do you not consider school beyond the first round then? say you go to an average public high school located in the same region as a private feeder. sounds like your chances of making it past the second round would be low.

if someone is applying ea and there is no one else applying from their school, would they just be getting compared to people in their region? also how much do aos consider extenuating circumstances which may have hindered a students potential

I don’t have any questions but going into my senior year you were easily my go-to resource on this subreddit and I think you were a major help in clarifying admissions rumors/assumptions and figuring out how to craft my application, so it’s great to see you here again!

How much better are AP classes than dual enrollment (CC) in terms of the way AOs view rigor? My schedule is rly tricky to line up due to orchestra and it’s a lot easier to fit in DE classes than AP classes. As such, I took three APs junior year plus 4 DE (I actually overfilled my schedule, I had space for 2 DE but did 4), and senior year will be two AP plus 6 DE I think. I’m a bit worried that I should be taking/should have taken more APs and less DE. Schedules are sorta locked by now but if I really need to I can try to beg my counselor and squeeze in a few more APs. Rn my main school is William and Mary.

If the high school profile indicates that, for whatever reason, the school doesn't offer something that is most schools DO generally have, the student shouldn't be dinged for not having taken that class or participated in that activity, etc. This can include: AP classes, sports, clubs, etc. The holistic application review process is supposed to take this into account, based on everything the public hears / reads. How true is this in practice?

My son is smart as a whip but is autistic. I'm also level 2 autistic to the point of needing state support and I am on disability. We don't have a lot of money and our life is... difficult... mostly due to my issues and problems. I can't really drive him to extracurriculars or a job, for example. I struggle to navigate different opportunities for him, fill out paperwork etc. He wants so badly to go to Cornell for engineering and it just feels hopeless seeing the resources that everyone else has. Like, there will be no SAT or admissions coaches for him. He probably is not going to have extravagant extracurriculars due to my inability to support him in those endeavors. Is this just a pipe dream for him? It seems hopeless, and I feel so guilty about my limitations as a parent.

Hi there! I'm a bit new to the admissions process, as I'm the first in my family to apply to college in the United States (not first-gen though). I'd like to know how much weight you'd put on extracurricular classes (e.g. an engineering course or AP Computer Science) in the admissions process. In addition, I would like to know if a class where the curriculum is to complete an engineering project would be counted as an extracurricular, as the course would be mainly just a time to do an engineering project as a group and present it, rather than follow a strict syllabus.

How are extenuating circumstances factored into admissions? I had life-threatening health problems my first two years of high school, so I have mostly Bs (some As and some Cs, got an F in a class but did credit recovery and got an A) those two years. However since then I have been doing very well. I’m going to be talking about it in the additional information section and having my school counselor talk about my improvements in her counselor rec letter. I see people say that circumstances are factored in, but are they really? What can I do to show that I’m doing better now, other than showing an upward grade trend?

Hello! A couple questions. I'm currently a rising sophomore, and in my freshman year I didn't do so great, especially since I am in a very competitive school. So I have 2 B+s and 3 A-s in a school where everyone else would likely have a very high GPA. Suppose I get straight As for the rest of highschool, would this have a major impact, especially when trying for t20s? Or would it be negligible? Additionally, I am wondering if I would be negatively impacted by going to a school where all the courses are way harder than they would be at a normal American public highschool, especially since my peers are going to be more competitive. Would it be better for me to transfer to an easier one to get an advantage? Finally, I'm interested in a lot of things. I want to be a computer engineering major, but I'm also interested in music software programming, philosophy, political science, etc. If I do extracurriculars relating to all these things would it look strange and cluttered? Or should I just focus my ECs to be CE/CS related? Thank you for your time!

Would you overlook a 3.7 if there was health issues involved?

What makes activities, essays, and LORs compelling?

If you have a good narrative or a clear self image that you project in your applications, especially in essays, can this make up for substandard (relative to typical T10-admitted students) extracurriculars? In that same vein, what sort of unhooked, “standard smart kid” applicants make it throughout? I keep hearing that the vast majority of an admitted class is comprised of these sort of people but aside from whether or not that’s accurate, what is the point of differentiation for them?

Do you believe there is a maximum amount of leadership positions someone should be in? Does it seem disingenuous to have 5? 6? 7? What about elected leadership positions? What about leadership positions you got only one or two years in a club? Does impact from your position trump the actual number of positions? Furthermore, how do you differentiate math and English scores. If someone is slightly below the math 25th or 50th percentile but is above 50th or 75th for English or vice versa with English and math how do you see that?

How much do AP scores matter in the admission office? What would happen if you submit barely any AP scores but took 5+? Also, do you think a 3.8 UW gpa is competitive enough for T20s? Thank you so much!

I often see posts on A2C talking about having a "spike," and many say that colleges want a well rounded class rather than well rounded students. However, others say that being well rounded and having a range of differing ECs shows more depth into the applicant. What are your thoughts on this matter?

Can you detail what the actual admissions process is like? Like the whole “reading files, committees, presenting”? Apparently the school I was admitted to this year (UCLA) makes two readers go through your application, and both need to say “yes” in order for your application to go on to the next stage. Do you do anything similar?

