Sup guys, so I want your opinion on my list of colleges that I’ll be applying to and whether or not it’s suited for me because I can get unrealistic and a little too confident sometimes (most of the time). So, my list in no particular order is: Stanford, UPenn, Georgia Tech, UGA, Michigan Ann Arbor, UChicago, Duke, Northwestern, UVA, Dartmouth, and Vanderbilt. I also want to mention that I’m a student in Georgia, which is why GT and UGA are on the list.
Race: Painfully Caucasian
Major: Physics or Psychology (wow, great majors right? No idea what I want to do.)
GPA: 3.91 UW/4.28W
One thing about GPA, though. I see some people with GPAs of like 4.6W but only took 5 APs, so I think my school calculates it harder or something. The only weighted we get is 5.0 for AP class As, 4.0 for Bs, etc. No weighting for honors or gifted classes, which I think is what happens in some schools. Sorry about my rant.
Class Rank: 17/603 so Top 3%. Pretty decently competitive school as well.
ACT: 34 composite with 36 Science, 33 Math, 34 English, 33 Reading
SAT: 1480 (750 Math and 730 English). I won’t be submitting this one as my ACT is better. Don’t know why, but I find the ACT a lot easier.
AP Tests: AP Human (5), AP World History (4), AP Calc AB (4), AP Calc BC (3 big oof), AP Lang (5), AP Psychology (4), AP US History (4), AP Chem (3 big oof again). I’ll be taking AP Macroeconomic, AP Gov, AP Physics 1, and AP Stat this year.
Senior Schedule: All AP tests above and AP Lit, but I’m not taking that AP test because I got a 5 on Lang. So 5 AP classes this year.
Extracurriculars:
Yeah, unfortunately for me, I was really shy and uncomfortable my Freshman and Sophomore year in high school due to me moving to a different school where I knew no one. So, most of my ECs come from Junior and Senior year. In hindsight, I should’ve gotten more involved earlier, but can’t change that now I guess.
- President and Founder of Political Discourse Club (12th)
- DECA member and state competitor (9th-12th)
- BETA member (11th and 12th)
- NHS member (12th)
- National English Honors Society President (pending right now due to boring and complicated reasons)
- Interned at a business (don't want to disclose name) for two summers between my 9th and 10th and 10th and 11th grade summers. I worked for about 120 hours total and worked mainly on electrical installation and wiring and general house stuff. Basically, I helped build houses and did the least liability work. Technically, I got the internship because it's my grandfather's business, but he has a different last name than I do. Nepotism? Maybe. (Most definitely), but colleges don't have to know that.
- Tutoring and Mentorship (10th-12th) for two kids I know. Mainly helped them with Algebra, Geometry, and Pre-Calc but also science like Biology and Chemistry. I've sunk at least 150 hours in with them over the past 2 1/2 years, and I didn't get paid as they are neighbors/family friends. Idk if this counts as volunteering or not, probably not, but I'm putting it on my app anyway because I spent too much time not to.
- Youth Group Leader for VBS at my church (9th and 10th)
- Mock Trial Competitor (12th)
- Track and Field (10th and 12th due to injury 11th-grade year) I am pretty trash not gonna lie, but I did letter and compete in a few meets. I hope colleges don't take an in-depth look at my times at meets because I was middle of the pack at best (400m - 56 PR, 800m 2:17 PR, 1600m 5:28 PR). Still, I was an "athlete".
- One of my short stories got published in a local literary magazine (11th). Idk if that counts, though.
- Work at Publix about 20-25 hours a week (12th).
So yeah, I think that’s about it for me. Tell me if I’m being too hopeful in my college application choices or if I’m heading in the right direction.