Freshman Questions

I’m a freshman in highschool, and I’m wondering what I should aim for (future classes/grades/EC) to get into a really good University. I have a 3.96 unweighted GPA (so far) and is taking AP calc AB and AP Physics with all my other classes as honors. I am in Orchestra and in the TSA club. However, I do not enjoy sports and do not participate in any sport clubs. Is it still possible for me to get into a pretty good college?

If your other extracurriculars are strong, then no college is going to care that you don’t play a sport. Just keep your GPA up, take rigourous classes, and shoot for as high a score as you can on the SAT or ACT when you take it in a couple years. If you can come into your senior year strong, then you should be competitive at plenty of top universities.

Yeah, always aim for perfect. You don’t need a 4.0 to get into a great college, but in no way will it hurt you. I’d be a little more concerned about extracurriculars, but not too much so. If you’re looking for a sport you can start, I’m going to make the personally biased recommendation of rock climbing; it’s kind of different, you can get good at it without training for your whole life, and it’s fun.
You don’t need sports on your application, by any means. You’ll want to have more than just a few clubs, though; the most important thing to do is find one or to things you really love and take leadership positions in them, as that’s what colleges really look for. Good luck, you’ve got a lot of time to make yourself into whatever applicant you want to be.

This probably doesn’t matter to you, but by not playing sports you’re basically taking any service academies off the table.

At this point, it’s hard to determine what you should aim for since you don’t have specific schools in mind. Really, you should just be doing the best you can and challenging yourself, and then you’ll get into a school that you’ll fit into academically. You don’t have to play sports. Are you taking AP calc and ap physics as a freshman? That’s impressive.

I’ll admit I’m only a bit farther along in high school than you, but my experiences with counselors and exchanges with colleges have really impressed in me the importance of involvement. Rigorous classes and academic achievement are obviously important, but this can be found anywhere.

You need to make yourself an asset. Hone your interests (don’t just ‘collect’ advanced classes to look good, personalize your schedule, find what higher level classes actually intrigue you, be focused), volunteer in your community, get involved in some clubs your school offers and STICK WITH THEM. And in answer to your question, you don’t need to be sporty.

In short it seems colleges like to see (1) rigorous classes and good grades, which it looks like you have already so keep at it (2) club involvement; even another club wouldn’t hurt if you can manage (3) some volunteering hours (4) high SAT/ACT scores

You look like you’re well on your way. Do as much as you can as well as you can. Good luck!

I agree with all the other comments, I think you can get into a great college if you do excellent things in school. Start a club of join a bunch of club that you’re really passionate about. I started a club at my school called Girl Up and we’re doing awesome things with it. As long as you keep your grades up, take rigorous classes, and also have leadership roles and do something exceptional with those clubs. I wish you the best. Also start studying for you ACT and SAT!

Don’t worry about sports. My son is so anti sport and he got into the most selective school in America. You’ll do fine