Chance Me for Top-tier Colleges

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I am entering my Junior year of high school and am wondering how I have been doing so far as classes and ECs go and what I can do to improve my chances of being accepted into selective colleges.

Middle School High School Credit Classes:
Algebra 1: A A
Geometry: A A
Spanish 1: A A

Freshman Year:

Spanish 2- A A
Orchestra- A A
Accel. Algebra 2- A A
Pre AP Sophomore English- A A
Biology- A A
PE- A A

JV Cross Country
Varsity Track
I wasn’t very involved in clubs and didn’t have any other ECs besides the two sports. Will this hurt me or not?

Sophomore Year:

Spanish 3- A A
Orchestra- A A
Pre Calc- A A
World History- A A
Pre AP Soph Eng- A A
Chem- A A
PE- A
Health- A

Varsity Cross Country
Varsity Track
Spanish Club
Key Club

Junior Year Schedule:

Survey of American Lit. (Pre AP Junior Eng)
Chamber Orchestra (A small advanced group that I tried out for and made it onto)
AP Chemistry
Advanced Journalism (I’ll be writing for our nationally-recognized school newspaper)
AP Calc
AP US History
1 semester Business Computer Applications
1 semester Directed Study for Creative Writing

Varsity Cross Country
Varsity Track
Co-President of Spanish Club
Key Club
Youth Leadership Council
Varsity Letter for Community Service (145 hrs or more)

Current accumulative unweighted GPA: 4.0
I will most likely be taking the October PSAT and will have taken the SAT by the end of the year.

Just to provide a few more details, I have played the violin for 7 years and will also most likely be concert master senior year. I have ran Track in clubs and for school for 8 years and have ran cross country for 5 years. I will be Varsity team captain my senior year if everything continues to go as it has.

As I said before, not only am I interested in finding out how I have done so far, but also what factors of myself I can focus on to better my chances. I am very passionate about writing and hopefully with journalism, pre AP eng and my directed study I will be able to strengthen my skill further. The major questions I have are as follows:

How am I doing?
Are there specific things that I should be involved in that I’m not?
What should I take my senior year?
I have heard that having a kind of “specialty” will better your chances. Is writing a realistic talent for this?
What colleges should I be looking at? Also, are selective colleges even a realistic option for me?
What scores should I shoot for on my PSAT and SAT?
What else can I do to better my chances?

I’m open to any suggestions and criticism! Thank you :slight_smile:

2

I think you’re doing very well so far but you need to have high test scores to supplement good ECs and GPA. It also depends what schools you’re looking at and what you’re looking at majoring in. If your talking about Ivies then its a crapshoot for everyone. Just take the hardest classes you can and have realistic expectations when it comes to applying to these top-tier schools. I can’t answer some of your questions though because I myself do not know the answers

3

Thank you! Do you maybe have in mind a specific range for the PSAT and SAT?

4

I will chance back if anyone is interested!

5

At this point your ECs lack the “pop” or “wow” factor needed for the top 5-6 colleges. Even with outstanding SATs, you will likely not stand out in their applicant pools. But obviously high test scores are helpful in all admissions. Regarding PSAT, find out what the NMSF cutoff was in your state last year. Shoot for maybe 4-5 points above that mark if you want to make NMF, which is helpful in admissions and can bring big scholarship money at some less selective schools if you need it. For top 10-15 schools, I’d say 750 in each section of the SAT is best. Again, higher scores improve your chances everywhere, and can bring more scholarship money at schools below the very top tier. Also, you will need SAT subject tests at some schools, so don’t neglect scheduling those.

6

To be honest it’s way too early to tell. You’re only a sophomore at this point so your GPA means nothing (depending on how your Junior goes it could change drastically). Furthermore you have no test scores, and your ECs seem very standard.

However, you’re on the right track. If I were you, I’d recommend the following for “top” schools:

  1. Keep up the 4.0 Junior year with the most rigorous courseload possible.
  2. Study hard for SATs, aim for 2300+ or if ACT 34+. Knock out subject tests as well.
  3. Try for some more significant ECs. If you want to pursue journalism possibly enter some writing competitions, attend a writing summer program, etc. Do your research.
  4. Try to have a little fun Junior year! :slight_smile: It’s hard but once it’s over you can relax.
7

Where do you rank in your class? Have you done anything that takes you to a competitive level beyond your school?

I’d suggest trying your very hardest on the PSAT and SAT.

8

@JustOneDad I don’t know my class rank for certain. However, there are over 600 people in my class and I only know of about seven others who also have a 4.0, so at least top 5% as of now (who knows what will happen Junior year). I do have solo ensemble competition for Orchestra which I will be taking part in and Track and XC always have potential. I also will be entering writing contests. What other areas are there for students to compete state-wide?