<p>junior, african american male, Public school in MN
gpa: 3.965/4.33
no standardized tests yet, psat soon</p>
<p>9th grade:
algebra 1
physical science
spanish 1
western hemisphere
gym
english 9
desktop publishing</p>
<p>10th:
honors world history
honors english 10
geometry
algebra 2
biology
honors chemistry
spanish 2
spanish 3</p>
<p>11th:(this year)
honors us history
honors english 11
spanish 4
functions, statistics, trigonometry
AP biology
AP chemistry
spanish 5
Pre calculus</p>
<p>next year:
AP english 12
spanish 6
Honors Physics
AP calculus 1
honors political science
AP physics
AP calculus 2
physical education
ceramics</p>
<p>ecs:
science olympiad-9
science club-9
Youth in government-9,11
Student council-10,11
spanish club-9,10,11
NHS-11
key club-10,11
sophomore class president
youth advisory council-10,11
newspaper-9,11
history club-11
started volunteering this year at a nursing home</p>
<p>would it be better for me just to choose 2-3 of the ecs that i like the most?</p>
<p>if i take the ACT will i still have to take sat ii's by some schools? or will they be fine with my ACT score?</p>
<p>what act score do you guys think i would need to get to get into a good school?</p>
<p>I would say you should pick 2-3 activities and really devote yourself to them. You know, "passion" and all that. But hey, you're an african american from Minnesota - already you're doing pretty well.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Do the ECs you like. Or, to put it another way, do the ECs you would do even if you didn't have to put them down on a college app. The number is not important. If you only like 2 or 3, do 2 or 3. If it's 5 things you enjoy doing, do 5. Just don't do so much that your grades suffer.</p></li>
<li><p>The tests you need to take depend on the schools you want to apply to. I suggest you access the websites of some of the top schools you're considering, and see what they require. They will differ.</p></li>
<li><p>If you're talking HYPS (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford) level schools, you'd probably need no less than a 32 or 33 on the ACTs. Higher is better,of course.</p></li>
<li><p>As the writer above noted, you're an african american from Minnesota, a URM (Under Represented Minority) in the world of college admissions, and this is something you can really use to your advantage. All the top colleges are looking for black kids with really good stats. So, if your PSAT/SAT/SAT2/ACT scores are as good as your GPA, you will be an extremely strong applicant at any school you apply to.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>One thing that could really hurt you is you were taking all non honors courses 9th grade year, mostly regular courses 10th grade year with a scattering of honors.</p>