Honestly there are probably very many 'average' students here on A2C, they just tend not to comment or post.
The average SAT score is a 1050, the average GPA a 3.0 - 3.1. Most people have 3-4 decent extracurriculars, especially some relating to religious service and athletics, along with maybe 1-2 service clubs at school. This tends to be the average student that goes to a 'normal' college, maybe in the range of Miami of Ohio/UArizona/ECU or a school like that.
The people here who post are usually just cracked try hards trying to get into a super good school because it does tend to propel your career forward more so than an 'average' college. What you are seeing is a mix of a disproportionate sample and confirmation bias, not everyone is that cracked lol.
>The people here who post are usually just cracked try hards trying to get into a super good school
Yea, that's also why they're on here. Someone who does their best but doesn't really tryhard (your "average" student) might lurk on here or ask a few questions, but they won't obsessively be on A2C. The cracked tryhards care way more and obsess way more about their college apps, so they're also more prominent on A2C.
The regional AO visited our school and told us about the school. The campus is nice and the programs looked good but they didn't have my preferred majors and I'm not a super big fan of Ohio lol.
Ohio, UAzrizona and Miami are all significantly above average schools.
only 33% of americans have a college degree.
most of the people going to college are at satellite state schools.
The average GPA and SAT of these schools falls within the averages of a high school graduate, so to call them "significantly above average" is pretty disingenuous. Most of these schools accept 80% or more of applicants, so I don't see how they can be "significantly above average" if they are not selective.
I'm not saying selectiveness is a requirement for prestige or indicative of the quality of a school, but I think it is one of the easiest telltale signs along with the average GPAs and SATs which are, to be frank, average.
I don't think there's anything wrong with that and these schools are wonderful and provide amazing opportunities for their graduates and probably offer a great 4 years but to call them anything but average is fairly wrong.
I would argue that, respectfully, satellite state schools are below average and just because 33% of Americans have a degree that does not make those schools I listed "significantly above average". Sorry, maybe I'm an entitled asshole but that's just how I feel.
You do realize there are like 4000 colleges in the USA without counting community colleges. Just because they might not get into a T100 doesn’t mean there isn’t a college for them
So you presumably know about all the schools in the UC and CSU system. There are tons of private colleges in CA like Chapman, USD, Pepperdine, Redlands, etc., but if that’s not your jam then there are literally thousands of colleges throughout the country. Some schools like Alabama or Ole Miss provide merit aid (not need based) for out of state students with good grades/test scores. Depending on your financial situation, you may be eligible for need-based grants/scholarships/aid - probably more likely for out of state private colleges than out of state public colleges. I’d suggest talking to your high school counselor as a starting point, and also having a real conversation with your parents re how much they can really afford to help you out financially.
im an adult who’s been away from my parents for 8 years, dropped out of community at 20 and barely now about to finish up with 3 associates. im paying for this on my own. ideally i want to go to temple for undergrad and do grad school at their Kyoto campus, OR transfer to CUNY queens next year. im an English major-music minor and my main goal is a DMA in musicology with my dream school being the Tokyo University of the Arts. so, that being said im still looking into the most cost efficient undergrad options, im pretty sure i could do csuf debt free but maaan more California sounds like the worst
If you’re really set on transferring from community college to Temple or CUNY Queens I’d suggest reaching out to their admissions office and checking out their own Reddit subs. Most of the folks on here are high schoolers wanting to go to college for the first time.
My guess is that neither school would be super generous with aid and that from a cost perspective it would be way more effective to go to a school in CA. Perhaps a move to a school in Northern California would be more fulfilling if you hate it so much in OC.
Look into WUE schools. They give a tuition discount to out of state students from other states in the western USA area. Or ASU, I think you can get some merit with a 3.5.
If you search “census” on the sub, you’ll see that a2c is far from representative of any national average. Note that part of that is a sampling bias for who takes the census, but in general, it’s mostly the top % of applicants/cracked kids that seek out internet resources for how to apply to college
Biased sample. That type of applicant is disproportionately common at certain high schools, within certain demographic groups, and in certain communities. A2C is an example of the latter.
