Can I get into a selective college? HELP!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I am a junior and my sister insists that I consider looking at highly selective schools (UC Berkeley, Duke, etc.) and Ivy Leagues (UPenn and Columbia) but I don’t think I am THAT qualified so right now, I am aimless. I don’t know what schools to consider or if I’m qualified enough to go to selective colleges (less than 40%). Here’s my info:
-Want to pursue masters in computer science in college
-female
-Top 10% of school (of 515)
-GPA of 3.85-3.90
-a part of 4 clubs (for STEM and getting involved in the community, each spent 100+ hours)
-Martial artist (5 years, black belt)
-Attended a STEM camp at UC Berkeley last summer
-Took an online College Board SAT prep test, my predicted score is 2080 (without studying, so once I study, I’m sure my score will increase)

  • 8 AP classes (rest are honors, besides electives)
    -2 years of French (because of how horrible my French teacher is. I decided to take a computer programming course instead)
    -Self taught programmer (the comp programming class is just more in depth)
    -Web designer
    -I am going to apply for internships and camps over the summer that are in STEM (computers specifically) and I am hoping I will get at least one!
    -National Honors Society member
    -Volunteer at shelter (mainly for the joy of it, also 100+ hours)
    Since I currently take AP English, I assume my essays will be at least decent. I hope this helps. Either my sister is being unrealistic or I’m being doubtful. If I can’t get into Ivy League, what schools can I get into (that have good comp sci programs)
2

Ivy Leagues don’t necessarily have the best comp sci programs.
You are a junior right now which is too early to say if you’ll get in or not. You don’t have any test scores and they are extremely important in admissions.

Schools like Carnegie Mellon, UCB, Georgia Tech,MIT, Stanford, UIUC all have fantastic comp sci programs. If you’re 100% that you are majoring in Comp Sci, those schools will serve you better than Penn/Columbia/Duke. Those 3 schools are great, but their comp sci programs in my opinion are not as good.

You are definitely on the right track so keep up the good work.

3

Do more practice in SAT and see what score you may get in the real test. Indeed, you should be taking the real test over the few months. You should have done more than one practice test or you would be a little behind other top students applying to these schools. You should plan to finish all SAT1/SAT2/ACT by the end of junior year.