Sadly, our school does not offer any AP classes, or any other honor classes. Our school, however, does have a special class for “SMART” students, and only those chosen since first grade have been allowed to participate in them. Nonetheless, I’m still the top 10% of the batch, and I have a GPA of 4.0 out of a scale of 4 (unweighted, my school doesn’t weight). I have many extra-curricular activities (community service, varsity, class officer), and I’m head of the school’s newspaper. Because I took the SAT’s the day after my finals, I didn’t get a good score. I scored a 1810.
Do you guys think I will get in any Ivy Leagues?I want to pursue a career in physics; therefore, I want to major in any physics related courses.
The SAT will hurt your chances greatly. There are too many applicants with excellent course rigor/grades, high standardized test, and meaningful activities, amazing recommendations etc. to accept. It is fine to apply to one or two super-reaches, but try to focus your attention on schools where your standardized tests are more of a math. Perhaps consider some test optional colleges as well. It is a mistake for you or anyone to focus so much attention on Ivy schools when there are so many amazing colleges and universities (likely all of which have physics) out there.
That SAT won’t get you into Ivies or hyper elites, but it will get you into plenty of nice schools. It’s a perfectly fine SAT for a LOT of schools. I’m a bit confused with your phrasing: are you in the special classes for students tracked in 1st grade, or are you not? That matters because course rigor matters. If a school doesn’t offer AP or honors but does have something accelerated and you’re not in those classes, a 4.0 GPA will be weighted accordingly. ie: the most important thing with a GPA is that it reflects appropriate course rigor. That is what gets you into elite schools, more than an amazing SAT (ie: you can make up for a lacklustre SAT with a stellar academic record at many schools).
But, you can study physics literally anywhere. At many schools, that GPA and even SAT will qualify you for merit aid–start exploring those options. Retake the SAT if you think you can better that score; a higher school would indeed help you get better merit aid/getting into some places. Ratchet your sights down a few levels from Ivies to your state school, private schools whose median scores match yours.
A 4.0 coupled with an SAT in the 1800s screams “grade inflation.” The fact that your school lacks AP classes also bodes poorly, as it indicates a lack of rigor.
I have to say I find the idea of picking students for a “smart kids” class in the 1st grade and refusing to allow anyone into that class thereafter disturbing, and I have difficulty believing this actually exists. What about kids who move to the school’s neighborhood from the 2nd grade onwards? What about kids who pull things together academically at any point in the 11 years separating 1st grade and graduation? I have to doubt that any school district would be so wilfully ignorant to these possibilities that they’d allow a “smart” class limited to kids chosen in 1st grade.
There have been a few posters in the past week or so who’ve merely sought to muddy the waters for people looking to find realistic advice and actual students experiences’, and I’m compelled to wonder whether your post is entirely factual or is similar to the aforementioned jokes.