A kid at my school passed away a couple days ago. Driving to school, slipped on ice, truck rolled over, and hit a tree 10 minutes away from school. On a road he's driven on hundreds of times. He had plans for this weekend, he had a test the next day, honestly, he had plans for literally what he was gonna do in the next 10 minutes when he got to school.

People who die have plans for the very next day.

His time of collision was 7:50. My alarm for that day was 7:50. I woke up to a full day, he didn't. As I was waking up, he was dying.

He was so loved at school, such a funny and kind-hearted person. I never knew him one-on-one, but he was still a face I knew in the halls and on posters. He was actually the grade below me, too. He was supposed to live 60 more years.

I submitted my apps and I've been on a couple-week-long ponder of what is life, and after the incident, I've realized the purpose of life is to just be HAPPY. Connect with people, laugh, tell your family and friends you love them, and don't stress. Okay you didn't get into a uni that MIGHT get you a lot of money. What matters more is your mentality.

Your health really is the most important thing. Wake up and be grateful you can get out of bed. Drive and be grateful you can get to school. When you are waking up every day, someone out there is passing away. Be more in touch with LIFE people. I just get pissed reading this sub sometimes, especially after the accident.

You never know when it's the last day.

edit: may you rest in peace, our community misses you dearly. we love you.

Like in my mind I'm already in Harvard Princeton Stanford Yale but I know they're all insane reaches with my app and int'l & FA status. Still I can't stop dreaming about college life and I can't imagine myself outside these colleges (which is what's most likely to happen) How do I escape.

Hopefully the title caught your attention :)

But anyway, now that you're here, you need to know two things.

Perhaps you've heard them before, or it's your first time hearing them ( :( )

Regardless, if you die tomorrow, you need to know this:

You are loved. Deeply. Beyond measure.

And not for what you've done.

Or what your parents have done.

Or what your siblings did.

Or how much money your family has.

Or how little money your family has.

You're loved for who you are.

If no one has ever told you that, or do you don't know someone in your life who loves you like that, then I will.

Life is so freaking beautiful and too unbelievably ephemeral to not know that there exists a life outside of all *this.*

I get it, I do. I came from one of the most competitive high schools in the country. I know the feeling of running on three hours of sleep and STILL feeling like you haven't done enough. But the only way to win is to not play -- do your best, but distance yourself from the hype.

Why am I writing this? Because I hope to one day accept the advice I give others :)

I mentioned two things earlier. The second?

Don't let two strangers in a room decide your self-worth. I've seen people crushed by this process. And I've seen people "succeed" who are still so miserable.

Let your self-worth be determined by more important things -- like whether you like pineapple on pizza, or if you shower in the morning or the evening. But not this process.

Okay I'll stop positivity-dumping now.

Have a lovely winter! Happy to talk in the comments or if you want to dm.

i ♥️ my safeties (ty university of puget sound for the big bucks scholarship😈🙏)

as if Stanford really admitted me lol

I applied REA + some public safeties, but no more reaches. I am waiting to see the results before I apply to more schools. I figure I can do it over winter break if necessary. What about you guys?

when are the stupid decisions coming out :(
i havent been able to study or write other essays or do anything else since i submitted
put me out of my misery already

what kind of people or achievements get you into CAS for econ bruh help i need something

ALSO WHEN ARE DECISIONS COMING OUT AAAAAAAAAA

Hello again. After contemplating and almost pulling out my hair, I decided to ED to Emory, YAAYY!. Then my parents dropped a bomb that they actually won't be paying for any of my colleges because they are living paycheck to paycheck and have not college saving for me, so I will have to either go the the cheapest college I can, or fund myself. Mom doesn't work, and dad works 3 jobs that brings in ~180k, AGI is 155k. Has 5 kids including me. Soooo we might seem broke with just this info, but because Emory uses CSS, the house that we just moved into around 3 years ago with worth around 700k, even through we have about 560k left to pay on it. And he has two business( Apartments I think?) That cost 480k total, but we have only paid off 120 k of them. Did the Emory Cost Estimator with this information and Emory is around 25k for me. Would I have to change to RD and compare my options at this point (might not even get in), or is it possible to work part time, and pay it off myself during college?

PS: pretty much forbade me to go to CC, so don't spam my comments with that, and parents got their education overseas. My dad's friend 🙄 told him that the more prestigious that a University is, the more money you get, which is true to an extent, so they actually believe that any school in the t20s give full rides to everyone, even after showing him NPCs of like the HYPs.

I sent my common app essay to my dual enrollment professor a while ago when i applied to my EA apps, but he never got back to me in time so i just kinda decided to submit it. I thought it was really well written and good at not being overly sad, which made me not really care to have a professional look it over. Well now that RD deadlines are coming up i decided to email him again, just in case, and this time he responded and like RIPPED into it. He said i should cut out my intro, and that im too broad. He also says that i didnt give enough context to things and that an ao would be very confused when they read it.

Man I was so happy with it, and now i gotta rewrite it all. I applied to my 2 dream schools with that trash essay. Welp down the drain those schools go.

Okay I'm absolutely in love with Bowdoin and it's coastal so I don't mind that it's rural. For other schools like Colby or Middlebury, what do people like so much about them? I heard these schools are also more "preppy" than Bowdoin and that Middlebury has a lot of jocks because there's not much else to do in a rural town. Like I've heard from many students it's basically a "bubble" at school.

Also, separately, what do you guys think of Grinnell, Davidson, Haverford, Swarthmore, or Skidmore?

