Chances: EA at Georgetown,Dartmouth,Princeton

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>I'm pretty sure I'm aiming too high, but I've gotten perfect grades most of my life and these schools have majors and environments that I truly want to experience.</p>

<ul>
<li>White Jewish girl living in Brooklyn, NY. 3 person family with an income of $22,000 a year.
-SATS: 620 math, 720 verbal, 740 writing. Will retake in the fall.
-SATII in American History: 700. I plan on taking French and Literature in the fall.</li>
<li>all honors classes throughout hs. AP Euro sophmore year,5 on the exam. AP American History and AP Human Geography this year, 4 on both exams. So I've only taken 3 AP's while many of you have taken 5-6... Senior year I plan on taking AP French,English Lit, and Calc AB.</li>
<li>my school grades are E,G,S,N. E being averaged in as a 95,104 in an AP class. G is an 85, 93 in an AP class. I've only received e's in all of my classes, except two g's in ap human geography because the teacher is an infernal. My average is a 96...and theoretically,the highest can be a 95. I will probably be ranked in the top 10 students out of 800. I go to a decently respected school in Brooklyn,NY.
-My passion is French. I've been taking it since 6th grade, but I would not even consider myself 1/4 fluent. Hardly anyone cares about languages in the NYC school system, and as a result, my skills are poor. I had a horrible teacher this year, and I hardly learned anything. I fear that I will do poorly on the French SATII, and since this is my intended major/minor, that will look pretty horrible. But its not entirely my fault..<em>sigh</em>. OK anyway, I've been taking French since 6th grade, and I started Italian this year. Languages intrigue me to no end,as does the innate structure of languages,words,meanings,etc,etc. I hope colleges take notice that I'm going to be taking AP French,second year Italian, and first year Russian next year.</li>
<li>My recommendation from one of the French teachers at my school will be insane. I don't know about my other ones, though, considering the only teacher I've gotten to know outside of class is the French.
-I write well, and I clearly plan on applying to be a French major in FLL at Georgetown, so I will be writing about my passion. Essays are no problem.
Georgetown truly is my dream school, I will do whatever it takes to get in.</li>
</ul>

<p>BUT HERES MY PROBLEM:
I have hardly any extra curriculars. My school did not really emphasize volunteering,and I've searched far and wide for language related EC's to no avail. I am a member of NHS (thats nothing because i only have about 10 service hours from it) and a member of the Cultural Exchange Club. There isn't enough funding for a French club... I will be working at the local police precinct this summer. I don't feel like my lack of involvement in the community in HS should prevent me from going to my dream school. I plan on being fully active in the community at one of these three colleges...but how can I show that? And does it sound like BS? Is a girl who's always being hearing that she will go to an amazing school, with a 96 avg in honors classes, and a dedication to an interest, going to end up at State University of New York,Binghamton??</p>

<p>This is my first post so sorry if i wrote too essay-like, or omitted some information. I'm just really nervous...</p>

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<p>Retaking the SATs and working on ECs over the summer (if nothing else) is a good idea. I suggest you expand your search to other great schools. If you like an urban environment and aren't afraid of a tough core program, look at U.Chicago. If you like LACs, consider Middlebury (famous for languages). Then work on your safety list.</p>

<p>I love languages, too, and have a couple of suggestions for improving your French. First of all, there's a company called Champs Elysees that makes tapes of a radio program (full-speed French). The great thing is that a transcript of the tape comes with it, and a glossary that defines the hard words. Working with these will really increase your fluency. The tapes/cds are rather expensive, though.</p>

<p>A cheaper option is to read a good French novel (I'd recommend a book by Alexandre Dumas), translating every word you don't know with an online dictionary (it's quicker than paper) and penciling in the definitions. It's slow going at first, but by the end, the improvement in vocabulary is satisfying. Won't help with auditory comprehension, though.</p>

<p>I think you'll have lots of good college options. I've even heard good things on this forum about Bing. There's always grad school for a big name.</p>