Does providing an “extra” letter of recommendation from a school administrator that has worked with the student matter to AOs?

How much do rec letters matter? What impact do they make compared to other parts?

How much does volunteering matter in ECs? Lets say a student has good extracurriculars with good leadership projects, jobs, research etc, but doesn't have any community involvement like volunteering, working for non profit, teaching etc. would that weaken the application? I know there is obviously no "particular" EC that AOs look for or expect all the time, but I'm wondering if that may seem as if the student won't contribute to the college community and hence won't be a good fit.

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How does self-studying AP classes look over taking lower-level classes offered at school? For example directly self-studying AP Physics instead of taking physics honors offered by school.

How do you decide what balance of humanities, science, arts and undecided applicants to admit? Or is that not a concern at all? Do you try to hit certain enrollment benchmarks for different majors, especially undersubscribed ones like some of the humanities/foreign languages/etc., and if yes, who decides what those benchmarks are?

What makes admission to top private colleges like Ivy+ schools different from top UCs such as UCLA and Berkeley. What should be “focused” on for each application for a lack of a better word

this is a different sort of question, but i'm curious about how you became an ao! what's your educational/professional background, if you're willing to share?

For legacy applicants in the same school group, how much preference is given based on parent contribution level vs quality of applicants? We saw very wealthy legacies admitted over far more qualified candidates (including legacies) at a T10 this year.

How are AP scores used in your evaluation of students? How negatively does a 4 on an exam adjacent to your major affect you (ex. 4 on Physics for a math major)? Thank you!

If my school does not officially have class rank but only unofficial rank, will my rank be considered in the admission decision?

Does the admission office really see certain prestigious summer programs as auto admits? Ie. Simons summer research program, or RSI. And do summer programs add that much to an application such as SSP?

For extracurricular activities, are nonprofit organizations frowned upon due to overusage/exaggeration of work? Can I combat this by quantifying my impacts within that nonprofit or by listing partnerships?

A few questions here. - How much is published research actually valued? How do you guys look at working at a research lab? - Do schools admit people by majors? On CommmonApp, some schools allow me to select a few majors. How do these come to play? Am I competing against people applying to the same major? (e.g. will my application be pooled with all the CS kids?). Also slightly related, but it would probably be a good idea to select a major that aligns with my interests (of course) and ECs, right? - Question about locations. Am I competing directly against the people in my school? In my state? I know some applications will go to regional AOs, but I'm pretty sure some schools might not have regional AOs. - Do you guys look for improvement in coursework load over the years? I've taken around the same number of APs since freshman year. Also I've gotten pretty good scores on my AP tests in my freshman and sophomore years. If I were to do a bit worse than I usually have done (still all 4s and 5s) as a junior, would this affect me negatively? - What do schools usually look for in their applicants? I've heard some say impact to the school, which is likely true, but also passion, dedication, etc. Does it vary from school to school? Thanks!

For someone applying as a math major, how do programs like HCSSiM or SuMac compare to the more well known ones like ROSS / PROMYS? Are these programs viewed differently from each other, from an AO perspective? Like some schools like X program better than Y... Or Z is considered higher caliber than Y, etc?

what is your favorite color ?

How in depth do AOs look at ACT scores? Like is there any difference between a 33.5 and a 34.35 (both round to 34)?

do you compare our profiles to other students in our school district/area? my school has strict pre reqs for aps. if you don't meet them in MS you don't even get the chance to take it in hs. you can't skip classes over the summer either. some students in my school take pre calc senior year while others can do calc. would that be looked down upon if they both apply to the same major etc.

Are sports devalued compared to other extracurriculars? Especially when they are time consuming and it can be often difficult to even make the team in larger high schools

My high school is competitive. Would 4 years of band or 4 extra AP classes look better? I am neutral to both. Music is not my passion, but I played an instrument in middle school. I didn’t win any awards or qualify for state band. Which path would look better to an AO?

My youngest daughter is a rising junior and maintains a pretty steady A- average in all classes. Does it look bad to not have any A+ in the mix? A- grades are a reflection of her working very hard, but maybe falling short in comparison to her peers.

Does going to a highly-competitive school: Exeter, Andover, Lawrenceville, Horace Mann, Dalton, etc. worsen your chances at a T10 because potentially lower class-rank and lower GPA?

What kind of community service is looked for? Does it matter what the time is spent doing ie volunteering at a firehouse vs a food bank vs local park cleanups?

If I can ask a few questions outside the normal bounds of what others are asking; What's the work environment like at a T10? How does it compare to other Admissions/Enrollment Management offices at less prestigious schools? Are there any reasons you left your institution?

If you already maxed your honors and awards list, would you recommend putting additional awards in the additional comments section (even if they are not very prestigious ones eg. school honor roll or president's list for sports)?

Hi, thank you so much for doing this. A few questions: 1. What exactly is intellectual vitality, and how can students improve their IV rating? 2. How is GPA evaluated? If you attend a school that has grade deflation, is that considered when evaluating transcripts? 3. Typically, how are students evaluated within the context of their community? If you go to a large school, are you mostly compared with your classmates, people in your city, state, etc.? 4. Does having a letter of recommendation from a faculty member at the school boost admissions odds a lot? 5. If you got a bad grade in a class and you take a class in that subject at a community college or through an online course then can that "remedy" the original grade?

