<p>I am a junior from PA and looking at colleges. I currently have a list of colleges, but im not sure what they would be considered for me and i don't know if I have any safeties. </p>
<p>Current College List:
Virginia Tech
University of Miami
Villanova
Rutgers
Penn State
University of Pittsburgh</p>
<p>Stuff about me:
GPA - 4.2 (Weighted)
Rank - 53/544 (10 %)
SAT - 1640 Combined (620 Math, 580 Writing, 440 Reading)
ACT - Taking in September
Classes - All honors in 9-10th grade, AP Calc BC in 11th grade, AP Chem, Bio, and Span in 12th grade
First person in my familt going to college</p>
<p>EC:
Tennis (9-12, Varsity 11)
Altar Server (8 years)
Bowling (Not for school, captain 6-12)
Model U.N. (stopped after 10th grade)
Table Tennis Club (11)
NHS (11-12)
SNHS (11-12)
Volunteering (50+ hours at hospital)
Attended Spanish Camp for a week</p>
<p>Awards:
Academic Awards (Spanish & Latin)
Who's Who (I know its BS)</p>
<p>Probably the worst parts of my application will be the EC & test scores, but im hoping my grades will help and I will be taking the ACT and hoping to do better on them than the SAT's. Hopefully some of you will be able to help me. Thanks</p>
<p>Nice GPA, but the test scores have to come up. I'm guessing you'd have a decent shot at PennState and Pitt as is. If you can get the SATs up to at least 1800, you'd have a decent shot at the others. Also, there are a lot of colleges where the SAT isn't required, like Holy Cross, Bates, and others.</p>
<p>Try U of Scranton and West Virginia U as a safeties. You also seem to like big sports-oriented places. Might want to give Ohio State, Indiana, Purdue, Michigan State, Tennessee, NC State, and Alabama a look.</p>
<p>Have you been tested for dyslexia? There has to be a reason for that 440 score, and your GPA would indicate that it's not a lack of smarts. I got a 440 the first time I took the old SAT verbal part because I couldn't finish the reading portions, and later found I had dyslexia.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. I don't know what happened to that SAT score, so that is why I'm going to try the ACT. I definetely want a big-name school so those schools you listed sound good.</p>
<p>That 440 in reading really stands out. I would think that the larger schools are more numbers driven and your GPA is fine for most of these schools.</p>
<p>Prep for the SAT or ACT this summer and raise your reading over 500.</p>
<p>tennisace, yes, I think you'd get into at least a few of those I mentioned in the middle paragraph of post #2 (and probably all of them if you got some better test scores). You could add places like Kentucky, Iowa, Nebraska, and Okahoma, too. These places often accept over 80% of applicants, and though it's tougher for out-of-state students, you've got a better GPA than most of the applicants will have. All are beautiful places with huge sports programs and decent academics that attract a lot of the smartest students in the state--I just don't know how far away you'd consider going.</p>
<p>Check out some LACs that do not require standardized tests, like Bates, Bowdoin and Colby. You clearly are much more capable/intelligent than your test scores suggest. You took Calculus BC in 11th grade and maintained a very high class rank and GPA. I'd say schools like those LACs I mentioned above are realistic for you.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone. The only thing is I am not looking at LAC's because they do not interest me. I want a university like the ones mentioned above.</p>
<p>I think everyone is stunned into silence that you're not slobbering all over yourself to get into some elite place, and would be content with a beautiful serene place with great sports, good academics, and normal people.</p>
<p>What's your unweighted GPA? And what kind of scale does your school grade on?
Because im thinking there may be some grade inflation.....get those test scores up.</p>
<p>TourGuide446:
You are absolutely right. I really do not want to go to some elite place (like the ivies) because even though I'm all into the academics, I really want some place that has the right mix of sports, academics, and lifestyles.</p>
<p>IDefineCool:
My unweighted GPA after this year (my junior year) by my calculations will be 3.7. The scale for my school is:
For Academic classes:
A - 4.0
B - 3.0
C - 2.0</p>
<p>For Honors classes:
A - 4.5
B - 3.5
C - 2.5</p>