<p>I've been doing terrible at school lately, but I've changed. My freshman year I failed 3 classes which were all electives and 2 classes which I ended up passing by taking them in summer school. My sophomore year I failed 1 elective but ended up with high 80's and low 90's in all of my other classes. This year, my junior year, I am earning mid 90's and high 80's with no electives(all main subjects) and an AP world history class which I have an 80.95 in at this moment. My absolute dream is to go to Yale or Harvard, but I know that is lightyears away from my current qualifications. I scored a 1690 on the SAT. What are my chances of getting into an Ivy league or very prestigious school? Please be Honest.</p>
<p>Ivy League? Little to none. For example, Penn (one of the so-called “easier” Ivies) has an average SAT score of 2100. The Ivies have no shortage of applicants who have only ever made As and who scored 2300+ on the SAT. You need to set your sights lower.</p>
<p>You can get into a lot of good colleges if you manage to keep your grades in the high B’s and A’s. Retake the SAT (practice with number2.com, it’s a free system that targets your weak points until you improve).
There’s more to life than “prestige” BTW, and what will matter is how well you do at the college you choose to attend. In addition, you need to run the Net Price Calculators to see what would be affordable for your family - run the NPCs on your state flagship (“famous” public university, like UT, Penn State, UCs…), on a local state college, on a private college or two, on a private university or two. Then bring the results to your parents: can they afford these schools? Are they able or willing to pay for your education at these schools?
If your goal is to attend Yale or Harvard, your goal should be to get into the best college you can (perhaps its Honors Program, so you’ll need to raise your SAT to 1800-1900 at least and your GPA to a 3.5 at least), do very well there, take advanced classes, participate in research and study abroad, have internships… and then apply to Yale or Harvard for graduate school.
For now, you need to find colleges you like.
Start with your state’s public colleges (the flagship, the local colleges); look at colleges that change lives, half would likely be reaches for you but there are some that would be accessible at present.
<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/map”>http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/map</a>
Then go meet with your guidance counselor: if your school has Naviance, ask where students with your profile have been admitted in the past few years.</p>
<p>Unfortunately you are not the right fit for the ivy league. Most students aren’t. Don’t beat yourself up about it. The important thing is to try your best. You should look into very different schools.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about your money situation and if these are even plausible, but I think you may like:</p>
<p>Universities:
U of Arizona
ASU
CU Boulder
UC Santa Cruz
Texas A&M
Michigan State
American University
Miami U Oxford
U of Delaware
Texas Christian University
Vermont
Alabama
Florida State
UMass Amherst
U of Denver
U of San Diego
Midwestern Schools which are well respected and super fun: Iowa/Nebraska/Kansas/Mizzou/IU Bloomington</p>
<p>Liberal Arts:
Lewis & Clark
Wheaton
St John’s
U of Puget Sound
Cornell College
Bennington
Drew
Goucher
Hampshire
Linfield College
**I’m not as familiar with these as I am with universities so I can’t say with certainty that these will be in your range. Just some schools to research. </p>
<p>If you tell me what state you live in, if you are willing to go OOS or private, and if you are looking for a big or small school I may be able to make a better list for you with reaches, matches, and safeties. </p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>