Reddit, home of chronically online teenagers talking about Pewdiepie and men with an inflated sense of self-righteousness. Although scrolling through online forums can lead people to find themselves face-to-face with users like that, average people, like myself, also search Reddit in the hopes of finding some answers from real-life people (sorry, Google Gemini). As the oldest child in my family, it seemed even more important to look past what every generic website was saying and really get a glimpse of the real world during the most enchanting time of senior year: college applications.
Navigating where to apply, what financial aid forms to fill out, and how to draft an essay feels like taking stabs in the dark when you don’t have an older sibling to interrogate. Luckily, there are hundreds of people on Reddit just waiting to answer your questions about all of the aforementioned topics. Some people are a little blunt, but if you have a pretty common question, the blunt answer will not be directed at you, but instead at another poor user who dared to ask before you. Almost 70% of the time though, there will be a couple of people who give you a variety of short answers to your inquiry. 15% of the time, you stumble upon the pirate booty, the gold at the end of the rainbow, AKA someone took the time to write a 2+ paragraph response detailing everything you need to know.
Once you’ve received your decisions, it’s time to dig deeper into Reddit and find the subreddit for the specific colleges you’re thinking about. Here’s where you find information about dorms, the social scene, what people think of your major’s program, etc. A lot of people also post questions (and answers) about waitlists and writing a Letter of Continued Interest, which can also be helpful after you’ve overcome your initial sadness about not being directly admitted.
Ultimately, the college application/decision process can be overwhelming, especially if it’s your family’s first time. While there are many resources available at school, if you’re too scared to ask in person, trust that there’s already been another confused student who has posted the same question on Reddit.