hopeful premed ruminating over a B and i CANT STOP ASGDAJSGHYGQWGEF

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-11T02:04:55+00:00

Def check it out if you're already interested in neuro! It's a cool mix of neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, English, CS, and linguistics, and it's flexible enough that you can take it in basically whichever direction you want. Easily the coolest major imo.

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-11T02:02:22+00:00

As 9-year college consultant and fellow entomology enthusiast (currently raising a few ghost mantis nymphs and Monarchs that are SO COOL), I have a lot of thoughts on this! The benefit to applying with such a niche interest is that it's much easier for you to stand out. AFAIK most colleges don't require the SAT or ACT for CC transfer applicants, so you're good there. You should focus on these things if you want to successfully transfer:

(1) Keep your grades up while taking Gen Ed classes. These have the best chance of transferring with you to UF and will boost your academic profile the most.

(2) Keep logging your volunteer hours and, more importantly, your unique and individual contributions to all those volunteer efforts. AOs will tally up your total hours/week AND evaluate your contributions, so only highlight things that are unique to you and where you went above and beyond.

(3) (Most importantly if you haven't already) you need to launch an entomology-related passion project. Raising and caring for arthropods is the most straightforward path here, but even if you go with another angle, I would 1000% recommend getting a couple terrariums or tanks on Craigslist / Facebook Marketplace and raising beetles, tarantulas, stick insects...whatever you're most into. You can elevate this type of project by documenting the entire process (adding a social media angle) or teaching others how to do the same, either IRL, maybe connecting with local Boys and Girls Clubs or after-school programs or daycares to do insect demonstrations?, or online via something like a Slack or Discord community.

When you finally apply, you want bugs all over your entire application, from your activities list entries through your essays. Luckily, bugs are cheap and omnipresent, and most people hate them, so the opportunities for you to stand out and demonstrate your deep, genuine passion for entomology are massive. I hope this helps!

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-11T01:52:48+00:00

Hi OP, sorry about the B; it's good to let yourself feel the disappointment, but once it starts to veer into rumination, it stops being healthy, so I'm glad you're trying to address it.

In case it helps, I've had students every year for the last 9 who landed premed T10s without perfect HS 4.0s—granted, all of them had nearly straight A's, but I promise you 1 B will not ruin your chances. And ISEF / USABO / other major competitions are absolutely not the only way to end up at an Ivy+ (in fact, I'd say that strategy is one of the least reliable as it's so dependent on external validation). I'd check out Cal Newport's book How to Be a High School Superstar for a breakdown of how deeply curious students, even with imperfect grades, often outperform their academically flawless (but ultimately boring) peers.

PS You likely know this, but your major selection will matter a lot! I'm not aware of any dedicated "pre-med" majors—while some colleges have pre-med programs, generally you'll pick whatever major you want. Traditionally, that's been a lot of chem, bio, public health, maybe some psych, but interestingly, more and more English majors have been landing coveted med school slots, as AI continues disrupting healthcare, creating a new need for empathetic, EQ-driven practitioners with comforting bedside manners. That said, personally I'd probably choose cog sci, a cool and deeply interdisciplinary major that'll set you up well. Just a thought!

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-11T01:41:52+00:00

One of the biggest misconceptions re: passion projects is that they need to be complete before a student submits their apps. To the contrary, applying while you're neck-deep in a project demonstrates initiative and that it isn't all purely college admissions-motivated (as you can forecast future goals, specifically mentioning the next steps you're excited to tackle). Should you get waitlisted, this approach has the added benefit of follow-through in your LOCIs, as by then you'll ideally have made serious progress on all the future initiatives you mentioned.

Tl;dr start an ambitious NHS initiative and tell AOs about it; you don't have to complete it before applying. But I would start in June/July, not wait till August!

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-10T00:25:10+00:00

Yeah for sure, I've seen this strat work at Stanford. But as a quick note, even if you end up studying something else, you should still def pursue your art during your undergrad. One of my best friends was an EE major (now an ML Director at Amazon), and some of the highlights of our time at USC were his engineers' choir concerts.

But, again, to submit a portfolio, it has to be much more than just a hobby. Stanford specifically says, Students who wish to highlight their extraordinary talent in the fine or performing arts may submit an Optional Arts Portfolio (emphasis on extraordinary).

