Help, Please!

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi, I am going to be a Junior at a competitive public high school in Michigan. I do a decent amount of sports and activities (Varsity tennis 2 years so far, JV soccer, Varsity Track, School record in track relay, latin club secretary, couple awards and stuff, community service things (about 100 hours so far) , honors awards, work part time at a Pool and at a department store gift wrap etc. etc.) and I currently have a 4.0 unweighted GPA. My PLAN score was 25/32 (dont really know if that's good or not) and I'm going to take the SAT in the fall. So far I have taken no AP classes and a couple honors, and these are my courses for next year (my junior year):</p>

<p>Pre-Clac
AP Chemistry
Anatomy
American Literature
US Government
Intro to Economics
Latin 300
Team Sports
Web Design</p>

<p>I'm not looking to get in to Harvard or Yale or anything like that of course, since I doubt my stats are good enough and I am not the best standardized test taker. Maybe someplace like Michigan? I don't really know that much yet. Well anyways, seeing that I am trying to get into a higher-up school that is pretty well known, does anyone think that I need to take more AP classes for my junior year?(I plan to take more as a senior) Or does anyone know what colleges would be a good match for me?</p>

<p>Thanks, any help or comments would be nice...since I really don't know what I'm doing.</p>

2

<p>Well, with a 4.0 GPA, instate residency, and possibly good SAT scores, you would have very high chances at Michigan.</p>

3

<p>Thanks! Do you know any out-of-state colleges or universities that I would be a good match for? (or a reach?)</p>

4

<p>Do you have any clue as to what you want to study/major in?</p>

5

<p>you don't have to be a crazy good test taker to get into uofm...as long as you are a strong applicant...a 28-29 act composite will give you a good shot...</p>

6

<p>Medicine maybe</p>

7

<p>thanks Gumba</p>

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<p>.............................................</p>

9

<p>If you are decent at tennis, and get good SAT scores (2200 or better), look at William and Mary as a reach. They have a good women's tennis team, and if you can get them to recruit you a little, you might have a decent chance to get in. They have a great acceptance rate for med school through the biology major. You will definitely need to get some AP classes.</p>

<p>Also look at Va Tech. Not as hard to get into as W&M. Don't know much about schools in other states, since I live in VA.</p>

10

<p>Yeah that's what I thought about the AP classes...at first I didn't want to stress myself out with too many, but after seeing all that everyone has taken on CC, it has made me start to wonder whether what I'm taking is really enough if I want to get into an above-average type of school. Well...my SAT scores on practice tests...well let's just say aren't the greatest (for CC standard at least). I'm taking a Prep Class, which is actually really helping me, and I've managed to get around an 1850. Thanks!</p>

11

<p>If you want to go where it's warm, you could get into U of South Carolina pretty easily</p>

12

<p>How about some more detail about what YOU want in college? In a different thread to a parent, I said their son should consider a few things. Such as A school of the size he wants, in a location he wants to live, with classes of the size he would be comfortable with, of appropriate academic rigor, the level of advising (from nonexistent to pervasive) he needs, strong in the types of outside activities he enjoys, that enrolls the types of kids he would want to be friends with. I'd say the same to you.</p>

<p>I think many HS kids don't understand the range of colleges that are out there. Class size averages for classes in your major can be 150, 80, 12. Some schools take pride in an extensive hiking/camping program, some in sending students abroad for a semester, some for getting kids into internships/coops, etc. At some schools you meet regularly with an advisor, at others you're on your own. And there's lots more. So before you pick schools you need to understand what's out there. Reading books about the process is a good beginning; I like "Admission Matters" and there are many other good ones out there. Then visit a few campuses in your area to begin to get a flavor of what various types are like; for example "rural" may be a pleasant abstraction until you're actually standing in one and realize you love it or hate it.</p>

<p>So far your posted criteria consists of "I am trying to get into a higher-up school that is pretty well known". If you're aiming at one of those competitive 100 or so, you face tough odds considering your lack of AP credit and relatively light EC's. On the other hand, if you're willing to consider a school that may NOT be "well known" you'll find there are literally thousands of options.</p>

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<p>Thanks so much for your response, it helped me realize that there about a million different options when it comes to choosing a college and that I should have probably been more specific. I don't think I would do well in a big city with a gigantic campus. On the otherhand, I definately am not that needy that I have to have special attention from professors. Probably something moderate size would be suitable for me.</p>

