At the bottom of my email it says “This version is polite, empathetic, and conveys your concern without being pushy or overly formal.” how cooked am I?

• short personal statement to show interest in subject /passion/knowledge (similar to Caltech)
• grades + rec letters from school
• subject specific entrance exam (or at least specific to STEM vs humanities)
• intellectual discussion and hard problem solving interview with a professor - this explicitly eliminates people who can't communicate adequately and humbly from the process
• no advantage to legacy/wealthy/donors, no recruited athlete stuff
• advantage to FGLI / other deserving groups (extenuating circumstances)

I believe Olivia has completely made up huge parts of her story. Some commenters believe she may have lied about some things (being first gen) but her background story is true (raised by teacher and grandpa, was on food stamps) and her statements about her nonprofit are true. I believe this info is also riddled with lies and gross exaggerations. Also, some commenters say it is fine to say she isn't first gen but it is too much to go after her for other lies. No - that is exactly what happens when you put yourself out there. It is not only appropriate but necessary to call people on inaccuracies. She has sold an entire story about herself that has benefitted her and she is now trying to present herself as someone others can look up to and learn from but if that story is based on exaggerations/lies, then she should be exposed and should “teach” no one. She is trying to sell herself as a paid consultant and speaker on college apps, nonprofits, etc. - if it is bogus, it is time for that to come to light. (BTW, her explanation Insta posts say that she puts herself out there so others can learn and look up to her but then why on earth is she SELLING her information in her book – which has 15 reviews from Harvard friends whom she personally asked to buy her book)?

HER BACKGROUND:

A.    FIRST GEN:

Harvard defines first gen as someone whose parents did not graduate from college anywhere: "Harvard considers you a first generation college student if you were the first generation of your immediate family to graduate from a four-year college or the equivalent. First Generation students as well as students from historically disenfranchised communities are an integral part of HGSE.  We work to support students who commonly "don't know what they don't know." https://osa.gse.harvard.edu/first-generation-and-low-income-student-community-flic

Obviously, her parents earning degrees beyond college will exclude you from claiming you are first gen by this definition. Her father has a PhD electrical engineering which he spent 10 years obtaining 1989-1999 from Xi'an Jiaotong University which was completed years before Olivia was born. This article quotes Olivia as stating that her mother did graduate from college: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/started-cancer-nonprofit-14-losing-131601676.html “She was the first one in her family to graduate high school, then college.”

Her mother earned a Master of English Literature and Linguistics between 1997 – 2000 (again, before Olivia was born) in China at Southwestern University. Additionally, her mother earned a Master of Science in Professional Accounting from Strayer University between 2004-2006 (during which time Olivia was born until she was a year old) and she earned a certificate from Harvard's Senior Executive Fellows Program. She is now the CFO of The Community Partnership and has worked there since Olivia was a year old. 

Harvard’s quote about wanting to support first gen students who don’t know what they don’t know is very relevant to Olivia because that is the completely opposite of the opportunities she had. She posted a video on Instagram about her mom’s strict rules when she grew up, matching more of a Tiger Mom mentality than someone who knows nothing about education and could not help her daughter navigate the college process. An article dated 12/23/2000, she claimed that her “parents also prioritized education, so [she and her] little sister and often attended out-of-school academic classes, played many different sports as well, ranging from swim to lacrosse. Writing, art, and singing were also some extracurriculars [they] participated in — having a busy after school schedule was common for [them]. https://medium.com/authority-magazine/young-social-impact-heroes-why-and-how-olivia-zhang-of-cancer-kids-first-is-helping-to-change-our-22821b1ec60c  She said this again in 2026: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/started-cancer-nonprofit-14-losing-131601676.html “[Her mother] enrolled [her] in violin, piano, and Math Olympiad: all the extracurricular that other Asian American kids were doing.”

Similarly, the video where she opens her Harvard grades with her mom watching – it was clear her mom knew about As and expected As from Olivia. So, while the idea of giving first gen students a leg up is because they never received access to the knowledge of navigating the college application process is great for those who deserve it, it unfairly benefitted Olivia as someone who does not. OLIVIA: PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW YOUR PARENTS PRIORITIZED EDUCATION, ARE HIGHLY EDUCATED, AND YET YOU CLAIM YOU’RE FIRST GEN.