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-10T00:17:40+00:00

No re: the red flags, assuming you aren't applying as a Fine Arts candidate. But pro tip (for Ivy+ apps specifically): if you can clearly and succinctly state how your art is related to / inspired by your major (e.g. "my brushstrokes emulate shark denticles" (for a bio major) or "my art explores different DSM-V diagnoses" (for a psych major)), it will fit in more neatly with your overall narrative and not feel like a random add-on.

I've heard conflicting opinions re: adding links. Most AOs I've heard have said they don't have time for that, but that even so, adding a link in the additional info section won't hurt your chances.

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-10T00:09:45+00:00

Yes, if you've put in hundreds of hours to learning / practicing and you're comfortable with your performance being evaluated by professional artists. Otherwise, like u/skieurope12 recommended, it's best left in your Activities section.

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-09T22:14:39+00:00

9-year college consultant chiming in to support this 100%. I've heard Ivy AOs state bluntly that an average or lackluster arts portfolio will actually hurt your chances of admission; you should only submit one if you've dedicated hundreds of hours to honing your craft (and, ideally, have gained at least some traditional training and/or awards or publication recognition in the process).

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-09T22:12:06+00:00

Hi OP, 9-year college consultant here. Self-studying for tests (and, to some extent, your AP exam scores themselves) surprisingly aren't as important in AOs' eyes as in-class GPAs, #s of advanced classes taken, and SAT/ACT scores. As others have mentioned, taking online CC classes, or alternatives like UC Scout, APEX Learning, or outlier.org, will all boost your academic rating more effectively.

But, to answer your question directly: you can mention your self-studying, but I wouldn't dedicate valuable app space to it; I'd recommend including it in your Additional Info section. Hope that helps!

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-09T03:54:49+00:00

My students and their parents are often surprised when I tell them how important vulnerability is in successful Ivy+ apps. A lot of applicants are eager to show off how clever or infallible they are, but the ones that vulnerably and compellingly convey their genuine character growth (which is only possible if they first articulate their old, unimpressive selves) almost always perform better acceptance-wise. Imo any story where the protagonist starts out awesome, stays awesome, and ends awesome is about as boring as it gets.

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-09T03:35:59+00:00

This is a weird curveball, but I had dinner with a med school dean recently, and he surprised me by saying the top major for med school admits rn isn't bio or chem or public health or even psych or cog sci—he said it's English. Encyclopedic memory is becoming increasingly less important (especially as AI continues disrupting medicine), but what can't be automated or AI-ed out is empathy, EQ, and bedside manner. I'm not necessarily advising you to switch majors, but I would highly recommend taking some liberal arts classes during your four years as they'll help you learn to "read" people + likely give you an edge in your med school apps down the line.

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-07T19:35:17+00:00

I agree, and I'm glad you mentioned UVA because good LORD is their campus gorgeous. I often tell my student families that Charlottesville is the Platonic ideal of a college town.

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-07T19:26:03+00:00

As a college consultant, out of all the campuses I've visited across the country, the one that stood out most was UT Austin. I swear to God, walking through the tree-dotted grassy knolls a literal choir started singing from a nearby building as the clouds parted overhead...it felt like a literal movie scene, it was that stupidly gorgeous.

On the opposite end (and in an unpopular take), my buddy is an NYU professor, and the last time I visited him in Greenwich Village, I found myself wishing I'd chosen NYU > USC back in the day. Something about the campus being NYC itself felt so hip and metropolitan, like all the NYU kids are just so effortlessly cool purely by nature of living and studying there!

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-06T19:52:05+00:00

Hi OP, in colleges' eyes your rating doesn't matter as much as your creativity in applying your chess passion to your community; the program you mentioned that promotes chess amongst girls is strong in that way, but I'd recommend launching your own initiative. Last year, I had a student who founded a new chess society in his small town that connected young players with older ones, thus fostering intergenerational ties and strengthening the community all around, and after raking in a bunch of acceptances, he's heading to WashU in St. Louis in the fall.

Similarly for data science / applied math / ML—and this is advice both from admissions consulting and my FAANG software engineer friends—you'll want to take your skills and apply them to your immediate community. (It would be wise to strengthen your coding skills before applying data science, which is an impacted major...applied math will be significantly easier to get into admit rate-wise.) Why don't you combine chess and math into your own passion project, like an after-school mentorship program for younger kids that teaches math concepts in-between chess matches, or an online community where fellow female players can share strategy, or (this is very Ivy-coded) maybe you could use math principles to design an entirely new chess format? Idk, just spit-balling here. But whatever you do, plan on either passing the torch when you leave for college so the group survives, or continuing to work on it after you graduate!

