Hello friends
I am currently a freshman and I want to get into good top colleges. How do I increase my chances? I know I have to get a good GPA and get a good act score but besides that how do I increase my chances? Does participating in school sports increase my chances? Does taking a lot of ap/honors classes increase my classes? Does volunteering increases my chances? I would appreciate your help. also, I don’t know If I put this in a right category
Thanks
Firstly, getting into a good top college and getting into a college that is meant for you are two different colleges. A lot of colleges in the US are pretty outstanding and are among the best in the world. The big names and all are nothing and are not for everyone- so I would suggest following a heart and finding a school that speaks to you. Find your passions and stick to them and with finding college find yourself. You got this 
Hands down the best advice you will get:
You might think that b/c it’s been around for a while that things have changed, but you would be wrong!
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Take 5 core classes each year: English, Math, Foreign language, Social science, Science.
Among those, 8 (total) should be AP, including calculus if you’re able to (precalculus+AP statistics otherwise), history, and before you take an AP science make sure you have taken bio/chem/physics.
Become great at something you’re currently good at.
Be/make a positive impact in your community (neighborhood, faith group, school…)
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I like the “Applying Sideways” blog.
The point is to do what makes sense for you. Take the classes that make sense for you. Participate in the extracurricular activities that make sense for you. If you end up in a competition, compete fairly and if you are a highly competitive sort of person you will just play to win because that is you. If you end up being the president of a club, if you understand “leadership” then you will understand that this means making the activity better for everyone. If you want to volunteer, it will be a good thing to do.
This is almost exactly the approach that I used to get into good universities for both my bachelor’s and my master’s. This was a long time ago. However, my older daughter used the exact same approach (what was right for her was almost completely different from what was right for me). This got her accepted into a very good graduate program, and she will start in September. It appears this approach still works.
Do well in your classes. Take the classes and participate in the activities that make sense for you. Treat people well. Be fair and honest and soft spoken, and understand that some other people will also be fair and honest and some will not.
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First thing, find out what you can afford.
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Choose to take the most challenging classes that your high school offers, that your teachers and guidance counselor recommend are at an appropriate level for you, and work your hardest, to do your best in them. Try to get into classes with excellent teachers - ask students who are now in grades 10-12 who the best teachers are, and try to get into those classes. You cannot say, “I want Mr. Super for AP US history”, but you can sign up for the maximum number of classes available, with no lunch, and then drop one or two classes, the classes with not great teachers, and try again the next year, so that you are always taking a full, appropriate class load. You can use this technique to maximize your chances of having the best teachers in science and history, which do not need to be taken in sequence. If your school only has one AP Euro teacher, and he’s amazing, take that class. If your school only has one AP Physics teacher, and she’s awful, don’t take that class. You will do better in school and learn more if you can maximize the number of classes with amazing teachers.
Interact with your teachers. Don’t be shy - speak up and participate in class, and if your classmates somehow make you feel that it’s not socially acceptable for you to speak up in class, IGNORE THEM. This is how you get letters of recommendation in the future. Go to see teachers outside of class, for extra help, or just to talk about the subject, if you like. For instance, if you love to write, make an appointment to show your writing to your English teacher. It’s not that you have to have written the next great novel - it’s that you want to show the teacher that you’re bright, inquisitive, want to learn, so that when it’s time to ask for letters, they can write good ones for you.
Get involved in what you love doing, for extracurriculars, and take them as far as you can. You don’t have to be a star athlete, but if you like to be active, try going out for cross-country or track. But if what you love is to write, work on school paper or media, plus do more by doing creative writing outside of school, and submit it to competitions. And don’t be discouraged if you need to work to earn money to help yourself and your family. Colleges do consider this, if you write about financial stresses and needing to babysit to earn money, and then hold a part time job, or need to watch your younger sibs so that your parents can work. Even with this, you can show creativity and drive. For instance, you could turn your babysitting work into babysitting with tutoring, or start a babysitting business, recruiting your classmates to work for you in exchange for your finding them the jobs, if you are a babysitter who is in high demand.
Consider if there is a way that you can get involved in charitable work, using your interests. You don’t have to do a thousand hours in a soup kitchen, unless your passion is feeding the homeless, in which case many volunteer hours in food pantry work, with an attempt to get others interested in it, too, and recruit them to help you, say, establish and stock and maintain a network of little food cabinets scattered throughout the area, and farther, would be a great activity for you. Take what you love doing, get involved in doing it, and try to come up with a way to lead others to help you to do the greatest good.
Right now, your job is to establish the best record for applying to schools. That means fulfilling the required classes of the highest rigor that you can handle, with the best grades you can get, and participating in activities that you enjoy doing. In tenth grade, you can think about starting to prep yourself for either the ACT or the SAT, but keep an eye on whether colleges will require this, or even look at a score. For instance, California public colleges have gone test blind, meaning they won’t even consider a standardized score, although I don’t know if this will change after the pandemic.
Don’t worry about finding schools now to reach for. Focus on establishing your record, and learning and enjoying life, and figuring out what you like doing and studying.
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thank you for your tips
In the second paragraph, you said to not be shy and interact with the teachers but sadly I am really shy and sit in the back of the class and rarely talk. I want to talk but I am scared, wouldn’t it be awkward if I suddenly talk when I didn’t say a word before.
All the extracurricular activity in my school got canceled because of the stupid COVID-19
so I will take sports next year
Start by talking to your favorite teachers one on one. Even if just to let them know you really liked learning about w or z, or are really interested in something s/he said can s/he recommend a book about it?
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Agree with @MYOS1634.
The first time is the hardest! A person who says little- but what they say counts! - is genuinely appreciated. Start by talking to a teacher whose class you really like! and let them know you like the class so much that you are working up your nerve to actually say something, and in the meantime you have a question about X.
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Hi! I’m a graduating senior, so I’ve been reflecting on my high school experience since it’s almost over. I know that top 20 colleges are appealing; prestige and Ivy League-type opportunities are great. It is important and admirable to work towards admission into a “good” college; however, please don’t let it consume you. Yesterday, I had been working on a project for hours, and my mom asked if I wanted to watch Dance Moms with her. I realized that I will only have 5 more months where I will be able to watch stupid TV shows with my mom on a random Wednesday night. So, I went and watched it with her. I’m not advising you to slack off on your schoolwork, but please have fun. Please find extracurriculars that you love, scream at every football game, explore your passions, find a career goal, go to prom, and make a friend or two along the way. Your high school career should be just that: high school. Work towards your goals, but don’t allow college to consume your high school experience. You will be fine 
(P.S. I will be attending Florida State in the fall as an out-of-state member of the Honors College, and I still enjoyed my time as a high schooler. It can be done ;))
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Along those lines:
There are a few common "don’t"s for students aiming for more selective colleges:
- Don’t skip precalculus to take AP statistics.
- Don’t skip physics to take AP something else.
- Don’t skip foreign language level 3 or 4 to take AP electives.
- Don’t opt out of calculus if you complete precalculus in 11th grade or earlier and calculus is available to you.
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