Am I on track for RPI?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
1

<p>Am I on track for acceptance to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute looking at my first two years of high school? Here is a list of things I have done in my freshman and sophomore years of high school:</p>

<p>Freshman Year</p>

<p>Academics</p>

<ul>
<li>Two Honors Courses (Chemistry Honors and Geometry Honors) </li>
<li>Two Electives (Multimedia Design and Concert Band) </li>
<li>Maximum Number of Credits </li>
<li>Community Service Honors (50+ Community Service Hours) </li>
<li>GPA - 2.957</li>
<li>Chemistry Honors (usually taken by strong juniors): C+</li>
<li>Geometry Honors (usually taken by strong freshmen or sophomores): C-</li>
<li>World Civilizations: A-</li>
<li>English I: B</li>
<li>Spanish I: B-</li>
<li>Multimedia Design: A</li>
<li>Concert Band: A+ (counted as half of a course)</li>
</ul>

<p>School Sports</p>

<ul>
<li>None</li>
</ul>

<p>Extracurricular</p>

<ul>
<li>Elected Ninth Grade Class Council Officer</li>
<li>Volunteer at the Children's Section of a local library </li>
<li>Judge in the Elementary School Science Fair</li>
<li>Performed in the School Spring Drama Production</li>
<li>Member of a Church Youth Group </li>
<li>Host at a School Open House</li>
<li>Wrote and Acted for two different short plays in the Instant Drama Festival (less than 24 hours to write lines and less than 12 hours to learn lines)</li>
<li>Member of the Chess Team</li>
<li>Summer Volunteer at a hospital</li>
</ul>

<p>Sophomore Year (so far)</p>

<p>Academics</p>

<ul>
<li>Two Honors Courses (Biology Honors and Algebra II Honors) </li>
<li>One AP Course (World History AP) </li>
<li>Two Electives (Computer Science and Concert Band) </li>
<li>Maximum Number of Credits </li>
<li>Community Service Honors (50+ Community Service Hours) </li>
<li>GPA - ? </li>
<li>Biology Honors: B</li>
<li>Algebra II Honors: B-</li>
<li>World History AP: B-</li>
<li>English II: B+</li>
<li>Spanish II: B-</li>
<li>Computer Science: B+</li>
<li>Concert Band: A+ (counted as half of a course)</li>
<li>PSAT - 184 (without prior preparation)</li>
<li>PLAN - 22 (without prior preparation)</li>
</ul>

<p>School Sports</p>

<ul>
<li>Cross Country</li>
<li>Swimming</li>
<li>Tennis</li>
</ul>

<p>Extracurricular</p>

<ul>
<li>Elected Executive Council Secretary (Highest Student Council Position Available to a Sophomore)</li>
<li>Elected Tenth Grade Class Council Officer (served until elected Executive Council Secretary)</li>
<li>Volunteering at the Children's Section of a local library</li>
<li>Performed in the Fall and Spring Drama Productions</li>
<li>Member of the Set Construction/Technical Crews for the Fall and Spring Drama Productions </li>
<li>Member of a Church Youth Group </li>
<li>Founding Member of a Junior State of America chapter (Appointed to the position of Chapter Secretary & Director of Debate for next year)</li>
<li>Appointed to lead the chapter at the JSA Spring State Conference</li>
<li>Model United Nations delegate</li>
<li>Wrote and Acted for two different short plays in the Instant Drama Festival (less than 24 hours to write lines and less than 12 hours to learn lines)</li>
<li>Staff Writer for the School Newspaper</li>
<li>Staff Writer for the School Literary Magazine</li>
<li>Member of the Community Service Board </li>
<li>Member of the Future Business Leaders of America chapter </li>
<li>Founding Officer of the 30 Hour Famine Chapter </li>
<li>Member of the Chess Club </li>
<li>Host at School Open Houses and School Orientation</li>
<li>Vice President of the Sports Writing Club</li>
<li>Teen Leadership Summer Volunteer at a hospital</li>
</ul>

<p>Thank you for your time.</p>

2

<p>If you are getting all B’s and some C’s, you are not on track for RPI.</p>

<p>Why take a junior class when you’re a freshman? Your GPA matters a lot bro.</p>

3

<p>It’s really great that you are already challenging yourself in the first two years of high school. But Josh is right, your GPA does factor into admissions. I would check some websites to see what is the median GPA for incoming RPI students, or previous students who were accepted. It will help determine where you want to be by junior year, and when you apply, and will make choosing classes easier. I would also recommend beginning standardized testing prep just to boost up those scores. Good luck. </p>

<p>Candice</p>

4

<p>GPA’s important, but tough classes are as well. </p>

<p>I hate to give definitive answers here because I don’t know how the admissions committee thinks, but I would very strongly suggest keeping up with the tough coursework while boosting your GPA and kicking ass on the SATs. If you mostly succeed (say get around an A- average), you could realistically have something like a 3.4ish, which would put you in a very similar spot as to what I was in 5 and a half years ago (when, almost to the day, I made a post like yours… see <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/236361-my-odds.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/236361-my-odds.html&lt;/a&gt; ). </p>

<p>With those stats, I think I got into all schools to which I applied outside of the US News top 25, rejected from Cornell, and waitlisted at the rest (didn’t bother with any waiting lists except CMU, where I got rejected). I’d imagine you might get something similar, but perhaps you’ll have a bit more luck :).</p>

<p>Regardless, go get those grades! Even if they don’t change where you end up, they can still potentially work as some grounds for negotiating a higher scholarship.</p>