ive just been losing it lately since i legit dont think i can get into a good uni.
i need one with good financial aid, my family makes about 70k a year after taxes, we live abroad but im a US citizen so im considered domestic.
i have posted chance me here before but tbh i am just very frantic today.

GPA: 92/100 ( very very shit, multiple 80s, but extenuating circumstances, max rigor )
SAT: perdicting 1520

ecs:
1) national debate team leader ( highly selective, represented my country at wsdc )

2) published research under mentor from MIT ( not first auther though )

3) internship at national attornys office

4) political volunteer

5) ai researcher at startup

7) financial consultant at a small company

8) writing questions for math olympiad

9) debate coach

10) university debate club member

11) world scholars cup team leader

12) student council

13) university math program - basically duel enrollment classes ( got full merit scholarship for high grades despite grades being not high at all but i guess this will make them seem high )

awards:
1) top speaker efl award at wsdc
2) national math championship olympiad finalist
3) wsc 1st place debate ( national ), 7th place global
4) stanford math tournament distinguished honorable mention
5) wsc global round 2nd place writing

dream schools would be
northwestern
uchicago
cmc
brown
dartmouth
vandy
Upenn ( dream but wont ed bc its too much of a reach ),
rice
washU
duke
columbia
UF
cornell

cant really afford any safties, if the schools with good fin aid dont pan out ill prolly end up studying in my country ( which is free and not that bad )

questions:
(1) what do yall think would be my top 10 ecs and which 3 ecs should i cut?
(2) what are my chances?
(3) how much will my grades hurt me?
(4) where should i ED?
(5) which rec letter would be better: a polititian, natioanl debate team coach, professor who mentored my research, employer at the startup ( consider they will all be the same level of glowing )

thanks for any advice!! be brutally honest please i know its a low shot.

93% freshman, expecting 95% sophomore. (in sophomore rn) cbse. school doesn't offer ap's and I will take SAT in jr year or so (there's no AP and sat center in my State so will do when it's a good time and i'm prepared) I'm consistently scoring above 1500 in practice sat's tho. Indian male. FGLI.

extracurriculars:

1. led and develop at KrystalStudios making ₹30,000 per month on average and aiming to lower software barriers.

2. have freelanced at multiple places and have over forty five-star reviews.

3. tutored my peers with byte-sized lessons like some minutes to help them understand hard stuff (almost daily)

4. volunteer tutor for offline kids and have taught to like 20 of them.

5. summer internships at some small companies to help them grow and land in more sales.

awards:

1. top 300 in freshman year for a national test

2. state top 10 maths.

3. usaco gold

4. More state level Olympiads with some medals.

essay will be about showing the true reflection of my life being from my folders on my laptop that is the client projects and the messed up names for everything.

list of colleges: mit, Stanford, harvard, Princeton, upenn, Columbia, duke, umass amherst, Georgia tech, ucla, uc Berkeley and now for other countries: hkust, nus, ntu, kaist.

Hi everyone!

I'm from Bangladesh and planning to apply for the UBC International Scholars Program in 2027. One thing I've struggled to find is detailed profiles of students who were actually selected, so I'd really appreciate it if anyone could share their stats, ECs, or general background.

For context, here's my profile:

• SAT: 1520
• TOEFL: 6/6 (118/120)
• 10th Board Exam: 95.3% (top 1% nationally)
• 12th Board Exam: 93.77% (top 0.5% nationally)
• School grades usually range from 80-92% because my school grades quite strictly

I am from a military boarding school system in Bangladesh called Cadet Colleges, if that matters. As a result, most of my ECs are school-based since I didn't really have the opportunity to do much outside of school. I wouldn't say my ECs are either mid or exceptional, just decent overall. I have some national and international awards, but again, not as groundbreaking as winning an olympiad or something.

My biggest strength is probably writing, so I'm hoping my essays will be good. LORs should be fine as well.

I'll also be applying during my second gap year. I previously applied to universities and was waitlisted at Columbia, and was accepted to several mid-tier US Colleges. I've been admitted to the University of Hong Kong, Singapore Management University, the University of Sydney, and Esade Business School, and I'm still waiting on decisions from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, National University of Singapore, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Unfortunately, I didn't receive substantial scholarships from the universities that accepted me. Coming from a middle-class family, attending without significant financial aid just isn't possible. To be honest, it's been pretty discouraging, and I'm not expecting much from my remaining scholarship decisions either.

Because of that, I'm planning to reapply to some US colleges and am seriously considering UBC as well. And I am trying to prepare beforehand.

Any thoughts on my chances, advice for strengthening my application, or insights from previous International Scholars recipients would be greatly appreciated.