How much does asking for financial aid as an international student affect a student's chances of getting in?

To what extent does "fit" play a role in admissions? Moreso the "archetype" of students the university admits (if that even exists), rather than hardset institutional priorities. Is this something readers have in the back of their minds (if so, how were you trained to do so), the "we could envision them on campus" factor, and can students consciously articulate this through their application for specific schools, or is this more of a "you just have it or you don't" sort of thing. In Lee Coffin's Admissions Beat podcast, he talked about genuine kindness being something that really stood out. I know kindness is really important to all schools, but are there any ways for students to gage what university's specifically value in students (character wise I guess you could say) beyond Supplemental essay questions, mission statements, and the such?

- what do you wish you saw more in applications? - do you compare students with other students in the same school/district?

How much do counselor recommendations matter, especially if you go to a large school where counselors don't have the opportunity to develop close connections with most students?

Do you have any thoughts or advice for homeschooled applicants?

Ok so everyone's asking what not to do but I'll do the opposite, if you were a student right now trying to get into a t20 all over again what would you do to stand out

Thank you for answering our questions! I have two: - how do you evaluate low income kids who are in the majority wealthy schools? Do you compare them against their wealthier peers or? - how do you verify info that is not easy to verify? like parental education level, or whether a student indeed participated where they say they did? Have you witnessed anyone’s admission rescinded based on lying? Thank you!

Thank you for doing this insightful AMA. How important is attendance? My parents thought it was crucial, but I was doing other activities and had great grades and wasn't concerned.

1. If my main area of interest is business/finance/humanities, is it still necessary to take advanced math/science classes to demonstrate academic rigor? For example would it matter much if i took Bio H, Chem H, and AP Environmental Science instead of taking what most other ppl take (AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics, etc.) If I'm into finance is taking AP Calc BC junior year and AP Stats senior year enough? 2. Do you value national/international awards/competitions over passion projects/initiatives? Most of my extracurriculars are competitions where I've gotten some notable national/international awards (ex. debate, deca, entrepreneurship/investment comps), but I see a lot of other people doing things like start nonprofits, organizations, write books, etc. and am worried my accomplishments might be viewed as less impactful compared to those demonstrating initiative through self-driven projects. 3. Kinda similar to the last question but do you value club founders over people who just got high leadership positions in already existing clubs at their school? Because my school has so many clubs that it would be hard to start a new one that aligns with a lot of people's interests, and I already have three major leadership roles in clubs that align very well with my interets. 4. Do sports matter if I'm not at the recruiting level but just 4 year varsity & private club athlete? I'm asking bc sports take up a lot of my time and my achievements in it aren't quite as notable as my other competitive extracurriculars. 5. Is it better if your ECs are super aligned with your intended major/career path or do AOs like to see a couple other unique things to so it doesn't look like ur js tyrna do everything for college admissions?

On A2C and other college reddits (chanceme, collegeresults), I see all the cracked kids from bay area, TX, or east coast have such insane application as. As a kid from a small college town, in an area (5-6 schools) that sends 1-2 kids to an ivy league per year (our school has sent 1 in its history) do I still have a chance? Do the AOs/regional AOs have a good sense of what background I’m applying from? How big are the regions that regional AOs control (i.e. counties, cities, states)? And from what I’ve heard, I’m only compared to kids in my district/region, but I can’t help but worry that AOs would prefer the “average cracked cali kid” over me, who may not compare much to those cracked kids, but definitely stands out within my area. So I guess my question is how much does region matter lol, sorry for yapping so much

Is there a major difference in considering a student taking DE at a community college vs a 4 year university (of average research, AAU member, decent caliber, etc)? More specifically for higher math courses like DEQs, Differential Geometry, etc.

Do admission officers place more importance on uw or w gpa? And is a 3.7 uw auto disqualification?

What happens if you're the only applicant from your school? Do you go straight to regional evaluation? Compared to a nearby school? Also how do you define region? Is it just school district or city/town

Generally, what is better? A research that aligns with one’s passion or a internship at a tech company?

Is there much of a difference between a 34 and 35-36 ACT?

You mention comparisons are done within school groups first. A common discussion on here is that kids shouldn’t go to more challenging schools (often private) because while they’ll have more rigor to challenge themselves they’ll also end up being compared against a much stronger peerset which will work against them, vs going to an easy less rigorous school that will be less challenging but much easier to clearly differentiate against a peerset that cares alot less. How do you think about that tradeoff?

Hey, I'm a rising senior who is beginning to brainstorm ideas for my personal statement. Do you have any opinions on quirkier prose? Essays are a form of creative writing but I feel like they're still different in many ways from short stories/poetry and I was wondering if using similar structures in both would be seen as weird. When I write poems, I often slightly break grammatical structures for literary effect. For example, I'll say "closed eyes in summer heat" by itself even though it isn't technically a complete sentence. Alternatively, sometimes when I write down lists, I say "x and y and z" or "x, y, z" instead of "x, y, and z". I think these better represent my voice, but if I wrote like this on an essay, would it be clear that it was an intentional stylistic choice or would it be seen as bad editing? Is it even a good idea to break linguistic conventions, regardless of whether it's seen as intentional? Thank you so much! I've read some of your other posts and they are extremely helpful.

