Am I on Track?

<p>Hi everyone, I'm a sophomore and seriously debating about whether or not I have a shot at any of my dreams schools (MIT, UChicago, Cornell, any place with a great physics program!) Thanks so much for reading this, if you could give me some feedback/advice on what to do to turn around my application so far. I'm willing to work a lot to improve, but I just don't know where to start!!!</p>

<p>I'm a female from Florida, hoping to attend a top school for astrophysics, my top choice being (unrealistically) MIT.
My very odd school has a weird system for ranking/GPA. We don't rank by UW, just weighted, and your weighted only includes classes taken in high school, not middle school, like our UW.
Weighted: 4.889
UW GPA: 3.89 (very bad, I know, but I've gotten a 4.0 for all of high school, I took algebra 1, geometry, and spanish 1 in middle school and got some B's in them-biggest regret)
Rank: 10/580 (I'd be 2nd if it weren't for the fact I took Spanish 2, a regular class, in hs, when the rest of the top kids took spanish 3 honors)
PSAT: 194
Math 69
Reading 68
CR 57
I didn't do a wink of studying for the PSAT (somehow I got the 2nd highest score in my grade too!!!), but I just took a Mock SAT, and after some prep, I'm expecting 2000-2150. By the end of my testing career, I'm aiming for a 32-34 on the ACT, which I do significantly better on than the SAT.</p>

<p>Dual Enrollment:
Astronomy of the Solar System, AutoCAD, Sociology<em>, Art Appreciation</em> (easy class, I know)
*=currently taking</p>

<p>Next dual enrollment term I'll take: Astronomy of the Stars & Galaxies + lab and possibly intro to engineering</p>

<p>Freshman Schedule:
Algebra 2 Honors
Precalculus Honors
Spanish 2
HOPE (mandatory PE class)
Business/Writing Pathways (mandatory writing class)
English 1 gifted
Bio 1 gifted
AP Human Geo (5)</p>

<p>Sophomore Schedule
Calculus Honors (pre-AP)
AP Calculus AB
World History Honors (pre-AP)
AP World History
AP Enviromental Science
Chemistry 1 Gifted
English 2 Gifted
Intro to Info Tech (the only non-honors/AP class I'm taking, it's required to be in DECA)
Spanish 3 Honors (Online)</p>

<p>Junior Future Schedule (still up in the air):
US History Honors (pre-AP)
AP US History
AP Calculus BC
AP English Lang.
Physics 1 Honors (pre-AP)
AP Physics B (no C at our school, unfortunately)
Financial Planning Honors (required for DECA-you get an internship!!)
AP Pyschology</p>

<p>Either during Senior year (1st semester) or 2nd Semester Junior year, I'll take Multivariable Calculus at the local college-it's supposed to be insanely hard there, though!!!!</p>

<p>Senior Year
AP Statistics
AP US Gov/AP Microeconomics
Chemistry 2 Honors (Pre-AP)
AP Chemistry
Personal Financial Planning Honors (Required for DECA)
AP Literature
Dual Enrollment Class</p>

<p>Awards: 1st place Soccer Champions, 2nd place districts (DECA), 6th place states (DECA), 3rd place districts (DECA). that's pretty much it. Very depressing, I know.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars
DECA (9,10 VP of Competitive Events Executive Board)
SGA (9,10)
Key Club (9,10 - actually, I'm starting 2 committees in Key Club for next year that I'll be the president of)
Women of Tomorrow (10, the program starts in 10th grade-you need to be recommended by 2 teachers and then apply to get in)
Science Club (9,10 currently Historian, but I really do the treasurer's job, secretary's job, etc, etc. The VP and President this year are seniors that have told me I'm for sure going to be president next year! :D)
Mu Alpha Theta (10, running for a position next year)
Starting a Fundraising Club and a club for Physics/Astronomy
Orphans Of Ghana Outreach (10 - first year of club, I'm heavily involved)
Eliminate Project (10, not very involved)
Relay for Life (10, not very involved)
Becca's closet (10)</p>

<p>I've played soccer since I was 5, I play optimist soccer every fall and spring. I also love painting/drawing/writing and am pretty good at it! I won a bunch of awards in middle school for the activities I just mentioned.</p>

<p>I'm in the Gifted program, Women of Tomorrow Program, and the Academy of Finance program at my school. My school is a good one for Florida but our math and science clubs aren't half as good as the nearby private school. We compete in the MAO competitions and Science Olympiad, but we never make it past districts-we have smart people but it's not very organized or supported by the school. My school is large (2500 kids), though.</p>

<p>I'm applying to several different summer programs for this year (COSMOS, Cornell Pre-college, Summer Science Program, etc, etc), one of which I'll attend for the summer.</p>

<p>Is there anything I can do to still be able to get into MIT, Cornell, or any of the top tier schools? I'm just getting so nervous! Thanks so much everyone.</p>

<p><a href=“somehow%20I%20got%20the%202nd%20highest%20score%20in%20my%20grade%20too!!!”>quote</a>

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<p>That’s irrelevant. Standardized tests compare you to the population.</p>

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<p>Drop them and focus on things you’re more interested and involved in. Depth is better than breadth when it comes to ECs.</p>

<p>Academically, you’re on the right track with a rigorous schedule and excellent grades. Middle school grades don’t matter at all. Colleges will ignore them entirely.</p>

<p>In terms of standardized tests, you’re going to want to focus on scoring as well as you can on the math sections of any tests you submit.</p>

<p>Thanks so much! You’re right about the second highest comment, I tend to ramble and say more than I need, I was trying to kind of an example of the context of my school. I definitely will focus more on the math sections. Thanks about the tips on the middle school grades - I’m so relieved! It’s been one of my biggest worrying factors about my future application.</p>

<p>bump</p>

<p>I’m not quite sure how that goes.</p>