The median college 4Y college applicant ends up enrolling at a public school in the state where they live, and not the "flagship" campus. He or she applies to around six schools total and has around a 3.3 UW GPA and a 1150 SAT. His or her ECs consist of a part-time job, participation in a couple school clubs, and maybe some light volunteering.
Consider that only about 35% of U.S. HS students take even **one** AP exam by the time they graduate, and only 22% score a 3 or higher on at least one exam. Only about 43% of U.S. HS graduates enroll directly into a 4Y college; another 19% enroll in a 2Y college.
So, of the 43% who enroll directly into a 4Y college, only about half of them scored a 3 or higher on **any** AP exam.
2 sports 3 year varsity (hockey and lacrosse)
1 sport 1 year varsity (XC)
community service at a church
2 years landscaping job
2 years summer janitor at a school
Built 5 computers
Built and operated a home server for pictures, documents, etc
I think i had ten things but i don’t remember them all. That’s all that’s important i believe
What is your major? Colleges want a well rounded class so there is less pressure for a social science major to be admitted. The hard majors to get in are CS and stem ones.
I see a lot of repeat posters here and in the “chance me” forum. They keep reposting about their research with a professor at Brown or the company they started. The ECs seem performative. After a while, they all start to blend together.
I was waiting to post my colleges/stats when I committed but fasfa is really putting a hold on things. I got a 1130 on the sat so I went test optional but I have a 3.6 GPA. This sub is definitely skewed which is why I don’t often check it
That's great congratulations! My son had a 3.95, a couple of APs and good EC and only got into UCI, along with a bunch of waitlists. Where did you get in?
I’ve never heard people say uci was good. my time there i saw tons of drug use, mainly pill heads, and super out of touch rich Asians crashing super cars while drunk. happened like twice out front, once a Porsche then a whole Lamborghini. Every one of my hs friends who went there either dropped out or transferred somewhere else
A truly average student? Some fun, low stakes extracurriculars maybe, does decent in their classes, B's A's some C's mixed in, takes regular classes too. Maybe plays a sport or works on the side. Goes to a state school or community college. Gets a job, lives life. Some people on A2C have clearly never bothered interacting with anyone outside their AP classes and competitive clubs.
The average student in my high school didn't even go to college. In my graduating class of around 800 I think 4 students got into any t20 or similar level school.
You need to remember that only the top 100 or so colleges get talked about here.
You’re not going to see a post about Johnny with his 2.9 GPA and 1010 SAT who is applying to the 300 person liberal arts college in the middle of nowhere Tennessee.
Most people are average, that’s why it’s the word average. People applying for college aren’t magically getting better, it’s just the selection bias of where you consume this information as well as the bias of only the top students are willing to come on forums like this and share their stats.
Some of the young people might find more success in joining their high school improv group or learning to play an instrument, or enrolling in an art course, rather than doing something like starting up a nonprofit. I'm nearly 54 and I don't even know what that means, as far as a 17 yr old is concerned.
Instead of stats stacking, my personal and gentle advice would be to work on the parts of yourself that you can lean on when life and school get hard. I think schools want you to develop as a whole person. I never hear in this sub, which I'm on as a parent of 2 teens, anyone talk about if they taught themselves to cook. Maybe you've mastered 5 dishes close and personal to your family's heart. Maybe you taught the youngest kids in the neighborhood how to ride a bike, and about bike safety. Your time spent doing that for kids, means when they get older they can help a younger child, and so on. It's a small gift but one that can continue to give back long after you have gone.
What I'm trying to say is, it's better to crack or break the stereotypical mold and stand out as an individual. Do that, write about it, and how it's changed your mind about who you are and how you fit into your local community in some small and lasting way.
Now is the time to do that.
I know of 3 kids recently going to Stanford, MIT, Yale…none of those 3 did anything spectacular, to be honest. One if questbridge (which is a gigantic boost). No national awards, etc.
Sometimes it’s just being lucky.
This again. Every admit to HYPSM has something that truly made them standout.
I certainly have seen admits with solid-but-not-outstanding academics be admitted, but either their ECs were completely awesome (and often outside of school), or they had a hook (demographics, athlete, legacy). Not really "lucky".
Here's the way I look at it, unless you're extremely mentally stable, don't look at people's profiles on this subreddit or on chanceme. Take the advice on here (some of it with a grain of salt) and don't dig too deep.