How much can a strong (conservatory level) music supplement help an applicant?

Does applying for a niche or underrepresented major (given that it actually make sense with your profile) actually increase odds of admission?

I'm a student at a small private school that grades on an atypical scale (not out of 4.0). If I'm applying to a t10 and only 1-2 of my classmates are applying as well, how would an AO evaluate our academic performance compared to a normal school? Is it only worth applying to top schools that many of my peers are applying to, so the AOs have proper points of comparison?

I'm from a super small school that only sends 1 student every 5-10 years to a t20. No one from my school has ever even applied to the school I want to go to and I'm not sure if anyone has ever gotten in from my county. Would this change the way you look at my application at all?

What is your view on USAMO, USAPHO and those olympiad awards? How much do they help when applying as a STEM major.

Hello! Thank you so much for doing this AMA - I'm sure many future applicants will hopefully see this as a way to relieve some of their worries :) I'm not sure if this was asked already (and if it was, I apologize), but I was wondering how admissions committees decide which students to admit off the waitlist. Do LOCIs truly make or break someone's chances, or is it solely based on "luck" (like an accepted student with a similar profile decided to commit somewhere else and the waitlisted student happened to fulfill that institutional priority)?

How much does leadership in clubs and outside organizations matter in terms of ECs. I do mostly volunteering and research but don't have much leadership roles and not sure how that would effect my chances in the EC category. Also, are awards a huge focus on the application. I only have around 3 significant awards of the 5 you're able to submit so not sure if that will hurt my application. Lastly, can you include awards that you will/are expected to earn on your application.

Does getting a letter of recommendation from a tenth grade teacher hurt? What if you have a great relationship with them, and they would write the best letter for you?

What do you guys look for in letters of recommendations off teachers if they actually hold much weight at all

What is the most amount of B’s that a student you have admitted has had, and did they have extenuating circumstances?

Will not writing about an EC discredit it a bunch? All of my ECs 1-10 are very strong, but i’m worried that the ones I don’t write about (in supps mainly) will look a lot worse than the ones I do write about— even though they’re all impressive and impactful.

In what stage of the process do students typically get waitlisted? Is it usually final committee and they miss a couple votes?

How would you perceive a non-recruited athlete student who lists a sport as an EC? Iron Man triathlons, ultramarathons, and other non-varsity/school-related athletic activities. Edit: Coming from a student looking to pursue a STEM career

How highly valued is having 4 years of a foreign language for a STEM major? Is finishing Spanish 3 in 10th and not pursuing it further considered as 3 or 2 years?

1. How big of a benefit is taking some large number of AP’s like 15+, especially compared to a student the max number of aps at a school that offers less 2. Are AP’s considered differently? Would a harder AP class like Chemistry be considered better than an easier one like human geography?

Dow the kids that didnt submit SAT or ACT have different profiles than those that did?

1. Admission readers usually rank things like ECs and personal qualities, let’s take 1-5 as 5 being the highest. What’s the difference between personal qualities marked as 3 or 5? Same with ECs. 2. How do you view disabled students? If a student with a disability has a pretty competitive profile, would you still be inclined to accept a healthier student? I know that discrimination of this sort is illegal but what about personal, unconscious biases

Does straight a minuses look bad if only 3 aps were taken?

If I have over 5 big awards and I list some in the "Additional Information Section", will they still be evaluated by the AO? What about extracurriculars? I have 11 and was planning to include 1 in the Additional Information Section

Instead of attending high school 11th and 12th grade, my sibling is attending our state flagship through a dual-enrollment program. I’ve been seeing on this sub that APs are generally preferred over DE. Is that true when you read an application?

Can you/How can you tell if a student is actually passionate about their ECs or are just doing them for college apps?

Can you expand on “intellectual vitality” and duration and impact of ECs? I’d say in my personal case I’m near the top echelon, but not at the top. Yes, 1520, all APs and throw in a one or two B+’s occasionally on the transcript, but not that top top level of 1550+ all A’s. Where would the intellectual vitality come into play? Would that be a case of demonstrating your thirst for knowledge? Winning national essay competitions? As far as duration and impact of ECs, and how the student can make an impact on the university: if a student can demonstrate they’d have a meaningful impact and would be clearly involved in an area within the college, would that get them in so long as they had the prerequisite grades? My specific example would be track captain as a junior, part time job full year since freshman year, varsity football all 3 years, class president soph junior year and school wide president senior year, among many other things, launching specific projects to enhance the school and its future for the future generations. What would someone like that need to stress in their essays to push them over the top? Any general application advice on how to truly demonstrate that you would fit a private institution’s “institutional needs”?

How much do sports play a roll in admissions? Varsity athlete in the fall (training 3 hours per day, 6 days per week), then club athlete the rest of the year (training 2.5 hours per day 6 days per week but driving 45 minutes each way to practice). Should the applicant mention the travel time (which is spent doing homework, studying for SATs, etc)? SHould they put it in the additional information section?