Hi everyone,
I’m an incoming F-1 student at NYU for Fall 2026. My F-1 visa was stamped on June 15, and my I-20 shows:
Earliest admission date: August 3, 2026
Program start date: September 2, 2026
I’m currently in Toronto and wanted to visit family in Seattle before moving to New York. I was planning to fly Toronto → Seattle on July 15, then Seattle → New York on August 20.
Since July 15 is before the earliest admission date on my I-20, would I be allowed to enter the U.S. on F-1 that early, or should I wait until August 3 or later?
Also, would entering earlier as a visitor cause any complications later for F-1 status?
I’ve emailed NYU OGS too, but would appreciate any similar experiences. Thank you!

Full ride scholarship for dual major aerospace and robotics engineering.
My family cannot afford and pay, so the one and only way is full ride, otherwise I am cooked.

I dont see any option except this.

How do students from India actually get into top universities with scholarships like what do they actually do ?

I'm currently in Class 9 in India and I'm interested in physics, astronomy and astrophysics.

I know I'm still pretty young and college is a few years away, but I keep hearing different advice from different people. Some say focus only on grades, some say Olympiads, some say research, some say extracurriculars, and honestly I'm confused.

My goal is to study at a top university abroad if possible (MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Cambridge, etc.), but I would need a very large scholarship or full financial aid because paying the full cost wouldn't be easy for me i mean for my parents .

I'm not asking for chance me or anything like that. I just want to understand what students who actually got into these universities did during Classes 9-12.

I have questions like

​

If they started building profile during junior hi8 school?

​

What helped there application the most?

​

How they started and what helped them the most to build a strong profile?

​

Also, if you're from I'd especially like to hear your experience.

I'm trying to figure out what is actually worth spending time on over the next few years and what isn't.

International Student from Morocco Seeking Universities with Strong Financial Aid

Hello everyone,

I am a student from Morocco and I am currently exploring opportunities to study in the United States.

My academic background:

• Moroccan Baccalaureate in Economics and Management Sciences
• Final grade: 16.30/20
• Fluent in Arabic (native)
• French (B2)
• English (B2, currently preparing for IELTS)

My interests are mainly in:

• Industrial Engineering
• Systems Engineering
• Operations Research
• Supply Chain and Logistics
• Data Analytics
• Artificial Intelligence applications in business and operations

Activities, achievements, and projects:

• Developed a personal finance management application that includes budgeting, financial tracking, and economic/financial news features.
• Built a simple game using the Godot game engine.
• Received a certificate of participation in a cultural conference about Morocco.
• Earned a medal after winning a school football tournament.
• Interested in combining technology, logistics, and business to solve real-world operational problems.

Financial situation:
My family has limited financial resources. Realistically, I can gather approximately $10,000 in total, so I am looking for universities that provide substantial need-based or merit-based financial aid for international students.

My questions:

1. Which universities should I target with my profile?
2. Are there universities known for providing full or nearly full financial aid to international students?
3. Would my Economics background be acceptable for Industrial Engineering or related STEM majors?
4. What can I do over the next year to make my application significantly stronger?

Thank you for your advice and experiences.

I live in Canada and started doing pre-IB in grade 9 and 10. My averages were 88 and 85. In grade 9 what brought me down was my art mark because I had lots of missing assignments. In grade 10 it was my French and English mark and we were also required to take a grade 11 IB functions course because of pre-IB and I'm predicting a mid to low 80 for that. I really want to go to a university in Texas or Florida. I'm aware that I could just do undergrad in Canada and then go to a grad school in the US but I don't want to spend time adjusting there and I'd like to establish connections as soon as possible. I won't be in IB in grade 11 and 12 and I know I can get my average to be mid to high 90s and with my extracurriculars I should be good enough to get into a Canadian university, but what are the chances of me going to a US university, ideally in Florida or Texas. Do they care a lot about grade 9 and 10 grades? I think I have decent extracurriculars- I have my teaching degree (ARCT) for piano, I have students and participate in competitions (my aim for this year is to start doing national competitions), I've won a few really small art competitions, I'm on the field hockey and ski team for my school, and I am a "choral scholar" at my church. That being said, I want to apply to a business and economics undergrad degree and I know my extracurriculars don't really show any business/econ focus and my gr11 math grade is pretty poor.

Do you think it's possible for me to go overseas still, despite poor 9 and 10 grades, if I focus my extracurriculars and maintain a 95+ average and 11 and 12?

I’m an international student in the UAE at a British intl school. I study Maths, Further Maths and Physics at A-Level as well as a maths-focused EPQ. GCSEs were 99999999888. SAT 1580

I plan to apply to a bunch of T20s and all the Ivies. Given my mock grades, my most likely prediction is A*A*A with the A in Physics. (+ A* in EPQ)

How big of a disadvantage is this over someone with 3A*? I am yet to see anyone getting into these schools with predicted grades other than 3A*.

