CollegeVine Expert FAQ

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 …

Hi everyone! I'm a junior and I'm looking into summer programs to bolster my college application. Do participation in summer programs actually help or make a difference in college admissions? What typ …

Hi everyone, I'm looking at colleges and was curious if Brigham Young University (BYU) is considered a research university. Does BYU offer many research opportunities for undergrads? If so, in which f …

Hey everyone, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the college options out there, and I want to make sure I'm doing thorough research. What methods do you recommend for researching colleges and univ …

Hi everyone, I have a 3.9 unweighted GPA, but I'm worried it's not good enough for the Ivy League. Are those schools looking for students with perfect 4.0's, or is my GPA still competitive for admissi …

Hi everyone, I'm starting to look into colleges and financial aid options. I was just wondering how many years financial aid typically covers? Is it just for freshman year, or can you count on it for …

Hi everyone! I keep coming across the term 'R1 research university' in my college search, but I'm not certain what it means. Could someone please give me an idea of what an R1 research university is a …

Hey everyone! With COVID-19 still limiting in-person opportunities, I've been taking advantage of virtual college tours to learn more about the schools I'm interested in. However, I'm not sure if I'm …