How do you see selective college admissions changing in the next 2 years? What are the trends coming and going?

Do you have any immediate “turns offs” in terms of essays and applications?

If I am a copy paste CS kid (internship, research, nonprofit, and cs competitions), should I try to force myself to get into a niche activity or am I still capable of doing well in the admissions process. I don't have any hooks either

When writing about activities - such as research or projects - how do you typically like jargon presented? Making lots of metaphors and comparisons to more laymen concepts is usually effective for explaining certain parts of activities, but for parts that need some explanation to be understood (and assuming they are somewhat essential to the activity description), should we just lay down the jargon and let you as the AO figure it out (e.g google), or does that get a tad bit annoying?

Does being a student in the Bay Area harm chances substantially? I've heard a lot about how AO's only review applications from one region. Is it true that many above average (considered above average nationally) students get rejected because they live in an unusually competitive region? Or do you guys just admit a lot of students from these competitive areas?

How important are awards? If someone had ECs not tending to grant any recognition, is that a negative?

How are a good amount of APs paired with a somewhat low gpa viewed. Like a 11-13 APs with a 3.5-3.6 gpa? I had a rough sophomore year due to family complications, getting a C in foreign language, but after that I had a huge upward trend and been trying to take more AP classes.

Does year-by-year improvement on a transcript look good to an AO? I had a couple B's Freshman year, one in Sophomore year, and none in my Junior year.

How much would you say extracurriculars are weighted in the selection process? Would really good extracurriculars help balance out a transcript with a couple of B's? Is it true that colleges typically recalculate GPAs or do you just look through the transcript? What do you look for in counselor rec letters? I'm especially confused on this, as typically counselors (at least in my school) aren't quite close to students given they each have hundreds of students to deal with. Do those small self made non profits actually do anything for ECs? Does the location/college of research affect the weight of the EC? Say if you were an extreme high award in an EC (national champ or international champ) how much would that boost ur ECs?

My school grades on a 100-point scale. This can make a 96/100 vs a 98/100 student look worse than a 4.0 vs a 4.0 student which they would be on a 4.0 scale. Do you convert 100-point scales to traditional scales, or do you view them as is, and is it more of a disadvantage or advantage to be on a 100-point scale?

How do AOs look at a freshman year with pretty mid grades (As, Bs, and a C+) paired with a sophomore and junior year of 3.9 and 4.0 respectively (all courses taken were max rigor)?

Could you tell us more about how transfer admissions works and how it differs from first-year admissions? This year Princeton said it is much more difficult to get accepted as a transfer and the rough acceptance percentage this year was like 1-2%. I'm curious about what factors are behind the curtain.

How do supplementals like art/writing/research portfolios get assessed during admissions? I heard from a different source that admissions officers sort students into buckets with an initial screening of standardized test scores and GPA, then go through letters of recommendation and extracurriculars. For portfolios, when are they checked and do they go through a different process entirely?

How important is GPA after a certain threshold? Some online sources say that GPA just gets your foot into the door at top colleges (3.8+) and anything higher has diminishing returns whereas other sources necessitate a GPA close to a 4.0 as possible for the best shot.

How are identical twins viewed in the admissions process? Especially when their stats are kinda different EX: (3.86 gpa 1520 sat vs 4.0 gpa 1530)?

do you guys actually look up student social media??

As a competitive men’s gymnast, my sport is really niche, and I really couldn’t find anyone talking about mens gymnastics as it pertains to college admissions. In your time as an AO, have you ever admitted any men’s gymnasts, and if so, how impactful was the sport to the application compared to other sports? Did the sport’s relatively niche status and difficuilty provide any boost? Thanks for answering all these questions!

Hello. I am a recently graduated senior but I have a few questions that I was kind of wondering after my application process. Firstly, my college counselor who edited my essays had a style that was kind of strict or cookie cutter per se, so I felt like my essays were all a bit boring in structure as a result(for example, she had me condense essentially everything to as little words as possible so I can include as much information in my personal statement as possible). Was the detriment of the essay reading a bit boring worth the increased amount of information that I included? Secondly, I was admitted off the waitlist to the school that I am committing now, and personally I felt that my LOCI played a huge part in me getting off the waitlist because I wrote it without really much outside editing(partially because I was a bit fed up with the process at that point lol) and therefore more my writing style. I was wondering if LOCI are considered a major part in acceptances in general. Finally, I heard a lot of comparisons between personal statements being like about a journey throughout someone’s life vs. one small moment that had a major impact on someone. Would you say that one is preferable than the other? Thank you for your time in answering all these questions btw!

Will only having taken Calculus BC when my school goes to Multivariable Calculus be a detriment to my application?

Do you view an A- worse than an A, especially if it’s in a subject that the student revolves a lot of extracurriculars in? For example, A- in English with a lot of writing ECs

This is more of a specific question- do you think it’s worth putting down a summer program like UIUC WYSE or a general volunteering club like Key Club? I’m leaning towards the program as it’s related to engineering but I’m not sure as it doesn’t really show my involvement over time (the program being one week and the club being 4 years).