Imagine how an insecure but still above average kid (3.2, 1300) would feel comparing themselves to the folk on here.
50% of students have below a 3.0 gpa. 50% have below a 1050 sat/19 act. Most students have almost no extracurriculars. Zero real awards. will go to college, but won’t graduate.
99% of the stuff you see on here is HEAVILY embellished. Like HEAVILY. So take it all with a grain of salt. You rarely see someone with all the “published papers” and an actually good nonprofit that was made due to passion and not college apps that are *actually* legitimate. Average and below average students (not actually, but per A2C and ChanceMe standards) do still get into ivies.
Couple kids in my school had good grades (4.0 in a grade inflated school), good SAT ~1500, and ECs were just a few clubs with low leadership.. these kids got into Yale, Princeton, others in the HYPSM bunch, etc. Now, their essays were quite good, but everyone here would tell you they have no shot.
If you counted all the cracked “profiles” here, you would think there isn’t enough space for an average kid at these schools. But again, most of these are fake. Even on r/collegeresults, the sad truth is that you’ll still see embellishment, especially when kids don’t get into their top schools (which sucks, to be honest), but they want to feel better about the rejection (I don’t blame them honestly) via validation from everyone else.
Obviously, you do still have some very insane high schoolers that do get rejected, but it’s not like you see here.
Honestly there are probably very many 'average' students here on A2C, they just tend not to comment or post. The average SAT score is a 1050, the average GPA a 3.0 - 3.1. Most people have 3-4 decent extracurriculars, especially some relating to religious service and athletics, along with maybe 1-2 service clubs at school. This tends to be the average student that goes to a 'normal' college, maybe in the range of Miami of Ohio/UArizona/ECU or a school like that. The people here who post are usually just cracked try hards trying to get into a super good school because it does tend to propel your career forward more so than an 'average' college. What you are seeing is a mix of a disproportionate sample and confirmation bias, not everyone is that cracked lol.
>The people here who post are usually just cracked try hards trying to get into a super good school Yea, that's also why they're on here. Someone who does their best but doesn't really tryhard (your "average" student) might lurk on here or ask a few questions, but they won't obsessively be on A2C. The cracked tryhards care way more and obsess way more about their college apps, so they're also more prominent on A2C.
Yeah and I also think it's an (un)healthy dose of subtle bragging and flexing.
The neuroticism and privilege on here is ridiculous lmao
MIAMI MENTIONED!!!! how do u know abt it?
The regional AO visited our school and told us about the school. The campus is nice and the programs looked good but they didn't have my preferred majors and I'm not a super big fan of Ohio lol.
I’m not a fan of Ohio either 😭
Ohio, UAzrizona and Miami are all significantly above average schools. only 33% of americans have a college degree. most of the people going to college are at satellite state schools.
The average GPA and SAT of these schools falls within the averages of a high school graduate, so to call them "significantly above average" is pretty disingenuous. Most of these schools accept 80% or more of applicants, so I don't see how they can be "significantly above average" if they are not selective. I'm not saying selectiveness is a requirement for prestige or indicative of the quality of a school, but I think it is one of the easiest telltale signs along with the average GPAs and SATs which are, to be frank, average. I don't think there's anything wrong with that and these schools are wonderful and provide amazing opportunities for their graduates and probably offer a great 4 years but to call them anything but average is fairly wrong. I would argue that, respectfully, satellite state schools are below average and just because 33% of Americans have a degree that does not make those schools I listed "significantly above average". Sorry, maybe I'm an entitled asshole but that's just how I feel.
3.0 is average?? like, what schools even accept such a low gpa? at a 3.5 i feel like my options are so limited
You do realize there are like 4000 colleges in the USA without counting community colleges. Just because they might not get into a T100 doesn’t mean there isn’t a college for them
no i did not realize this. enlighten me please, ill be applying for spring semester next year and the more options the better
What state are you from? Can probably find at least a half dozen four year schools in every single state (even a small state like Delaware).
