<p>I don't know if this is the right forum for this, but I don't see one better suited, so...</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore at a large Texas high-school who wants to know if he is on the right track (or somewhere near it) for:</p>
<p>UPenn
Caltech
MIT
Harvard</p>
<p>Stats(obviously relatively skeletal right now):</p>
<p>Rank/GPA(weighted): Freshman: 4.2583</p>
<p>SAT(New, Sophomore year): 800M, 800V, 690CW
Practice PSAT: 80M, 75V, 78W</p>
<p>What is your unweighted GPA? Great scores! But, the UW GPA must be high too for those schools, and different schools do WGPAs differently.</p>
<p>Improve your math and verbal scores on the SAT.</p>
<p>great advice SonataX. He should get extra credit next time on those sections.</p>
<p>Anxious Sophmore: Your are definetly on the right track with those PSAT scores and SAT scores. Also,your GPA is very strong as well just keep on working. But do you do any ECs for they are very important as well and will help seperate you from the pack at Harvard and other top schools.</p>
<p>Whoops, didn't mean to post just that. There is a more complete version(the one I meant to post) but it has fallen back in the pages, so here's the rest:</p>
<p>EC's:</p>
<p>In School:
(Organization: Position Year)
Students Taking Action, Not Drugs: Freshman representative, 9th; Member, 10th
NJHS/NHS: Member 9-10th
International Club: Member 9th; Chairperson 10th
Math Club: Member 9th; Co-Chairperson 10th
Science Club: Member 9th; Vice-President 10th
Whiz Quiz: Member/ De Facto captain: 9th-10th, qualified for nationals in 10th</p>
<p>Out of School(The area I am most worried about):
Tae Kwon Doe for 9 years, not very good though/haven't acheived anything through it
New Dallas Conservatory: Member 9th
Science Fair: Reached Regionals in 9th, entering this year
Volunteer hours: about 20 hours, doing random things.</p>
<p>Awards:
Best District High school Whiz Quiz Team: 9th
AIME "exceptional" award: 9th</p>
<p>And my unweighted GPA freshman year was 3.9667 and sophomore it was 3.9517</p>
<p>Oh yeah, another question for you:</p>
<p>I realize that the schools I posted are somewhat of a crapshoot for anyone, but what schhols would be considered a "match" for me (especially in terms of in-state schools)?</p>
<p>sorry for bumping, but I really wanted more than one real reply.</p>
<p>Please, help!</p>
<p>Random Bob, you are a sophomore in high school. Your SAT's are amazing, your GPA is great and your EC's are phenomenal. My advice to you is to stop worrying so much, continue doing well in high school, have a good course load, and start worrying next year. Enjoy your sophomore year; you seem like you're certainly on the right track for most, if not all, of these schools.</p>
<p>What sort of ECs should I be doing outside of school? I'm interested in premed/biochemistry, so what sort of things can you do to show that your interested in that?</p>
<p>Try finding a summer intership, maybe at a hospital if you're interested in premed, or a lab for biochemistry. More and more places are offering summer internships for high school students, and while it might be unpaid, it looks fabulous on an application.</p>
<p>What about the TIP-style programs, the ones where you go to a college to take a course or two? Are those worth it at all?</p>
<p>I've heard they're not, even at really prestigious colleges, but my cousin, who's at upenn right now insists they are. I'm currently debating whether to apply to these or the programs mentioned in the above post.</p>
<p>Not too sure, because I've never done one myself, but you could do something along the lines of a student leadership conference that involves science. Many of these conferences have programs you can choose from, and I'm almost 100% sure that there is a science one, if not a medical one. You generally get invited to these things if you make honor roll at your school, you have an above 3.0 gpa, and your PSAT scores are good. You certainly match all these criteria, so have you gotten an application for one in the mail?</p>