College Admission Help

Applying to College
1

Hi, I am a Junior in High School. I have a 3.9 gpa UW and will probably have over 4.0 weighted (I haven’t calculated it though). I took AP Chem last year and am taking AP Calc, AP Bio, and AP Computer Science this year. I plan on taking AP Physics, AP Spanish, AP Environmental Science, AP Stats, and AP Literature my senior year.

I don’t have amazing extracurriculars, but I have done some things. I have around 20 to 30 hours of community service. I was involved in the debate team freshman and sophomore year. In debate team I was chosen to go to travel to New York for the NHSMUN conference. Sadly I had to quit after sophomore year though. I have played badminton since sophomore year and I am a part of a robotics team outside of school. I am a part of the robotics club and investors club in my school. (sorry for the sloppy writing in this post btw).

So these are my questions:

  1. Was quitting debate team a mistake?
  2. What colleges are in my range? What should be my safety and reach schools? I prefer UC’s and schools in southern CA
  3. Should I take harder classes like more AP’s?
  4. Should I increase my extracurricular activities?
  5. What else should I do?

Thanks for the help! Also, tell me if I should add any other information.

2
  1. do you want to major in something that is related to debate? if no, it's okay.
  2. where do you live?
  3. I think you have plenty of AP's on your schedule haha..
  4. I would do some more community service outside of school. any activities outside of school really.
  5. Get close to teachers you want rec letters from, and apply to summer programs/internships
3
  1. no
  2. no, unless YOU want to do it. Comm svc hours are next to meaningless.
  3. ditto to post #1 but also crank on your ACT or SAT – that’ll help focus your choices
4

So these are my questions:

  1. Was quitting debate team a mistake? NO
  2. What colleges are in my range? What should be my safety and reach schools? I prefer UC’s and schools in southern CA : Can’t answer without more information. What can you afford? What’s your state of residency? What is your test score?
  3. Should I take harder classes like more AP’s? Hard enough is relative. What’s the norm at your school? That’s who you are going to be compared to. As long as the guidance counselor at your school checks the box on the recommendation that says ‘most rigorous’ schedule available, you are fine and plus or minus an AP shouldn’t matter.
  4. Should I increase my extracurricular activities? No. It’s not the number of hours. It’s what you’ve done with them. Do what you like and make an impact somewhere. It will be more satisfying to you, you may learn something, and hey, it might even matter to admissions. Comm service hours are unimportant.
  5. What else should I do? Besides studying for your ACT or SAT, have a talk with your parents about 1) what your family can afford and 2) what constraints they have for your college search (distance from home is a common one.) No point in doing an open-ended search if there are constraints in place. Get it on the table now.