HELP! [Sophomore] Chances at the Ivies?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hi everyone, </p>

<p>I'm an Asian female sophomore attending public high school in Michigan. I am really worried about my GPA (our school does not give GPAs above a 4.0, even for AP). I'm hoping to land a spot in the Ivies, but I'm worried I don't have the grades to compete. My high school is fairly competitive, and each year at least one student in the graduating class will attend any given Ivy school. </p>

<p>Here are my stats:
Current GPA: Around a 3.95... Midterms are next week, so I'm really studying up for that. My science class is my weakest (B+, but it's accelerated {honors} so there's a slight grade boost). However I don't plan on majoring in science, and most of my extracurriculars are not geared toward the sciences. </p>

<p>Standardized testing: None, except the PSAT (194... will hopefully improve to 210+ next year) </p>

<p>Classes: Algebra 2 AC; Geophyscial Science AC; AP UShistory; English 11 AC (this is one year ahead of normal); Latin II; Symphony Orchestra (best orchestra); Business Applications
**Take Chinese AP in a chinese school off-school site</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-President of an online website magazine club
-Editor-in-chief/started a fashion/student interest magazine
-Chair for the business club
-Secretary for Key Club
-Treasurer for Red Cross club
-Team A (best team) for Mock Trial Team
-Participated in a students education younger students about discrimination program (1 yr.)</p>

<p>**Summer activity: participated in an academic program held at Stanford University last summer. </p>

<p>Awards: won a junior short story writing contest for a newspaper
-finalist for a Neutrogena story-type contest
-won 4th and 1st respectively for Extemporaneous speech for the business club in our region
-won 4 other misc. awards (2nd place, 2nd place, 2nd place, 4th place for different events
in the busincess competition)
-Volunteer award within the district for the business club
-President's Award for volunteerism within the Key club </p>

<p>***This year I plan on taking the SAT II subject test for U.S history, and possibly the subject test for Bio E/M. Would this be too much on top of the two additional AP tests I will be taking???? </p>

<p>Thanks for checking this out, and please reply to let me know what you think my chances are! What are some things that I could improve? Obviously the SAt/ACT testing, but I will take those in Junior year. </p>

<p>I'm really centering my attention on the English side of things. I prefer English (therefore I am taking the advanced class in this subject). My extracurriculars are also geared primarily in the liberal arts direction. </p>

<p>What are my chances at the Ivies?!</p>

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<p>Hey what’s up chino,keep going and you’d have good chance.</p>

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<p>I also forgot to add that I contribute/write for the high school/teen section of the newly launched online newspaper for our city. It’s kind of a major thing… only two other students at my school do it, and both are seniors & editors of the school newspaper. </p>

<p>By the way, I really love fashion (as an art; not a superficiality). So I hope that gives me a creative edge over… some other people in my demographic (Asian, female).</p>

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<p>I can chance once you’re a senior, but you’re probably smart enough to know your own chances. :)</p>

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<p>Do you go to Huron or Pioneer? I live in Ann Arbor too (figured that out once you talked about a “newly launched online newspaper”… I miss the Ann Arbor News :(), though I don’t attend a public school. Anyway, your stats look great! When it comes time to apply, though, it’s always best to excel in one or two areas (though not at the expense of everything else), and though your EC’s seem a little bit scattered, it certainly looks like English/journalism could be a possible area for you. The Common Application only allows 7 spots maximum for EC’s anyway, so it would be to your advantage if you could continue narrowing your focus. </p>

<p>Since you seem to be an excellent English student, you could potentially add the Literature SAT II subject test to your list. Schools like Harvard and Princeton will require 3.</p>

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<p>^Yes, I agree with fledgline. It seems to be a difficult test to get an 800 from what I’ve heard.</p>

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<p>Fledgling: lol yeah I’m in the Ann Arbor area/(Pioneer)/ This means that U of Michigan is a likely school for me, though I want to aim a bit higher. However, I don’t want to be naiive and assume the best… I don’t like to take things for granted, because a 4.0 GPA can go down to a 3.5 in a week. (Not to be so morbid…) </p>

<p>I forgot to mention that I participate in a business program at u of m’s ross school…
*also placed on the national latin exam (no medal though… :/) </p>

<p>*I’m also taking the highest level piano test this year, and plan on going to states solo and ensemble with my two groups. </p>

<p>*I volunteer one hour each week at a children’s daycare center as a “teacher” </p>

<p>*over the summer i was a camp “junior” counselor for 1 week </p>

<p>the way i think of it, my ECs fall in the Volunteering (key club, etc.), Business (club, etc.), English (journalism, etc.) categories. These are all things I’m very interested in, and I actually enjoy purusing these. </p>

<p>Thanks, everyone! </p>

<p>Any advice on how to keep up grades, how to do well on ap/sat i/ii tests? =)</p>