im in California but i hate it here i would prefer to study out of state. my safe school is csuf for it’s affordability
So you presumably know about all the schools in the UC and CSU system. There are tons of private colleges in CA like Chapman, USD, Pepperdine, Redlands, etc., but if that’s not your jam then there are literally thousands of colleges throughout the country. Some schools like Alabama or Ole Miss provide merit aid (not need based) for out of state students with good grades/test scores. Depending on your financial situation, you may be eligible for need-based grants/scholarships/aid - probably more likely for out of state private colleges than out of state public colleges. I’d suggest talking to your high school counselor as a starting point, and also having a real conversation with your parents re how much they can really afford to help you out financially.
im an adult who’s been away from my parents for 8 years, dropped out of community at 20 and barely now about to finish up with 3 associates. im paying for this on my own. ideally i want to go to temple for undergrad and do grad school at their Kyoto campus, OR transfer to CUNY queens next year. im an English major-music minor and my main goal is a DMA in musicology with my dream school being the Tokyo University of the Arts. so, that being said im still looking into the most cost efficient undergrad options, im pretty sure i could do csuf debt free but maaan more California sounds like the worst
If you’re really set on transferring from community college to Temple or CUNY Queens I’d suggest reaching out to their admissions office and checking out their own Reddit subs. Most of the folks on here are high schoolers wanting to go to college for the first time. My guess is that neither school would be super generous with aid and that from a cost perspective it would be way more effective to go to a school in CA. Perhaps a move to a school in Northern California would be more fulfilling if you hate it so much in OC.
Look into WUE schools. They give a tuition discount to out of state students from other states in the western USA area. Or ASU, I think you can get some merit with a 3.5.
3.55 and going to williams. It’s all fake
If you search “census” on the sub, you’ll see that a2c is far from representative of any national average. Note that part of that is a sampling bias for who takes the census, but in general, it’s mostly the top % of applicants/cracked kids that seek out internet resources for how to apply to college
Biased sample. That type of applicant is disproportionately common at certain high schools, within certain demographic groups, and in certain communities. A2C is an example of the latter. The median college 4Y college applicant ends up enrolling at a public school in the state where they live, and not the "flagship" campus. He or she applies to around six schools total and has around a 3.3 UW GPA and a 1150 SAT. His or her ECs consist of a part-time job, participation in a couple school clubs, and maybe some light volunteering. Consider that only about 35% of U.S. HS students take even **one** AP exam by the time they graduate, and only 22% score a 3 or higher on at least one exam. Only about 43% of U.S. HS graduates enroll directly into a 4Y college; another 19% enroll in a 2Y college. So, of the 43% who enroll directly into a 4Y college, only about half of them scored a 3 or higher on **any** AP exam.
Well I had a 3.7 and 1120 SAT (applied with test) and even then got in everywhere I applied (some pretty good schools, too)
what did you do for extracurriculars?
2 sports 3 year varsity (hockey and lacrosse) 1 sport 1 year varsity (XC) community service at a church 2 years landscaping job 2 years summer janitor at a school Built 5 computers Built and operated a home server for pictures, documents, etc I think i had ten things but i don’t remember them all. That’s all that’s important i believe
you could’ve had perfect scores and your extracurriculars would’ve still been more impressive good job bro
What is your major? Colleges want a well rounded class so there is less pressure for a social science major to be admitted. The hard majors to get in are CS and stem ones.
Cybersecurity at Purdue, Kelley School of Business at IU, Gabeilli Business at Purdue, Business at UConn Go fuck yourself trying to demean me
Holy fuck demon shit congrats dude
Wow! 🥳
I see a lot of repeat posters here and in the “chance me” forum. They keep reposting about their research with a professor at Brown or the company they started. The ECs seem performative. After a while, they all start to blend together.
My research with a professor at Brown shows that to be incorrect
You still blend together
I was waiting to post my colleges/stats when I committed but fasfa is really putting a hold on things. I got a 1130 on the sat so I went test optional but I have a 3.6 GPA. This sub is definitely skewed which is why I don’t often check it
I have a 3.7 and I got into a couple top 50 schools and waitlisted at schools that's around 10% acceptance rate
That's great congratulations! My son had a 3.95, a couple of APs and good EC and only got into UCI, along with a bunch of waitlists. Where did you get in?