<p>As for the AP classes...Last year (my sophomore year), the only AP offered to Sophomores was AP US History...and I am not exactly a history buff, so I opted not to take that class. Next year (my junior year), there are several more, but I chose one, just AP Chemistry, but it's always changeable. I think I will add more now, after reading everyone's responses. Will adding another one help?</p>

<p>Do you really think I'm that relatively low on the Extra-Curriculars? I didn't list everything I put down. Here is more, just to see if this helps any of my chances:</p>

<p>Community Service (100+ hrs)
-Office Assistant for the Bloomfield Hills Youth Soccer League, a non-profit organization
-Birmingham Art Fair Child Craft Instructor, where I watched and helped children make arts and crafts.
-Tutor with students at my school who had problems with their classwork (4 hrs a week)
-Babysitter for family and kids in my Neighborhood
-Dogsitter for neighbors when the are away
-Other random jobs in the neighborhood, like watering flowers and retrieving mail.
-Volunteer at the Detroit Soup Kitchen, where I moved bags of food, cooked food, and served it.</p>

<p>Clubs/Groups
-The School Choir
-Key Club
-Latin Club, where I was the secretary
-Active member of the Youth Group at my Church
-I’m going to apply to NHS next year, but can’t now because I’m not technically a junior yet.</p>

<p>Awards
-Principal’s Honor Roll (both freshman and sophomore)
-OAA Scholar Athlete Award
-Nominated by a teacher for the National Youth Leadership Forum (have a feeling this is a rip off, I didn’t go)
-Honor Student at my school for freshman and sophomore year for high GPA
-Presidential Physical Fitness Award
-Essay was recognized by the Detroit Free Press and received an award
-“Magna Cum Laude” (bronze) on the National Latin Exam freshman year
-“Maxima Cum Laude” (silver) on the National Latin Exam sophomore year</p>

<p>Sports
-Freshman year: Varsity tennis & JV soccer
-Sophomore year: Varsity tennis & Varsity Track (school record in track)
-Played travel soccer for 5 years on National Team but had to quit due to Tennis.
-I also play other sports, like Volleyball and Snowboarding outside of school.</p>

<p>Work Experience
-A LOT of babysitting for numerous families
-BHYSL Youth Soccer Referee
-BHYSL Youth Soccer Kindergarten Trainer
-Dogsitting and Dogwalking for numerous families
-Pool Attendent at local pool during the Summer
-Part time job as in Marshall Field’s Gift Wrap</p>

14

<p>tennisgal, you are taking part in EC activities which is good. However at the most competitive schools the kids who get in aren't just participants in activities, they show leadership and/or win state and national awards. At your school you may be one of the most active kids and its easy to project and assume you'd be among the top anywhere, but with over a million other HS seniors out there the level of accomplishment of some of them is amazing! So I wouldn't say your EC's are low in amount, but they're low in terms of demonstrating the passion, leadership, and accomplishment the most selective colleges are looking for.</p>

<p>If you have a real love for 1 or 2 of the things you've listed, my advice would be to run with them and see what you can do. For example take the soup kitchen: participating is great, don't get me wrong, but a stronger candidate would organize shifts of kids from her school to work in it, create a campaign to increase community awareness and donations, perhaps work with local restaurants and grocers to get them to donate unsalable but good food, create handouts for the clients so they can learn how to put together nutritious meals at low cost with the money they have from relief, and so on. This just scratches the surface, you can probably think of a lot more things if this was a strong interest. The point to keep in mind is there ARE kids out there doing this kind of stuff, and when the most selective schools are going over apps yours will sit next to theirs; who would you pick?</p>

<p>You can search on this site to see what some other kids list as ECs to get an idea of what some of the competition looks like. Northstarmom (an Ivy league interviewer, BTW) gave examples of strong ECs in the thread at <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=210497%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=210497&lt;/a> </p>

<p>And here's a blurb from the FAQ at Stanford to give you an idea of what selective colleges themselves say they look for:
[quote]
We do not favor one type of activity over another; nor is it necessary to participate in a large number of activities. An exceptional experience in one or two activities demonstrates your passion more than minimal participation in five or six clubs. We want to see the impact your participation has had on that club, in your school, or in the larger community. With extracurricular activities, a sustained depth of commitment is more important than a long list of clubs you have joined.

[/quote]
</p>

15

<p>Thanks for your response! Yes I definately agree with you, and I think I'll start looking to get more involved in my ECs.</p>