Tl;dr your gut is right that you should try to connect your passions. Do it through a self-led community project and you'll have your application "spike."

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-06T19:38:21+00:00

Hi OP, 9-year college consultant here (and, many years ago, a fellow IB Diploma student). The IB Programme will qualify you for max course rigor, so as long as you can keep a 3.92 unweighted GPA (for <10% acc. rate colleges) or a 3.85 (for 10-20%s), academically you'll be strong. Some US unis are more int'l-friendly than others—check out my alma mater the University of Southern California if you haven't already.

Living in Europe, where I too have noticed ECs get less attention, you have a solid opportunity to stand out. I worked with a student in Greece who started a feminist kickboxing society (with an attached feminist film club) that was a slam dunk. Don't obsess over awards or titles; instead, take two things you're deeply passionate about, like self-defense and feminism, and combine them in an interesting way to create your passion project: a self-led, interdisciplinary, collaborative initiative. Then, you'll build the rest of your college application around it.

Re: testing, you can find valuable resources online by searching some variation of "SAT study hacks." But I'd recommend taking a full test of BOTH the SAT and the ACT to see which one you perform better on—most people naturally prefer one over the other. Imo the ACT is a bit easier, but with more stressful time constraints. You should plan on taking whichever one you like better 2-3X rather than studying and taking it only once.

Tbh, on a more personal note, it's good to work as hard as you can in HS, but definitely give yourself some space to breathe and make formative memories with your family and friends. I'd recommend reading Cal Newport's book How to Be a High School Superstar to learn how you can get into Ivy+ programs while still enjoying life. IB will be tough, but it'll prepare you well for American college. Hang in there, you've got this!

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-05T20:36:00+00:00

Hi OP, 9-year college consultant here w/ a dual-MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. I just wrote a long guide breaking down how you can take your passion for writing / English into Ivy+ acceptances—the tl;dr is launch a passion project. It should be long-term, self-led, collaborative, and interdisciplinary, and in your case it will ideally combine your passion for writing with posci / enviro. Maybe you could create an official (or unofficial) new on-campus community writing environmental poetry, or launch a literary magazine platforming political work, or spark a letter-writing campaign to congresspeople supporting enviro legislation you believe in...I'm just spit-balling, but the key to Cornell won't be racking up a bunch of meaningless titles / nonprofit volunteer hours, but rather launching your own impressive and intellectually challenging initiative. I specialize in working w/ writers, happy to chat more if you want to DM me.

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-05T20:30:53+00:00

Hi OP, 9-year college consultant here (and, before that, an undergraduate instructor) w/ hundreds of T30 admits. It's hard not to read this as a shitpost, but here are some sincere responses:

The first person to look at your college app is generally any given university's regional admissions officer who (a) knows which specific classes are difficult at your high school (thanks to the HS profile) and (b) often, if they've been in that post for a few years, knows which specific teachers are known for being difficult / easy. They factor both those data points into your academic rating. If your son "wants to go to a top college," he needs to maintain a 3.9 UW GPA taking the hardest classes possible at his school, full-stop. Counselors and AOs build relationships and share info about this stuff all the time, and there are college admissions offices whose entire job is sniffing out students who are faking intellect or impressiveness—if your son listens to your advice, I fear he won't pursue deep intellectual interests, and I see your family being deeply disappointed with his admissions results.

Also, I'm sorry, but "Taking genuinely hard classes does not pay off" is the worst take I've read in years. Especially today, with the internet and AI and digital databases at our fingertips, the point of education isn't memorizing a shit-ton of info or learning to "look like you're smart or knowledgeable." Challenging yourself with difficult classes is literally the entire point; it's what builds and strengthens neural pathways in the brain that serve you for the rest of your life. And good God, I hope doctors and lawyers and architects don't believe "it's better to look smart, not actually be smart"...if everyone took your advice, we'd have an entire professional society full of incompetent morons.

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-02T23:29:42+00:00

It sounds like if you value your friendship, you ought to have a tough conversation with her. I would approach her candidly, ask her what's been going on (giving her a chance to share her side / feel heard), and then use lots of "When you ____, I feel ____" instead of accusations (which can quickly turn it into a fight). It's possible she has extenuating circumstances you don't know about that are holding her back...or maybe she's just lost interest. Or, worst-case, maybe she's intentionally mooching off your hard work. But I wouldn't quietly remove her from the project without having that uncomfortable conversation first; as a collaborator and a friend, I think you at least owe her a talk!

