<p>I'm currently in 10th grade and this college thing has finally hit me and now I'm nervous and whatnot. I was hoping I can give you some of my info and plans for the next 2 years and you can tell me if the colleges I am applying too are realistic.</p>
<p>My averages in 9th and 10th grade have been solid with transcript grades being 96.5 and higher. I am currently taking AP World History as a sophmore and hopefully will get a 4 or 5 on the AP test. This term I am planning on boosting my average greatly to about a 99 and already I am working toward this goal so this term of Sophmore year should be better.</p>
<p>In the summer I am trying to find some volunteer work to get accepted into National Honor Society Junior year. Some classes I will be taking then are AP Russian, AP US History, and one term of AP AB Calculus (other AP classes maybe, not sure whats available).</p>
<p>Senior year I will definitely be taking AP BC Calculus which I heard is really helpful for schools.</p>
<p>I am also planning on taking my SAT's in junior year and I have been generally very good and consistent with test scores and am setting my goal for 2200 plus.</p>
<p>A list of schools that I would like to attend are:</p>
<p>Wharton (My Number one choice)
Stanford (Would also be very very happy with this school as a 2nd choice)</p>
<p>Other schools would be NYU and Brandeis I guess and a safety of McGill possibly. I don't really know >.>.</p>
<p>P.S. - I go to a specialized high school where people have very high averages. I don't think I am in the top 10% of class.</p>
<p>Any help would be nice and feel free to ask me for more info.</p>
<p>As a sophomore, while college should be in the back of your mind, don’t focus on it. It sounds like you know what you’re doing, so I’m sure you also know no one can chance you thus far. Leave this site and work your ass off until you come back as a senior, heh.</p>
<p>p.s. I’m amazed by a school where a 96.5 isn’t in the top 10%.</p>
<p>Well, to be honest I would say you need to aim lower. If you have a 96.5 average, which is an A, and you aren’t in the top 10% then your school has some serious grade inflation problems.</p>
<p>Another cause for concern is that you haven’t listed a lot of extra curriculars. The good news is that you are still a sophomore, you should try getting into some clubs right away. Do you plan an instrument or anything like that? Sports?</p>
<p>NYU and Brandeis could be possibilities for you, and I wouldn’t consider McGill a safety. Wharton and Stanford are incredibly competitive, and you are going to be competing with students who are All-stars that are very involved with plenty of high quality ECs and leadership. Right now I’d say your chances at Wharton and Stanford are slim to none, but you could potentially get yourself in the running if you were to pull something together.</p>
<p>Even with NYU and Brandeis, you can’t just have NHS and some volunteer work to be competitive. Do you have any extracurriculars?</p>
<p>I like you, am also a 10th grader. Some advice that I think would be really good is to, like others have mentioned, is find a sport or some other type of activity that you really enjoy. Music? Clubs? Sports? All are very good! In addition…dang, 96.5% average…And you’re not top ten%? At my school, I’m like top 3% with averages of 93% haha…</p>
<p>Don’t worry about specific colleges now. Don’t even think about it until you’re ready to go visit schools, perhaps in Spring Break of junior year.
Instead, just do your best in school, and look for extracurricular activities that interest and inspire you. Don’t pick them just because they will “look good for college.” Pick them because you will be driven to give a lot to them–THAT’s what looks good for college.</p>