I am a high school junior. I would like to major in something engineering or premed. Do I have any chance of getting into a school like Harvard, Columbia, or Princeton? I am concerned that my extracurricular activities may not be up to par compared to other Ivy League applicants.
-GPA: 4.0, 2/78 in my class
-SAT: unknown as of yet; 223 on PSAT in fall of my jr. year. I am fairly confident that I can get a 2250+ on my SATs, since a 223 translates to about a 2230 on the SATs.
-AP: AP Bio (5), AP US History, AP Chemistry, AP Language
-I plan to take AP Calc, AP Physics, AP Lit, AP Stats and AP Spanish next year
-4 years varsity soccer, soccer captain
-3 years varsity basketball- possibly captain this year
-secretary of student council
-member of se beowulf (service/literature club)
-math team
-nominated for NHS, not sure if I have been selected yet
-attended ‘Maine Youth Leadership Camp’ (selective 4 day leadership seminar)
-volunteered at Humane Society (animal orphanage)
-worked landscaping past 2 summers, will work at community rec this summer
-worked for past 3-4 years caring for my elderly grandparents, doing yard work, helping around the house. -I’m not sure if this is relevant on any applications
I am concerned that my extracurriculars are not prestigious enough or don’t show enough of a specific interest. Unfortunately opportunities are somewhat scarce where I live. I do plan to do the robotics team next year, which would probably be beneficial if I go into engineering. I know some of the info is pretty vague, but what sort of chances would I have of getting into top-notch university, and is there anything I can do to improve my resume?
Well, your problem in my opinion is that you meet all the requirements, but only that. The type of schools you want to go to, you need to have the >3.8 and >2200 and all the basic clubs and teams but you have nothing special. With the way it’s looking, you need to have a really badass essay to get in. You need a hook. Are you by any chance a underrepresented minority?
No. I don’t think I can stand out with my background/ethnicity. Is there any way for my to find this "something special between now and application time?
If you keep up your grades, and get scores along the lines you expect, and continue to be active in the ECs you have, then you can expect admission to multiple highly selective private colleges. Will they include Ivy League schools? Maybe, maybe not. They all take some kids very much like you, and they all reject a lot of kids very much like you. Selective colleges will take into consideration what is available to you in your community. There is no point in trying to find some new and more impressive thing to do–keep on doing what interests you, and do it as well as you can. (I’m assuming you’re not a recruitable athlete–that can make a big difference, of course.)
When you start making a firmer college list, include highly selective schools, but not just Ivy League schools. Look at others as well.
Maybe. What you want to do is research schools–going beyond an artificial grouping like the Ivy League–to find schools that fit your interests well, and that fall into three categories: Reach (those that you have a chance of getting in, but it’s a big challenge), Match (schools that you will probably get in), and Safeties (schools that you will definitely get in, and that you can definitely afford). It’s my opinion that if you are really interested in reach schools, then you should apply to more of them–six, or maybe even eight or ten, plus two or three matches, and at least two safeties (for extra safety, and so you’ll still have a choice if you strike out at reaches and matches).
You might come back and ask for more ideas after you have an SAT score.
They don’t–they’re not allowed to offer scholarships/admissions benefits because they’re DIII. They recruit, but it doesn’t give you an admissions boost. At that point they care more about academics than athletics.
Ivies are a crapshoot for everybody. Just know that. You have the stats; just write a good essay and pray to god that you get in.
As others have pointed, you’re hardly a mortal lock, but you’re a competitive candidate, if you continue along your current path, at pretty much any school.
You’re STATS are competitive but so are most other applicants in HYPs pool. You gotta stand out and/or write phenomenal essays (which are still pretty common). I don’t see anything that sets you apart from most applicants You’re very smart though!
You’re very smart though!