Chance me/ Advice?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>This is my first post, so bear with me:</p>

<p>I'm currently a High School sophomore looking to get into extremely competitive colleges ( Ivy leagues, stanford, ect.) Here is my info, and I am looking any sort of advice/tips for college admissions, what I can do/not do to improve my chances sort of thing. </p>

<p>Major: Business Administration/Economics/International Business</p>

<p>Ethnicity: Caucasian, both parents immigrants from Europe, both have masters in business management</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 4.4 freshman year weighted 4.8 sophomore year, (tentatively), looking to take Latin and health over the Summer in order to enable 5.0 junior and senior years. Class rank: Will be top 5% undoubtedly, don't currently know accurate rank, as anyone who has taken a city-college course is currently ranked above me ( and everyone took World History over the Summer). </p>

<p>SAT/PSAT/ACT: I have taken PSAT once, but have not gotten my scores back. Looking at taking ELITE SAT prep over the Summer, in order to enable a really high SAT score. Not planning on taking ACT, should I?</p>

<p>Doing full IB diploma program, but I am taking 2 APs (Physics and World) as a sophomore, and 2 honors, and an un-weighted language class.</p>

<p>Sports:
Fencing, 6 years as of now, will be 8 years when it's time to apply. Planning on Fencing for college, have significant results (2 points away from beating #1 fencer in my age group) </p>

<p>Clubs:
JSA, been member for 2 years
Local Color, treasurer, a local art newspaper in our community, 1 year
Unite To Light Club, founder and president, 2 years, supports local non-profit
Fencing Club, co-founder and co-president, 1 year
SAVE, member, a club that supports various non-profits in our community, 1 year</p>

<p>Current Rewards:
National honors society, all years possible
Presidential award for academic excellence, Junior High
Planning on IB Diploma
(There aren't too many awards for sophomores and freshmen)</p>

<p>Work Experience:
None</p>

<p>Community Service:
SAVE club, unclear, but 30 min a week till the end of senior year
Unite To Light Club, same, but 25 hours on top of that (for leadership related activities)
Helping out with Junior High School Shows, ~25 hours a year</p>

<p>Other:
I skipped second grade</p>

<p>So what else do I need to do? I'm actively trying to pursue fencing in my life, and I am striving hard towards success in my academic life. I really want to get into the top schools in the nation, but am I doing enough? If you can think of any ways to improve my chances, please let me know!</p>

<p>Thanks for your time, and please reply!</p>

2

<p>First off, yes you should try your hand at the ACT some people do drastically better at one over the other.
Second, the Ivies are incredibly difficult to get into as you know but in order to get accepted you should focus on one or two things you are really passionate about and put all your effort into those activities to show your passion. Colleges prefer passion over a laundry list of activities.</p>

<p>All in all it is very difficult to predict the chances for Ivy Leagues because ultimately they are unpredictable reaches for everyone.
Good luck!</p>

3

<p>What are your backup plans?</p>

4

<p>You need to have safety schools on your list.</p>

<p>Most likely even with a high SAT score, you will be facing rejections like everyone else.</p>

<p>Also, if you don’t do well on the SAT, I recommend taking the ACT because you could do better. Some do better on the SAT, others ACT.</p>

<p>All in all, focus on maintain high grades and enjoying your EC’s. I recommend getting your testing done Junior Year with SAT Subject Tests finished as well.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

5

<p>Thank you all for the replies! For safety schools, I’m currently thinking UC’s, like UCLA and Berkeley. I’m actively trying to pursue athletic recruitment in college for fencing, and that’s one of the main reasons I want to go to an Ivy, not just for academics but also for the sports.</p>

6

<p>can anyone help me out?</p>

7

<p>Make sure you have good relationships with your teachers, counselors and people you make contact with for an extended period of time. Although recommendations may seem like a lesser factor in the app process, they do have a significant impact on whether you get in or not. I know several people who had just GOOD, not great, transcripts, EC’s and all that good stuff who still got into excellent schools. </p>

<p>Also, keep in mind that even if you have straight A’s through high school, your high school might not be as difficult as one somewhere else in the country. My point is that someone with A-s and B+ may get in whereas you may not because there high school is much harder that yours. The key point is to separate yourself from the crowd. Try to stand out as much as possible. Just looking at your post, i can see you’re an excellent fencer. This is a great asset because not that many people fence. Find things like this in your life that truly make you stand alone.</p>

<p>I’m also a sophomore worrying about college to and i can say i’m really impressed. Good luck fellowman of class of 2015!</p>

8

<p>Cal and UCLA are great schools which should serve well as safeties. </p>

<p>Other than that, you will need to focus intensively on one or two ECs, gaining strong recognition and winning awards in order to have a chance at most of the Ivies. Cornell is the exception, as it is the only Ivy to not be a crapshoot for unhooked high achievers.</p>

9

<p>UCLA and Berkeley are fine backup plans but by no means safeties.</p>

10

<p>Your fencing club and coach should be helping you with recruitment. If not, you may be in the wrong club. As you probably know, there are only about 40 schools with NCAA teams. The Ivy League schools, some larger universities (UNC, ND, Duke, NU, Stanford, Mich etc…) the NYC schools (centered around the NYC clubs), and a few others. Their coaches often attend the youth tournaments.</p>

11

<p>UCLA accepts 72% of people with a UW of 4.0. With high SAT scores, the percentage should go up to 80-90%, but acceptance is still not a guarantee. The best anyone can hope for is a low match- which includes you.</p>

12

<p>You’re doing all you can. Enjoy your high school years. College will be coming soon enough. GL</p>

13

<p>it’s too early to say, considering you haven’t even gotten your PSAT scores back (that itself isn’t a good indicator of your expected performance in SAT), so i suggest you work on building more leadership positions and maintaining your GPA</p>

14

<p>So I got my PSAT and PLAN scores back, and I am very disappointed. I did alright on the math, with a 31 on the PLAN and a 700 on the PSAT. However, I bombed, I mean BOMBED the English section on both. I got a 24? on the writing and a 27? on the reading for the PLAN, and I got a 55 on the writing and 58 on the English for the PSAT. However, I am going to partake in the 2100+ program with Elite Test Prep over the summer. Hopefully that, and self motivation, will help me get into the high 700 range. Also, I have learned that my class rank is 7th/542. Furthermore, in regards to my extra-curriculars, I attended the Junior Olympics this month, and am organizing a benefit concert for one of my clubs. So any advice? Study tactics? Stress-reducing tactics? Thanks again for the support, I really appreciate it!</p>

15

<p>Any help/advice/counseling would be much appreciated!</p>

16

<p>My advice is to care less about your stats and how you look on paper to colleges and start developing yourself personally… TO LOOK GOOD ON YOUR ESSAYS HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH</p>

<p>no seriously</p>