Hey guys,
I’m a current junior, and I’m narrowing down my list of colleges to which I will apply.
For some context, here are my stats (through the end of junior year):
4.46 GPA (3.94 unweighted)
36 ACT Composite (9 writing)/1490 SAT (no writing)/1460 PSAT
School type: Public magnet (on the Washington Post’s “Top-performing schools with elite students” 2017 list); all courses are at least honors-level
Class rank: ~75th-85th percentile (estimation using Naviance admissions software data, no official rankings) of class of ~200
APs taken: Calc AB (5), US History (4), Chem (no score yet), US Gov (no score yet)
Dual enrollments taken: Calc 2 (A+)
Languages taken: Spanish (4 years), Italian (2 years) (no AP)
Interested major: Computer Science
Major ECs (kinda weak, I know):
3 years varsity swim team (state qualifier junior year)
2 years Quizbowl
2 years Investment Club (Chief Marketing Officer junior year)
Here are the schools I’m interested in:
REACH: Princeton, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon
TARGET: University of Virginia, William and Mary, Notre Dame, UC Berkeley
SAFETY: Virginia Tech, Maryland, George Mason
Please advise me as to the accuracy of my reach/target/safety designations, and my chances at each, especially those in the “reach” category. Thanks! 
How rigorous is your schedule relative to other students? I’d imagine that tons of students will be taking a lot of APs at a top magnet school, which would make your 4 APs look quite anemic.Your ECs are weak to, but at least you recognize that shortcoming.
List looks solid and realistic. Princeton and Cornell will be reaches for everyone. You fit the profile of Carnegie Mellon, but their CS program is one of the hardest to get into. I am assuming you are a Virginia resident, so you should get into UVA, W&M, and Vtech. Have you thought of adding Georgia tech into the mix as well? Overall you seem like a solid applicant, but more extracurricular activities will make your application stronger. You are currently lacking in that department.
It will all come down to essays and luck.
@beepybeetle OP has taken Calc AB as a junior, which is pretty good. There aren’t that many AP courses available freshman and sophomore year since students still have to meet requirements. Most students will take around 5 AP courses in their senior year, so OP could have an overall total of 9 AP credits by the end. Would not call that anemic by any means.
Carnegie Mellon doesn’t seem like a reach to me, if it is a reach it is a very low reach. I am sorry to say Princeton is going to be extremely hard for you to get in. Cornell is around a standard reach difficulty. Your test scores will really help you out. Over the summer try to pick up an extra EC and you will have a chance, however, don’t start any more than one or two because colleges will realize you are trying to strengthen your app. If you do start another EC make sure that you are passionate about it and don’t just do it so it looks good.
Also not sure if Notre Dame is a target, may be a reach.
Your situation sounds so much like mine! (Competitive magnet school, ~200 people in class, lacking in the EC department).
You didn’t mention this, but do you have any volunteering experience? If so, that’s another thug you can add to your resume.
Since you’re interested in CS, you could volunteer to help a local company with setting up a site or social media platform, for example. Any experiences that are tech or CS related would help your application.
Otherwise, I suggest submitting you ACT and not retaking the SAT, since your ACT score is phenomenal. I think you’ll get into your target and safety schools. If you can get that volunteering and more CS-related ECs, I think you’ll also have a good chance with Princeton, CM, and Cornell.
Good luck!
@beepybeetle 4 APs & 1 Dual Enrollment over 3 years is slightly below/about average, but I’m taking 3 APs & 2 Dual Enrollments next year now that I’ve hit many of my core requirements, which will put me above average in that department over four years, if that helps.
@Dontskipthemoose I took AB as a sophomore (could have taken BC, but probably wasn’t prepared for that at age 14), so I’m taking dual enrollment Multivariable Calc/Calc 3 next year and will have three high school years (~10 credit hours) of core university-level math. I’m also taking AP CS (my school only offers Principles 
) and doing a CS-related mentorship in the fall, so hopefully those will help with focus.
@livingandwriting Thank you! Good luck to you as well! Our school mandates 140 hours of community service over 4 years with no more than 70 from one location, and I’ve slightly exceeded that in 3 (165ish, I think), so I doubt that will count on apps as a school requirement.
Notre Dame is not a target for anyone, unfortunately.
@Dontskipthemoose I said relative to OP’s peers. Yeah sure 4 might be decent, but if OP goes to a competitive magnet, there might be tons of students taking 6+ AP classes over 3 years. AB as a junior might be good, but it might also be ‘eh’. At my school for instance, we had over 100 juniors/sophomores take AB, out of about 800 kids in the junior class. Regardless, OP says his class rigor will be above average so that’s good.