CollegeVine Expert FAQ

Hey guys! I'm a high school junior, and I've been thinking about the college application process. I have good grades and some extracurriculars, but I'm worried that I won't stand out among the thousan …

Hey everyone, I'm considering applying to Purdue University and was wondering if it's known as a research university. If so, what kind of undergraduate research opportunities are there, especially in …

Hello! I'm a high school junior and I've been considering taking a gap year before starting college. What are the pros and cons of taking a gap year, and how might it affect my college applications? I …

Hi all! I'm a high school junior and I'm starting to think about my college applications. I have a lot of extracurricular activities, but I'm not sure which ones to include on my application. Should I …

Hi, I recently took the SAT and received a 1400. I'm not sure if that's a strong enough score to apply to Ivy League schools. Should I retake the test or focus on other parts of my application? Any ad …

Hey guys, I want to apply to Ivy League schools like UPenn and Brown, and I've heard that they care about rigorous coursework. How many AP classes should I aim to take during high school to show that …

Hello! I'm curious if it would be easier for me to transfer into an Ivy League school after a year or two at another college, rather than applying as a freshman. Does anyone have any experiences or in …

Hey all! As a high school junior passionate about theatre and performing arts, I'm starting to look at colleges with strong programs in these areas. Can anyone recommend colleges with reputable perfor …

I'm a high school senior planning to apply to Harvard, and I'm unsure if I should apply early action or regular decision. Is there an advantage to applying early action, like a higher acceptance rate …

I understand that Ivy League schools have rigorous admission requirements, so I want to know what's considered a good unweighted GPA for these schools. Can anyone give me a ballpark figure or share th …

I'm a junior looking to study engineering in college, and I've noticed that many universities emphasize their research opportunities for students. I'm curious - why is research such a big deal at univ …

Hi! I've been part of my school's art club since freshman year, and I love it. Will colleges see this as a valuable extracurricular activity, or should I focus on something more academic? Thanks in ad …

I'm looking into colleges and as much as I love the close-knit community feel of liberal arts colleges, I also want the resources and opportunities available at larger research universities. Any sugge …

Hello! I'm working on building up my resume for college applications, particularly to Ivy League schools. I'm struggling to figure out how many extracurricular activities I should aim for to be compet …

Hey! Junior here. I love reading and spend a lot of my free time doing so, but I'm not sure if this can be considered an extracurricular activity on my applications. Has anyone else included reading a …

I'm currently in the process of editing my college essay and I realized that my essay is single spaced. Is double spacing a requirement for college essays, or is it okay for it to be single spaced as …

Hi there, I'm working on my college essays and was wondering if colleges use some kind of AI detector to check for plagiarism or if they just have admissions officers read them and manually look for s …

Hey guys, so I'm really interested in Yale, and I wanted to know if it's classified as a research university. I'm passionate about getting involved in research projects, particularly in the STEM field …

I'm planning out my high school schedule and want to know how many AP courses I should aim for to be competitive for the Ivy League. Is there an ideal number?

I'm a junior, and I'm beginning to look into colleges and universities. What are your best tips for researching colleges and finding the right one for me? What resources should I use, and what factors …