u/Greedy-Chemical9578

My school lets us take outside AP courses through online providers and then adds them onto our transcript with grades. I’m thinking about taking AP Macro this summer, but it would show up under my junior year coursework on my transcript.

The issue is that when I apply ED/EA in November, I obviously won’t have an AP Macro score yet since the exam would be in May of senior year.

Would colleges/AOs think this is weird or assume I skipped the exam/got a bad score, or is this normal for summer/external AP classes?

By the time of applying I'll have taken 9 APs with all scores submitted:

9th: 3

10th: 4,4

11th: 5,5,5,5,5,5

My school lets us take outside AP courses through online providers and then adds them onto our transcript with grades. I’m thinking about taking AP Macro this summer, but it would show up under my junior year coursework on my transcript.

The issue is that when I apply ED/EA in November, I obviously won’t have an AP Macro score yet since the exam would be in May of senior year.

Would colleges/AOs think this is weird or assume I skipped the exam/got a bad score, or is this normal for summer/external AP classes?

By the time of applying I'll have taken 9 APs with all scores submitted:

9th: 3

10th: 4,4

11th: 5,5,5,5,5,5

Hey, I’m a junior trying to get some real perspective on my situation. I’ve read a lot on here but I feel like I need advice from people who’ve actually worked in admissions or do this professionally.

Quick context, I’m from NJ applying for CS + business type programs. I have around a 4.4 weighted GPA, but freshman year wasn’t great with a few B’s in STEM (physics, geometry, etc). Since then it’s been a strong upward trend with mostly A/A- in harder classes. At the same time, I improved a lot in math/CS and ended up qualifying for USA Mathematical Olympiad, plus USACO Gold and some other business/tech awards.

One thing I’ve been thinking about is how that kind of jump looks, especially since my earlier STEM grades don’t really match where I am now. I’ve also seen a lot of discussion online about integrity issues in competitions recently, so I’m not sure if that affects how things like USAMO are viewed or if I’m overthinking it.

I’m not really looking for a full chance me, I just want to talk to someone who actually understands how applications are evaluated.

Does anyone know:

• former AOs who do consults (not insanely expensive)
• legit college counseling orgs or nonprofits
• or any way to connect with people who’ve been on the admissions side

Would really appreciate any help 🙏

Hey, I’m a junior trying to get some real perspective on my situation. I’ve read a lot on here but I feel like I need advice from people who’ve actually worked in admissions or do this professionally.

Quick context, I’m from NJ applying for CS + business type programs. I have around a 4.4 weighted GPA, but freshman year wasn’t great with a few B’s in STEM (physics, geometry, etc). Since then it’s been a strong upward trend with mostly A/A- in harder classes. At the same time, I improved a lot in math/CS and ended up qualifying for USA Mathematical Olympiad, plus USACO Gold and some other business/tech awards.

One thing I’ve been thinking about is how that kind of jump looks, especially since my earlier STEM grades don’t really match where I am now. I’ve also seen a lot of discussion online about integrity issues in competitions recently, so I’m not sure if that affects how things like USAMO are viewed or if I’m overthinking it.

I’m not really looking for a full chance me, I just want to talk to someone who actually understands how applications are evaluated.

Does anyone know:

• former AOs who do consults (not insanely expensive)
• legit college counseling orgs or nonprofits
• or any way to connect with people who’ve been on the admissions side

Would really appreciate any help 🙏

rising senior, feel free to give any advice and be brutally honest... ivies/t20?