Thanks so much for doing this! It means a lot that you're sharing this knowledge. 1. I had a pretty specific question. I'm near a HYPSM school and have worked for multiple faculty there. Will LOR from faculty significantly boost my chances with that school? We send 10+ kids there, but many of them are faculty kids. Both letter writers (fmr. department chair and a lecturer) would both go to bat for me. Here is some of the verbiage in the letters: 1. "truly exceptional student" "one of the most precocious, talented and self-driven ones I have ever encountered during my time at \_\_\_\_\_" "one of the most unique students I have ever encountered in my 10 years at \_\_\_\_\_\_" 2. His analysis of these works is what I would expect from an advanced \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ undergraduate" "It is hard for me to imagine a more suitable candidate" 2. In addition, are A and A- considered the same? Our school is very competitive and while I have good grades, they are not stellar in comparison (top 15-20% weighted). I am probably one of the most involved people in our community, though.

1. How important are essays? In my case, I have really good stats (gpa, SAT, APs…) but my extracurriculars are mediocre at best. Can really unique essays that show lots of character make up for the lack of unique or really impressive ECs? 2. Does an applicant’s location matter at all in admission? Thank you so much!

Does having a history of mental health struggles impact the decision? People will tell me that it doesn't but I really don't believe it. I truly think that this is INTENSE prejudice against those who have struggled with EDs/other mental health issues in the past.

Should letters of recommendations mention major extracurriculars? What is the point of essays? What should I try to show in my essays? My “good” characteristics? Is a great essay an essay that is fun to read or an essay that reflect “good” characteristics of the applicant?

How bad would a B+ look? I got a B+ junior year in a DE class on medical terminology. How would you view that?

Does the state/county ranking of a high school count for much? Say all else being equal, would a student from a #8 county school (it’s a large CA county) have any advantage over a #20 ranked school?

Not sure if someone has already asked this, but does speaking another language at home impact admissions? I speak Italian at home and it was my first language along with English. I read a book once that said AOs view applicants who speak a different language at home differently in that the standards for the SAT reading portion (for example) are lower. I also read (in the same book) that if you’re in a higher income bracket, you shouldn’t specify what your parents do. My dad is a doctor, but I was told to not specify what he does (exactly) and where he works because expectations for me would be automatically higher.

is there a difference between taking calc AB vs BC for non stem majors? do state tests (like regents) scores matter?

What proportion of the people working in the admissions office themselves went to a top 10 school?

1. If I’m interested in studying econ+math, is participating in the AIME or USACO worth it? 2. What other extracurriculars would you recommend looking into for this major? 3. From your perspective, what sets apart a student who gets rejected from one who gets accepted into this major? Thank you so much! :)

Will AOs check any links in additional information? Like if I was to give a GitHub link

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Is it true that AO's don't look past activity 7 or 8 on our activities list?

For international student: 1. Do students from underrepresented countries receive an additional advantage in the college admission process due to their country's underrepresentation? As a student from Nigeria, I'm curious if this applies to students from all underrepresented countries in general. 2. Colleges often emphasize academic rigor by citing examples like AP and IB programs. However, many schools, especially internationally, do not offer these classes. Will it disadvantage an international student if they haven't participated in such programs? What alternative programs or activities can students be involved in that are considered rigorous given their specific circumstances? 3. How do admissions officers account for the varying academic standards and rigor of high schools from different countries when evaluating the transcripts and GPAs of international students? Do AOs focus more on Standardized test scores like SAT & ACT to evaluate international staudents?

Is the impact/duration/commitment of ECs evaluated in context? I've had very significant health challenges and had to take 10th and 11th virtually from home as I recover with limited mobility, tons of appointments, and meds. rising senior, dream is Stanford. I've done paid biotech startup internship, doing 2 Stanford research internships this summer, Google coding program, couple other things. also will it look weird if i start an initiative this summer since I've just started to get health back (thinking of smth that would rly help ppl w my condition (fairly common though not to my extent))? 🙏

Do the number of AP courses taken each year matter or is it only the total throughout high school? I’ve taken 4 APs through junior year and I’m taking 5 more next year. Freshman I had 0, sophomore I had 1, and junior I had 3.

1. To what extent do the interactions gained in interviews, student visits to the campus, or meeting the student affect how likely the student is to get in? For example, they are seen as very personable and enthusiastic but maybe most of that interaction isn't directly seen in a formal interview? Will tour guides, professors, campus workers, etc relay this information to AOs? 2. How does a student's public social media presence impact their decisions? In a good way specifically but feel free to answer how it can negatively impact it. 

How would an applicant be viewed if they had an admission-worthy profile but one of their letters of recommendation was bad? (Not just mid or meh but bad.)

How does it look when a student is very involved in one field, but that involvement has nothing to do with their major? When I apply, I’ll have been in my journalism program for all 4 years of HS, being an editor for 2 of those years. I’m even looking to get involved publishing my articles in other areas, not just our school’s online paper. But, I’m going to major in biochemistry. Will that level of leadership still reflect well on me even if it has nothing to do with the major?

How nitpicky are you about grades? For example, would a student with a 3.85 gpa be hurt in the reading as compared to students with 4.0? If the school doesn’t send ranks, do u do internal ranking of students who apply to your school?

