Hi! I’m a high school Junior, and I hope this isn’t too early to be doing this! I just want to hear what my chances are for my top few schools 
Major: Journalism
Top schools: Northwestern, University of Southern California, UT Austin, Indiana University, University of North Carolina
About Me:
gender: female
race: white
religion: Jewish
state: IL
high school: public…one of the best schools in the state
size of school: large (4000 students)
financial aid: probably
GPA: 4.49 (weighted), 3.89 (unweighted)
ACT: 32, might retake
Rank: N/A (my school doesn’t rank)
AP classes: AP Human Geo (5), AP US History, AP Spanish 5, AP Physics 1, AP Language & Composition…I plan on taking AP Spanish 6, AP Lit, AP Calc BC, AP Gov and AP Macro my senior year
Overall I have taken the most rigorous courses available to me throughout my 4 years of high school. All A’s with a few B’s. English, Spanish and Social Studies are my strong suits but I’m in the most advanced classes for math/science as well
ECs:
-3 years on school newspaper (1 year staff reporter, 1 year sports editor, 1 year editor-in-chief)
-varsity field hockey, 2 years (JV, 2 years)
-Freshman mentor in freshman mentor program, 2 years (this is a very prestigious school program that only a select amount of students are admitted into; for half of my lunch period every day I help mentor freshmen and ease their transition into high school — my school has around 4000 kids!)
-student council member, 4 years
-religious youth group, 3 years (held several leadership positions, including vice president and head of community service/social action)
-300+ hours of community service
-NHS member, 2 years
-Spanish Honor Society member, 1 year (plan on running for leadership position)
-job over the summer
-3 summers at IU’s High School Journalism Institute
Awards:
-several awards from Indiana University’s High School Journalism Institute (including winner of newswriting contest, first place feature package, etc.)
-Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence in Journalism from Northern Illinois School Press Association for outstanding contributions in feature writing
-National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Award in Writing (national award that I was nominated for my school!)
-I hold a top leadership position on a nationally-recognized high school newspaper
-Jefferson Award in Recognition of Student Service Excellence (100+ hours of service)
-more journalism awards to come!!
Recs:
I plan on getting one from my AP Lang teacher, she loves me and is incredibly smart and went to NU! Other rec will be from my journalism advisor because I’ve spent a lot of time with him over the past 3 years and he has really seen me grow as a leader and reporter. I expect those two to be glowing. Other rec will be from my counselor, which is kind of concerning because I go to such a large school so we don’t really know each other that well but we have a pretty friendly relationship
Essays:
Haven’t written yet (obviously) but I’m sure they will be outstanding!
Hooks:
I have a brother with special needs; he inspires me every day and has taught me the importance of standing up for others
again, my top schools are: NU, USC, IU, UT Austin, UNC
chance me!