I don’t realistically expect to get into Harvard, Yale, or Princeton but, I want to know if it’d be worthwhile applying to the following universities: University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, or Dartmouth. I’m an incoming junior. My PSAT were in the 97th percentile, and I’ve improved in my weak areas. so I expect to get 98-99 percentile. My EC include football, soccer, Key Club, and Interact Club. I participated this year in Rotary Youth Leadership Awards and hope to go next year as a leader. I also have the most challenging curriculum but, my worry is because my GPA is rather low for those schools, 3.6 unweighted (I’m going to improve it this year).
Here’s my schedules:
Freshman: Marketing Essentials, Biology Honors, Intro to Engineering, English 1 Honors, AP Human Geography, Geometry Honors, ROTC, Intro to Info Tech
Sophomore: AP World History, Algebra 2 Honors, English 2 Honors, AP Physics, AP Psychology, Chemistry Honors, Drawing, Spanish 2
Junior: AICE English Lang., Pre Calculus Honors, AICE Biology, AICE US History AS, AICE US History A, AICE Spanish, French 2 (or Weight Training), Orchestra 1
P.S. The other schools I’m interested in are University of Florida , Florida State University, UCLA, BU, Penn State, and UT Austin (this list will probably change)
You should focus on other schools because you’re not getting into those and you didn’t really give much info to work with either
no
Where do you live, and what are your financial constraints? Penn State is ~$47k/year OOS.
PSAT scores don’t really matter that much - your GPA does, especially your junior year grades, and so does ACT/SAT. Your information doesn’t give much to work on.
@bodangles - I believe OP refers to Penn (the Ivy), not Penn State, so the OOS tuition info wouldn’t apply.
@bodangles ah my bad, didn’t see that. i stand corrected 
GPA is as or more important than SAT/ACT to many colleges.
Football, soccer, if you are a top level athlete, could get you into the Ivies, after all they are D1 schools.
But you have to be really really good to overcome a low GPA.
Post #1 and post #2 should be ignored.
What I meant was based on my PSAT scores I expect to score in the 98-99 percentile for SAT. I plan on applying to both Penn (Ivy) and Penn State. If not the Ivy’s do you think I could get into University of Florida, Penn State, or UCLA? I know someone who got into Florida with a 3.9 GPA weighted and only a few EC’s but I also know someone who got rejected with a 4.4 and varsity athletics.
If I get straight As next year and first semester of senior year, do you think it would be worth applying to the “lower” Ivy Leagues?
What will your major be?
Are there any other schools you’ve been looking at? As lostaccount already asked, what is your intended major? It’s important to make sure you’re applying to these schools because they have something to offer you that you can’t get at a cheaper, less selective school, and not solely based on prestige.
That being said, there are a lot of factors that play into the admission process, especially being able to demonstrate a sustained interest in an activity, showing leadership, ability to be competitive in large statewide or national competitions, etc. What Ivies are really looking for are people who will be successful in their field so that they will A) earn lots of money and hopefully give some of it back to the school, and B) continue to contribute to the prestige of the school. If you can show them that you are motivated and have clear goals, your chances will be significantly improved.
@lostaccount @CacaoNut13 I haven’t determined exactly what I would want to major in but, I’m considering, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Economics. The reason I’m looking towards these prestigious universities is due to better research opportunities (I’ve always intended on one day pursuing a PhD) and because, I enjoy the intellectual atmosphere of these universities. University of Florida and Florida State would be almost free, if not completely free, for me due to Bright Futures and other scholarships. At the Ivy Leagues, I would receive considerable need based financial aid. I would only have to take on a couple thousand dollars in debt. A cousin of mine went to BU, received need based financial aid, left with <20 thousand in debt, and is now at Harvard getting her PhD.
UCLA does not give financial aid to out of state students.
For research, look at LACs as well as research universities. At top LACs, professors are hired based on their ability and willingness to include undergrads in their research (since there are no grad students to hog the spotlight). Look into Denison, Dickinson, Wooster, St Olaf, Whitman.
UC’s and Penn State will be unaffordable if you need a lot of financial aid.
Look into UAlabama’s Presidential Scholarship program as well as their Honors College.
In Florida, NCF is a major “feeder” to top PHD programs, but you have to make it through - it looks easy going but is in fact very intense (think being locked inside a washing machine during the spin cycle 5 days a week). Wilkes Honors College is also pretty tough but good for research (MaxPlanck nearby).
Your current GPA MAY be brought to a 3.7, which is still insufficient for the tuppy-top private universities you mention.
Look at “Colleges that meet 100% need”.
Yes, apply to your reaches, but plan for all the contingencies. Know that college admissions have become VERY competitive for all those elite schools. There are many lower down the prestige ladder that are more realistic for most applicants, but give you a great education and a wonderful college experience. Get a copy of “Looking Beyond the Ivy League” by Loren Pope, it’ll open your eyes to all the possibilities. The schools in your P.S. list are more realistic, it’s really hard to predict without ACT or SAT scores. You can be happy even if you don’t go to the Ivy League, best wishes.