B.    FOOD STAMPS:

Olivia has claimed many times that she grew up on food stamps (here at two such times: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQH5wdUkiQL/?hl=en  and https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/ep-219-olivia-zhang-harvard-junior-grew-up-on-food/id1573117613  I can't see in any way how this could be true because: a) her dad's LinkedIn shows that he worked 1999-2003 as a project manager, which was before Olivia was born. The only gap in his impressive LinkedIn work history is from 2003-2005 which coincides with when he was at Georgetown getting his MBA and immediately after he earned it (at the beginning of 2006) he began working as an associate at Merge Global. Olivia was born in May 2005 so if her family was on food stamps (while he was finishing up his MBA) it would have been from the age of 0 to 7 months during which time – even if the food stamps story was true then – she’d be a newborn/infant and likely only started eating tiny amounts of baby cereal at around 6 months.  Additionally, her parents purchased their home in McLean on 12/19/2009 when she was 4 for $915,000. Clearly, she could not have been on food stamps then.  OLIVIA: WHAT YEARS WERE YOU ON FOOD STAMPS AND HOW DOES THIS COINCIDE WITH YOUR PARENTS FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT + PURCHASING, RETAINING AND MAINTAING A MILLION DOLLAR HOME, AND AFFORDING THINGS LIKE VIOLIN, PIANO, WRITING, ART, SINGING, OUT OF SCHOOL ACADEMIC CLASSES, SWIM, LACROSSE, ETC?

Part 3:

D.    NonProfit Work

She claims in her Instagram August 2026 explanation video that she can’t post pictures showing what she does in the hospitals because of HIPAA. What does that have to do with posting photos, videos, etc. of YOU walking into the hospital with arms full of the things you’re claiming you’re donating? What nonprofit that is doing ongoing good isn’t showing this good work? It would make no sense that someone such as Olivia - who documents herself in coffee shops, airports, her dorm, her family home, etc. - would not then document the biggest thing she boasts about all the time (things like “here I am at the 70+ hospitals I partner with”)?

In her part 1 of her August 2026 Instagram explanation, Olivia says that all the best marketing CEOs know that storytelling is how you succeed in the selling of a nonprofit. Who would think that this great storyteller would then fail to actually story tell with documented proof of what she’s providing? Of course, there are occasional photos of art kids, gifts, books and those type of donations but where did the $600,000 claimed money that she has donated gone and how was it donated and where is that documented?

Her claimed impact went from:

·       In 12/23/2000 (less than 6 years ago) that she aided close t0 20 pediatric cancer hospitals, raised over $4000, and donated more than 600 toys and books [20 hospitals, $4,000 donated)

·       She claims in her sophomore year of high school she got thousands of volunteers within the span of a few hours: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U6s8JY6W9w around 6:30 mark.

·       A year later (2021) she claims she has gone from 20 to 50 pediatric hospitals, has over 18,000 volunteers in 45 different countries, with 70 local chapters supporting thousands of patients in In Virginia, over 900 students are volunteers in one of the three major areas of service:  Arts, Events, and Fundraising.  In the Fairfax County CKF Chapter, each area is headed by a student leader who integrates volunteers into the many opportunities available in CKF. https://fairfax.studentpeaceawards.org/olivia-zhang/ (NOTE: The article notes 2021-2022 because that was the school year for which she won this award, but the award is determined early into 2022 so it would reflect what was happening after 2021). [50 hospitals, 18,000 volunteers in 45 countries]

·       In 2021 she also claimed in a GoFundMe: “In the past 2 years, Cancer Kids First has already donated 60,000 supplies to individual patients and our 70+ partner hospitals alike.” https://www.gofundme.com/f/cancer-kids-firstl [60,000 donated supplies, 70 hospitals]