Did you have any experience with candidates applying to online programs, particularly online tech focused graduate programs? Is it any different than the admissions process for traditional programs in terms of what schools are looking for or even just how the process itself works?

if you a much higher amount of APs taken then the average student at your school, does this make up for a slightly lower unweighted. I have a 3.78 and will have taken 11 APs when I graduate. Most students at my school take 0-2.

For a STEM applicant, is it beneficial to see that the applicant can perform at an extremely high level on a musical instrument? I thought this might be beneficial, as sort of an indicator that the applicant is not a "Mr. Spock" robot, but bends more toward the all-around-creative-DaVinci type. Is this even a thing? Or, for a STEM applicant, does the admissions office not really care if the applicant is also well versed in the arts?

Hi there, I have couple of questions: 1. How much gap years (1-2) matters? Can this be the reason someone gets rejection? 2. Can having too many different ECs be damaging to our application than helpful and make it seem you lack focus? For example a student who wants to apply for biochemistry and has ECs like finding a bookclub and degree in tourism 3. Should we mention something that we did but no way of proofing? I did swimming for 4+ years but I didn’t attend any competition therefore I have no awards. Should I mention that or totally not mention the sport I have no award on? 4. This one is more personal; You talked about how similar essay structures are but you also said to don’t go too crazy. Is writing in imaginative and storytelling format good or too crazy? 5. And lastly your biggest advice to international applicants? What is something we should be the most cautious of? (Beside school)

1. How are research supplements evaluated and how big of a difference do they make? 2. How much do awards matter? If you have some international and well-known awards then does that make a huge difference or maybe not as much as people think?

1. Applications are compared to other applicants from your school but if I come from a newer small private school (international) where only 1-3 students choose to apply to US T10s and over the course of the years not much people have applied, how will it be evaluated? Will they just look at my application without considering the academic environment? 2. As my school does IGCSE and IB so all classes throughout high school are exam prep classes and they seriously deflate the grades (only one person got 4.0 in whole cohort). However if I do really well in the external assessments (final IGCSEs, IB, SAT) will they value external assessment results more than school grades?

A couple of months ago, you said in a comment that independent research was harder to communicate properly than summer jobs. Why is independent research harder to communicate and how should one properly communicate it to the admissions office?

Hi i have a big question that i’ve been worried about: my senior year i won’t be taking calculus. does this lower chances? i’ve been told my whole high school career that i’d never amount to making an impact at any good school by being a year behind. my dream school is northwestern btw

I genuinely find a lot of Coursera courses to be useful to my learning for topics that my school doesn’t offer (like the Princeton Algorithms 1/2 courses). If these are specific to my intended major, would it be useful as an EC? I plan on doing many but keeping them all under one category.

I’m a teacher at an international school in Beijing. Thanks for being willing to answer questions! I have two scenarios I’m curious about: 1. My own children expat Americans. Are they considered international students in terms of their application? Domestic? Something else? 2. Many of our students have American passports but are Chinese heritage. How are they classified? Some families are under the impression they have a better chance of admission if they transfer to a US-based boarding school. Is this true?

My question will certainly get lost, but I messed up my junior year of high school because of personal circumstances that stacked up against me (bullying, homesickness and parent issues). My SAT is near perfect however, and my GPA was effectively a 4.0 the rest of the time. And I messed it up pretty bad, got like 2 Cs and a bunch of Bs. Would you say that the academic section of college admissions will get me disqualified from elite admissions? My ECs are okay, I’ve done 2 research papers, written a few high profile pieces, published a book and done pretty well in debate/MUN as well. I’m stressing myself out and am really close to giving up because of how tough life was for me in junior year. If you would respond, it would mean SO much. Thanks for taking the time.

If I attend an elite prep school (Lawrenceville/Deerfield/Andover/Dalton/Trinity, etc.) can I graduate outside the top 10% of the class and still have a good shot at getting into an elite college?

1. If my grades are on the 100-point scale (0-100%) and are not done in terms of GPA, do you convert it to GPA or just use the initial scale? I know that there is a conversion table where I'm from, but I'm unsure if admissions simply uses the intial grade system. Also, if you just look at the intial % mark, what is considered a competitive mark for T20s? 2. How do you treat retaken courses? 3. Are awards valued more than projects? I'm interested in engineering programs, but I don't have many significant awards. This thread has been very useful to read through, thank you for all the answers! :)

1. Do u account for the competitiveness of schools when looking at applicants’ transcript? (I’m talking getting some Bs at t10 in the country type high schools vs all As at a decent public) 2. Would you say class rank or gpa is more important (I know both are important but if you had to choose) 3. How do you separate kids who obviously lie about internship and work experience and hours vs kids who just genuinely do a ton? Also how many people go to committee or like what percentage of applicants I don’t rlly get how it works. 4. Is submitting a research supplement and a music supplement too many? Like would that get me an eye roll for a thick file or nah. If so which is generally better / has more sway? 5. How is an applicant looked at with a B+ in a class but 5 on the AP vs an applicant with an A in the class but a 3 or 4 on the AP?

