<p>I am a junior in high school and my school ( a catholic college prep) has three academic tracks (Honors, average, below average) that are chosen for you. I am in the average track, meaning I can not take any honors classes at my school. My school also doesn't have an AP classes. I do activities every single day after school and my average is an 86, am I at a disadvantage?</p>
<p>You are certainly at a relative disadvantage! But answer me this:</p>
<ol>
<li>How competitive is your school?</li>
<li>How are your standardized test scores?</li>
</ol>
<p>Colleges that take a more holistic approach are still potentially within your reach. Especially Catholic schools, I imagine.</p>
<p>It’s relatively competitive. I’ve only taken the PSATs in October when I was a sophomore and scored a 1300</p>
<p>By 1300 do you mean 130? The PSAT is scaled down from the SAT so that the highest score you can achieve is a 240.</p>
<p>And would that score include your writing section?</p>
<p>Sorry yes, 130 and yes it does.
I did extremely well on the critical reading and writing but poorly on the math section</p>
<p>I hear ya (my math section weighed me down considerably). Well, that score won’t do well, but you were just a sophomore so don’t think too much about it. What colleges are you interested in?</p>
<p>I really want to go to NYU but it’s probably not possibly given how expensive tuition is. I don’t even have to live on campus and the price is still waaay too out of my range.
I haven’t figured out what I want to do so the only colleges I’ve really thought about are College of Saint Rose and Champlain College.</p>
<p>You know, NYU is probably a reach, but if you can prove yourself in other areas, you still have a decent shot. The other two you listed aren’t ones that I am familiar with. A tiny bit of googling seems to suggest that if you can get 1800+ on your SAT, Champlain is definitely a good match. Not sure about St. Rose.</p>
<p>thank you so much for your help!!</p>
<p>Napolandean, NYU is out of reach. The #1 factor is academic rigor and GPA, and not being in the Honors track and having a B/B+ average mean you won’t even make the first cut there. (To give you an idea: you’d need a 91-93 in Honors to have a shot.)
However you may have a shot at Fordham and Pace is a match for you if you really want NYC.
If you’re willing to travel and are interested in residential colleges, there are lots of schools where you’d have a shot, especially in the Midwest and South, and, to a lesser extent in the Mid Atlantic region.
Look into: Alma, University of Scranton, Elmira, Wheeling, Lemoyne, Loyola-Chicago, Canisius, Creighton, Doane, Albright, Linfield, Lindenwood, Barry, Manhattanville, Lynn, Muskingum, West Chester, Sacred Heart (CT), Wagner, St Ambrose, Davis&Elkins, Wartburg, St Vincent ¶, Centenary College (LA), Dominican (CA), St Thomas (St Paul MN), Spring HIll (AL).
You may have a shot at Ithaca, Goucher, Millsaps, Susquehanna, University of Puget Sound, Carroll (MT), Elms (MA), Gustavus Adolphus, Nebraska Wesleyan, Xavier (LA), Loyola (LA).
Look them up online, fill out the “Request information”, and when the brochure comes in the mail, set aside the ones that look interesting. Then find what elements they have in common.
I’m pretty sure some of these, especially those far away, will send you a VIP application (no fees) so it’d be fairly painless to apply.
Applying to schools far away would give you a shot at a better financial aid package (if that matters) since you’d stand out among other applicants simply because of where you were applying from (most students apply to schools nearby, so applying to a school far away increases your odds.)
In a nutshell: yes NYU isn’t within your reach, but LOTS and LOTS of colleges are.
Come back to update us on your status because lots of students are in your situation.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t rule out NYU just yet. first off, the PSAT scores you have dont just multiply by 10 and result in your SAT score; in reality, its much more complicated than that (more questions=more chances to get right; one teacher’s rule of thumb that’s proven consistently with me and my friends is add 50/section when going PSAT=>SAT). So 130 overall is a 1450-1500? Fine. Try again, and keep trying; maybe give the ACT some serious, serious thought and practice. Whatever you do, put serious (5hr/week) effort into it.</p>
<p>No Honors course, and No APs? Fine. Do what I did; self study APs and prove yourself worthy of high-end work. If you self study three or four APs concurrently with the classes you take (ie: you study for APUSH while taking USH) and do well on them…its a statement that you won’t be limited by your lack of choices. Drag up those grades to a ~90 or so too.</p>
<p>That’s a start; hope the ECs come along, and if youre still on track this time senior year, see if those SAT II subj’t tests come along fine too.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>@TypeRA: OP has a B average in his/her track so s/he’s placed correctly in “regular”, non-honors classes: it means AP classes aren’t in the cards, especially through self-study. You can’t jump from college prep to AP just by willing it, that’s too much to bridge. </p>
<p>OP will hopefully get 1500-1600 on the SAT: Napolandean, make sure to prepare well before you take the test. 
I do agree with you TypeRA that OP should try the ACT too: some students do better at it. </p>
<p>NYU: roughly 75% admitted freshmen were in the top 10% of their class in the Honors track, 95% freshmen had HS GPAs higher than OP’s*, 80% scored higher than 1800 on the SAT.
- Those in the bottom 25% i.e, with a 3.5 GPA and less are legacies, athletes, etc.
OP has TONS of possible choices outside of NYU and shouldn’t focus on a school that just isn’t going to happen for him/her. If s/he really wants NYC, Fordham is an obvious possibility (but not a match) as well as Pace, Manhattanville and Wagner. Going further away would increase the odds of admission and of a good financial aid package.</p>