Am I heading in the right direction?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Hey everybody. I’m currently a Sophomore from North Carolina hoping to apply to all eight Ivies, Duke, and UNC. I’m wondering if I’m on the right track to acceptance into any of these schools – but specifically my top three: Yale, Harvard, Brown. I’ll go ahead and put out some information on me, including my past and future planned schedules, as well as Extracurriculars.

Courses Taken:

Courses, Freshman Year:
PLTW Introduction to Engineering
Honors Common Core English II
Honors Earth Science
Honors World History
Honors Psychology & Sociology
Honors Creative Writing
College Preparatory Gym
College Preparatory Common Core Math II

Summer: Honors Common Core Math III

Courses, Sophomore Year:
PLTW Principles of Engineering
Honors Biology
Honors Pre-Calculus
Honors Chemistry
Honors Common Core English III
Honors Civics & Economics
College Prep Latin I
College Preparatory Latin II

A-Average sustained in every class from Freshman to Sophomore Year.

Courses Not Yet Taken:

Summer:
Advanced Placement Psychology NCVPHS
Advanced Placement Environmental Science NCVPHS

Courses, Junior Year:
Advanced Placement US History
Advanced Placement Calculus AB
Honors Physics I
Honors Common Core English IV
Honors Latin III
College Preparatory Theatre Arts I
NCSSM Online Honors Introduction to International Relations
NCSSM Online Honors 21st Century Media Studies

Courses, Senior Year:
Advanced Placement Calculus BC
Advanced Placement Latin IV
Advanced Placement US Government & Politics
Advanced Placement Physics
Honors Personal Finance
Honors Speech & Debate
NCSSM Online Honors Ecocriticism: Nature in Thought and Writing
NCSSM Online Honors Introduction to Western Political Thought

Extracurriculars:
* 400 Volunteering Hours
* Six-year volunteer for local Parks & Rec Basketball Organization
* Volunteer for Attorney General / Gubernatorial Candidate Roy Cooper
* Intern for a State Senator and US House Representative
* $10/hr Job, held for three years.
* Four Years of Theatre, Three Years as a Stage Manager, ITS

Clubs:
* Science Olympiad, Engineering Captain / Vice-President / Co-Founder
* Junior State of America President and Founder
* [SCHOOL NAME HERE] Political Union President and Founder
* Vice-President of Drama Club
* Member of National Beta Club, National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta

ACT Score: 32

What should I be improving to increase my chances? Increase my ACT score? Any course recommendations? Am I on track? What advice could you give me so that in two years I am prepared to apply to my schools of choice?

2

You are definitely on track, and have really great stats that may put you on one of the Ivies! If you really want to improve your chances (not that you need), you could increase your ACT score, but a 32 is a great score for virtually any college.

3

Anyone who wants to apply to all Ivies is just chasing prestige – the Ivies are actually an athletic conference, and the schools are quite varied in academic strengths and atmosphere.

4

Should probably mention: Un-legacied, White. 3rd in Class.

5

@intparent brings up a good point. Also, the Ivies are so different from one another and try to attract completely distinct student bodies that I don’t see the point in applying to all eight. It is impossible that your profile fits perfectly with every single one of them. Sure, there are kids out there who get accepted at them all, but acceptance is not the point. Would you genuinely be happy at the same time at schools so different as Princeton and Brown? There are so many fantastic schools outside of the Ivy League that it seems unreasonable to consider just those coincidently part of an athletic conference.

6

@intparent or maybe they are just chasing a great education. I’m pretty sure that all the ivies have top academics. Another thought, maybe they know they will fit in to all 8 universities, but, also know that in order to increase their chances they should apply to all of them.

7

No one would fit in at all of them. This request typically comes from someone who is just talking about schools they have heard of, not schools that they know much about.

8

She/He is only in 10th grade. She/He probably haven’t really looked into all the possible schools yet. At this point I think it’s good for she/he to keep his/her options open and cast a wide net until he/she is sure of what college she/he want to go to. I do agree it’s strange to apply to all of them unless you like the idea of saying I got into them all.

9

@sensation723 @intparent @bksoccer7 Just casting a wide net at the moment in case I want to attend any of them by the time my Senior year rolls around.

10

Even then… wanting to say you go to “an Ivy” is just prestige hunting. Look for schools that fit you, not what you think will impress someone.

11

UNC already gives you a good chance if you’re in state. You’re doing well, but keep studying for the ACTs and SATs. Your course load and ECs look awesome. How’s your GPA? Keep it up. Chance back? http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1854384-chance-me-for-these-colleges-p1.html

12

listen to the podcast Getting In. if you have an iPhone then download the Podcast app and search Getting In. It´s free and talks about college admissions and college counseling

13

@tspmf12 4.00 GPA. Thanks and sure.