How many LoR’s are seen as excessive? I want to submit one from a humanities teacher and one from a STEM teacher, but I also want to send a letter from my band director, and I am confident that the letter will add a lot of layers onto my story.

got 2 c's in calc bc but im not even going into engineering. my other grades are fine, hardest course work possible. my test scores show that I am able to do well, just had a particular struggle in that one class. Upward grade trend for the most part. should i lower my expectations? I have pretty cracked ec's and my teachers love me (they have a history of writing great letters). **Also...** i did have a break up that hit me real hard towards mid 2nd semester, so I was wondering if I should write that down in my additional info. Also had partial paralysis that stressed me out a lot. Should I write that down? All of this was in the same school year. One of my rec teachers know about it, the other doesnt. Should I tell my counselor too?

How has the process changed post SCOTUS decision

uh, when applying for college and you want to put down an EC you’ve been doing, do you count it by total amount of years you have done it or only years since high school?

Could an international student seeking full financial aid be the sole reason to get rejected ? How big of a factor is financial aid in the decision making process? 

Hi! I haven't seen people really ask this question, and I am very curious about it. How bad is it to not have awards from competitions such as the AMC or ISEF(lower level ones as well)? Does it destroy someone's chances to not have awards like this? If someone has a very meaningful extracurricular in place of an award from a competition, are they weighted similarly as long as they add similar value to the application, or is one favored in general? I also want to say that I have learned more from this post than any other post so I really appreciate you doing this!

(Context: I’m international in Canada) 1. Do colleges admit by major? 2. Is it difficult to change majors at public or private universities? 3. Since I’m international, can universities really see everything about your high school, like for example, how our grade is considered “accurate” or how our course compare? (or if another high school has inflated grades?) 4. Should one put an extracurricular that’s not as good just for the 10 spaces on a common app?

How negative is having a mid counselor at your public high school hook who has minimal experience with elite admissions. I would swear my daughter’s counselor had never even heard of Swarthmore, Case Western, and Harvey Mudd. I’m guessing she wasn’t helpful at all. Fortunately my daughter was an athlete and still had good results. Also how much does it help being from a state few (if any) applicants/current students are from.

if i enjoy reading books as a hobby, how should i put this on my application? it took a lot out of my time for other extracurriculars. does this even look good? i have like an upward trend then a downward trend junior year with 3 B- 1 B 2 B+ in total on my transcript. would i be cooked?

Does a student applying with a common intended major change how you look at their application(CS, econ, bio, etc), would appreciate if you could speak specifically to CS. What sort of CS kids were the most compelling for you?

How is fit evaluated?

Thanks for the AMA! What is the minimum IB Score for an international applicant to even be considered and to be "average" in the pool of those accepted in a top school?

Hi, I'm planning on applying to some top colleges -- namely MIT and a few of the ivies for EECS, and I'm currently a rising junior attending a standard public HS but I'm worried about ECs. *To be truly competitive, do I need to have things like research and/or internships*? Also, *how much does the topic of the research matter*? I am likely to have AI/ML related research this summer but I'm not sure the topic would be quite appealing. In terms of internships, no luck. Also, for academics, I am taking all the hardest courses I can and get mostly As with a few A-s sprinkled, and the only really exceptional thing I guess is that I self taught Algebra 2 all the way through Calc 1 & 2 from summer 2023 until April and am now taking Calculus 3 at a local uni for the summer (Diff Eq, Lin Alg, Discrete Math or Complex Analysis next year). I have 35 ACT (35M 35S 36E 33R) and 1540 SAT (750RW 790M), though the SAT is subject to change. *Also, how deep do AOs look into volunteering*? I don't have much volunteering hours -- 23 hrs total of which 19 are STEM related. 11 of those were spent teaching high school students from other countries about computer vision (in person and over zoom). I'm still worried I don't have enough volunteer hours or community impact and I struggle to find opportunities related to STEM in my area (especially considering I'm not 16+). Additionally, *how great does the impact of succeeding in olympiads/competitions on an application tend to be? How much did people tend to have such successes on their applications*? I will be trying out USACO next year, hopefully for gold or platinum despite how hard the problems are, and I'll also be sitting the AMC 12 next year to see how that goes for AIME->USAMO. Maybe I'll try the Harvard-MIT Math Tournament too. In terms of clubs, *will it be held against me if I didn't take full advantage of the STEM related clubs at my school when little were offered?* My school's only "STEM" club is the robotics team but I only was on it in 9th grade then left because of the magnitude of the time commitment and the boringness of the tasks I was given, leaving me with just the chess club and the game club. I did try to do something about it -- trying to start a math club -- but I couldn't get any teachers to sponsor it. *For passion projects, do they have to have a large impact to help the application?* The projects I am currently working on and have worked on are mostly for fun -- such as games, or my current main projects which include a lichess frontend for the Nintendo Wii and a social media app for the Nintendo Wii. Lastly, as ridiculous as it might sound, would it benefit me at all if I'm top 3% on [tetr.io](http://tetr.io) (competitive tetris) and have won international tournaments (though rank capped)? I also play chess and have won 5 (rating capped section) trophies from local/state USCF rated events but my percentile nationally is around 67% and junior is around 80% 🥶 Thank you for reading this blob of text and for answering the other questions. Main questions are italicized in case you don't want to read everything.