·       2022: She claims: CKF’ provides support through five diverse programs: Arts, Toys/Books, Care Packages, Treatment Services, and Patient Interaction, and hosts a variety of online events, webinars, and fundraisers. In two years, ‘CKF’ has built coalitions with 55 hospitals and has helped thousands of patients in 15 countries. The organisation has sent over 30,000 cards/crafts to young cancer patients, donated over 15,000 resources to 48 paediatric cancer hospitals and delivered dream gifts to 230 patients worldwide. https://diana-award.org.uk/our-programmes-and-initiatives/award-and-development/roll-of-honour/roll-of-honour-2022 [55 hospitals, thousands of patients, 30,000 cards/crafts donated, 15 countries, 48 hospitals]

·       2022-2023: Her old website claims: CKF unites 28,000 volunteers and 70 chapters in its mission of normalizing the hospital environment and providing a loving community for pediatric cancer patients. In 3 years, CKF has donated 50,000 cards/crafts, toys, books, hospital equipment, and other resources to 69 partner hospitals—touching thousands of lives in 15 countries. CKF has also initiated 100+ events under its 5 service programs. https://cancerkidsfirst.wixsite.com/oliviazhang/work [28,000 volunteers, 50,000 cards/crafts/toys/books/hospital equipment donated to 69 hospitals in 15 countries]

·       March 2024: They have supported over 10,000 lives through diverse programmes. They host a variety of online events to unite 40,000 young people in fostering a supporting environment for patients. They have utilised social media to spread their reach, sharing their mission with over 4.4 million young people. As a result, their volunteers skyrocketed from 120 to 7000 in one week.[united 40,000 young people in supporting patients, volunteers went from 120 to 7000 in a single week]

·       March 2024: “ The group has developed partnerships with 70 hospitals in 19 countries.” https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/boston/news/olivia-zhang-cancer-kids-first-diana-award-change-makers/ [70 hospitals in 19 countries]

·        March 31, 2025: Zhang, now 19, and her team have donated more than $600,000 worth of medical equipment, toys, cards, crafts, and more to

·       patients around the world. https://upfront.scholastic.com/issues/2024-25/033125/q-a-corner-helping-kids-with-cancer.html [$600,000 of medical equipment/toys/crafts donated]

·      As of 1/12026, she claims: Its three main programs—Arts (craft kits and activities), Treatment Services (medical supplies for low-income hospitals), and Patient Interaction (virtual events)—have donated more than $600,000 in supplies to 74 hospitals and supported 10,000+ patients in 22 countries. [$600,000 in supplies to 74 hospitals, supported 100,000+ patients in 22 countries]

·       3/9/26: Facebook account of Cancer Kids First claims that “we are 43,000 volunteers across 80 countries supporting 15,000 cancer patients.” [43,000 volunteers, 80 countries, 15,000 patients]

·      Undated:

o   Her website says “CKF has donated over $600,000 in supplies to 72 hospitals and impacted 10,000+ pediatric patients in 22 countries https://www.cancerkidsfirst.org/ourstory

o   Scholastic describes it as more than $600,000 worth of medical equipment, toys, cards, crafts, and other items. https://upfront.scholastic.com/issues/2024-25/033125/q-a-corner-helping-kids-with-cancer.html

o   Her website here says she has donated “medical equipment” https://www.cancerkidsfirst.org/impact

Where is the accounting for the jump from $4,000 in 2020 to more than $600,000 donated items? If you look at the IRS records, CKF has not filed a 990 form which is required if the amounts the organization takes in exceed $50,000/year. That means CKF is either taking in less than $50,000 a year OR she is taking in more and just skipping the IRS filing requirements:   https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/843948071 Considering that her mom works in nonprofit as a CFO, I think that is highly unlikely. Additionally, that GoFundMe that she started 5 years ago had a wished for amount of $5,000. Despite it being 5 years old and it still having recent donations coming in (the last one was 2 months ago), it has only raised $2,760. https://www.gofundme.com/f/cancer-kids-first

OLIVIA: WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN 3/2024 WHEN YOU CLAIM CKF DONATED 50,000 CARDS/CRAFTS/TOYS/BOOKS/HOSPITAL EQUIPMENT TO A YEAR LATER ON 3/31/2025 THAT IT JUMPED TO 600,000? WHAT PROOF DO YOU HAVE? WHAT HOSPITAL EQUIPMENT HAS CKF DONATED (WHERE/TO WHOM/WHY/PROOF)? WHAT PROOF DO YOU HAVE THAT YOUR VOLUNTEERS JUMPED FROM 120 TO 7000 IN A SINGLE WEEK? (CKF Facebook account is asking for interested people to start new chapters and posts like that get a single thumbs up). PROOF OF THE NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS? PROOF OF THE NUMBER OF HOSPITALS/COUNTRIES/PATIENTS?

