About r/ApplyingToCollege
r/ApplyingToCollege is the premier forum for college admissions questions, advice, and discussions, from college essays and scholarships to college list help and application advice, career guidance, and more. A2C supports a welcoming and inclusive environment. Harassment, intimidation, and bullying are not tolerated.
The community at a glance
r/ApplyingToCollege is a Subreddit for Students with roughly 1.3M members. It has been around since 2013. It has both a forum and a live chat communication style. It is the 4th largest community in the Students topic page.
Roughly 86K members have joined in the past year. Popular discussion topics include College, Struggling, and Hate. Common discussion themes are Advice Requests and Pain & Anger. Product recommendations often mention college.
Community Topics
Subreddit Analysis
via GummySearchMember growth over time
All time (yearly)
- 2014: 775 members
- 2015: 3K members
- 2016: 5K members
- 2017: 17K members
- 2018: 44K members
- 2019: 79K members
- 2020: 130K members
- 2021: 310K members
- 2023: 481K members
- 2024: 59K members
- 2025: 152K members
- 2026: 54K members
Past year (monthly)
- Sep: 5K members
- Oct: 5K members
- Nov: 8K members
- Dec: 10K members
- Jan: 9K members
- Feb: 7K members
- Mar: 9K members
- Apr: 7K members
- May: 7K members
- Jun: 6K members
- Jul: 6K members
- Aug: 3K members
Themes
- Advice Requests34 posts in the past month
- wasted a lot of my school years. Is it still possible to get into a top university?
- How to become more competitive applicant?
- College essay advice?
#134Advice Requestswasted a lot of my school years. Is it still possible to get into a top university? · How to become more competitive applicant? · College essay advice? - Pain & Anger3 posts in the past month
- Am I cooked?
- Rant about Reddit and college admissions in general
- Senior who is way behind
#23Pain & AngerAm I cooked? · Rant about Reddit and college admissions in general · Senior who is way behind - Money Talk2 posts in the past month
- Cant afford to go to college.
- Generational angst about paying for college and how to communicate - mostly for parents but all welcome
#32Money TalkCant afford to go to college. · Generational angst about paying for college and how to communicate - mostly for parents but all welcome - Self-Promotion1 post in the past month
- This is a passion project I created: I built VEX Central: An all in one app for VEX scouting, alliance analytics, and a free 2D autonomous simulator!
#41Self-PromotionThis is a passion project I created: I built VEX Central: An all in one app for VEX scouting, alliance analytics, and a free 2D autonomous simulator!
Topics
- College29 posts in the past month#129College
- Struggling24 posts in the past month#224Struggling
- Hate23 posts in the past month#323Hate
- Struggles15 posts in the past month#415Struggles
- Decisions11 posts in the past month#511Decisions
Flair
- Application Question59 posts in the past month
- How good is my legacy? (UChicago)
- Good safety schools for someone wanting to study political science?
- Does having awards in international olympiad give you any benefit in getting accepted to college?
#159Application QuestionHow good is my legacy? (UChicago) · Good safety schools for someone wanting to study political science? · Does having awards in international olympiad give you any benefit in getting accepted to college? - Advice27 posts in the past month
- Is it worth looking into my regional admissions officers
- Is it normal to be scared?
- How do you cope with the “what if i make the wrong decision” for college?
#227AdviceIs it worth looking into my regional admissions officers · Is it normal to be scared? · How do you cope with the “what if i make the wrong decision” for college? - College Questions21 posts in the past month
- Niche minority applying to college
- How do I choose a major?
- Does UW still accept first-year applications via ApplyWeb, or is it strictly Common App now?
#321College QuestionsNiche minority applying to college · How do I choose a major? · Does UW still accept first-year applications via ApplyWeb, or is it strictly Common App now? - Discussion10 posts in the past month
- Which degrees do many students pursue for the wrong reasons?
- Do sob stories really get you into college?
- The definitive list of Ivy+ schools is the 12 members of the IvyPlus Exchange Scholar Program; the best ranking of those 12 is the cross-admit revealed preference.
#410DiscussionWhich degrees do many students pursue for the wrong reasons? · Do sob stories really get you into college? · The definitive list of Ivy+ schools is the 12 members of the IvyPlus Exchange Scholar Program; the best ranking of those 12 is the cross-admit revealed preference. - ECs and Activities10 posts in the past month
- Extracurricular Advice
- help regarding ec's from cs / applied maths students at top colleges
- grandfather is an IR professor and we’re doing research together — red flag?
#510ECs and ActivitiesExtracurricular Advice · help regarding ec's from cs / applied maths students at top colleges · grandfather is an IR professor and we’re doing research together — red flag?
Product recommendations
- college148 posts in the past month
- Which colleges offer the best (preferably flexible) dual degree or double major options for humanities + arts students??
- Best Path to Med School: Oregon, UCSD Waitlist, or California CC → UC Transfer?
- Best undergrad degree to med school
#1148collegeWhich colleges offer the best (preferably flexible) dual degree or double major options for humanities + arts students?? · Best Path to Med School: Oregon, UCSD Waitlist, or California CC → UC Transfer? · Best undergrad degree to med school
Community Reviews
Frequently asked questions
- Who is r/ApplyingToCollege for?
- Best for Students enthusiasts looking for a Reddit-based community with forum discussion, live chat.
- Is r/ApplyingToCollege free to join?
- This listing is not marked as paid-only. Access rules and any fees are decided by the community.
- How many members does r/ApplyingToCollege have?
- Roughly 1.3M members, based on figures reported by the community or its host. Member counts are approximate and change over time.
- What platform is r/ApplyingToCollege on?
- r/ApplyingToCollege runs on Reddit. Reddit communities (or "subreddits") are forum-based groups on the popular social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website Reddit. Reddit is commonly known as "the front page of the internet". Users submit content to the site such as links, text posts, and images, which are then voted up or down and discussed by other members. From investing Reddit communities, to professional ones, to ones just for laughs, you're likely to find a community for you on Reddit.
- What topics does r/ApplyingToCollege cover?
- On the Hive Index, r/ApplyingToCollege is organized under Students.
- How do I join r/ApplyingToCollege?
- You can join r/ApplyingToCollege by clicking this link, or pressing the "Go to community" button above.
- What are the Students communities like?
- Communities for students at high school, university, and graduate level, covering study skills, campus life, career prep, and mental health. Discord hosts massive study communities with focus rooms and accountability systems, while Reddit has subreddits for specific schools, programs, and academic disciplines.
Added 10/21/2021
Monthly Stats
- 21
- Views /mo (+31%)
- 16
- Visitors /mo (+7%)
- 1
- Referrals /mo (0%)
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