<p>This is my first chance thread, so please excuse any mistakes I make :)</p>
<p>I'm a male sophomore at a competitive public school.</p>
<p>Scores:
GPA: 3.9 UW, 4.5ish W (most rigorous schedule available)
Class Rank: top 10% (school isn't more specific)
PSAT: 221 (I haven't taken the SAT yet...)
APs: World History (5)</p>
<p>Schedule for next year:
AP English Language
AP US
AP Psych (semester)
AP Calc BC
Adv. Chem
Adv. Ecom (semester)
Adv. Cell bio(semester)
Adv. Genetics (semester)
Adv. Latin III</p>
<p>ECs and volunteering:
Science Olympiad- medals at regionals and states
Soccer- been playing for a long, long time
Chess Club- competed in a couple of tournaments
Music- I play the violin and piano and sort of play the trombone and tuba lol
Research at local university
Tutoring (Just started a couple months ago)
Hospital (Almost 100 hours)</p>
<p>Schools:
HYPSM (especially P)
Northwestern
Caltech
Washington St. Louis
Upenn
Cornell
Dartmouth
Umich
Boston College
UNC</p>
<p>I realize that most of these schools are going to be reaches, but I wanted to know my chances anyways, please. </p>
<p>I also realized that I didn’t list how long I’ve been doing each of my ECs for, so: Science Olympiad (since 8th grade), Chess Club (started this year, but I’ve been playing chess since I was 8ish), Soccer (since I was 6), Music (violin and piano since 5th grade, trombone since 9th, started tuba this year).</p>
<p>You need to be unique and stand out. Also, race could play a factor. An Asian who did all of this would be considered a cliche. An URM would be considered spectacular…</p>
<p>Born2dance: What exactly do you think are my weaknesses? Do I have any, or is it just that these schools are so hard to get into that just having no weaknesses doesn’t cut it? </p>
<p>Anyone else? I could use specific advice on where to improve, and chances for specific schools :)</p>
<p>It’s good that you’re looking into college admissions already as a sophomore in high school, but because you haven’t taken the SAT or ACT or even AP tests yet, it’s hard to predict now.
Just keep striving to get As in all of your classes, including advanced/AP classes. One or two Bs per semester here and there is okay. Absolutely NO Cs though. This is a given.</p>
<p>Study hard for your SAT/ACT. Summer prep is recommended. It’s better than having prep classes during the school year. Your PSAT score is excellent though, so you shouldn’t have any problems here.
For extracurriculars, stick to a few & be active (take leadership positions) in them. Remember that it’s quality not quantity here.
Do something that makes you stand out. Yale especially looks for those that are unique. Remember: Unfortunately, excellent SAT/ACT scores & a stellar GPA are NOT things that make you unique. </p>
<p>Good luck & apply early to Princeton if that’s your number one choice. They’re starting to do the early admit thing at Harvard and Princeton beginning this year for the rising seniors graduating in 2012. It’s similar to the early admit program for Yale and Stanford.
I wish you the best. You have time.</p>
<p>You’re obviously good at school, but still a generic applicant. You have good numbers, and that’ll get you past the first step but then from there it’s anyone’s call. There’s really nothing to chance</p>
<p>You are quite generic to be honest. If you did all that from a school in an inner city neighborhood, that’d be a huge help. You said you’re not a URM, that’s unfortunate. Good luck</p>