Figuring out on which level I am - Picking it up late for college deciuons

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Even though I've reached junior year, where people expect you to actually start figuring out this mess we call college admissions, I'm still feeling so lost.</p>

<p>A bit of info on me...</p>

<p>-4.0 GPA, 4.8 weighted
-Took 3 honors courses freshman year, 3 honors and AP chem sophomore year, and currently 2 honors, APUSH, and APES junior year
-5 on AP Chem Exam, 780 SAT Chem subject test, 193 sophomore year PSAT</p>

<p>-Varsity cross country runner, JV Spring track
-Student Council, Principal's Advisory Council, Student Curriculum Advisory Council, Spanish Club Executive Council, Human Rights Club, Mock Trial in past, Forensics (first year)
-Senior Girl Scout, have earned Gold Award for hosting a middle school Pi Day
-Summer camp counselor
-play guitar at my church
-a lot of random volunteer work (just for fun!)
-school newspaper editor</p>

<p>I live in the western PA region and would like to stay relatively close to home. A college in PA would be great if it suits my needs, but generally the Northeast and mid-Atlantic region is my aim, not venturing further west than Chicago.</p>

<p>Thus far, I hope to major in chemistry and minor in journalism or English, so it is really important to me that these academic programs, primarily those for chemistry, are strong. Academics are probably the most important thing for me. Also, I'm NOT a fan of the typical college party scheme. In other words, I'm a stone-cold sober who would like a lot of alternative activities on or around campus.</p>

<p>Given these credentials and somewhat vague wants for a school, what sort of places should I even be looking into? Are places like UPenn, Northwestern, and even UChicago way out of reach? What are some strong schools in my given region that aren't quite so exclusive. I just took a practice SAT practice test, for which I didn't prep much apart from the PSAT and earlier, and got 690 CR and math and 76 writing MC. These scores freaked me out a little after visiting UPenn. At what level do you think I am? I just want to be realistic.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

2

<p>Your GPA is about as good as it can be. Congratulations. The rigor is okay but if you can get more APs, do so. Your ECs are in line with your ambitions, but the best schools will want to see some leadership and they will hope to see something unusual in your ECs. You have time to do something about that, and you have lots of time to raise your standardized test scores. You might consider a second SATII, maybe Math2, after you’ve finished pre-calc.</p>

<p>The ivies and other tippy top schools are totally unpredictable. Apply and ignore. Penn, Haverford, Swarthmore, Cornell, Northwestern, Chicago. Don’t worry about these. </p>

<p>You can build a list later. It is more important right now for you to begin to discover how much support your parents can provide you, a firm number that they can offer you each year for four years. Each college will have a “net price calculator” on their financial aid page. Get your parents to help you fill it out. It will provide an EFC that will approximate what each school will expect your family to pay each year. You can start with some local schools of various kinds: Pitt, PSU, Allegheny, Haverford, and an OOS flagship like UMD-CP. This will help you to learn whether you should be focusing on schools that offer a lot of need-based aid or if you should hunt down schools that offer a lot of merit to high achievers. Your parents may not want to talk about money right now, but stay after them. You should not build a list without knowing if you are likely to be able to afford each of the schools on the list. Affording college is a family decision, so be patient with them if that’s what they need.</p>

<p>There’s lots of info here at CC and in manuals in your counseling office on how to prep for the standardized tests, tips on writing essays, and info on individual colleges. Enjoy your junior year. Senior year can be an emotional roller-coaster for many people. Come back with other questions.</p>