...if you think you will be working as a software engineer when you graduate.

10-15 years ago Google was asking FizzBuzz and Two Sum questions to candidates, now it's not farfetched to see them toss a new grad a leetcode hard. The rise of continued globalization, remote work, and growth of platforms like leetcode has drastically increased not only the candidate pool but the candidate skill level as well.

Offshoring, globalization, and AI are all destroying the tech industry. In 2024 the US Bureau of labor statistics had a 15% projected 10 year job growth outlook for software engineers. In 2026 it stands at just 10%.

Do not fall for this scam.

Iowa state!! Just something that made me happy :]

To finish the Common App and see a .pdf spit out of the last four years is really jarring. I've never felt so dehumanized. Where do I talk about all the friends who saved my life and are the spark of my world? Why did my orchestra experience get dumbed down to a handful of words and not the everlasting memories that I made? Why is my SAT score the first time and not the second time I took it? I studied CRAZY amounts just to get a lower score? My firefighting experience is the only thing that gets put into 650 words, but that's still not enough to show the brotherhood and the trauma I experienced. My dream school is far away, but it's the one I want. If I go to my dream school, will I see my brothers and sisters again? Will I step into my firefighting gear again?

I've cried so many times and lost so many hours just thinking. EA is around the corner. I dislike this process. I wish I were good at something. I wish I did something that would show better on a college app. I wish my studying didn't leave me barely short of a 1500 SAT. I wish my parents knew that I'm not built for T20 schools.

:(

Hello everyone, wondering if anyone can shed light on this comparison. I've visited both, and the jury is still out. I love the promise of learning-for-learning's sake in the U Chicago essays, but I've also heard that Brown's open curriculum promotes learning-for-learning's sake. Corny as it sounds I really want to wind up at a school where people enjoy learning. At the same time, I want college to not feel like that same level of high school stress. I'll be a humanities major.

Title. Thinking of putting it relatively low on the common app activity list

I’ll be attending a T10 as a recruited athlete. Can anyone here speak to their experience and quality of life? I would love any insights or advice as I prepare for my freshman year. I plan on majoring in math or CS.
FWIW, I averaged about 5 hours of sleep during the season in my junior year of high school. As an IB student taking 4 APs, I nearly burned out. Am I cooked in the same way when I start college?

Hi everyone, I am looking to ED to a college this fall and I am currently deciding between Vandy and Dartmouth. I am a white, female from the UK so I am an international student.

I'm looking for a school with a good balance between academics and social life, strong STEM programs, good dining halls, and just an overall good student experience. I am not involved in sports at the moment but I would love to get involved at college. I would also love to get involved in research at some point.

Honestly, I am kind of leaning Vandy and I'm not exactly sure why. I like the idea of being close to a city, but then again Dartmouth is only 2-3 hours from NYC, Boston and Montreal. I will be applying test optional at Vanderbilt as i scored a 1440, and test flexible at Dartmouth as I would submit my A-level predicted grades - A*A*A.

I am an extremely indecisive person and I was hoping someone would be able to help me as the ED deadline is literally in 2 weeks.

Hi, I need some serious advice. I plan to ED to Duke, but i currently have a C+ in AP Macroeconomics right now and my teacher doesn’t give any helping grades other than tests. I also take AP Microeconomics so it’s not like I need to be taking Macro right now. I have A+ and A in all my other classes. I think I need to drop the class, but Duke will see that. Should I stay in the class and hope to end first quarter with a B by the beginning of Nov or drop the class now?? I’m not sure if I will even have time to be studying so much for the class with all
the other things I’m doing outside and in school now…Help!!

Ok so basically over the summer I wrote my personal statement on my hair (message me to read the essay cuz I heard you shouldn't post it) and I have rewritten it a lot of times. However, I am not the greatest writer and I don't really read books...... I have the ideas that I want to convey but I feel like it is generic. My topic is not generic at all though (sorry you would get it if you read it) but the way I write it does.

I am just cortisol-maxxing over it because every time I change a bit of it, it is always still so bad. I also don't have anyone to proofread it, so it was just me that was changing things..

Is there anyone that can read it and help me?

I feel like no one else talks about these and I’m worried I may have been underestimating their importance

So the choice of words that I have chosen for this prompt would instantly be understandable to a younger admissions officer, but if it's an older person, they might not understand it as much. Should I continue with this choice?

Hi guys! I’m a high school senior who does colorguard, and was wondering if I should submit a video of my choreography as an arts supplement. Most of my schools have vague descriptions of what arts can be considered. I know that if considered, the video would help me. I just don’t know if it would count as an art in this case, since colorguard is a performance art rather than physical or musical.

Thank you!

How do I even start applying..

So I edit Wikipedia articles in my free time, mostly on topics I’m interested in, and I’ve edited over 100 articles so far. I was wondering if this is worth including in the Ecs section of Common App. It probably wouldn’t be one of my top activities… idk tho
Would colleges see this as a legit EC, or is it too insignificant to include?

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

Hey guys! I'm an international student applying for Fall 2027, test-optional, with good stats, ECs, and essays. I'm from a very low-income background, so I’d need a full ride to attend.

My list includes:

Vassar

Wellesley

Wesleyan

Bowdoin

Amherst

Bryn Mawr

Mount Holyoke

Smith

Emory

My dream schools are Barnard and NYU, especially Barnard.

I'm confused about whether I should apply ED to my dream schools or the safety ones. I had a dip in 11th grade, and I don't have my predicted scores to prove I've recovered yet, and won't have them till the ed1 deadline, I don't know what to do honestly.

If i submit ed to any of my safety schools, I'll get rejected since the latest score would be the 11th grade that'll be accounted and it's bad. Like, yeah.