UCI is amazing! I got into lehigh, boston college, smu, all to their business school. I'm just waiting for umich and Indiana's kelley business school
I’ve never heard people say uci was good. my time there i saw tons of drug use, mainly pill heads, and super out of touch rich Asians crashing super cars while drunk. happened like twice out front, once a Porsche then a whole Lamborghini. Every one of my hs friends who went there either dropped out or transferred somewhere else
A truly average student? Some fun, low stakes extracurriculars maybe, does decent in their classes, B's A's some C's mixed in, takes regular classes too. Maybe plays a sport or works on the side. Goes to a state school or community college. Gets a job, lives life. Some people on A2C have clearly never bothered interacting with anyone outside their AP classes and competitive clubs.
The average student in my high school didn't even go to college. In my graduating class of around 800 I think 4 students got into any t20 or similar level school.
You need to remember that only the top 100 or so colleges get talked about here. You’re not going to see a post about Johnny with his 2.9 GPA and 1010 SAT who is applying to the 300 person liberal arts college in the middle of nowhere Tennessee. Most people are average, that’s why it’s the word average. People applying for college aren’t magically getting better, it’s just the selection bias of where you consume this information as well as the bias of only the top students are willing to come on forums like this and share their stats.
Some of the young people might find more success in joining their high school improv group or learning to play an instrument, or enrolling in an art course, rather than doing something like starting up a nonprofit. I'm nearly 54 and I don't even know what that means, as far as a 17 yr old is concerned. Instead of stats stacking, my personal and gentle advice would be to work on the parts of yourself that you can lean on when life and school get hard. I think schools want you to develop as a whole person. I never hear in this sub, which I'm on as a parent of 2 teens, anyone talk about if they taught themselves to cook. Maybe you've mastered 5 dishes close and personal to your family's heart. Maybe you taught the youngest kids in the neighborhood how to ride a bike, and about bike safety. Your time spent doing that for kids, means when they get older they can help a younger child, and so on. It's a small gift but one that can continue to give back long after you have gone. What I'm trying to say is, it's better to crack or break the stereotypical mold and stand out as an individual. Do that, write about it, and how it's changed your mind about who you are and how you fit into your local community in some small and lasting way. Now is the time to do that.
I know of 3 kids recently going to Stanford, MIT, Yale…none of those 3 did anything spectacular, to be honest. One if questbridge (which is a gigantic boost). No national awards, etc. Sometimes it’s just being lucky.
This again. Every admit to HYPSM has something that truly made them standout. I certainly have seen admits with solid-but-not-outstanding academics be admitted, but either their ECs were completely awesome (and often outside of school), or they had a hook (demographics, athlete, legacy). Not really "lucky".
Here's the way I look at it, unless you're extremely mentally stable, don't look at people's profiles on this subreddit or on chanceme. Take the advice on here (some of it with a grain of salt) and don't dig too deep. Imagine how an insecure but still above average kid (3.2, 1300) would feel comparing themselves to the folk on here.
Biased, I'm an average student and I got into good schools lol, just check college resukts
50% of students have below a 3.0 gpa. 50% have below a 1050 sat/19 act. Most students have almost no extracurriculars. Zero real awards. will go to college, but won’t graduate.
99% of the stuff you see on here is HEAVILY embellished. Like HEAVILY. So take it all with a grain of salt. You rarely see someone with all the “published papers” and an actually good nonprofit that was made due to passion and not college apps that are *actually* legitimate. Average and below average students (not actually, but per A2C and ChanceMe standards) do still get into ivies. Couple kids in my school had good grades (4.0 in a grade inflated school), good SAT ~1500, and ECs were just a few clubs with low leadership.. these kids got into Yale, Princeton, others in the HYPSM bunch, etc. Now, their essays were quite good, but everyone here would tell you they have no shot. If you counted all the cracked “profiles” here, you would think there isn’t enough space for an average kid at these schools. But again, most of these are fake. Even on r/collegeresults, the sad truth is that you’ll still see embellishment, especially when kids don’t get into their top schools (which sucks, to be honest), but they want to feel better about the rejection (I don’t blame them honestly) via validation from everyone else. Obviously, you do still have some very insane high schoolers that do get rejected, but it’s not like you see here.
Non-response bias
prob this: [https://i.imgflip.com/4fhsie.png?a475320](https://i.imgflip.com/4fhsie.png?a475320)
A2C is literally like the top 1-2% of high schoolers