Hick High School Help: What are my chances?

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
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<p>I live in Frewsburg, NY, a town of about 2,000 and there are 72 students in my grade. Very few people have been to college, (including my parents) and very few kids from my area even apply to prestigious schools. I really want to go to Wharton or another Ivy League. My high school offers NO AP courses. We do have some distance leaning and this year (I am a sophomore) I am taking Business Law. In my junior year I am going to take “advanced” English which is really just a class of 20 selected kids taught by a strict teacher. From what I can gather (I’ve never had a guidance appointment) the guidance councilors stress the local community college and some local community colleges. Almost everyone goes to one of 6 or 7 area universities or our local community college. Here are my current stats:</p>

<pre><code>98% overall Avg.
4/72 ranking (my class size continues to dwindle as kids drop out)
</code></pre>

<p>Varsity Track since 7th grade (I think I might be able to get recruited which would help my chances)
Mock Trial
Boy Scouts (I am getting my Eagle in a few weeks)
Class President
HOBY representative
Striders Summer/Indoor Track
Varsity Soccer 1 year
Varsity Cross Country 1 year
Student Council</p>

<p>I took the PSAT and I think I did pretty good (still waiting for results). I had to argue with the guidance counselor to take the PSAT as a sophomore. She thought I was trying to get out of class or something and had to convince her that I’m a serious student and I wanted to try it before it really counts in my junior year. My school has very few extracurricular activities and even fewer that are academic. Will this hurt my chance? Boy Scouts is a huge one and it takes A LOT of time. I do tons of volunteer work through Boy Scouts and I don’t have much time to do anything else. Will the fact that I have no AP courses affect my chances? </p>

<p>Also does anyone know about UPenn’s or other Ivy League track and field recruitment especially for sprinters?</p>

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<p>A tip is to try and take courses at the community college while in high school. That would help you a lot.</p>

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<p>actually, my track and field coach in my hs said penn sent her stuff about how they would lower requirements for trac and fielders...... maybe it will still apply when you apply</p>

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<p>Of course it will...that's the point of recruitment. You have a decent chance being first-generation college, but without your SAT scores it's hard to put you into the kind of context we would need to seriously help you. You're a sophomore...stop worrying.</p>

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<p>yeah, since your GC doesn't seem to be helping too much take a lot of initiative.. buy an SAT prep book n start studying for the new sats, but really, keep ur grades up and definitely do that community college thing if it's not too far.
that's sad, kids dropping out =/
be very on the ball when u start applying eventually.. ask your GC if they have a school report to send at all. you said most people go to local/community colleges, so your GC might not have experience with ivies and such... just start researching and knowing how everything works. good luck, you sound like a very motivated student!</p>

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<p>Thanks. I have read every ivy league admissons book in our local city library. I learned a lot about the process from them. Especially one written be a former Dartmouth admissions officer.</p>

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<p>cool, dont waste any more of our time(jk!) and well see you in two years buddy</p>

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<p>hahah that's awesome. try to find some competitions in an area you're interested in (regional, nationwide, international, whatever) and try to do something with them! that'd be good to show what you can do</p>