<p>Hi! I'm currently a rising junior from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. </p>
<p>Grades</p>
<p>I have a 3.9 GPA and have taken the most challenging classes that my school has to offer, over the past few years. However, my class rank isn't the most beautiful thing that ever existed, I'm only in the top 17% of my class. I took the new SAT's in June and scored 2180. </p>
<p>EC's:</p>
<p>-Varsity Tennis
-Orchestra
-SCAF (a volunteer type group)
-National Forensic League (I've been lucky enough to qualify to the national and state tournaments both freshman and sophomore year.)
-National Honor Society
-Girl Scout Gold Award
-Spanish Club
-SOAR (the gifted program)</p>
<p>I also am going to be a page for the House of Representatives this school year. Meaning, I'll be living, working, and going to school in Washington, DC. I had to give up my AP's since the page school doesn't offer them, but I think college admissions staff will hopefully understand. I've also been told that the page program looks very good on college applications.</p>
<p>I've had my eye on the following "reach" schools for a while...</p>
<p>Georgetown
Brown
The George Washington University</p>
<p>Do I have a chance? I know you get questions like this all the time, but if I boost my GPA and class rank, could I ever get into them?</p>
<p>Pity, but it's weighted. I have no idea what my unweighted GPA would be. Only two of my classes are weighted out of around 8, so it makes a difference, but it would be a lot larger of a difference if all of my core classes were weighted.</p>
<p>"chemistry wasn't cool"-ive been there. it seems like a lot of smart kids screw up in chemistry and/or physics. anywho, im really not in much of a position to say, blah blah blah, but i think you're fine for GW. keep up your grades junior and senior year, and you should be fine for the others.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know I can work hard this year to up my GPA and such. Plus, I feel confident that I could nail both the interview and essay, which doesn't hurt. I think the college buzz just hit me, one of my friends is applying to all the ivies, and I was like wow, I'm going to have to apply next year.</p>
<p>not to give you overused rhetoric, but you really should apply to the places that fit you. your list will probably change a lot over the coming year (it did for me) as you discover the best schools for you. visit, ask students at your favorite schools, etc, etc.</p>
<p>Applying to all the Ivies? That's not very well thought out. They're incredibly different settings. It makes more sense to decide what sort of college you're looking for, then find campuses that fit your needs. Like I prefer smaller student body with a lot of focus on undergraduates, so I'm looking at Yale, Amherst, Vassar, Bowdoin and Rice. Sending in to Yale (small, focused), Harvard (impersonal, intense), Princeton (rich, preppy), Brown (liberal), UPenn (big, stately) etc. doesn't flow.</p>
<p>dont spread yourself too thin. if you focus on a few colleges that you want to attend for a reason BESIDES prestige, your passion will show through and give you a better chance at admission. there are plenty of kids who apply to a place because of its name, but a student who shows true passion for the school will stand out.</p>
<p>I'm don't plan on applying to all the ivies, I was just saying that my one friend is, and when he brought up writing an essay for one of his applications, it got me thinking. I have visited both Georgetown and George Washington before; and fell in love with the campuses. I want to major in either political communication (which GWU offers) or international affairs (which Georgetown is known for), so those schools make sense to me. Thanks!</p>