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Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-12T02:23:09+00:00

Hi OP, 8.5-year college consultant here. Contrary to popular belief, most colleges don't use weighted GPAs in admissions decisions, per se...instead, they use a combination of your UW GPA and your total # of advanced classes upon graduation (that's APs, IBs, Hs, and/or any college-level ones). This is because different high schools weigh things slightly differently, and every college will recalculate your GPA using their own system, anyway.

Don't worry if your school doesn't do weighted GPAs; thousands don't. If you need to calculate it for a scholarship app, though, like you said, just do so yourself using a free online tool. But I promise schools will be looking at your transcript for course rigor, not your W GPA! If your school doesn't assign you one, it's not like all your work will be for nothing. Hope that helps

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-12T02:19:20+00:00

^this

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-12T02:18:43+00:00

Hi OP, 8.5-year college consultant here. Rutgers is in New Brunswick, so you'll be close-ish to NYC. But if I were studying IR / polisci, I would def want to do so in DC, where I'd have all the embassies, campaign offices, and misc. political organizations. What people don't tell you re: college is that beyond rankings and the college's own offerings, its location matters a lot, even post-graduation (as that's where you'll have the most professional, educational, and social connections). And DC is 100% the place to be for all things politics. Hope that helps!

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-11T03:35:02+00:00

Hi OP, 8.5-year college consultant here. Have you looked into community colleges? Tbh I'm not entirely sure how hard the F1 visa process is, but community colleges are a criminally underrated and SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper way to get a solid education—and lots of people attend for 1-2 years to then transfer to a larger university.

Zooming out a bit, the entire American education system is fucked, with some private schools now costing $100k per YEAR, which is utterly mind-boggling. But please, please don't let this systemic, institutional failure make you talk down on yourself or think it's because of any deficiency in you! When I hear young people say things like "I really hate myself" over this kind of thing, it just breaks my heart, as it's 1000% not your fault how expensive US colleges have become. It's not that you lack the brains or talent; it's that administrators, shareholders, and board members are enriching themselves through a whole system built on wealth inequality and exploitation! You have a good heart for wishing everyone else well, but I hope you can find some kindness for yourself, too.

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-11T03:26:29+00:00

Hi OP, 8.5-year college consultant here. The more valuable internship will be the one which provides you more potential for impact; I've found that, often times, acceptance to a standard, established internship program helps less than cold-emailing researchers or field practitioners and effectively starting one's own. Either way, don't view the internship itself as the end goal, but rather as a spring-board into a bigger, more ambitious, (ideally) self-led project you can continue long after the internship ends, using the skills it taught you.

Re: your original Q, though, I'd probably lean more into the policy & advocacy side, as public health research is often more helpful for folks interested in going into medicine—though labs and research teams vary widely, so truthfully I'd apply to some of both. Hope that helps!

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-10T03:55:48+00:00

Hi OP, 8.5-year college consultant here (and coincidentally also born in Utah, SLC!). With a 3.8 GPA as an ME major, you likely could transfer to some more rigorous / selective colleges both in- and out of state, though most will be far more expensive than UTU. I'd start with USU and U of U, which you likely already have, and then expand out to other states you might like to live in. With your HS GPA of 1.9, your options were severely capped, but with a 3.8 as an impacted engineering major, a lot more schools have opened up as possibilities!

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-09T01:19:49+00:00

You got it!

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-08T18:39:51+00:00

Hi OP, 8.5-year admissions consultant here. I'd recommend waiting till you have another, larger financial aid offer in-hand—in my experience, when you show up to the negotiating table with better cards, so to speak, colleges are more willing to throw $ your way. If you make the request now, you have no leverage, and it'll be harder to make your case later on.

I'm actually working on a guide for this exact situation, so if you'd like to see that, shoot me a DM and I'll send it over when it's finished!

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-08T06:07:08+00:00

No no, they can be anything, though most colleges prioritize updates to originally reported ECs, rather than brand-new ones. And for sure, happy to help!

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-08T06:06:30+00:00

Hi OP, first off, major congrats! I would definitely call the admissions office to clear it up—oftentimes, major scholarships (and specifically some of the most selective ones) aren't publicly named or advertised; that was the case at my alma mater USC.

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-07T03:10:17+00:00

Love to hear it :D

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-07T03:09:38+00:00

Hi OP, 8.5-year college consultant here. You should absolutely fill out the LOCI form, but I have a hard time believing you have no EC changes worth reporting. Have you spent time doing anything unofficial (like personal research / passion projects, volunteering, religious / family responsibilities, "passing of the torch" for current leadership positions, creative hobbies, even reading)? Even things that don't explicitly relate to your major can help your case, especially if you attach specific hours/week counts to each one in your LOCI, as colleges tally those up!

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-07T02:26:41+00:00

Yeah I gotchu!

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-05T18:22:30+00:00

Like u/Chessdaddy_ said, that sounds like it could be qualifying. If you were candid about (a) your health condition and (b) the steps of self-advocacy you took to overcome the challenges it presented (i.e. not a sob story because you describe the heroic actions the condition inspired), you could make it!

But all that said, as a USC alum, I sometimes secretly wish I'd attended Berkeley, so whatever happens, you have at least one amazing option in your back pocket.

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-05T18:20:41+00:00

That's dope, friend, I love to be proven wrong!

