Halfway through high school... What are my chances?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Currently a sophomore in a moderately big high school (>1000). I’m not sure what college I want to go to yet but definitely some high ranked/possibly Ivies? I’d probably want to major in some sort of science field. Also, please let me know where you find I’m lacking.

*note: I transferred into public school in 8th grade so I wasn’t offered an accelerated math course.

Class rank: N/A
GPA freshman year: 96
Approx. GPA sophomore year: 95
ACT: 34
2 AP’s this year (AP World History and AP Art History), going to take 4 next year (Bio, English, US History, US Gov)
9th Grade Classes: Algebra Reg (guidance counselor flop), Physics Reg, English Honors, Social Studies Honors, Spanish 2, Research Project Seminar (& other reg requirements)
10th Grade Classes: Geometry Honors, Chem Honors, English Honors, AP World History, Spanish 9, Research Project Seminar, AP Art History

Next year I plan on taking the 4 APs mentioned above along with Science Research again & other requirements (like PE and Health)

EC’s/Awards:
Neuroscience Club Officer: 10-12
Pre-Med Club
JV Tennis 2 years
Varsity Badminton 2 years
Piano lessons, NYSSMA awards
National Spanish Exam- Gold
Long Island Science Congress Merit Award

Summer before sophomore year: Pre-College Summer Program at Harvard University
Summer before junior year: Unpaid research with a scientist at a NYC hospital (Intel/ISEF project)

2

You have strong scores and a competitive GPA. Your ECs seem a bit weak, but your pre-college program experience will be really good. Ultimately, you’re a sophomore in high school and you should worry about getting good grades and keeping a high GPA, not about getting into a college. Don’t put a ton of pressure on yourself to get into top-tier schools because the reality is that the Ivies and top private schools (MIT, CalTech, Duke, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt) are hard to tell what they’re going to accept, especially with the SAT redesign. Don’t worry too much, you have a strong score already.

3

looking good so far! Sophomore year is usually too early to change though, especially with Ivy’s which are crapshoots for most applicants. Research is always great for STEM, your ACT score is high…keep going! I don’t think your EC’s are “weak” (yuck that term)…they are all related to each other or tie in together well.

The one thing is as of right now, there’s no WOW factor, but most people build up to a wow factor that they achieve junior year or something. You look like you’re pursuing science research (Intel) so if you are able to succeed in that, your chances will greatly increase :slight_smile: Good luck!