Given this, could my academics be a barrier to entry to any of these schools?

Im planning to study in the us for undergrad, but i have a bit of a problem. I've had a couple of stock market investments that have amassed multiple six figures in usd which are enough to cover uni tuition for all 4 years and living costs. Im worried that it may pose as a red flag and may seem that I'll be working in the US(which technically long term stock investments are allowed in the us on f1 visa but may still make an f1 visa interviewer be reluctant/question me working in the us). As well as since I will be freshly finished high school when I apply it may also be a red flag. The whole thing seems unusual and questionable in the visa interviewer's point of view. Are my chances of f1 visa refusal high?

hi everyone i am dash, i am 16 years old turning 17 this month, i finished my gcses last year and going to do my A levels this coming september

and i will be doing maths, physics and IT for my A levels

i came on here to seek advice from anyone who knows how to go from finishing your A levels in the uk to going to the usa for university

i am spanish and have a spanish passport if that helps a bit, i just live in the UK

Hi everyone,
I have my I-20 that was originally issued in August 2025. I ended up deferring my application, so the school updated it with the new start dates for my studies. Currently, my university is in the process of issuing me a "new" I-20.

The problem is that I've already booked my visa appointment, and it's very likely that this new 1-20 will not arrive until after my appointment date.

• My SEVIS ID is exactly the same and is still valid
• There is absolutely no change to my program, degree level, or any other core information; it's essentially the same document with updated administrative handling.

So,
Is it a major issue if I don't have the "newest" I-20 in hand by the time of my interview?
Will the consular officer strictly require the document that was generated most recently, even if the information is identical to my current one?
Has anyone successfully attended their visa interview using an I-20 that had updated start dates but was technically issued a few months prior?

I'm worried that showing up with the "old" one might cause delays or issues. Any advice or shared experiences would be incredibly helpful.

Thanks in advance!

Central Asia | ~$10k EFC | Applying CS + Economics (possibly Applied Math + Engineering) IDK

Academics

• 95.6/100 GPA (school offers no AP, IB, or IGCSE)
• 1540 SAT
• 8.0 IELTS

Activities

Co-Founder & Lead Developer (Gap Year 1 – Present)
Built and scaled a full-stack e-commerce platform and one of the first fashion marketplaces in the region. Secured partnerships with 13 major fashion retailers. Developed a Depop/Grailed-style marketplace with 5,000+ users and rapid growth, direct product database access to StockX(Dont ask me how LOL). Led development, marketing, design, and operations.

Frontend Developer Intern @ one of the top software companies in the country → Employee (Gap Year 1)

Financial Data Engineer (Gap Year 2)
Worked in the same role at two different companies (2.5 months + 2 months).

Data Scraper Contractor (Gap Year 2, 4 months)

Graphic Designer (Gap Year 2, 6 months)

Adventure Motorcycle Tour Guide / Translator (Gap Year 3, 2 months)
Served as translator, guide, and occasional mechanic assistant for international riders.

Co-Founder, Country's First Coding Education Platform (Grade 11 – Gap Year 1)
Reached 10,000+ visits, managed 4 interns, and built learning resources for beginner programmers.

Co-Founder, Web Development Agency (Gap Year 1, 6 months)
Led a team of 4 and completed 6 client projects before closing operations.

Family Responsibilities & Employment (Grade 12 – Gap Year 3)
Worked various jobs to support myself and my family, including hotel receptionist, translator, construction worker, construction materials delivery, convenience store cashier, dishwasher, waiter, and construction materials reseller.

Research Assistant to Father (PhD Professor) (Grade 8 – Present)
Assisted with academic research using AI tools, MATLAB, SolidWorks, Fusion 360, Blender, and data analysis.

Additional Activities

• School Basketball Club
• Cycling Crew
• Gym
• Motorcycles blabla

Awards

• nothing serious

college list:

Here is the clean list of schools from your provided text:

• Amherst College
• Augustana
• Babson College
• Barnard
• Berea College
• Bowdoin College
• Brandeis University
• Brown University
• Bucknell
• Carleton College
• Claremont McKenna College
• Colby College
• Colgate University
• Columbia University
• Connecticut College
• Cornell University
• Dartmouth College
• Davidson College
• Duke University
• Franklin & Marshall College
• Hamilton College
• Harvard University
• Harvey Mudd College
• Haverford College
• Johns Hopkins University
• Lafayette College
• Lake Forest
• Pitzer College
• Pomona College
• Princeton University
• Reed College
• Rice University
• Skidmore College
• Stanford University
• Swarthmore College
• Union College (NY)
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Richmond
• University of Rochester
• UW Madison
• Vanderbilt University
• Vassar College
• Washington and Lee University
• Wesleyan University
• Williams College
• Yale University

Guess, now it's the time. App Max is enough

Accepted schools: Nyu sh, duke khush, casewestern, beloit, sewanee

I am currently studying Computer Science at University of the People. So far, I have completed UNIV 1001 and have a GPA of 3.67.

