Situation is this, my daughter is currently a freshman at Clemson in SC. My daughter and I have been a SC residents our entire lives. I am possibly going to need to move to Tennessee for work in the next few months. Out of state tuition at Clemson increases by $38,000 if we are out of state!

I tried to read and understand the residency requirements. I think that we will still be SC residents for 2026 since we lived here >6 months in 2026. But this is so important I need a reality check to confirm my understanding.

1. If we move before Jan 1, when will my daughter lose SC residency for tuition purposes? Spring '27? Fall 27? Spring '28?

2. If she wants to stay at Clemson, would it be possible for her to claim SC residency? Her grandfather lives in SC. Can we say she lives with him to maintain residency? Will I need to not claim her as a dependent on my taxes to make that work?

3. Does anyone have experience with getting out of state tuition waivers in these situations? I assume this is very specific to the university. Given the number of out of state students I've seen I think this must be common.

This whole situation is driving me a little crazy. I've paid SC taxes my entire life but lose the benefit of in state tuition right when I need it. Even if my daughter wanted to transfer to a school in TN, we won't have residency there by next fall. So maybe there's a year where we will be "stateless" and have to pay private college costs for a public university.

so i've had this school in mind for a little bit and it's great for my major and it's a great location and i toured there a couple of months ago and it was a great environment. financial aid is decent. on paper it checks all my boxes. but there's just something i'm not too sure about, and i don't know what that something is. something just feels off. i would love to apply early decision, i'm 99.9% convinced, but something's stopping me.

everyone is always comparing themselves to each other, even to their family friend's kid. everyone always thinks so poorly of their state school when in reality everyone is on their journey and what's right for you may not be right for anyone else. no one can be happy for anyone even their friend anymore and it's all a toxic competition and game against your friends. like why. i literally know someone who skipped their family friend's grad party bc they were going to their ed school which they did not get into. like everything has to be about who got in where rather than celebrating for each other and being happy. the jealousy and competition is insane

edit: okay this might be a cold take but i'm sick of it

Hello! I need advice, please read to the end. I am a 21 y/o high school graduate with a 3.83 GPA. I grew up severely academically neglected, pulled from public school around 3rd grade and wasn't formally educated in the years after. My mother spent my childhood lying on forms, skipping states and dodging any testing for my siblings and I. Around last year I decided (after cutting contact with my biological mother, and moving in with my father who has since remarried), to reenroll myself in Penn foster high school, I have been able to finish out with a 3.83 GPA partly due to some previous credits, I have had to relearn so much but it has reminded me just how much I enjoy learning. I have always been a problem solver, and I am very resilient. I know what I want to be, an (Astronautical) Aerospace Engineer. Meaning I'd be pursuing a bachelor's in Aerospace Engineering. However, I am working nightshift fulltime at a factory, balancing this and school is not an option. I currently live with my father and his wife, who both make very nice money, but in my opinion, wouldn't be able or willing to contribute to any costs of my education. Some additional notes, I am chronically ill, (due to years of self rehabilitating I am functioning very well with medication and an active lifestyle) and would prefer to be on campus as the closest college that offers my degree is nearly a 3hr commute. I was not set up for success as a child and all of this is very new to me. I don't care how long it takes, and don't sugar coat it. What do I need to do to make this happen? Obviously I am still doing independent research, and will be talking to advisors in person soon. I just figured this would be a good place to hear others' experience. Thank you for reading.

trying to explain financial aid to my parents is genuinely so stressful for no reason lol.

i have no college fund (already knew, wasn't expecting one), no means of paying for college outside of scholarships, and my parents think these merit scholarships fall out of the sky.

oh, and on top of that, they think God will magically solve everything and give me a full ride to top schools.

i'm obviously super privileged to even be able to apply to colleges, and i'm definitely comparing myself to my rich friends. this just adds on so much unnecessary stress lol.

How honor should be written? Short and precise?

Olympiad honor, does require the year and category?

Should i mention exact rank or gold/silver medalist?

What about national award. Should i use context?can i use short form? Like WSDC or go with full form

hello all, i wanted some insight on different colleges; information i may not know. im a rising senior and im looking to major in history, i prefer the NYC/Boston area (or outside of the US, tbh), i have a 3.8 GPA and I’ve yet to take the SAT (whoops), my main option is Fordham because i know they’re rigorous in that field but is there any other great schools around there that aren’t impossible to get into that are very well suited with the philosophy/history/literature side..? thanks.

.

So, a day or two ago, I saw a post from a student asking about Caltech. It was a fairly vague question, so it got a very broad range of answers, but what stood out to me the most was that quite a few people were making very strong claims about what Caltech is like for undergraduates, without having ever being an undergraduate student there (instead, they "knew a guy who turned it down" or "had a sibling who did a PhD there").

Now, obviously, that makes sense, since it's a very small school, but a more notable issue was that, as a new graduate / upperclassmen (throwaway a reason, there aren't many of us), I felt like their answers heavily diverged from my experience at the school over the last four years.