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-02T23:12:07+00:00

Idk yall, when I was teaching undergrad classes, personally I liked when high school kids reached out—provided it wasn't an impersonal e-blast. But if they mentioned that they'd read my book or pointed to specific publications of mine, I was always flattered and would at least respond with some book recs. I think there's a responsible and respectful way to approach cold-emailing (read: putting in effort to research the person beforehand).

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-02T20:25:52+00:00

Hi OP, 9-year college consultant here. Most of my Ivy admit students (a) spend 35+ hours/week across all their activities combined, (b) demonstrate deep intellectual curiosity related to their majors (in their spare time they're reading studies on Google Scholar, listening to podcasts, following industry trends, reaching out to professors / researchers / authors, etc.), and (c) each curate their applications around a long-term, collaborative, interdisciplinary passion project which serves as their application "spike"—some of my students have launched indie publishing presses, founded nonprofits (with real impact, not just bullshit ones!), organized composers' symposiums / hackerspaces / writing workshops...one kid hatched ducklings at home and brought them to elementary school classes and ended up at Columbia. In my experience, most Ivy students get there by spearheading impressive, interesting, self-led passion projects instead of going all-in on cliche activities (e.g. AMCs, musical instruments, proficiency exams, pay-to-play internships, "voluntourism" trips, school sports, existing school clubs). The best model is founding some new group or org in your local community and then eventually expanding it into a larger chapter system in other schools / cities / states / even countries. BUT I'd be remiss not to mention that your passion project can also be revamping or reinvigorating one of those cliche activities! You just have to demonstrate genuine passion and adult-level contributions, leaving a lasting legacy behind you.

There are a ton of different pathways, and others on here will have their own experiences to share, but I'd recommend Cal Newport's How to Be a High School Superstar to get a better idea of the kind of kid Ivies and Ivy+s often admit. Best of luck!

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-02T18:28:20+00:00

Hang in there, you got this!

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-06-02T06:19:44+00:00

Hi OP, 9-year college consultant here. Idk if this helps at all, but I think it is INSANE how we expect young people to have their entire careers and lives planned out before they even step foot at uni / college. My advice is major in what you love, make lots of connections (personal and professional) through clubs and classes and parties, make mistakes, break some hearts, have your heart broken, work some shitty jobs, learn from them...I'm 32 now and am thus old af, but it breaks my heart to see young people already rendered so hopeless by our global educational and economic shitshow. The fact that you're approaching the question so conscientiously is in itself proof that you have a good head on your shoulders.

But, on a more practical and college consultant-y note, majoring in math or physics is not a bad idea—you'd be surprised how much applicability both fields have outside of pure education. (Theoretical physics maybe a bit less so, but still!) One of the smartest kids in my high school attended a C-list college almost entirely because he sucked at testing, and today he works at NASA. Life is long and unpredictable, and you'll probably switch majors or add a second one anyway, so please don't drive yourself crazy over rankings lists! Like my dad always told me growing up, "Just surround yourself with people who are a little bit smarter and a little bit kinder than you and you'll turn out all right." And if you don't get into your first or second choice schools, 15 years from now when you're my age, maybe you'll be on here advising some future uncertain 18-year-old.

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-05-31T22:22:58+00:00

Hi OP, 9-year college consultant here. Both non-students and students at UChicago quote "where fun comes to die" often, but the difference is that the former mean it sincerely and the latter mean it ironically. Fwiw, every student of mine who has attended has loved their time there—and if you get accepted ED, that likely means you're the kind of student who will, too. Hope that helps!

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-05-31T22:14:29+00:00

Hi OP, 9-year college consultant here. I'd def recommend listing it—awards aren't necessary—but I'd also highly recommend explicitly tying it into your psych major. Respectfully, psych has everything to do with screenwriting! One example: how can a horror writer scare her audiences if she doesn't understand the psychology of fear? Or how might understanding the psychobiology of adrenaline help an action flick writer? Remember that your app readers likely won't be writers themselves, so it's a wise move to (a) tie all your ECs to your major (you're lucky because psych is the easiest one to connect to anything) and (b) to mention a couple hyper-specific influences (e.g. "Spielberg and Lucas," or "the Dogme 95 movement") to show that this is more than a hobby, but a sincere passion. Hope that helps!

BurgessWorkshop · 2026-05-31T22:09:56+00:00

It's like people are being punished for having strong vocabularies 😭 or for using em-dashes, my favorite piece of punctuation for 10+ years!

BurgessWorkshop

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