My take: She created a nonprofit for college purposes and has exaggerated, lied and made unverified claims for years and has never been called on it. It is time for this to stop. I do believe she – and chapters of CKF – have done some Zoom type calls with kids (this seems rare) and has engaged in toy drives, card writing, book drives, and care package drives for very sick children, which matches the Cancer Kids First Facebook post of 1/16/26 that says for a New Year’s Resolution CKF challenges you to: do three hours of community service or CKF volunteering (ex. cards or patient interaction Zooms), preorder Olivia’s book, and share the book on social media.” (Did you catch the plug for buying Olivia’s book mixed in with a plea for volunteering?) But this type of plea – even if answered in full – doesn’t get you to $600,000. It does get her chapters to create nice things for children in need but a new nonprofit isn’t needed for this. (For example, the Facebook page for Cancer Kids First has a 10/31/2025 post that says the DECA Club at Cottonwood High School in Utah created cards and 3 boo baskets with personalized care packages for cancer patients. This seems like a typical type of service provided and it would match why CKF is not filing the required IRS 990 form that is needed if it brings in more than $50,000/year. It also matches the photographs and video footage out there on her doing work (creating care packages, holding donated books, showing cards created). It matches her not posting herself at hospital after hospital and it matches her not posting any information about donating to cancer research, for treatments, or for medical equipment- as she claims.

The story about her impact has grown and been lied about – without any single thing backing it up. In fact, her only back up is that she won awards that they vetted her. No, that isn’t what is largely done. She appears to have faked the story about first gen, faked having no real guidance in the college process, faked being on food stamps, faked the underlying reason for creating the nonprofit because she was raised in a wealthy suburb of DC by well off and well educated parents, has faked the extend of the nonprofit’s impact.

OLIVIA, I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR RESPONSE BECAUSE WE NOW KNOW, YOU ARE READING THIS.

 C.    WHO RAISED HER/CLAIMED UNDERLYING REASON SHE STARTED HER NONPROFIT:

One claim she makes about a reason the nonprofit started was because a teacher who helped raise her was diagnosed with cancer. (This claim has been repeatedly made, a few examples: on 1/1/26 “Her grandfather and elementary school teacher, the two people who helped raise her, were both diagnosed with cancer and passed away within months of each other” and 2/2026 in Forbes “Her grandfather and elementary-school teacher were “the two people who helped raise her,” in a 4/29/2026 podcast “My parents spent a lot of time at their jobs and my teacher would take care of me every day often until 7:00 p.m.” and on her LinkedIn profile in which she describes the teacher and her grandfather  that she as “two people who raised me while my immigrant parents worked late.”

Grandfather: How did her grandfather raise her? He lived in China! https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/started-cancer-nonprofit-14-losing-131601676.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMkWDSWGQ4HT5pp9qqktowBE9wEdnt5A1FrI_zAml7MZpZgdMNquz4PGqA0K8JKnex8yT2HhDcgzDe41nMjf53kYRVopLANXQzJ3fEyZQa9p7obVOWz_RdZNoJs14i56gS94V9GEW8OoZSBjTV9SMnf127mB-pJdNqQc2QJ2_Tgo “I was close with my grandfather in China, because we spent so much time together. At home in the US, I spent hours every school day with the same teacher in the afterschool program. When I was 13, both my grandfather and that teacher died from cancer.”

