Okay so I am obsessed with every prestigious university on the planet. Colleges like the University of Chicago make me melt with their Gothic architecture and ivy walls and Hogwarts-like appearance. I do not really want to go to most of these colleges, especially the tough ivy-league ones, but they seem so beckoning to me! I doubt that I could get into any of the schools- my GPA is 5.46 on a 5 scale (weighted) and 4.93 on an unweighted 4.0 scale, and my ACT is a 31. I also am in a ton of activities and sports and I have a job. I really want to go into engineering, and I have this crazy goal of somehow saving the planet in my lifetime… But these schools, apart from being really selective and tough and far away (I live in Illinois), they do not even have my majors. But the thought of going to an ordinary school with outdated technology and crusty 1970s dorms for 4+ years sounds so dismal. I want to go to college to be enlightened and inspired, but I also do not want to be completely in debt. I am completely torn and indecisive and a perfectionist who wants the best for myself but cannot make a decision.
HELP! Does anyone have any advice for a confused girl?
Well, first of all you kinda really need to calm down. Panic won’t get you into any college. May I ask what grade you’re in?
Also, on an unweighted 4.0 scale, your GPA can only go up to… 4.0 lmao. So can you figure out your actual unweighted GPA? And that would help us see your chances of getting into a school like UChicago (which, incidentally, doesn’t even have an engineering department so you should probably leave that one be).
I’m going to give you advice that’s going to get me a lot of flack on here. I’m going to say that wanting to go to a prestigious college ISN’T a bad goal. College isn’t always what you make of it - at some point, a more prestigious college degree will bring you objective advantages throughout your lifetime over a less prestigious college degree. Now when you say “I don’t really want to go to most of these colleges,” is that just because people have told you that you need a “real” reason to want to go to a college (a “real” reason being something other than prestige), or is it because there’s something you actually DON’T like about these schools you’re thinking of? It seems as if the idea of going to an Ivy or equivalent school makes you happy, and I think that’s enough to justify you at least applying there.
As for your actual chances in admissions, study this summer and get your ACT up to 33 or 34 (assuming you’re a junior so you still have one or two shots at the ACT or SAT). I can’t tell what your GPA actually is but it looks really good. How was your course rigor? Did you take all honors classes? How many AP’s? Did you take the SATII’s? You’re going to need those for top schools. Being in “a ton” of activities won’t help unless you’re actually doing great things in those activities. You say you want to save the world - start now. Colleges like applicants to show, not tell. Do and publish original scientific research. Start a nonprofit. Do something for your community. If you want to do engineering you must be at least somewhat good at math - participate in the AMC competitions. You say you have a job - work hard and get a more prominent position. Show colleges you’re competent in the real world.
There’s tons of things you can do to show top schools that you’re a top applicant, and if you’re a rising junior you have plenty of time to get everything together and make a really competitive application, but if you’re a rising senior you have less time and need to work pretty hard this summer and throughout senior year.
To sum everything up, if you want to go to an Ivy-level school: take the most rigorous courses available to you and get A’s in them, bump your ACT up 1 or 2 points, get 750+ on SATII’s, participate in competitions or do research if you’re up for it, and, finally, rather than having a large quantity of extracurriculars, try to do something great in a few of them to show that you’re passionate about what you do. The last thing you want is colleges to think that you’re participating in extracurriculars just so you can namedrop them on your application (even if that’s what you’re actually doing - and there’s nothing wrong with that in my opinion - you need to convince colleges that you’re not).
Thanks! Your answer was really helpful! I am a junior in HS and my unweighted GPA is 3.93 out of 4. While my ACT is a 31, I got that score on less than 5 hours of sleep after coming home from vacation, so when I take it in June it will hopefull go up a lot. I have taken all honors and AP classes except for biology and precalc out of choice (course load). I took AP Euro(4) and AP English Lang(?) and APUSH(?) already, and I am taking AP Calc AB, AP Physics, and AP Spanish next year. What I meant by not wanting to go to Ivy schools is that they are way to intense and rigorous for me, even though I am a good student. I don’t want to scrape by to get in and then owe a ton of money later. Non-ivy schools like UChicago and WashU and others just seem like they would fit me! Thanks for all of you insight, I feel a lot better now
Your GPA is right on spot, your extra curricular seem to be great as well, all I can suggest is to try to increase your ACT just a little, 32 to 33 will give you such an extra push to get into these big name schools. You might want to enroll in a ACT/SAT review before retaking your tests, it will make a difference believe me. Also take at least 3 subject tests during the beginning of your senior year, most Ivy League schools either require or base part of their decisions on these tests. Start applying for private scholarships ASAP, www.fastweb.com has a huge list of scholarships available for students since junior year
Every Ivy League school is different and most are not as difficult as you’re thinking they are (once you get in). Brown and Dartmouth are small LACs with a lot of flexibility, Harvard, pretty much the opposite. Grouping them all together shows that you have not done any research at all. Your stats are good for these schools but figure out what you really want and then look into each school you think you might be interested in and find out if they’re close enough to stay on the list or should be dropped. Clearly if the school does not have your major it would be a bad choice. (My older daughter was admitted to Yale and loved it but decided that for her major NU was a much better choice and went there for her four years.)
UChicago is WAY more intense than the Ivy league - it competes with Swarthmore and Reed for “most intense” in the entire country.
At WashU and JHU, competition is also pretty intense.
Why engineering?Why not statistics, computer science, or any other field? (Not criticizing: those are all excellent fields to change the world. But UChicago is a very “theoretical” school, whereas engineering is very hands-on. Very different.)
The very first question here is what can you afford? All the rest is irrelevant if you can’t afford a private university (roughly $50k p.a.). If you haven’t had a conversation with your parents about this, now is the time before you expend too much energy on researching schools. They may have other constraints that you aren’t yet aware of like distance from home, etc… that may also factor into your decision.
After that, you can rest assured that there are many terrific schools with great reputations that will serve you well in engineering or any other field, given your excellent academic performance to date.
^ many families can’t afford 50k yet attend private universities; 100% need colleges in particular could be the most generous for students with a low EFC and cost less than the in-state public option. However yes, discussing costs with parents is essential. A good way to do this is to run the Net Price Calculator on three or four colleges that interest you, then bring the results to them. Make sure they’re sitting down first :).
I am a junior in HS and my unweighted GPA is 3.93 out of 4. While my ACT is a 31, I got that score on less than 5 hours of sleep after coming home from vacation, so when I take it in June it will hopefull go up a lot. I have taken all honors and AP classes except for biology and precalc out of choice (course load). I took AP Euro(4) and AP English Lang(?) and APUSH(?) already, and I am taking AP Calc AB, AP Physics, and AP Spanish next year. What I meant by not wanting to go to Ivy schools is that they are way to intense and rigorous for me, even though I am a good student. I don’t want to scrape by to get in and then owe a ton of money later. Non-ivy schools like UChicago and WashU and others just seem like they would fit me! Thanks for all of you insight, I feel a lot better now