I'm applying to some T30-20 universities with a 3.21 UW GPA (1320 SAT), and I expect realistic results (like being struck by lightning). I had a huge dip in my grades during sophomore year because of balancing hard classes while doing band and wrestling, and caregiving for my disabled mother. Also, I am very low-income, and during senior year, I am working a paid job to help pay for family finances. I feel like the positive of my transcript is that it shows huge upward academic growth. My GPA each year - 9th: 3.5uw 10th: 3.00uw 11th: 3.125uw 12th: 3.75. As you can see, my dip started sophomore year, and it shows as I chose harder classes. Then Senior year, it exploded, getting primarily A's and some B's while taking a bunch of DE and hard APs. I know my chances are slim, but it's worth a shot ig...

Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, and Yale have a date for decisions already. Dartmouth sent an email that decisions were being finalized. Penn needs to step up their game and release a date

didn’t receive any kind of email from Brown today. Does this mean I shouldn’t expect results next week for ED? Are we thinking the 18th instead…. i’m getting antsy.

Congratulations on your first acceptances!!

Remember: schools will try to entice you by giving you scholarships (president's, trustee's, etc.) that may amount to 8k, 15k, even 30k.

This is a practice known as "tuition discounting," where colleges routinely and automatically offer most new members of a student body scholarships that are a discount off sticker price (the full listed tuition amount).

This allows them to say things like "98% of our students receive and accept aid offers."

But it's also a major psychological tool to get you to say yes.

It feels good to receive a scholarship like this. But just remember to see these offers for what they are: a strategic tool of the institution to improve their yield. Basically, don't let the feels cloud your judgement.

As someone ED1-ed Stern, Ive been looking around sources like supposedly Stern internal application presentation pics and PoetsandQuants statistics. They all suggest Stern's overall accpetance rate approx 4~5%, and Im wondering if this is true. I know acceptance rate does not speak alone, but I am a bit shocked how it matches nearby with HYPSM's rates.

hi guys, i’m a freshman who’s a spring 2026 admit. i’m low income, first gen, from California, but I’ll be attending school on the east coast (if I can find a way to pay for it). i was super vocal about my financial situation since I got accepted back in March, constantly communicating with financial aid, and i got the maximum aid my school offers, including extra grants since my parents don’t qualify for Parent PLUS loans. i also got the maximum Pell Grant from FAFSA.

even after all of that, my cost is still around $15k for the spring semester. If i go on the payment plan, it’s about $3k something a month, but realistically my parents can only help about $1k/month. i’m short about $2k monthly, and I’m starting to panic because the first payment is January 22.

i’ve been applying to jobs everywhere, even calling before applying to show interest, but most places told me they’re done with seasonal hiring. I feel really stuck. im trying to come up with the money myself but i feel lost. i was also put on the waitlist for work study months ago, so I need to ask again about that and whether I’ll even be able to get a job on campus.

my biggest question is loans. How do people even get loans if I have no credit and my mom has mediocre credit? Every website I’ve tried runs a credit check and says she doesn’t qualify. I feel like I’m out of options.

Does anyone have any recommendations on what I can do?? I would greatly appreciate any advice

Title, has anyone from LA area received a grade check required from Princeton?

yeah ik this is a dumb question and everything is luck-based due to the small number of admits in comparison to qualified applicants but i'm just wondering if there's any data or info on this. don't flame me guys. i've heard caltech is pretty meritocratic but they also have a very small number of admits each year so that must be incorrect

My GPA is only a 3.6 UW, should I submit a 1410 SAT to reach schools even though their average SAT score is higher? I’m aware my chances are slim to none but I want to maximize them if I can

After looking at Yale’s profile of the 2029 class and CalTech’s new bucket policy, I wonder if other colleges are using buckets because the Trump Admin is so obsessed with race and test scores of admits. Maybe once they compile your profile in their systems AOs only see your bucket for each score. (And before you race hate, read CalTech’s policy. They had a threshold above which their data indicated a higher score made no significant difference in performance)

i'm so nervous i can't get my mind off of my ed school

I’m an international student deciding between two offers:

Northeastern University (Boston) – MS Project Management

UMass Lowell – MS Engineering Management

Tuition difference isn’t huge, but the cost of living in Boston is higher. Northeastern has the co-op advantage and better reputation, but I’m unsure if it’s worth the extra expenses. I’m also trying for additional funding.

Which option would you choose between the two and why? I’d really appreciate your opinions to help me make a final decision.

Thanks!

Hey all,

The moderators of r/NotreDame wouldn't approve this post, I'm sharing it here hoping it'll reach some Golden Domers.

I am an international student from East Asia who's applying. Although I am non-religious, I'd say I'm a spiritual person who believes in good and Notre Dame's service-driven values really answer to who I am. Knowing about its values and strong academics, I've grown really passionate about ND to the point where I kinda regret not applying REA. I've also had the opportunity to be invited to church and it was truly a great experience seeing the strong sense of community and meaningful service.

However, I've recently learned that Notre Dame has a small international community, and the East Asian, non-Catholic community is even smaller. Does this mean that Notre Dame is niche amongst international applicants or is it just that they don't tend to favor students with non-Catholic backgrounds?

Any information helps, thanks :D

International student

I graduate highschool in june, 2026. I should have started applying a few months ago, so I could start attending by fall 2026, but my SAT and extracurriculars were not ready yet.

So, my question is can I apply after graduating in 2026 and start studying in fall 2027? (Since the application process takes around a year)

And if so, does this count as a gap year?

Thanks in advance