Chance at Ivy? Suggestions?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I just want to know if I have a shot at getting into a prestigious school or at standing out to colleges. I know that I probably don't have enough so any advice you guys have so i can improve my chances is welcome!</p>

<p>I haven't taken the SAT/ACT test yet however I do plan on taking the SAT Chemistry Subject test.</p>

<p>Freshmen year:
English: A
Honors Geometry: A
Honors Physical Science: A-
Honors World History: A
Health: A
PE: A
Drama: A
Computer Graphic Design: A
French I: A
I volunteered for 19 hours this year at a dance for a chance that raised money for a local charity organization. I was in the head comity dedicated to overlooking the treasury.
I was ranked the 20th or 21st (Can't remember exactly) out of 565 in my class</p>

<p>I didn't do much else this year because my grandfather had passed away and my mother found a tumor in her brain that needed to be removed. - NOT looking for pity but do you think that the college administrators will take that into consideration?</p>

<p>Sophomore Year:
I switched schools to a private school because I thought it would give me a better opportunity academically. So some of my grades went down and my GPA went down to a 3.5
English: B
Biology: A-
World History before 1800s: A
Algebra II: B+
PE:A
French II: B-
Network of complementary school: A
I was in the chess club, the newspaper club, the yearbook club, and I played tennis and lacrosse.
I started volunteering at a local hospice center.
I'm doing an internship with a local political party's headquarters.
And I recently started my own business to drive executives to airports near the city.</p>

<p>Next year I'll be taking:
AP U.S. History
AP English language
Honors Chemistry
Pre-calculus
Audio/Video Production
French III
I'll also be doing an independent study on Brazilian pharmacies in November for a month.</p>

<p>I'm almost positive that I haven't been doing enough in order to make an impression. So any advice that you guys have for what I should do to stand out more will definitively be appreciated!~</p>

2

<p>Academics are a bit low. Freshmen to soph year doesn’t show any improvement, which does not help you at all. Are you going to be a junior or senior this fall? If you’re going to be a senior, nothing can really help you academics unfortunately. If you’re going to be a junior, I would DEFINITELY step up your game! Get straight A’s all throughout Junior year and you might have a shot.</p>

<p>For ivy schools, you really need a 2100+ SAT or a 30+ ACT. SAT subject tests are nice, especially a 700+ in math ii AND a hard science. Do this and try to get tons of unique and impressive ECs. The fact that you started your own business is nice, but not enough for ivys. You can also use your past adversities to write compelling essays.</p>

<p>Don’t lose hope, ivy schools are extremely competitive, but they are somewhat random with their selections. If you really want to go to an ivy, raise your GPA(if you can), get a high SAT/ACT, beef up your ECs, and apply to most(if not all) ivy schools because if you do this, there will be at least one ivy which will accept you. Best of luck to you, friend :)</p>

<p>[Chance</a> me back please?](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1369973-chance-me-san-diego-state-univ.html]Chance”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1369973-chance-me-san-diego-state-univ.html)</p>

3

<p>As of right now,
very low to almost no chances at top colleges unless you have hooks.
You GPA is low and course rigor is not there.</p>

4

<p>Thanks to both of you for your responses. Especially letspek - You really gave a nice evaluation. I’m really hoping on doing well on the SAT and in raising my grades for this next year and getting more involved. Do you have an suggestions for EC’s that might stand out? Also I’ll chance you back~</p>

<p>Also sorry for misspelling committee! Its bugging me and I’m new so I don’t know how to edit it~</p>

5

<p>If I may offer some advice: You look fine so far. It really is impossible to chance rising juniors, especially when you haven’t taken any standardized testing yet. So, with that in mind, here are a few tips.</p>

<p>1) Do as well as you can on the SAT/ACT, but don’t freak out too much about it. I personally suggest taking both, if you have the time and money to do so. I also suggest taking the SAT twice – all research shows that people score significantly better the second time they take it. I agree that optimally, you should have at least a 2100 on the SAT or a 30 on the ACT. If you take it multiple times, though, and find you are getting close, but are not reaching that number, don’t stress too much. Remember that there are several factors that go into college admissions, and the transcript is the most important (far more important than standardized testing).</p>

<p>2) Junior year is your most important year. I don’t know the number of AP courses your school offers, but I suggest taking as many as possible (so long as you are confident you can maintain good grades in them). Strive to get straight A’s. Now, if you get a B, that isn’t going to make it impossible for you to get into a prestigious institution, but at the same time, having the best grades possible never hurts. Always remember, the transcript is the most important document in your application. </p>

<p>3) Take the PSAT next year. It provides good practice, but more importantly, you would have a chance at becoming a national merit scholar. Again, if you don’t get it, it’s not the end of the world, but it never hurts.</p>

<p>4) In terms of extracurriculars: do what you love. I simply can’t put it any other way. It is awesome that you founded your own business. If that’s your passion, pursue it. By junior year, elite colleges expect you to have found at least something that really interests you. So, find that thing (or, if you’ve already found it, try to become even more involved with it), and become as involved as possible with it. The worst thing anybody can ever possibly do is to pad their resume with things they think colleges want to see. First of all, even if one pads it with leadership positions, colleges will see right through it. Second of all, though, it needs to be noted that admissions officers are looking for the best ‘fit.’ Sometimes, it can frankly be a good thing if you don’t get accepted into a college; it just means that an admissions officer committee decided their college wasn’t the best fit for you. Therefore, if you deliberately misrepresent yourself just so you hope colleges will like you, in the end, you are doing yourself a disservice, because it may mean you don’t end up at the higher educational institution that fits you best. This is just food for thought.</p>

<p>Best of luck, don’t stress out too much, and enjoy your Junior year! Believe me, it’s the most challenging year, but it also can be the most rewarding.</p>

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<p>Your GPA is not great; you have ok ECs-- I would say, be sure to make your activities look consistent in terms of the picture that you are willing to draw. It would be good if many if not most of your activities when you are applying could connect to each other somehow.</p>

<p>You still have a lot of time; for now, I would get those standardized tests out of the way if I were you. Vacation is a good time to get rid of those tests… since they are “standardized tests” more practice means higher scores (from my experience).</p>