Cornell applications fell 9.7% from 72,523 to 65,514 this year.

That's 7,009 people who found better things to do.

At this rate, if we all stop applying, Cornell could reach a 100% acceptance rate.

Future applicants must continue this historic movement.

Future generations deserve better admissions odds.

Don't let the 7,009 sacrifices go to waste.

Together, we can make Cornell a great safety school.

i dont understand what went wrong. i thought my 1590 SAT was enough, but clearly, they only take 1600s. i already bought the hoodie.

ive been doing nothing but crying into my AP Calculus BC textbook (got a 5 btw).

does anyone know the return policy for the caltech bookstore or should i just wear it ironically while going to my actual safety school (MIT)?

but honestly i dont REALLLLLY give a shit because pasadena is too sunny and hot anyway. rain builds character. caltech isn't even a REAL ivy league school. the only reason it got any recognition was because of the big bang theory.

Stop with the b.s nonprofits. Seriously STOP. It disgusts me to see how many high schoolers start nonprofits under the guise of wanting to help people when it’s just for college and it’s such a privileged thing to do where others peoples suffering can be used to your benefit and you don’t even help them

I know there are many great ones started by high schoolers but that’s few and far.

Join established organizations and make your way up, start something that impacts your COMMUNITY rather than trying to start a nonprofit that impacts people internationally. I promise you that AOs see through all this bs

It has long been established that "Stanford" is not real. All of their campus pictures are empty, and they accept no one while collecting expensive application fees. "Stanford" only "exists" so that successful people can pay to be listed as alumni to increase their social status. Fake alumni make "Stanford" seem more prestigious, attracting more applicants and generating more application fees.

But I think there is more to this. Where does the money go? And who founded this so-called university?

Universities are businesses, and like any business, they need revenue. But unlike ordinary businesses, their primary objective is to assemble the finest marching band money can buy. Incidentally, the fact that "Stanford" doesn't even have a marching band is further proof that it does not exist. Recruiting the best musicians requires enormous financial resources, which explains why universities are willing to offer extraordinary sums to secure exceptional talent.

Real top universities are able to fund their bands from application fees. But what about the less prestigious universities that don't get many applicants?

The biggest clue comes from the February 17, 2023, episode of the Bootleg Kev Podcast. Big Boogie accidentally reveals that he received a $15 million offer from a big school in Jacksonville. Realizing he had disclosed more than he was supposed to, he quickly lowers the figure to $10 million, then $5 million.

But how could a school in Jacksonville afford $15 million for a single drummer? It couldn't. I believe "Stanford" was established by this mysterious Jacksonville university for one purpose: to collect enough money to fund its marching band and attract the world's most talented musicians, including people like Big Boogie.

What we see as one of the most competitive and selective schools in the world is merely one giant illusion to fund the greatest marching band Jacksonville has ever seen, one $90 application fee at a time. Stay woke, my friends, and stay safe.

I swear only the people smart enough to get into caltech also get into MIT, and wouldn’t they all js go to MIT cus it’s better so who actually ends up at caltech

Am I considered first gen? Or legacy?

when i look at the accepted applications to ivy league schools, spikes are usually stem or stem related.

i want to go all in on english since ive always had a passion for reading and writing, and i would be interested in seeing the ecs/awards of anyone accepted to an ivy who also applied with a clear english spike. copying/taking a lot of inspiration extracurriculars is rarely a good idea, and that’s not my intention. just interested in a different perspective more similar to what i’m looking into

Im pretty sure I can get a full ride to Harvard with these, but lmk if there's anything I should add!

1. Gooning (50 hrs/wk, 52 wks/year)

2. Brainrot consumption (30 hrs/wk, 52 wks/year)

3. Doomscrolling (40 hrs/wk, 52 wks/year)

I also have international-level honors and awards in each of these.

When August 1st hit I thought to my self “I’m well prepared” and “I know exactly what I’m doing”. I had no clue they were about to play in my face. Why is everything so tedious and so expensive and so complicated and also somehow also on a time restraint. I hate it here. I don’t think anything can prepare you for the absolute anal intrusion you experience as a senior. 🫩🫩🫩

My friend and I were joking about “meeting our future partners in college” after seeing some stat about it, and she goes, “What college is going to have a yandere pretty boy???”

Which is a Statement in and of itself, but it got me thinking. What stereotypical partner would YOU assign to each college??? Besides like. Nerd girl and finance bro for every single one

ex. I think smith's average love interest would be a purple haired lesbian who loves woodworking or smthing

bonus is the application is free

Hey everyone! For those who have already gone through the college admissions process, did any of you get into your target or reach schools despite having extenuating circumstances that affected your academics or extracurriculars?

If so, did you explain your circumstances in the additional information section, and do you think colleges took them into consideration?

Would love to hear your experiences and where you ended up getting accepted!

Any solid laptop recommendations for college? I'm starting in the spring and so far the classes I'm taking will require writing and research. I just have one math class, and a science class.

Nothing involving artistic design or really any graphical/creative stuff.

So any solid suggestions? There's like a million different options and idk what to trust.

I'm currently a sophomore in high school in the US, and I'm really torn between applying to Yonsei University or staying in the US for college. I visited Korea before and loved it, and I'd honestly love to experience living there, but I'm also interested in pre-med and eventually becoming a trauma or cardiac surgeon.