Teacher:  The story morphed from it being a teacher she visited every day to it being a teacher who helped raise her. Besides the fact that this makes no sense – how is a county employed teacher able to spend day after day until 7:00 p.m. watching an elementary school student so her parents could work and CPS is not involved due to a child in need of services for neglect? OLIVIA: WHAT TEACHER WAS THIS SO IT CAN BE VERIFIED?  In reality, this information will not be shared because if you dig further, you know that her “parents also prioritized education, so [she and her] little sister and often attended out-of-school academic classes, played many different sports as well, ranging from swim to lacrosse. Writing, art, and singing were also some extracurriculars [they] participated in — having a busy after school schedule was common for [them]. So how could she have been visiting this teacher daily and/or being taken care of this teacher daily until 7:00 p.m. if she also had a busy after school activity schedule? Then add to that it wasn’t an elementary school teacher who helped raise her, but rather she saw this woman daily at school because Olivia took an after school program with her. This was not a special bond between them because her parents were working and she needed to be watched for hours…this was a typical, for pay after school program which also supports her prior claims that her parents put her in lots of extracurricular activities: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/started-cancer-nonprofit-14-losing-131601676.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMkWDSWGQ4HT5pp9qqktowBE9wEdnt5A1FrI_zAml7MZpZgdMNquz4PGqA0K8JKnex8yT2HhDcgzDe41nMjf53kYRVopLANXQzJ3fEyZQa9p7obVOWz_RdZNoJs14i56gS94V9GEW8OoZSBjTV9SMnf127mB-pJdNqQc2QJ2_Tgo “At home in the US, I spent hours every school day with the same teacher in the afterschool program. When I was 13, both my grandfather and that teacher died from cancer.”

This makes perfect sense that neither the grandfather nor the teacher story is true because this is why it doesn’t make sense that as a result of two adults dying of cancer, she created a nonprofit for kids with cancer, pulling all nighters as a young age.

seriously people have been telling me

edit: gt

He's a rising senior. 4.6W, 4.0UW, 34 ACT, varsity athlete, school club leadership, non-profit volunteer. Wants to study statistics and sports analytics.

He's in-state for UNC and according to SCOIR, 100% of students with his grades from his school get into Chapel Hill. He's using UNC-CH as his safety school. He's planning to ED to Duke, non-binding EA to UNC-CH, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, and Michigan. RD to Harvard, Columbia, U-Penn, Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, and Northwestern.

My fear is that every single one of these is a reach school and that he needs to include more targets and safeties in his search. I'm encouraging him to also apply to NC State, Georgia Tech, UVA, and Virginia Tech. He gets offended when I bring up these schools and says that he's worked too hard in high school to go anywhere below Chapel Hill. I just want him to have options and not feel like he's forced to go to a school because it's the only one he got accepted to.

What do y'all think? Am I making too big a deal about applying to schools that he thinks are below his numbers or should I pull the dad-rank card and force him to diversify his applications?

I'm making my college list, and I'm curious about colleges that deserve way more attention than they get. I'd love to hear about colleges with great academics, a strong community, happy students, unique opportunities, or just a really good overall experience.

What makes them stand out?

My daughter is applying to colleges, and we are not applying for financial aid because we won’t receive any due to high net worth ($50m+). My husband said he doesn’t want to spend time filling out the FAFSA. However, when I search online everyone says to fill it out anyway. What do other people in our situation do?

I just got the email!!! Is this something I can put on my college app??

Hi everyone, I’m a rising senior in high school from NYC, and I’m trying to figure out how to approach college finances. I’m a little confused about what my realistic options are.

My family’s financial situation looks complicated on paper. My dad earns around $332k/year, and my mom earns around $68k/year, so our household income is roughly $400k before taxes. Because of that, I assume I probably won’t qualify for much need-based financial aid.

However, my parents are divorced, and my dad has significant financial obligations beyond just his income. He pays child support and covers the mortgages/expenses for two homes, so while his income is high, the amount of money he actually has available for college is much lower than what colleges’ financial aid formulas might assume. Because of this, I don’t think it is realistic for him to pay $80k–$100k per year for a private university.

I have around $30k saved in my own account, but obviously that is not enough to cover the cost of college. My dad has said he would prefer that I apply mostly to SUNYs/CUNYs because they are much more affordable, but I’m worried about limiting myself because I’m interested in other schools as well.

