<p>Hey I'm going to be a junior after this summer, and I was just starting to think about college and stuff. I took the SAT June 04' to get a feel for what I needed to focus on in high school. Here are my stats....</p>
<p>GPA: 3.7-8uw, don't know what it is weighted, around 4.3 teachers and people have told me.</p>
<p>SAT: I have to take the new one but I did take the old one. 1520, 750V/770M. Thank god for analogies, and thank god for quantitative comparisons. I'll have to retake that though since it's not the new one.</p>
<p>APs: I took AP Psychology last year, waiting on test results. Planning on around 10 APs probably, I'm going to see how much I can handle, play it by ear. Taking the most rigorous schedule allowed at my school, as well as taking some loopholes teachers will give me.</p>
<p>Community Service: 80 hours. Various environmental organizations and clubs I've been in have done community service. Planning to do a lot of volunteering at the hospital this summer.</p>
<p>Sports: Volleyball, varsity for 3 days until they cut the team in half and made a JV team lol. I wasn't over 6' lol.</p>
<p>Clubs and ECs: Science Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Habitat for Humanity, Math UIL, Computer Science Club. </p>
<p>School does not do class ranks. Well, I've remembered to put down everything useful. </p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your comments and interest in my thread.</p>
<p>Come on! If you want to, you can also evaluate my chances for the Ivies and MIT, Stanford.</p>
<p>That seems to be what people like to do here, and I suppose I wouldn't mind going those places.</p>
<p>I picked University of Washington UCLA, and Case Western because they have great medical schools. I suppose however, that I wouldn't mind attending an ivy league, obviously.</p>
<p>From what I've looked at, I think you have a good chance at Case Western. This is based on the old SAT, but from that one your scores are above average. Same for University of Washington. Those SAT scores were more than 100 points above each median, so I would say that it is definitally a safety school. </p>
<p>Looks like its the same for UCLA. With the SAT, your scores are also above the median. For the average GPA given, the average was a 4.12 (I'm assuming that maybe the advanced courses were worth 5.0 points instead of 4.0 points.....but the assumption could be wrong).</p>
<p>But it looks like you have a good shot at all of them, especially the University of Washington. You might want to diversify your ECs though, just to show that you have a focus on not just educational ECs but also sports. You also might want to get some more service hours, because a lot of colleges seem to like that. From the college stuff that I've attended, they like to boast about how many hours that their students get while going to school, and volunteering in the community and stuff.</p>
<p>Well, with the old SAT score, you would do well for Cornell, and perhaps Princeton. But you're gonna need some SAT IIs as well.</p>
<p>You've still got time to raise all your already-impressive stats. Do some prep for the new SAT, as well as SAT IIs. If you do well on them, then you should be able to apply to many different schools, including Ivies.</p>
<p>Yep I need some SATIIs for sure. I'll take them later in high school, after junior year after I've done high level courses in the subjects they cover.</p>
<p>So why did you pick Cornell and Princeton specifically out of the ivy leagues? Does my GPA match up to them and all that? I'll be competing with a lot of straight A students, so I was worried about my GPA, not that it's something to cry over.</p>
<p>Well, Cornell is the easiest Ivy to get into, no doubt about it. There's dispute about the second easiest (many CCers are gonna argue about this). I think it's Princeton, but others are gonna disagree with me and say something else.</p>
<p>contrary to the rest of the board, your GPA is actually not that impressive. you have a 3.8ish with only 1 AP - that means that the weighted courses are just honors, which aren't that impressive. I do not that UCLA is a match-safety, I think UCLA is more of a reach school, especially since you are out of state. UCs are very hard to get into out of state. Calculute your UC GPA and find out if your weighted is really 4.3. You need a 4.0+ weighted to get into UCLA in-state, so probably 4.2+ weighted out of state.</p>
<p>Have you won any awards in your ECs?</p>
<p>I disagree with Diana606; I don't think you need any more ECs. What you do need, is to show tremendous effort/leadership in the ones you already have - basically, become team captain or win some award. This especially applies to Cornell and Princeton, which I think are reaches. </p>
<p>"You also might want to get some more service hours, because a lot of colleges seem to like that. From the college stuff that I've attended,"</p>
<p>i don't find those college things useful...but that's me personally. I think what you really need is to focus on 2-3 specific ECs (and volunteer in those areas) and show passion and commitment. Essentially, for LA - which is actually less grade-focused than UCB - you need to show directed interest. This also definitely applies for Cornell and Princeton. I totally do not think Princeton is the next least selective Ivy. UPenn is. </p>
<p>also: With the SAT, your scores are also above the median. That does not mean the school is a safety. For many of these schools, what pulls those medians down are athletes and minorities and other special cases.</p>
<p>even if your school does not rank, can you give an estimate/percentage?</p>
<p>But as of now:</p>
<p>UW: safety
Case-Western: safety-reach (how many Bs did you get? how competitive is your school?)
