Chance Me for Top Colleges?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi, I'm a sophomore, British Indian (although born in USA), and in the top 5% of my class (a class of about 400). I will have taken about 6 or 7 AP's before I graduate, and all other classes as Level 1 (Honors, highest) or Enriched (even higher than Honors for only math classes). I attend a somewhat highly-ranked public high school (top 10 in state). I currently have a weighted 4.3 GPA, unweighted of 3.7.</p>

<p>I'm hoping to bring that up my junior and senior year, which will be a challenge because of APs.</p>

<p>I took the PSAT and scored a 201/240 first try (rough equivalent of 2010 on SATs). I'll be taking the PSAT again and then SAT I in the Fall most likely. Any studying suggestions/ ways to do well? Also, do colleges look at the essay section?</p>

<p>FYI: I will be applying Financial Aid to probably all colleges...</p>

<p>EC's:
-Piano for 10 years- Master Classes and competitions
-I have rowed crew and been in track for the past two years in HS (JV crew, JV track)
-Heavily involved in Mock Trial and Debate Club- invited to opportunities within Town Government, shadowing state officials, I'm now applying to my State Youth Council chosen by the senator.
-Participate in MIT Splash program, take science classes- lab assistant
-Show Choir for past two years (Varsity)</p>

<p>Community Service:
-I live right next to a very impoverished city, so I am part of a tutoring program where I help students with their schoolwork, teach them music, etc.
-Volunteered at a senior home where I helped out, and also played piano for them.</p>

<p>-Total Hours: Around 200. I hope to be doing more this summer.</p>

<p>Misc:
-fluent in Hindi (can read, write, speak, understand)
-hobby of mine is scuba diving- I have been certified for 2 years now.</p>

<p>I know I'm only a sophomore, but I understand that I need to start thinking about college early. My dream school would be Cornell A&S because I am passionate about writing, government, etc., but I also love science and chemistry. The combination would be a great environment for me I think. My plan would be to apply ED.</p>

<p>Other colleges I'm interested in are:
UC Berkeley
UChicago
UNC Chapel Hill
Boston College
Safety schools: UMass Amherst, UMass Lowell</p>

<p>Again, since I'm a sophomore, I'm not too sure of exactly where I want to go, but I just want to know how I'm doing to be a contender for top-tier colleges. Please tell me what I should be doing more of, or changing. Please don't be afraid to be harsh.</p>

<p>Thanks for your time!</p>

2

<p>I’m a junior, so I can just offer generic advice. </p>

<p>Colleges definitely don’t see your SAT essay. You’ll need to get that score up, definitely above 2200 seeing as you aren’t a URM. </p>

<p>Athletics definitely help because they’re not just a time commitment, but also physically exhausting and can take so much out of you (though unless you do distance track, track and field is usually not that difficult.) Scuba diving is cool and unusual, they’ll look positively on that.</p>

<p>Nothing really extraordinary in your EC’s, but doing so many so well will really help.</p>

<p>Most of the top tier colleges are need-blind. Applying for financial aid won’t hurt your chances.</p>

<p>I know I used to speculate a ton on what my final resume would look like, and it’s very different now. I don’t know if this is what you’re aiming for or what you already have, but I think that you’d have a fantastic shot at Cornell A&S if these are your accomplishments. Again, I could probably be horribly wrong, seeing as I’m in high school myself and am not an admissions officer.</p>

<p>Hope this helped!</p>

3

<p>Thanks for replying, bluenotebook. Yeah working on the PSAT and SAT are definitely going to be my biggest priority. Also, I’m planning on taking AP AB Calculus Junior year. Does it matter too much that I’m not taking BC? I know we’re both in high school, but you might have some idea. </p>

<p>Also, any tips for studying the SATs? And also good test-taking advice? I’m not always the best at pacing myself and choosing the clear, obvious answer.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

4

<p>I took the SAT in October. I’d really suggest doing that, as your junior year PSAT is what counts for national merit. It’s in October, 2 weeks after the SAT, and you’ll shoot two birds with one stone by already having studied for the SAT and knowing the test.</p>

<p>what type of area will you be applying from (suburban, city, private or public school, large or small, state)? that’s a major factor in admission, or so I’ve heard.</p>

<p>I’m in calc ab as a junior as well (though my math teacher had told me to go into bc as a sophomore, and my precalc teacher said I should do bc). In the end, it’s about managing your schedule. Calc BC is faster than a college class, but AB is still pretty hard and will still look like you’re challenging yourself.</p>

5

<p>There’s no aid at Berkeley if you’re OOS.</p>

<p>work on your scores.</p>

6

<p>@bluenotebook2 Okay great advice about the tests in October, I didn’t realize that. I’ll plan accordingly now.
I’m applying from a suburb, pretty good public high school in MA. What makes it a major factor?
And yeah I figured that taking any sort of high level AP is sure to show a challenging courseload.</p>

<p>@Waverly I didn’t know that about Berkeley, so thanks for the info. And yeah, raising those scores is my main priority. Thanks.</p>

7

<p>** MODERATOR’S NOTE**
All “Chances” threads must be posted in the What are My Chances forum. Please feel free to repost there.</p>