I understand that my parents’ income puts me in a fortunate position compared to many people, but I’m struggling with the fact that having a high income doesn’t necessarily mean my parents are willing to spend $400k+ on college. I also don’t want to take on a massive amount of debt just to attend a school my family cannot realistically afford.

For people who have been in a similar situation, what did you guys end up doing? Any kind of advice would be helpful, thanks!

Now that im accepted into college I know have the full experience of applying to college and I just have one question......HOW DID IT GET LIKE THIS? I have 11 APs all As, a 1560 SAT yet , and good extracirricularas and i barely got in anywhere. Sometimes I feel like you need to cure cancer to just get waitlisted.

Talking about all of this reminds me of me of my Physics C teacher. When me and the rest of the class were discussing college apps,he said he did not understand how we do this amount of work and then proceeded to tell the story that has never made me wanted to rip my face off more. Apparently he forgot to apply to college so he just called up GT and asked if they had a spot for him and they did and he got admitted. he didnt even apply! furthermore the freshmen dorms were all filled so they put him up in the nicer senior dorms. Everytime I think about that I just get so angry at the ridiculousness of it.

I know most Chinese/Indian parents want you in the MOST competitive high schools (at least mine are), but is going to a “bad” high school the strategy?

There likely is grade inflation but it is easier to stand out. You might not have enough resources (clubs, test prep, teachers, APs) but if you are due dilligent enough to make those opportunities (self study, founder, impact, and so on)

Won’t that help you stand out MORE in apps (also considering that everyone who applies from your school are chuds - if you’re the most cracked kid to come out of the school in 20 years, you’re bound to get in somewhere)

What does r/ApplyingToCollege say about this? I feel like I’m in the boat of a “bad” high school but *might* be sneakily in an advantage

Shout out to the original poster of this important reminder. Just passing it along to hopefully settle everyone down.

Unless you have some crazy pathway that increases your odds to 10 or 20% (athlete, first gen, legacy with donations, plus ED), let’s all just make Plan B and imagine our lives without this. Then let it be an amazing and wonderful SURPRISE if it happens.

I’m worried by all the mental health posts on here. So let’s maybe stop tying our sanity to this teensy little shot at winning the lottery, ok? 🙏

Can we start a thread! I see a bunch from last year and wouldn’t mind starting a list for this year??? TIA

We live across the Bay from Stanford University. My son learned to skateboard on the smooth grounds around Stanford when he was 7. His goal was aways going there someday, and over the years he has owed several Stanford Tshirts. He has an academic scholarship at his private high school where he has maintained a GPA above 4.8 all years with a current 4.87. He is president of the Esports club and is ranked in California for his Esport. Captain of the Tennis Team for two years and is in several honors organizations that have him teaching calculus at local public schools. He has a total of 20 AP classes, but because of his heavy workload he did not study at all for the SAT and scored a 1430. He said he scored higher than all his peers but they told him to not even bother applying for Stanford University. What are your thoughts? Should he retake SAT?

Update – March 31
Thanks to everyone who weighed in. After reading your responses, I talked to my son about retaking the SAT. He explained that most colleges, including Stanford, are test-optional for the 2025 cycle, so he didn’t see a need to retake it.

When I brought up Stanford again, he was clear: he no longer wanted to apply. He said that was my dream, not his. Instead, he had fallen in love with UC Berkeley—from years of playing at their incredible esports facility, hanging out on campus, and attending metal concerts nearby.

Fast forward to this week: he was accepted into UC Berkeley’s Chemical Engineering program, with a merit scholarship covering tuition, books, and housing, provided he maintains a certain GPA each semester. We’re still waiting on full financial details, but this was a huge relief.

He was also accepted to most UCs and CSUs he applied to (except UCLA), but he decided early on not to apply to any schools out of state. I reminded him to formally decline the other offers so that waitlisted students get a shot.

Appreciate all your advice—it really helped during a stressful time!

I'll try to give as many awards as I can

edit: going to bed now, sorry to anyone I couldn't get to!!

edit again: more awards!