UCLA: reach
Cornell/Princeton: high reach</p>
<p>For Case Western did you mean safety-target? That's what I will assume.</p>
<p>My school is very competitive, I got two Bs this year.</p>
<p>I've never heard of Princeton being the second easiest Ivy to get into. I've always thought it was Brown or U Penn. I did some research on acceptance rates and here's the rankings for hardest.</p>
<p>Give me my chances at any of those if you want. It seems like people have more fun talking about Ivy Leagues and stuff than telling me about my safeties.</p>
<p>I'm not set on those colleges because I'm just beginning the selection process.</p>
<p>If any of you have any suggestions on what colleges I should consider I would greatly appreciate them.</p>
<p>yea. safety-match. sorry! lol. I do think UW will be a no-brainer though, and you don't need to stress out that much. keep up the grades and focus on ECs. What about pharmacy school? USC is good for that. lol. UCSD has an awesome 8 year med program who someone I know passed up Ivies for. You get undergrad and grad there. But again, it is very competitive. :)</p>
<p>Yeah UCSD has a better medical school than most of the ivies.</p>
<p>Harvard is #1 for research. I picked University of Washington because it's a safety for me for undergraduate and it may give me an upperhand getting into their medical school which is #1 for Primary Care.</p>
<p>Do you think I have a decent shot at any Ivies. My GPA is kind of low for them I suppose.</p>
<p>Yes, it is, but that doesn't mean don't apply. If you can pull good SAT II scores, and write good essays, apply wherever you like - you have safeties and matches. However, don't apply just because a school is an ivy. Ivies that are great fits for you - that's a different matter.</p>
<p>I don't want to be a prestige hound or anything. Honestly I'd pick a west coast top tier school over an ivy, or a school where the medical scene is good. Which I've noticed seems to be in California, Texas, or Washington.</p>
<p>I just figure if I can get into an Ivy League I can get in anywhere, so why not ask about them.</p>
<p>How do my other stats look for the Ivies? I've already figured out that I don't have the right GPA.</p>
<p>I don't live where good colleges are, I'll tell you that.</p>
<p>Ebonytear, I understand what you mean that honors courses are not that impressive. However, I've only been through two years of high school in which 0 APs were offered and I took 1. Of course I'm going to take more APs. I can take up to 13 with my current schedule, and I'm going to figure out what I can handle.</p>
<p>ohio_mom, which Ivies do you think are worth applying to. I have the whole alumni relation thing going for me at Harvard and Brown. I figure Harvard is way out of my reach though.</p>
<p>Flopsy thanks for your opinion. How do you think I'd be if I was in state for UCLA? I have relatives in California that I could live with.</p>
<p>GF,
talk to your GC and see if you school keeps a gray book or scattergrams for colleges where kids from your school are admitted with what stats. If you see multiple Ivies and competitive school admit, your guidance department likely has an established relation with some of these schools - which will help you - if you send apps to colleges that seem to like your hs. </p>
<p>If your hs doesn't send many kids to elites, you are stuck with looking at admit rates (and yours are a little out of date), and class profiles. Whether your alumni links at H and B is probably limited unless your family include major donors. Offhand, I would say that if you really like Brown, UPenn, or Cornell, and don't need finaid (or you and your parents are willing to risk it), you could give ED a shot. </p>
<p>As for Harvard ... if your board scores are near-perfect (SAT I and II's), and your win a bunch of competitions, and your (unofficial) rank is really high - certainly take your lottery ticket and apply - if you like Harvard. Look at the Harvard forum at some of the accepted kids. They typically have stellar academics and are very high-energy. If they sound like you a year from now ... best of luck.</p>
<p>I looked at the Harvard board like you said. Thanks a lot, you've been very helpful.</p>
<p>Though now my 1540 SAT seems low.</p>
<p>Just thought of another one, Rice University since they have a good deal with Baylor Medical School.</p>
<p>I actually need some help figuring out what to consider. Maybe someone could make me a list of colleges that I have a shot at. Preferably medium sized universities, slightly small or big is okay though.</p>
<p>Oh and I almost forgot, I'd like to thank everyone who has replied. This has been really helpful for me so far.</p>