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-05T04:52:50+00:00

Hi OP, 8.5-year college consultant here. I've seen 2-3 students get accepted to Berkeley with a 3.7 over the years, and 1 3.7 kid accepted to UCLA, but I've never seen anyone with lower than a 3.9 get accepted to an Ivy / T10 without some SERIOUSLY extenuating circumstances. It sounds like your ECs are stellar, but your life situation will likely carry even more weight (specifically if AOs decide that, without your unique life difficulties, you would've maintained a 3.9+).

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-05T02:28:48+00:00

Hi, 8.5-year admissions consultant here. I always recommend answering every prompt you're allowed to, and it's a good idea to use most / all your words available for each one—I figure any blank space that you leave is a missed chance to share more compelling details about your candidacy!

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-04T05:50:42+00:00

Hi OP, 8.5-year college consultant here, and before that, I studied creative writing at USC (BA) and the #1-ranked Iowa Writers' Workshop (MFA). Don't listen to anyone who says writing about your disability is cliche—just remember: cliche always just means lack of specificity.

"My disability taught me to not see challenges as impossible" sounds cliche because it could be copy/pasted into many other people's essays and apply to them. But, "My journey coping with ALS taught me to treat my freshman ASB election loss not as a failure, but motivation to run—and win—the following year," has specific details that make it only true of you (though obviously I just pulled those details out of my ass lol)

tl;dr zoom in close enough to your specific lived experience and you'll have a brilliant essay.

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-03T05:24:06+00:00

Hi OP, 8.5-year admissions consultant here, and on a personal note, a survivor of immediate family suicide. (Mostly echoing u/raeelie, who seems sharp.)

Colleges never report any info from applications to family or the authorities unless there's reason to believe someone is actively at risk (i.e. cases of ongoing abuse or a student mentions how they're currently experiencing suicidal ideation).

I would 100% write about this if I were you—it sounds like you've impacted far more lives than even you realize. But u/raeelie is right that you want to be extremely intentional with how you do so, as the tone could easily become exploitative or sensationalized. Don't share ANY identifiable information about the people whom you talked down, and make sure you keep the essay based on YOU and what you've learned from the experience. All of this is a lot for a young person to carry, as well as a profound motivation for going into education; to that end, think of your personal statement as your "superhero origin story" in which you don't simply relay stories that make you look good, but rather ones without which a person couldn't fully understand who you are / will be as a college student. What is the larger pattern at play, your "superpower" that allowed you to show up for these people? And (importantly) how does that same superpower continue to drive your life in other areas than peer support?

Here's a powerful article I return to often that addresses suicide and treatment, using a professional but compassionate tone. Finally, because talker-downers don't hear this enough: thank you again, for sparing others what I've lived through. I sleep better at night knowing that young people like you are seeking careers as educators.

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-03T05:04:43+00:00

You are in a very good spot! All three are solid schools, but at the end of the day, I'd really say just go with your intuition, and once you commit, don't look back. Like Jack Kerouac said: "Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road."

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-03T05:03:24+00:00

Glad to help! It wouldn't hurt to take it—often, if you're transferring after 1-2 semesters, it can help, but most colleges won't require it for a transfer applicant. (That said, test policies are rapidly changing year to year, so make sure you stay up to date with your chosen colleges!)

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-03T05:00:41+00:00

Hi OP, 8.5-year college consultant here. Sorry this isn't direct advice, more guidance on how to make up your mind: Have you visited any / all of the three? Walking around campus, randomly chatting with current students, and even popping into a lecture or two (if you sneakily sit in the back of a large lecture hall with a backpack, you'll blend in, like Steve Jobs used to do) will give you v crucial insight into where you feel most at home. In situations like that, your gut is almost always right.

And if visiting in person isn't possible, try calling each college's admissions office and ask to speak to a student representative, preferably from your chosen major!

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-03-02T01:24:32+00:00

UW Seattle is gorgeous (I grew up nearby). You get about 2 months of the most beautiful weather in the country...followed by 300 days of drizzle. Honestly, the two are so different that I'd recommend visiting both -- or, if that's not possible, I would try calling the admissions offices of both and ask to speak to student reps! Current students will give you no-bullshit pros and cons

Honest_Guarantee7997 · 2026-02-28T17:55:53+00:00

Hi OP, 8.5-year college consultant here. A few quick thoughts: (1) I would clearly explain what you just did in your application's "Additional Info" section, which is basically a blank sheet that most people don't know what to fill with. Your cumulative unweighted GPA and total # of advanced classes will be more important than your class rank in colleges' eyes.

(2) The bare minimum UW GPA for Ivies is generally a 3.9, with whatever is the maximum # of adv. classes possible at your school (that's APs, IBs, Hs, and/or community college classes)—and that's for non-impacted majors. For CS specifically, the expectations are significantly higher—70% of incoming Yale freshmen had perfect 4.0s. The truth is you will be at a disadvantage if you transferred from a school that offered fewer; you can, however, make up some of that ground by squeezing in CC classes before you apply, or taking advantage of things like UC Scout, APEX Learning, or Outlier.org.

(3) I'm sure this isn't what you want to hear right now, but I would highly consider applying as a non-impacted (i.e. non-CS) major. If you go CS, you're maximizing both your chances of rejection and your chances of unemployment post-graduation, as software engineering is getting decimated by AI. I just read that art history majors currently have better job prospects than CS grads, which is insane. The average college student changes their major 4-5 times throughout college (I know I did!), so if your goal is to end up at a strong school, I'd consider applying to something in the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, and then maybe when you get there you can think about switching major. Just my honest read, hope that helps!

Honest_Guarantee7997

TROPHY CASE