High school sophomore, any suggestions on where I should apply to later?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>This is mainly out of curiousity, since obviously I'm only a sophomore and don't actually need to be thinking about this a whole lot yet.</p>

<p>School type: Texas public, but easily one of the 5 most competitive in the state</p>

<p>GPA: Expected to be somewhere between 3.5 and 4.0</p>

<p>Class Rank: If trends continue, top 15 or 20% at the end of senior year (but again, very competitive, tough school, dunno how much colleges consider that in applications process though)</p>

<p>PSAT: 196 sophomore year
SAT: Haven't taken it yet (except in 7th grade), but took a full length practice one on the CollegeBoard site. I got a 2190, but it seemed really easy compared to the PSAT, so I don't know if it was really as hard as the actual SAT.</p>

<p>Classes: All Pre-APs in 9th grade, 2 APs (plus other pre-AP academics) in 10th grade, 4 APs in 11th grade, and 5 APs in 12th grade (it's basically AP classes for every academic class)</p>

<p>Extra-curriculars:</p>

<p>-Policy debate (done a 3 week summer institute already, expected to have 7 or 8 more weeks through the next two summers) (with "debate club")
-7 years of orchestra (9 years of cello) (with "orchestra club")
-12 years of piano, several local awards
-Probably will be doing a good amount of community service at some point</p>

<p>Other: Uh, my dad went to Cornell on a full scholarship, and still donates quite a good chunk of money to them, but I doubt legacy will get me into Cornell considering my class rank, etc.</p>

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<p>If you are well off then hey go ivy and definently consider Cornell... You apear to have good scores, just make sure you are National Merit in Texas as a junior...And do a bunch of community service and win some sort of national award in something...
If you do all this and maintain the grades...go apply to the ivies and see where you fit in, and try to get a full scholarship to UT, it's a great school</p>

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<p>I hesitate to believe I'm Ivy material (I suppose it can't hurt to try Cornell just because of legacy and the fact that I've heard it's one of the easier Ivies to get in, even if it's harder when you get there), because</p>

<p>1) I had IB as an option and chose not to do it, which, while not in reality making a difference of more than one class, will probably be seen as somewhat of a reason not to accept me for my lack of motivation to do the VERY most rigorous courseload, and
2) Frequently high-ranked people at my school get rejected from the Ivies.</p>

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<p>what are the score for these high-ranked people?</p>

<p>ANd, if you are willing to work: then what the hell, why not? Not Ivy league material...i bet there are thousands of graduate ivy leaguers that though the same thing</p>

<p>ANd, just take AP classes</p>

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<p>Eh, I dunno their standardized test scores, I didn't really talk to the seniors as a freshman, but they were probably fairly good considering their IB status. I don't see how AP classes could help a whole lot if IB diploma didn't get them into Ivy League schools. </p>

<p>Thanks for the encouragement, though =)</p>

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<p>Some colleges I've been looking into include: Boston College/University, NYU, CMU, UTAustin, UMichAA, USC, Chicago, Emory. I personally think, based on the experiences of past seniors who went to my high school, that ALL of those are reaches, especially CMU, Emory, and Chicago.</p>

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<p>Alright...but seriously you could get into those schools if you work hard...what do you think Asians do? Do they just suddenly know everything and do well (stereotypical, i know)? Nope. They study and work hard</p>

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<p>I plan too (and already do, for that matter. APUSH is a freaking horrible class at my school. I spend 4-6 hours every other night [block scheduling] doing my APUSH homework/studying.). But I don't know if work alone will be enough, I just don't get the feeling I'm a smart enough kid to be an Ivy League-er. Anyways, thanks for your help. Anyone else got some perspective they'd like to share?</p>

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<p>Bump (6 more characters)</p>

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<p>More replies</p>

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<p>Are there admins here? Can someone kick wangggg?</p>

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<p>Dude we have so much in common. I've played piano twelve years and I have a lot of similar stats to yours. My GPA is higher though.</p>

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<p>What grade are you in, Texasmathwhiz?</p>

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<p>Dont give yourself an ulcer, wait til next year to start looking up colleges. Enjoy yourself while you can, senior year is hell.</p>

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<p>Well, what really made me "pull the trigger" and start researching was the fact that this guy who goes to my school, top 11% (in other words, just barely not qualifying for automatic admission to state public schools via Texas' top 10% law), IB diploma, dedicated debater, Eagle Scout, was rejected from UTAustin, somewhere that's generally not considered to be extremely difficult to be accepted into if you're in-state. This guy had more qualifications than me (IB > AP, top 11% > top 16% [not mathematically, but college admissions-ly], Eagle Scout > not a scout, etc.), and didn't get into a college that many at my school consider a "safety." So yes, I'm probably over-worrying, but meh, I can't help it.</p>

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<p>10th grade grapple.</p>

<p>Oh and thank you Wang, for telling me something I already know, and don't care about for that matter.</p>

<p>My PSAT scores sophomore year were not fabulous, they do not matter for any scholarship purposes or anything at all.</p>

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<p>

that sounds soo like something i would say. :) i'm a sophmore -- i've started the official "college research" lol! my friends think i'm crazy:rolleyes:, but oh well. I can't help worrying about it. :)</p>

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<p>Shameless bump</p>