Hi everyone, I was recently admitted to BU off the waitlist and they gave me until tomorrow to respond with a decision. I’m currently committed to Cal Poly SLO and I was wondering what you guys think the right move for me is. I will say I do already have a preference in mind but I would just like to get the internet’s unbiased perspective on which school would be better for my major.
i know of someone who was accepted into UC Berkeley EECS (5% acceptance rate) and MIT (also 5% acceptance rate). he was upper middle class and instate, so MIT was 400K for all four years while Berkeley was 200K. he ended up picking Berkeley EECS.
his reasoning was very valid. he picked Berkeley not only due to cost, but also because EECS students aren't at a disadvantage within Berkeley. EECS is one of the most coveted majors at Berkeley and is one of the majors the school is globally known for. being declared EECS there automatically comes with a lot of benefits like reserved class seats and dedicated career fairs, which solve the traditional caveats of a public school.
based on pure ranking, both EECS programs constantly shift within the top 3 and are tied some years. both Berkeley and MIT have no shortage of amazing professors within the field and a lot of them are alma maters from the other (ie Cal graduates as MIT professors and vice versa). furthermore, for in-state students, EECS at Berkeley has among the highest ROI of any university globally, and would be significantly more than if that same in-state student chose MIT, Stanford, CMU, etc at a higher tuition.
I would honestly apply this same logic to any other T1 school within your major. if you've made it within that tier, there is no reason to pick one that costs more and is more of a financial strain. if you receive aid at any of the schools within the same tier for your major, by all means pick the one that is the most cost effective because they are in the same tier for a reason: the actual academic differences, connections, and network amongst them is marginal. even if your college degree is externally funded by your parents, I think being financially smart and aware is an extremely valuable and conscious skill that will carry forward throughout the rest of your life.
personally, as a senior this year, I was choosing between Berkeley EECS instate and CMU for ECE, and I ended up picking Berkeley due to cost and Silicon Valley connections. I didn't get into MIT, but I think it worked out for the better because I know I would've blindly picked MIT if I did get in, which may not have been the smartest decision financially for my family as I'm not sure if it truly would have given me that much benefit in the long run.
I just wanted to share these thoughts for any other seniors struggling because they did not pick "the more prestigious option".
which one is best?
which would you choose and why?
out of state for all btw.
does anyone know for sure if the waitlist has moved? and whether it could move this week? or is this unlikely? I’m waitlisted domestic CAS, do I have a chance?
Hey all.
I'm a junior and im trying to make my college list rn. On Scoir, I can see scattergrams and stuff of where I am relative to past kids from my high school who applied to kids.
I'm trying to create a list and for I was wondering on how I should treat some of the schools I'm applying to, and whether I should consider them targets or reaches. For example, for some of my top schools (Duke, Washu, Dartmouth, Vandy, Northwestern), I kinda sit in a weird zone where i'm at like the 50th percentile for GPA of kids who applied and for other places like BU and Michigan im at like the 75th percentile.
just really kinda confused on how I should go about creating a list of targets and reaches that are appropriate.
i’m a junior in high school, 3.0 weighted, although i am A B Honor roll this year, no clubs to put on my application, terrible act (20) though i am thinking of retrying with taking the sat. i really want to attend university but im seeing that community college method might be best for me, though its really not what my heart wants to do. am i actually completely cooked? 💀
I know this sounds silly, but I think everyone knows how horrible and draining the last couple of months of Junior Year are. I had a couple of B's in my freshman and sophomore year, because of a massive family situation yadda yadda, and I pulled it back together with straight A's in both semesters of my Junior year, but I mixed up the deadlines for my dual enrollment stats class and ended with a C+ D: I was really banking on the fact that my upward trajectory would help my application on top of my EC's and essays, but I feel like that's all ruined by this C.
Maybe I could be stressing too hard, but I want brutally honest advice ofc. My counselor told me I couldn't do a course override since it's not a D or F, but I think I will still try and take another stats class over the summer to show drive?? I have no idea... Sad Tuesday 💔
So long story short I am unable to do a physics class in high school because of a freshman math grade, but I want to go into engineering. How much will this affect my application? I would also like to add that i’m doing an aerospace engineering course and only taking three years of science.
last year (sophomore year) i got 4 Bs which brought my gpa down from a 4 to a 3.9 unweighted. this semester i just got a B (89, and my teacher won't round) in ap calc bc, and i feel like despite working hard to get As in all my other classes, all my hard work has been invalidated by this B and i won't get in anywhere good. i feel so depressed right now
i got my score back for in school testing like a month ago, and i got a 1460, 760 reading 700 math(which is not a bad score at all i’m honestly proud). i took my first SAT in december and got a 1470- 750rrw and 720 math.
i was telling my dad i wanted to take some sort of prep course for my third and final SAT and he said he would be willing to spend $1000. my immediate reaction was that’s way too much to spend, but he said he would be willing to pay up to that amount.
this is directed towards anyone w experience w the SAT or prep courses ig, but do you think these are generally worth it? would i be able to get to a 1550 or around there ? and then i guess a third, equivalent question, is it even worth it to attempt to increase my score to there in the general admissions process? like how much would a score increase realistically affect my chances? feel free to ask for any additional info i really just want advice.