My daughter is set to graduate next spring. We found out too late in the game that most competitive colleges require at least 2 years of foreign language for admissions. My daughter's high school does not require its students to have any foreign language credits to graduate (crazy, I know). Both my husband and I went to high school in different states than our current one, and were required to have FL to graduate. I went to a state university and he went to a private religious university. We honestly didn't think at all about this being a college admissions requirement.

My daughter's school counselor never mentioned that she'd likely need these credits to go to a more competitive school outside of our state, so she opted for other extracurriculars that were more interesting to her. She has taken honors/AP math classes and honors/college equivalent English/language arts classes. She is taking other college equivalent classes that support her likely decision to study law (Intro to Law/Criminal Law/Communications). She has a 3.95 GPA and a 35 ACT.

Is she completely toast when it comes to applying to any competitive/private schools? I'm just sick that none us caught on to this earlier than now. In every other way she's been a stellar student and very active in her extracurricular pursuits, so finding out now that this could severely limit her choices has really left us kicking ourselves.

My parents have always joked about not having gone to college, either to guilt trip me or something I have no clue why. When I was filling out my common app, I just put graduated high/secondary school without a second thought. I showed my parents my application, and they told me my dad had actually gone to a trade school and my mom had graduated from a university in China. How bad is this? How do I let the colleges know? Do I just email their admissions?

(not sure if I used the right flair on this so sorry for that but this is a genuine question) .

TLDR: What can I add to my application that will lower my chances of acceptance/make a college reject me?

For context I’m applying as a biology major and am trying to pursue a premed track.
Theres a college that I’m applying to because my mom wants me to go there. It’s actually a great college and from what I’ve read, I have nothing against the school itself, it’s amazing for pre-health, they have good advising and researchopportunities, and its a respected college. The problem is that I live a 30-40 minute drive away (still out of state) from it so getting a dorm there would feel useless and I really just want to get away from my family. My mom will be shattered if I tell her I want to go to a college further away like thats something i CANT explain to her because she wont understand that concept. I also have a pretty good shot for getting into this college because even though its a kinda selective, I have a 33 act/1440 SAT, good gpa and ecs, and come from a very well known and rigorous high school. I know my mom will look over what I write for my application before I submit it and I know you can look at your submissions on commonapp after you have submitted them, so I’m scared to alter it. Idk what to do to make them reject me and I’ll be doomed if they accept me because I can’t say theyre a bad school and my mom LOVES that school. Please give me tips/advice, thank you

Hey, my biological father was a Harvard alum for his undergraduate. My parents are telling me I should write him as legacy and he agreed because he thought it was funny and worth a shot.

Does this count for legacy?

https://nypost.com/2026/07/14/us-news/florida-students-historic-11-99-gpa-triggers-district-policy-overhaul/

Steinbrenner High valedictorian (Hillsborough County, FL) finished with an 11.99 weighted GPA. He took 20 APs and 24 dual enrollment courses, earned an associate's degree alongside his diploma, and is headed to Duke. Genuinely incredible.

How is 11.99 even possible? The district had no cap on weighted GPA and gave big bonuses for AP and dual enrollment. Now they're changing the formula, partly because colleges were already recalculating these numbers anyway.

Which is the real takeaway: the GPA on your transcript usually isn't the one colleges use. Most recalculate.

Anyone else's district have uncapped weighting like this?

I keep on seeing comments talking about ur race will cook u or something like that. That seems kinda stupid but it seems like there are higher standards that need to be met.

is this true?

I am so confused about Northeastern. On one hand it I see that it's super selective and seems like a good, top tier institution. However, on the other hand I see many social media posts about how Northeastern is bad, deceptive, and a fake "top school".

What's the truth? I don't know if I should apply Northeastern at this point. What is its overall reputation and is it on the T20 level, ie. Berkeley, GTech, UIUC for engineering/stem?

“As thorough and fair as we attempt to make our selection process, we may at times suffer from shortsightedness. Your achievements to date and in future endeavors may well prove just how shortsighted we can be. We thank you for your interest in Carleton and wish you much success in your further studies.”

We've had student run "non-profits" and then research. What's the next BIG thing for college apps (no, it is not an advice post, I just want people to say what they think is going to be popular in the next few years).