Will I get into these colleges?
I’m just gonna say it… I don’t have the perfect grades or extracurriculars. I’m not the scholar with a 4.0 or the athlete that participated in a sport every season. I’m a junior and coming to the realization that in the coming months I will be taking the SAT, ACT, AP tests that I just don’t feel prepared for. I have family problems as I have a single parent with two other siblings. Right after school I have to babysit them after work as my mother has to work I night shift. I have a 3.7 GPA and in my junior year I got a 3.5 ( 3 Bs and 4 As ). I have been to 3 different highschools already as we move a lot and why my GPA was a 3.5 this year was because I feel depressed because I went to a different school this semester. At my old school I took AP physics, AP Language, and AP US history but at my new school they don’t have AP physics so I’m only testing out of two AP classes. I always read on how people are taking 6 AP classes in their junior year and it just makes me feel as I’m not going to be accepted to any of my top universities. My mother states that she is so proud of me and I feel like I would fail her if I don’t get accepted into my dream college (Cornell University). I want to go to UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC Irvine, Cornell, or UW but I feel like I am not smart enough to be accepted . Do you think colleges will understand the struggles I am facing or do they only want the talented musician with a 4.0 GPA that is the captain of the swim team? On the weekend when I don’t babysit I volunteer at a community hospital and am in Best buddies and key club (fundraising coordinator). I know leadership roles are important but I honestly don’t have the time between babysitting and homework.
No one can say w/o a test score
You definitely need a test score for us to say anything. You should be able to get into a good school. If you don’t get into Cornell it’s most definitely not the end of the world. In fact, going to an Ivy doesn’t necessarily mean you will have an easier time finding a job after graduation.
I haven’t taken the SAT yet but on the PSAT I got a 1080 (88th percentile) but I plan to study more by the time I take the SAT in March.
I assume you are a CA resident?