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: Indian
• State: New Jersey
• Income: Middle class
• Type of School: Public
• Class rank: School doesn't officially rank but estimated around 25th out of ~250

Intended Major: CS + Business dual programs / Information Science

SAT: 1540 (790M / 750 EBRW)

GPA

• 9th: W 4.015 — Geometry Honors (B+), AP Physics I (B-), English H (B+)
• 10th: W 4.521 — AP Physics II (B+)
• 11th: W 4.748 — AP Calc BC (A-), English III Honors (A-), otherwise all As across 6 APs
• Cumulative: UW 3.85 / W 4.42
• 10-11 only: UW 3.908 / W 4.634 — consistent and strong once 9th is removed
• APs: 9, all 4’s and 5’s

**major upward trend after freshman year(idk how much this matters)

- also taking linear alg(at local college) on top of normal multivariable calc class

Extracurriculars

1. Founded global nonprofit: built curriculum, taught and raised money for thousands of students globally, hosted large hackathon, passed a state bill through working w senator
2. Founded app using ML to help caregivers of autistic children detect emotional states, hundreds of users across 25 centers, $500 in funding
3. ML research on autism severity with HYPSM professor, paper accepted MIT URTC and IEEE published
4. Software lead for competitive robotics team, world championships, mentored students in STEM and raised money
5. FBLA chapter president with state leadership role, grew chapter significantly
6. Yale Young Global Scholars IST track attendee
7. Volunteer student teacher teaching mother tongue
8. Varsity tennis all years

Awards

• USAMO Qualifier 2026 (AMC 12 129/150 HR)
• USACO Gold Division
• 2x Congressional App Challenge Winner
• 2x Blue Ocean Competition Winner, top 350 and top 250
• Purple Comet 1st place state, top 10% international
• National Economics Challenge 2nd in state
• FBLA state awards
• Economics team comp 4th place out of 400+
• PVSA Gold

Recommendations

• Psychology teacher: 8/10
• CS teacher: 9.5/10
• HYPSM research mentor: 10/10

Spike: AI for autism accessibility and education equity

Concerns

• Grades might be low for M&T
• UPenn M&T is my top choice but should I ED there or go safer and apply RD?
• Which ivies and T20s(if any) are realistic given this profile?

rising senior, feel free to give any advice and be brutally honest

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: Indian
• State: New Jersey
• Income: Middle class
• Type of School: Public
• Class rank: School doesn't officially rank but estimated around 25th out of ~250

Intended Major: CS + Business dual programs / Information Science

SAT: 1540 (790M / 750 EBRW)

GPA

• 9th: W 4.015 — Geometry Honors (B+), AP Physics I (B-), English H (B+)
• 10th: W 4.521 — AP Physics II (B+)
• 11th: W 4.748 — AP Calc BC (A-), English III Honors (A-), otherwise all As across 6 APs
• Cumulative: UW 3.85 / W 4.42
• 10-11 only: UW 3.908 / W 4.634 — consistent and strong once 9th is removed
• APs: 9, all 4’s and 5’s

**major upward trend after freshman year(idk how much this matters)

Extracurriculars

1. Founded global nonprofit: built curriculum, taught and raised money for thousands of students globally, hosted large hackathon, passed a state bill through working w senator
2. Founded app using ML to help caregivers of autistic children detect emotional states, hundreds of users across 25 centers, $500 in funding
3. ML research on autism severity with HYPSM professor, paper accepted MIT URTC and IEEE published
4. Software lead for competitive robotics team, world championships, mentored students in STEM and raised money
5. FBLA chapter president with state leadership role, grew chapter significantly
6. Yale Young Global Scholars IST track attendee
7. Volunteer student teacher teaching mother tongue
8. Varsity tennis all years

Awards

• USAMO Qualifier 2026 (AMC 12 129/150 HR)
• USACO Gold Division
• 2x Congressional App Challenge Winner
• 2x Blue Ocean Competition Winner, top 350 and top 250
• Purple Comet 1st place state, top 10% international
• National Economics Challenge 2nd in state
• FBLA state awards
• Economics team comp 4th place out of 400+
• PVSA Gold

Recommendations

• Psychology teacher: 8/10
• CS teacher: 9.5/10
• HYPSM research mentor: 10/10

Spike: AI for autism accessibility and education equity

Concerns

• Grades might be low for M&T
• UPenn M&T is my top choice but should I ED there or go safer and apply RD?
• Which ivies and T20s(if any) are realistic given this profile?