Community Guidelines

These guidelines apply to everything on Polaris: posts, comments, direct messages, photos, usernames, bios, and profiles. They are part of our Terms of Service. The one-sentence version: be helpful, not hostile. Everything below is what that means in practice.

Keep everyone’s info private

Don’t post your own or anyone else’s personal information: full name, school name, phone number, email, home address, Instagram/Snap/Discord handle, or anything else that could identify a real person. This is the whole point of Polaris being pseudonymous, and it’s the one rule we enforce automatically: our filter blocks this stuff before it’s ever posted, in DMs too. Don’t try to figure out who someone really is, either, and don’t share screenshots of someone’s decision letters, stats, or DMs without their okay.

Protecting minors: absolute zero tolerance

Any sexual content involving minors, grooming, sextortion, or requests to move a conversation somewhere private for creepy reasons results in immediate content removal, a permanent ban with no appeal, and, where the law requires, a report to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and cooperation with law enforcement. Every image uploaded to Polaris is automatically checked against databases of known abuse material. There are no second chances on this one.

No harassment or bullying

Disagree with someone’s take on a school, an essay strategy, or their chances all you want. That’s what the app is for. But don’t target a person: no pile-ons, no bullying, no repeatedly going after the same user, no hate directed at someone for their race, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, or anything else about who they are.

No sexual content

Polaris is 13+. Sexual content and sexual solicitation are never allowed, no exceptions. Every uploaded photo is screened before it becomes visible.

No threats, violence, or self-harm content

No threats of violence and no content that promotes or instructs self-harm, suicide, or eating disorders. Posts asking for support are okay; posts promoting harm are not. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out to a trusted adult, call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), or text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line). PolarisAI will point you to these resources too if you bring it up in chat.

Play the admissions game straight

Polaris is about honest admissions talk, so:

• No sharing leaked exams, test content, or restricted academic materials.
• No buying, selling, or trading application essays, and no offering to write someone’s application for them.
• No fabricated stats, results, or credentials presented as real. (“Chance me” posts only work if the numbers are honest.)
• No impersonating admissions officers, counselors, or school officials, and no fake admissions “services.”

No spam, scams, or self-promo

Don’t flood the feed with repeated posts, off-topic ads, or promotion for other apps, servers, or services. Scholarship and financial-aid scams that target students get you banned, not just removed.

Profanity: casual, yes. Targeted, no.

Casual swearing is fine. We’re not going to pretend teenagers don’t swear. What’s not fine is using it to attack a specific person. “This app is stressing me tf out” is fine. Calling another user names is not.

Nothing illegal

No content that promotes or coordinates illegal activity, including drugs, weapons, or fraud (financial-aid fraud included).

What happens if you break a rule

We use a graduated system, roughly:

• Removal: the content comes down.
• Warning: you get a heads-up in-app about what happened and why.
• Ban: repeated or severe violations (harassment campaigns, threats, sexual content, doxxing) get you permanently banned. The worst things skip straight here, and creating a new account to dodge a ban is itself a violation.

Our automated filter blocks the most common violations (personal info, slurs) before they’re posted at all. Everything else goes through reports.

How to report

See something that breaks these rules? Long-press the post, comment, message, or profile and tap Report. Pick a reason and add detail if you want. Reports are completely confidential: the person you’re reporting is never told who reported them. We aim to review every report within 24 hours and remove violating content and the users responsible.

How to block

Don’t want to see someone or hear from them at all? Go to their profile and tap Block. Blocking is immediate: they can’t see your posts, comments, or profile, and they can’t message you. You can manage or undo blocks anytime in Settings → Blocked users.

Appeals and questions

If your content was removed or your account was actioned and you think we got it wrong, email team@polarisadmit.com with your username and what happened, and a human will take a second look. (The only exception is child-safety violations, which are not appealable.) Questions about these guidelines go to the same address.