Am I Screwed Over?

Parents Forum
1

<p>I'm ranked at fourth or fifth in my class at a high school that doesn't exactly push for major college success. The top six students in my class are excellent students, however, I am basically the only one who wants to challenge myself. The others have great GPAs because they took easy-A fluff classes like student assistant and simple computers classes along with their required ones. There are not a lot of extracurriculars at my school, none really worth joining. I haven't had the ability to take APs because of schedule conflicts. I wanted to but couldn't. I want to go to a top school where I am among people like myself, not continue into high school: version 2. I stand out at my school, even though I am not valedictorian. I worry that I may not get accepted to top schools that are more generous with financial aid. </p>

<p>I have four english credits, three math credits, three science credits, four social studies credits. I plan to take AP English and AP US History next year as well as Pre-Calculus, World History, Advanced Bio, and either Speech or something else worth it. I have two years of JV Softball, plus I will play one year next year on Varsity. I was on a bowling league for two years, I was in reading club for two years until they canceled it. I am going into my third year of NHS and will be running for Vice President next year. I am planning on taking tennis lessons the end of the summer and seeing if there is anything there. I write a lot and am trying to get published. I await a response on a submission. My GPA is 4.006 but I am not sure if it is weighted or not. I don't know the point values for grades to make it unweighted. I got a 27 on my ACT but am going to retake it. I have 43 hours of community service including 31 of tutoring. </p>

<p>Financially, my mother says she can not afford to pay anything. We hope to get a waiver for my father because he absolutely CAN'T contribute at all. He hasn't filed taxes in almost a decade because he hasn't been working for almost a decade. He is surviving off of his inheritance from his mother's death. Plus, he's a big alcoholic, so... I'm wondering if I have a shot at major financial aid or possibly getting into Yale, if my ACT went up a bit.</p>

2

<p>So tell me, if you were to get into one of the schools of your dreams; What do you want to do at this school and what do you intend to do after graduation?</p>

3

<p>ALong with 99.9% of today's rising seniors, you have very little chance of getting into Yale.</p>

<p>But you are not screwed over. </p>

<p>There are dozens of excellent schools around the country that would welcome you as a student. You do not have to go to Yale (or Harvard, or Amherst etc etc etc) to be among talented and motivated students like yourself. </p>

<p>Right now your grades are excellent, but your test score will not help your application. The best things you can do for your application profile is to study for your ACT retake (or do the same before taking SATs) and make sure your 1st semester senior grades are strong. </p>

<p>I would go through the Fiske Guide and list a couple dozen schools that interest you. Don't go for name value; pay careful attention to the school descriptions. And do some research here and elsewhere about schools that are generous with need-based aid and schools that offer good merit aid. You need to include several of them on your list.</p>

<p>Once you get your new test score(s) you can calibrate your chances at your choices. Good luck.</p>