I am a Junior currently at a Public high school in Northern Virginia. My schedule to date not including study hall or PE is the following:
Freshmen Year:
Pre-AP World History (prep for AP World, weighted as an honors class so I got a .5 bump on my GPA)
Honors Biology
Math Analysis (Pre-Calc + Calc AB, .5 bump)
Honors English 9
Spanish 3 (Honors)
Sophomore Year:
Calculus BC
AP World History
Chemistry
AP Biology
Honors English 10
Spanish 4 (Honors)
Junior Year:
Multi Variable Calculus
Physics
AP US History
AP Language and Composition
AP Economics
AP Statistics
Intro to Com. Sci. (.5 bump)
Virginia Aerospace Science and Technology Scholar (I get engineering credits with this online class, selective program)
Senior Year (Projected so far…)
AP Human Geography
AP Environmental Science (maybe… prob not)
Dual-Enrollment English 12 (.5 weight)
AP Government (maybe…)
AP Com. Sci.
AP Psychology (maybe)
Might take Economics and some Math classes at GMU and the local community college
^ Really rough schedule, need to fix it.
SAT/ACT: In the works, I am making good progress but with really good studying this summer and lots of practice tests, I hope to score an upwards of a 2100/33 but with the new test maybe a 1450? (Not sure if I can do it but I will try…)
So my Freshmen year, I ended with a weighted GPA of 4.21. After Sophomore year, it had fallen to a 4.05. Junior year so far I believe my first semester ended close to a 4.10 hopefully. As you can see, I have a falling GPA over the years… This came from taking a lot of classes I didn’t enjoy or just taking on too much combined with a terrible work ethic (procrastination).
My extra-curriculars are really thorough. I am many clubs with about 3-4 leadership positions with a potential of one more. I am also a part of a Non-Profit organization and am starting my own branch of the organization in my county. I am a Speech and Debate/Model United Nations kid and have won many awards.
Leadership:
National Honor Society (President)
Math Honor Society (President)
Stock Market Club (Co-Founder)
Science Olympiad (Treasurer)
Varsity Golf Captain
I was wondering what my chances were to the following colleges:
Stanford
Rice
UVa
UT Austin
George Washington
William and Mary
VTech
GTech
UMich
I listed more than I will apply to just to get some insight. Please don’t hold back because you might hurt my feelings, be critical.
You have a pretty strong application overall, strong math background. Were your calculus classes AP classes as well? Definitely make sure to get your gpa up, not that it’s bad but it’s good to have it as high as possible.Did you not take the classical SAT in January? i’m fairly certain that was the last one… either way, it’s kinda of difficult to predict your chances without your actual scores. Assuming you get a 2100/33 SAT/ACT and a 1450 New SAT, i think your chances would go like this.
Stanford - high reach (for anyone really)
Rice - Reach
UVa - Reach/Low match, i don't know if you being in state helps your chances here
UT Austin - Strong Match, but being OOS hurts you quite a bit as UT only fills up 25% of its class with OOS students
George Washington - match
William and Mary - match/low reach
VTech - match/safety
GTech - match
UMich - match/low reach
Your ECs are above average, but for schools like Rice and Stanford where your predicted scores are more middle/lower tier you probably want some higher quality ECs and achievements. You don’t need to cure cancer, but having more ECs and awards on the Regional and State levels is a must. Founding your own branch of a non profit org in your county is impressive, you want more stuff like that. How prestigious are the awards you’ve Speech and Debate/Model United Nations? Also, what do you want to major in? If it’s a STEM field then you should involve yourself in more math and science competitions and distinguish yourself more in those subjects.
How strong are your teacher rec. and essays going to be? Those are both very important factors as well.
Improving your test scores is another important thing. 2100 SAT and 33 ACT are more or less average for the higher tier schools on your list, try to get a 2200 or higher, i don’t know how the new SAT is going to go but a 1450 is probably a good goal. Seriously though, how are you taking the classical SAT again?
Sorry i can only provide insight into your chances at VA schools, but:
UVa: match, bonus for being in state, and they love good ECs
William and Mary: match
VTech: safety (for university studies); high match (engineering)
I agree with the previous poster, it depends on what you’re majoring in. You should definitely try to build a more focused application. It looks like you’re involved in everything right now, but if you want to major in something specific then you should try to push your focus towards only one or two areas.
@awesomepolyglot , lmao yeah bro LCPS all the way incredible amount of sarcasm
@Aztreas , Yeah I am taking the January SAT on Saturday as it was pushed because of snow. My highest Speech and Debate honor was I qualified for Nationals which to do so, you have to be top 2 in that particular event so I’ll talk about that. For MUN, it was a bunch of local tournaments, nothing outstanding but I do get some kind of award most of the time even if its like “verbal accommodation.”
My major is hard because I don’t quite know… I am hoping I can include that some way because I am very spread out as you said. I have a decent interest in STEM (prob engineering of some sort) but I think I really shine in the “people skill” related occupations like marketing/sales/financial something?? So I am trying to do something with the intersection of the STEM industry and money/people skills like a salesmen. My dad sorta does that with public health so he is in and out of the NIH and CDC building all the time to get business for his firm. Maybe something like that??? I am trying to get hooked up at a Genomics start-up a GW professor started up for the summer, let’s see how that pans out.
My testing is pretty average… not the greatest test taker I guess. I hope to study hard this spring/summer and get some good scores in April/November to send off immediately. Yeah UVA loves instate kids so my chances there are considerably higher but still very tough. Thanks for your comment, I really appreciate it!!
@brotney , Wow UVA a match!! UVA is def a school I could go to. I visited as a field trip in 6th grade and I thought the campus was very beautiful so I would be honored to go there. VTech engineering is probably what I will do along with a minor in some kind of money/business area. Do you know anything about W&M? I know it’s liberal arts so I don’t know much about how you specialize and all. Thanks again for your comment!! Sure I’ll chance back!