Help me make a college list! Am I Ivy-League material?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey everyone! I'm currently a junior in high school and all my friends are starting to freak out about college. I feel like I should be worried too, or atleast have an idea about what schools I should be looking into or what schools I'd be interested in. I didn't know exactly where to start on my own, so I'm hoping you guys can help me!</p>

<p>Maybe you can help me out based on my current high school standing?
I go to a small private catholic school in jersey
Im taking 8 AP classes between this year and next
My GPA is around a 3.8 - 3.9 weighted.. I don't know if this is good or not because the highest GPA possible is a 4.3
My class rank is 15, which is barely making the top 10%
I took the october SAT and got a 1980, but thats with 0 preparation. My sister said that if I prepare properly and drill myself I can get into the 2200 range like she was</p>

<p>As far as EC's go, I think that's where I can shine..
I'm involved in pretty much everything my school has to offer. Im in things like student ambassadors and the national honor society. I've been class president every year and probably will be student body president senior year. I've started my own "film society" at my school. I have plenty of community service done as my school requires it.</p>

<p>I know I'm not exactly saying much about my EC's, but that's because I dont feel like typing it all haha. I'm very confident about this portion of my potential application and I'm not really looking for advice as far as this goes.</p>

<p>I also run track and field and my coach says I'm good enough to be recruited if we can talk to some coaches closer to my senior year. Does anybody know how much getting recruited with a school like an ivy can swing in the admissions department? I know they don't give scholarships, but can they get me in?</p>

<p>--</p>

<p>The only thing I'm sure of, in regards to potential schools, is that I want to go to a top college/university. However I have some holes in my resume.. I'm scared my GPA isn't good enough or the fact that I've only taken 3 years of a language will hold me back. Will that have a huge impact?</p>

<p>Anyways, can you guys help me out as far as telling me what sort of potential schools I should be looking at? Or maybe some advice on how I can improve to get into some top-tier schools? I'm really open to anything, I just need some ideas to start my college journey with. </p>

<p>Any help is appreciated, thank you!</p>

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<p>Does your school have Naviance?</p>

3

<p>I have no idea… what is that?</p>

<p>I also wanted to point out that my dad went to Northwestern and my sister currently attends UPenn. Does this mean I have a really good shot at those schools?</p>

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<p>You sound like an good candidate for top schools, especially if your GPA has an upward trend to it and your SATs exceed 2200. You definitely want to be in the top 10% of your class if the school is highly selective (admits less than 20% of applicants). It is a hook to have legacy status, although different schools treat it differently - you’ll have to ask on the Northwestern and UPenn forums how legacies are treated by those schools. And yes, being a recruited athlete is also a hook.</p>

<p>The best way to determine your chances is to check out the common data set for each school (google it) and see how you compare to the admitted students from the prior year, and then factor in your ‘hooks’ if any.</p>