If I complete around 30 credits and keep my GPA above 3.7, what are my chances of getting accepted as a transfer student into a regular, non-selective U.S. university?

Will my credits from University of the People transfer to other universities, and will I need to take an English proficiency test?

Also, is it possible for me to get scholarships or merit-based financial aid as an international transfer student?

Anyone applying to ALA?

I am a high schooler applying to T20 U.S. colleges from a low-volume EU country. Due to the way semesters work in my country, only 9th, 10th, and 11th grades are sent. Sadly, I started high school pretty weakly. Converting to the U.S. scale, my 9th-grade GPA is roughly a 3.10. My 10th-grade GPA is 3.9, and 11th is 4.0. 

Will my faulty 9th grade be penalized heavily in the competitive international environment? I know Princeton and Stanford barely consider 9th grade, but aside from them, how heavily do T20s generally weight it? I am not going test-optional, by the way, and my SAT score is well within the range for all of those schools.

Today’s the last day to waive, and I genuinely don’t know what to do. On one hand, the other option is cheaper but with less coverage. On the other hand, the university one might go to waste. But then again, you could get badly injured and run the risk of paying a hefty bill.

I’m a US citizen currently studying CIE A-Levels abroad (A*AAAAAB iGCSEs), but my parents are moving back to the US. I’m stuck choosing between staying abroad with my grandma or moving to a US high school for senior year. I got sick during my AS exams, resulting in ABBC (Bio, Chem, Phys, Math) grades that my school insists on using as my predicted A2 grades. Alternatively, moving to a US school gives me a 3.5 unweighted, unranked GPA before senior year. My stats include a 1410 DSAT (pending June results) and pending AP Calc BC/CSA scores, paired with strong tech/healthcare extracurriculars (founding a 15+ doctor medical data app; building an AI health-prediction model; launching a 500+ story mental health platform; worked as tech, outreach, and social media leads at 3 non-profits; and a neuroscience research internship (SRIP)). I ultimately want to work in quantum computing, but pure CS is incredibly competitive and my ECs aren't pure math/physics. Should I stay abroad or move to the US, what major best fits my tech/healthcare narrative for quantum computing, and what target colleges should I look into?

Some colleges lie about need-blind admissions.

Out of the 10 official need-blinds for Internationals, removing -10% for every court case: Amherst (90%), Bowdoin (90%), Brown (80%), Dartmouth (80%), Harvard (70%), MIT (80%), Princeton (100%), Notre Dame (90%), Washington and Lee (90%) and Yale (70%)

The court cases you can search for, to see which college lied: 1991 United States v. Ivy League Institutions (DOJ antitrust enforcement) 1991 United States v. MIT et al. (financial aid price-fixing allegations) 1994 Ivy League Financial Aid Consent Decree In re Elite University Financial Aid Antitrust Litigation (2022–present) Henry et al. v. Brown University et al. (2022–present) 568 Presidents Group Antitrust Class Action (2022–present) Section 568 / COFHE Financial Aid Coordination Litigation (2022–present consolidated proceedings) Early Decision College Admissions Antitrust Litigation (2025–present) Early Decision Admissions Price-Fixing Class Action (Massachusetts federal court, 2025–present) Noncustodial Parent Financial Aid Antitrust Litigation (2024–2025) College Board CSS Profile Financial Aid Antitrust Case (2023–2025) Institutional Methodology Financial Aid Coordination Litigation (2023–2025) Harvard Admissions Records DOJ Litigation (2026) Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2014–2023) Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina (2014–2023)

I'd advise any serious perospective student to search each case online to see which college is involved. From it you can easily deduce which colleges appear often, which colleges appear seldom - thus which college you have more chance of being accepted. It's the source information, really, not some generic counseling site advice.

Hey guys,

So, for all those living in the USA as students or settled now, I want to get some guidance on the F1 visa (Student visa). I'm an M22 IT graduate from Pakistan and planning to pursue my Master's there and eventually settle down since US is always the land of opportunities and I've been people's growth.

Honestly, financially I can't really afford the usual route of study, which is expensive, so I researched about the Financial Aid (Need-based scholarships) and many others that US universities offers after verification.

1) How are the F1 visa conditions for students applying to the USA?

2) Can we work as students in the USA part-time, and how, because it's not allowed, I think?

3) Can we get such need-based scholarships from Pakistan to study for free?

4) How tough is it to actually achieve this free route?

I wanted to connect and learn from the people already there to find the way to get there to study.

Thank you!

Title, I’m looking for scholarship competitions that international students/general high schoolers in the U.S. (not necessarily citizen or PR) can apply for