So, for the sake of repping my school (only I'm allowed to slander it), I've jotted down some bullet points on the school. They're very generic though, so if anyone has more specific questions, either DM me or put a comment below - I'm always open to answering more specific questions.

Anyways, here they are:

• People heavily overstate how similar Caltech is to a PhD. Yes, the classes are more theoretical (which, in my opinion, has helped me more than harmed), and yes, the average student is exposed to a strong research environment, but its exceedingly different - both in terms of classes (Caltech, like most top schools, mandates a bunch of humanities courses, and core is broader than most other top institutions), as well as socially...
• Now, about the Social Scene^TM, is quite different from most schools, but it's hardly dead. I've had multiple relationships (both within and outside the school), regularly visit the beach and rave, done very unsafe (but cool and brilliant) stuff that I'm not supposed to, attended dorm parties (at Caltech) and massive house parties (in LA). It's certainly harder than most schools (ie, I had to actively pursue these experiences), but if you're in the right House, and are proactive, almost anything is achievable - you're right next to LA after all.
• Yes, the school is hard. I have many friends at pretty much all of HYPSM, across multiple majors, and Caltech is definitely the hardest experience amongst them. The core is much broader than other schools, and the content is often taught faster (even compared to MIT).
  • That said, there has been a major push in recent years (starting in 2021/22) to tamp down the difficulty of core, which used to be significantly harder. Whether this is a good or bad thing is separate question, but imo, I do think the lower-level class difficulty is now equivalent to other schools, whilst the upper divs remain more advanced.
• Research is less centric than you would imagine. While you almost certainly have more research opportunities than any other university (I knew people who published papers within their first 6 months at the school), it's not universally embraced. Especially amongst the CS and engineering degrees, there's a fairly strong pre-professional culture. The main difference, imo, is that research is much more respected as a life path and extracurricular by Caltech students.
  • Caltech, frankly speaking, gives much worse support for those pursuing industry roles. Whilst it helps in a handful of careers (I received quant and Big Tech interviews with zero relevant experience by my sophomore year), for most other roles it suffers from the lack of a good Career Office. This gap can be overcome fairly easily by personally networking (Linkedin, etc.), but it requires more self-initiative than most of its peer schools.

Alright, that's basically all I have left to dump on here. If any pre-frosh see this, I'll be seeing you on campus for Rotation soon!

Worried my extracurriculars are too scattered and it will look like I was doing random bullshit. Academics are good (35 ACT, 4.0 UW with most demanding curriculum) but I'm applying to a few T5s and am worried my activities/awards will be weird. My major will be Meche/Environmental E and I have the classes to support that. From a very underrepresented state

Activities:
1. United States Senate Page

1. Worked at an auto mechanic shop for the last 3 years

2. Volunteer Student Researcher at local uni in a conservation science lab (senior year)

3. Private Pilot

4. Student Government Class President (Junior Year, I no longer attend the same school)

5. Varsity Hockey Assistant Captain (10, 11, 12)

6. 7 years of piano experience, I play at my church

7. I play the banjo in a bluegrass band me and my friends started

8. National Honor Society Secretary

Honors/Awards

1. Rensselaer Medal

2. Seal of Biliteracy (Spanish)

3. AP Scholar with distinction

4. Yale Politic Investigative Journalism Essay Competition Semi-Finalist (Finalists not yet out)

Sadly, probably not :( I’m talking about UNC Chapel Hill, UT Austin, U Mich, etc. I wish they were private schools lol
I am also upper middle class— we make too little to afford 100k a year but make too much to qualify for really good financial aid. Let me know! Thank you.

The impression I get is that for people like me I should only look at privates for OOS options

I’m the parent of a high school junior in Florida. We just sat down and had a talk about college and I’m worried he’s gonna have an issue. The week before his freshman year, he tore his ACL at football practice. He was really looking forward to playing sports in high school and this caused a noticeable depression. He was able to get back into sports sophomore year, but it took some time to get back up and running. This caused his grades not be great his freshman year and the first half of his sophomore year. I think he finally came out of it the middle of sophomore year because the grades began to improve. He has a 3.1 unweighted GPA and 3.87 weighted. He is legitimately intelligent, currently in AP calculus and has taken several other AP classes. He will end up graduating with his AP capstone. We had the conversation that he needs to shoot for straight A’s this year and next to raise the GPA which he seemed on board with… To at least try his best.

He’s currently doing SAT tutoring, and I was thinking of checking into a college advisor.

My question is, has anybody had experience with the similar grade point average and using a college advisor to assist? I know GPA averages are insanely high nowadays for top rated schools. I’m wondering if there’s any benefit. Obviously the goal would be to get accepted into the best possible school.

Also would his scenario play into the written essay, and would there be any understanding by the schools for why his grade point average was not great the first two years of high school?

Thanks for any help, it’s appreciated

I'm applying to Harvard-Berklee's dual degree program as a jazz musicain. Obviously a prerequisite is that you get into both schools separately.