Are the connections you can make at schools like nd, duke, and Vanderbilt really that much better or is it better to graduate top of your class at a state school instead of being a middle of the road graduate at one of these elite schools.
i heard most of the wl acceptances alr went out and ive been praying for this and its just...never coming...
are there any acceptances like june or july or something
Hi guys I’m a rising senior with pretty good stats, and college search is becoming more and more important for me.
I know I have a good shot at a good school, potentially ED to Duke or Vanderbilt. But deep down I’ve always wanted to go west (Cali, Pacific Northwest, etc).
Do you guys think I should prioritize prestige or the lifestyle that I feel like I belong to? I love a crunchy coastal NorCal or Pacific Northwest vibe. there is plenty of good schools in the west, but the more prestigious schools seem to be more concentrated over here in the east.
The schools I’m looking at out west (as a premed major) are the UCs, Uwashington, or uni of Oregon. On the east coast like I said potentially ED to Duke or Vandy?
What do I do???? What should I prioritize?
Hi, I'm currently a junior. I want to study architecture in college because I'm good at math and art, but I have no idea where to start. Are you expected to have a complete portfolio when you apply, or do they expect you not to know anything? What classes should I take over the summer? I was going to take an architecture 1 class at my community college, but it's full, and my school doesn't have any classes either. Any online program recommendations? What is the architecture application process like? Is there any digital programs I should familiarize myself with? Thanks!
hi yall just finished a paper on a social science topic and want it published. idc if its pay to publish or a bs journal as i just want a "final product" lol, could you guys list some journals you have had a positive experience with?
Quick turnaround time, high acceptance rate!! for social sciences btw! Thanks sm
I got a 730 on english which im happy with but my math is only 650. If i did better on math sat, could i combine them? Maybe not directly since they use different grading scales, would colleges consider my best from both tests if i submited both, or is that not how it works?
Edit: I guess i should have used different wording, but i meant like will colleges consider the best from each test as opposed to considering them seperatley.
I was super commited to Brown for their APMA/Econ program on a pre-PhD route for economics (for context I rejected UChicago for them despite UChicago being the place to be for econ). Just got off of the Princeton waitlist and ngl im still really in love with Brown, but I just wanted to hear other opinions. Price is negligible.
Brown (APMA/ECON + potential double in Cog Sci)
Pros:
Cons:
Princeton (Econ with minor in APMA)
Pros:
Cons:
In short: I feel I might be overly biased towards Brown so is it valid to choose Brown over Princeton
should i take sat if i wanna go to a state university like umass or umass boston cuz they dont require
Just curious. I know Tom Brady did Georgetown’s this year
My kid is applying to college next year. I’ve hired someone to help him with apps, mostly writing essays.
Here’s some stats: He will graduate in Top 10% from school with history of getting into top schools. Very rigorous course load. Has a B in Spanish in freshman year and junior year. We live in a state that’s somewhat competitive but not like CA or MA. We are Asian, not Chinese or Indian.
Awards: USAJMO, 5x AIME qualifier, AMC 10 DHR 2x, Top 10 in a particular event in HMMT, a few other state math champion awards, USACO Gold, a few other top 5 state programming team awards. Scored 130+ in AMC 12 in 2025 but not enough to get DHR (if you follow math you probably know why).
Activities: 1) By the end of the summer, he will have attended 3 selective summer programs (think PROMYS, ROSS, SUMAC, HCSSIM). This summer he is attending as a second year to one of these where he will be conducting group research; 2) paid teaching job since 10th grade; 3) volunteer teaching job with nonprofit; 4) volunteer work with environmental nonprofit - not a lot of hours; 5) accepted to NonTrivial Research Program - proposed topic on environmental issue - did not advance to second stage; 6) will most likely be President of 2-3 Clubs next year; 7) Writes a lot of problems for statewide contests 8) Has initiative that’s international but low impact.
So the counselor we talk to is very dismissive about applying to the top 10 schools (“you can try but I don’t see the match”). She wants him to ED to CMU or Chicago. We want to give the Top 10 schools + Ivies a try so my kid doesn’t want to ED to either of the schools she mentioned. Are we unrealistic?
I know his stats aren’t perfect, too math focused, boring teaching ECs, but he has solid summer programs and pretty good awards, etc. Am I delusional to think my son has a shot at a Top 10?