For context, my current weighted GPA is a 4.054, and I'm working on bringing it up. I'm taking 1 AP, 3 AICE classes, and 4 dual enrollment courses. I'm almost done with my high school graduation requirements, too. I've gotten some awards in computer science when I was younger and agriculture/FFA, including leadership awards. I've been involved in agriculture since 7th grade and did band freshman year. I'm also about to start volunteering at AdventHealth, which I plan to continue for the next 2.5–3 years, and I'm currently looking for a part-time job.

Some US schools I'm interested in are Columbia, UC Berkeley, NYU (my second choice if i dont get into Columbia, which is my first choice), and USC, but Yonsei is also something I really want to consider. My main concerns are scholarships, finances, and whether going to college in Korea would make getting into US med school harder.

Would it be better to go to Yonsei for undergrad and return to the US for med school, or stay in the US and study abroad in Korea instead? I'd love to hear from anyone who's been in a similar situation or knows more about this!

I’m kinda scared cuz there’s ppl alrdy submitting and im not even finished with reviewing a my supps. I’ve submitted transcript and rec letters, activity list is fine, personal statement is also mostly done (just rereading for grammar). Is this an ok place to be? I need to polish atleast 5 supp essays tho.

I've just made the last-minute decision to apply ED to Northwestern. It's my top choice and I can afford it, I just didn't realize that until two weeks before applications are due. My college list is, for sure, Northwestern, UW-Madison, UMich, University of Minnesota, and University of Illinois. (For reference, I live in Wisconsin).

My question is whether or not I should apply to UC schools. UCSD, UCLA, and UC Berkeley have been on my list for a while. Should I still bother applying when I know I can't go if I get into Northwestern? I was already on the fence about applying, especially since they're definitely longshot reaches for me. Although if I somehow got into Berkeley and not Northwestern, I'd probably (?) go to Berkeley.

I just keep going back and forth on everything, so any advice would be appreciated.

What are you guys doing for essays if you genuinely have no interesting lived experiences?

All I do is sit at home, sleep, play Fortnite, and eat. My academics are pretty good, but I don't have any real extracurriculars or "spikes" so to speak.

All I thought of was Fortnite as an example of failure, and I think that's a pretty good idea, but I'm really stuck on the rest.

Maybe I'll just invent something. Would AOs know if I'm lying about a niche hobby? Do they fact-check this stuff?

title, what the hell do i do

I'm applying early action to UT Austin. I did not know that they had to receive my test scores by 10/22. I sent it on 10/19. I'm scared that they won't arrive on time. What should I do?

Hi, I am currently trying to write the disagreement essay prompt, specifically for Columbia and I had an idea but it's kinda risky and I'll explain why and I was wondering if I should just go for it or go for a different response. But here's the prompt:

"At Columbia, students representing a wide range of perspectives are invited to live and learn together. In such a community, questions and debates naturally arise. Please describe a time when you did not agree with someone and discuss how you engaged with them and what you took away from the interaction. (150 words or fewer)"

My idea was that I told my friend my college list and he was scoffing at how I was applying to prestigious institutions, and he told me that we would end up at the same place despite the college we attended. I'm not a prestigemaxxer at all but I disagreed with the idea that prestigious universities don't provide any benefit to the person, and I argued that. We actually did have a substantive conversation and even one of our mutual friends joined into the conversation and even at the end the original friend told me that he just wanted to hear my points and said it was a good convo, and I agreed with him. We still held on to our own beliefs but we did share a common ground at one point in the argument.

Of course, the risk with this idea is that I don't want admissions to think I'm a prestigemaxxer, and Columbia is prestigious. But I genuinely did have a really good argument with this person so that's why I'm still kinda hesitant to give up the idea. Can anyone give me some feedback?

Hello A2C, I can’t give my name or age here due to privacy, but for the past 3 years I’ve been running an organized crime network primarily dealing in amphetamines, cocaine, meth, pcp - all the works. We’re also involved in your every day scam (currently mostly phone scams and fake companies, but I’m looking to move into real estate!). We became very popular due to the trust people have in us, and the in demand nature of the goods. Currently I run a distribution spanning 300 square kilometers, but I’m looking to expand. My question is, this is a big part of my life and one of my greatest successes, how do I talk about illegal action on college application? Is this an extra curricular, a life story that shows up in the essay? How do I treat this.

A lot of EA deadlines on common app are due 11/1. Several already past on 10/15. Planning to lob a few over the wall before 11/1 and spending Nov working on UCs and CSU apps.

Debating on whether or not to put in info into the Niche apps where we can see some offers flow in for minimum effort, but also don’t want a bunch of spam.

So how many have you already submitted as of today? Feel free to share where. Good luck to all!

I'm a full-time dual enrollment student and I want to drop Calc 1 because I've been learning nothing through my professor's strange teaching method, and I don't think I'd be able to finish with an acceptable grade. I don't want this to tank my GPA, and I have until 11/2 to drop the class with a DR grade that won't affect my GPA or anything. I'm taking four other rigorous classes through DE and am doing extremely well.

I've been recruited to play a sport at the college I'm ED1'ing to. I'm also a prospective humanities major.

Will this raise a red flag? Should I drop the class before I submit my Common App?

I want to go to university that has music and a good pre-medicine program, but it seems like a fairy tale lol😕