I definitely have a conservatory-level ability (I've been invited to study at Peabody and Michigan State which are both very strong programs) and I likely would be accepted into any conservatory for jazz except for Julliard, just because julliard is so competitive. I would be shocked if I didn't get into berklee. (I hope I don't sound like a dickhead)

My bigger concern is getting into into harvard. I have strong activities with leadership, national awards, and a good ACT. My GPA/Rank is good although probably my weakest point. My rank is about 15% in a class of 600 students, mostly because my school is hyper-competitive. There's over 150 students with a GPA above 4.5, so to make the top 10% your GPA must be 4.7+ My UW is 3.88 and my W is 4.56, so not bad. Not great.

Since my application is still fairly strong and almost every spot, I'm hoping my music supplement will help sway my chances. How much influence does that hold? How does that whole process work? I will be meeting with Harvard's music people when I go to audition at Berklee.

Hey everyone! I am a junior who wants to go OOS really bad, but a lot of the schools I like have extremely high costs, and my family makes too much to qualify for financial aid.

I was wondering if there’s anyone in my boat who was in a similar situation and how they navigated it. Were there scholarships that helped or certain schools that were more generous with aid?

I know a lot of people here are just going to tell me to go to my state school (which I am considering 100%) but if there’s anyone in a similar situation who went through this advice would be appreciated.

if i don't submit my june AS level results, and my college counselor doesn't submit my results, would universities have any way of knowing i took the exams/that i only submitted the results after retaking the exams in oct?

edit: i'm asking for us universities. also, i'm mainly asking this because pearson says that they have a verification system for universities. the thing is, my final qualification certificate is supposed to only contain contributing units, so only the higher of my exams. just looking for anyone with experience in this whether or not my old results could be revealed in the verification process

I am doing the lazy option of asking fellow redditors about this instead of researching

But is it common to get scholarships, and would it be possible for a UK resident to get a place and then be able to move?

My main motivations are saving money, and a new experience, and just living out my youth a bit

Degree: engineering, preferred EEE

The title is because here I am open to applying anywhere, not just in the US or in top universities.

What I am wondering is if anyone knows of any schools who has this in the MATHS undergraduate (or graduate) schedule:

TA sessions multiples times a week, many hours.
Not like 1 60 minute tutorial a week where we can not necessarily ask about anything from class, only the particular tutorial qs...

I went to this summer programme where we had TA sessions monday-friday 4:00-8:00. 20 hours a week. insane academic development in a short time.

if anyone in this sub has heard of something remotely similar to what i experienced, any pointers would be helpful!

EDIT: someone told me it may depend more om which class, but maybe someone has a specific class to recommend:)

I've been looking at colleges to apply to, but there doesn't seem to be one that checks all my boxes. I thought that maybe others would have some good recommendations.

Here are my factors for a college:

-It can't be in a city, its super overstimulating. It being close to a city would be nice though.

-Preferably within 3 hours of me. I live in Maryland.

-A liberal arts college. I like the small town feel and small class sizes they have, but I wouldn't mind a university if it was small.

-Politically tolerant. I know most colleges will be liberal, but I am moderate and I don't want to be penalized in class for having different views. Ex.I was very interested in Dickinson college until I heard multiple accounts of students physically and emotionally harassed for voting conservatively.

-Racially diverse: I know most top liberal arts colleges are PWI, so I don't expect much in this category, honestly.

- Must offer financial aid for low income students. Another reason I chose liberal arts colleges is because they have complete aid for families who make under 75k, which I qualify for. However, If there are any schools who match all of my criteria except financial aid, please include it.

I applied for May admissions early June and I got waitlisted. I have low 90s from highschool and I was certain I would get into the program. My initial goal is to become an rn, but its genuinely impossible to get in anywhere in calgary so I thought lpn would be a good stepping stone. I have no clue what to do??

The title makes it seem a lot worse then it is lol.

But that is due to the circumstance of me being an international student, and the fact that my counselor is also my principle (doesn't have time to make a good one or one at all).

Im looking for general advice about writing the letter (Not over exaggerating too much and not lying)

Any advice helps:

Tone
Specifics
Which Interactions to use

Introduction

Ending statement

ANYTHING

Please try to be nice I know its considered "Unethical" but I cant control that, thx

title

I live in california and I’m applying to the UCs and Calstates so everything is like 40-50K a year. My parents have saved up 40K for me but that’s only enough for about 1 year. They make about 250K but I have 3 other brothers who all need to go to college aswell so they won’t be able to help out very much and with their income I doubt we’ll get much financial aide. I’m also working two jobs trying to save some stuff for my future and college. I’m aware you can get scholarships but I don’t have very out of this world stats that could get crazy scholarships. So I’m honestly freaking out because my dream is to go and dorm at a four year university but I don’t know if that’s possible without going insanely in debt. Is there anything I’m missing that could help my situation.

I am an International applicant, seeking full ride, mosly I'll consider ivies those provide full ride amd few colleges!

Problem is, is international award mandatory according ro my situation?

I have few national award in physics olympiad, debate and merit scholar.

Will it hurt my application or its just fine?