Get advice from existing College Students

Applying to College
1

Hi, If I would like to get advice from existing College Students for my targeted Colleges (Stanford is my Top Top choice, but MIT and Ivys are also my target :slight_smile: ), what is the best way to get hold of the students to ask them advice/tips/experience on their college application, so I can start planning my ECA, my activities, my AP tests, etc?

2

I have a friend who got into Brown, and then all of a sudden some sophomore started asking her all kinds of questions about her app (there was no previous friendship) and my friend thought it was very annoying. There are definitely some college students that wouldn’t mind helping a complete stranger with apps, but just be careful not to seem like a prestige hunter. And TBH your guidance counselor and teachers will usually be more helpful than some college student who isn’t even really sure why he/she got in.

Now if you want to ask someone questions to see if their college is a good fit for you, that’s different, but that does not seem like what you are going for here.

3

@ZchoolTalk, posts promoting services are specifically not allowed on CC.

4

A few organic options:

  1. Ask in the college subforum here. There will usually be a few alumni who frequent the forums and might be willing to help out.
  2. Ask your school’s administration if there have been any recent HS alumni who attended your target college and see if you can get their contact info. They’ll probably be more willing to help out.
  3. Search around LinkedIn for alumni who also came from your HS or have some kind of connection (e.g., played the same sport or something) and just send them a quick message
5

The best way to get into top schools is not to focus on that as your primary goal. Be the best YOU you can be rather than following someone else’s path. You know the basics - great grades and test scores, the required number of language and science classes, the required number of SATII tests.

Then do things that YOU enjoy and find meaning in, because then you are most likely to put your heart into it, do your best, and make your own difference in the world. Doing such and such an activity because someone else did that and was accepted to Stanford won’t necessarily get you into Stanford - it made him stand out, perhaps, but you doing the same thing is not unique and isn’t being the real you. There is no magic formula of the right EC’s and other activities because the top schools don’t want cookie cutter students, but differing students with different perspectives, skills and interests to balance out the class.