So if I wait till RD or ED2 I'll have the predicted scores to show I've recovered. The scores are the only thing holding back my app (apart from my need for financial aid ofc🙂‍↕️)

I'd appreciate some good advice and help 😭

(And I don't want reality check, I know what I'm getting myself into😶)

Thank you!

Title.

Context:
International, low income, first gen college
Major: computational linguistics
School offers zero APs, A levels, no IB
One SAT test center for the whole nation with 20 seats
I am the only who actually took the test in my high school

1500 is definitely even below 50th percentile for Yale thus kinda thinking should i even put time applying ? How cooked I am ? Does this score really checks the box for me or raises some questions about academic preparation?

I heard some people saying context matters even in test scores, how true is that and how it effects my case ?

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

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

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

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

Edit: I've decided not to make up a story. You guys were right, they will probably see right through me anyways. At this point im not even going to write an essay. This entire this has been mentally straining. I usually enjoy writing but this has taken the fun out of it. My hearts just not in it anymore. Thank you for the suggestions though.

test optional for now
3.8uw
5.3w
rank: 4/402
7 APs taken before senior year but only one score is submittable 💔:
Ap Human Geography = 4
3 APs rn= AP Stats , AP Psych, AP Pysics1

letters or rec:
math teacher from 11th grade- 4/10 didn’t really have a relationship
bio teacher from 10th/11th grade- 8/10 (I have faith)
counselor- 10/10 she loves me

ECs are kinda mid:

~Paid research internship at JHU (related to social science) - 12th grade
~Unpaid Clinical Medical Internship at local hospital for full school year -12th grade
~2 summers spent volunteering at same hospital
~150+ community service hours total
~$200+ raised for leukemia research (fundraiser) - 11-12th grade
~Girls who code program in game design before sophomore year (summer)
~Got into a coding/software dev program with an internship pipeline summer before senior year (full full school year)
~Possibly a national coding contest participant
~National Honor Society president at school- become president senior year but have been a part of the club since 10th grade
~Member of Red Cross club at school (11-12th grade)
~Member of Science National Honor Society at school (10-12)
~Worked a job for 6 months during junior year as a dining associate at a senior loving home with people who had dementia (so I got lots of training on dementia care)
~Part of a specialized cs track school

Prospective major:
Molecular engineering or Computational Biology

What are this sub's thoughts on the profile (personality, values) of the type of student that fits well at each of the following SLACs? (If it helps, the student would be a student-athlete.)

Vassar
Carleton
Grinnell
Haverford

Info: not first gen, middle/high income, female, African American, in the midwestern region. Small school w <500 students (45 in my class)

ACADEMICS: 3.99 UW (one b+ in alg 2 semester 1 of freshman year) and 4.20 W. 9 AP classes (AP Chem, AP calc BC, APUSH, AP GOV, AP LANG, AP LIT, AP SPANISH, AP BIO, AP COMP GOV) scoring 4s and 5s. Other advanced coursework: abstract algebra, organic chemistry (I and II), and differential equations.

SAT: 1500 (740/760)

Awards are pretty weak. I have Bausch + Lomb Honorary Science Award, was published in a teen literary journal, and AP scholar w/distinction.

ECS: Im gonna summarize because I dont feel like typing out

- I have an 8 week research opportunity where I studied adenocarcinoma. I had my own human cell line that i split/cultured 3x a week. I also worked with mice and injected them w/ various drugs/viruses. Also presented my findings at a symposium and to a lab group. This was a paid internship where I earned $2500 for my work.

-There is another research opportunity im doing rn (sep-may) about breast cancer. I have my own individual capstone project that im working on but we havent fully started. Not paid.

-student council vice president

-founded/re-activated my schools HOSA chapter where I am the president (1 girl went to states)

-in this club I cant name but its an african american union where I raised $2000 for a fundraiser competition to help support a grieving family (been in it since I was 2)

-Sports wise I was a regional champion last year for the 4x100, where we also got 4th at states and broke the school record twice.

-I created this prototype called ORA (cancer-related), but I havent published it yet because of my college apps so i doubt AO w care that much. Essentially, its meant to be a community center for families batteling pediatric cancer and they can post boards where they can chat w/ other parents.

-Then i j have STEM tutoring (3yrs), other organizations im in w/several community service activites + initiatives where ive held leadership roles, I also founded and re-activated the HOSA chapter at my school and we have had people go to states. I presented at vanderbilt for a AI project also was a keynote speaker for something at my school.

Programs wise: I did YYGS but idk if that matters

Essay (PS): My essay was basically about training for my moms disappearance and how she always used to assign me these tasks its kinda hard to explain. Its not the typical independence story it has more depth.

SUPPS: Id say my supplementals are good

Great relationship w my teachers writing my LOR + my mentor is writing me one.

I also dk how to order my activities

SCHOOLS: Brown (ED), UMICH, USC, UCHICAGO, HOWARD, PURDUE, PITT, OSU, NORTHEASTERN

My highest superscore is 1470 (690RW 780M), and I want to ED WashU.

A 1470 is 30 points below WashU’s 25th percentile, but I’m worried that omitting the score will hurt me more than submitting.

Some context: my school’s average is 1300. I’m applying as a chemistry major. 10 APs, 5 taken (got solid scores) 5 planned with 2 dual enrollment college courses.

GPA 4.0 unweighted, my school doesn’t do weighted GPA.

Any advice would be helpful!! Thanks!

title I’m struggling a bit with how I should approach this should it be like quirky like the main essay or like mostly facts and what not. I’m kind of stumped but EA deadline is coming close so I wanted some advice if you’ve applied or got accepted! If you did get accepted could I see ur why uchicago essay?