<p>I'm going to be a junior in high school and I want input from others if they think I even have a shot of getting into the Ivies. I have ADD and my mom didn't tell me that until I was a sophomore so my freshman year threw of my GPA. I have a 3.72 as of now, but I have gotten straight A's after I found out/started taking my meds.
- I take challenging classes (honors/AP)
- I play women's lacrosse
- I speak Spanish and German (and of course English)
- I am the president of Diversity Club
- I am founding president of my school's community service club
- I am a Link Crew leader
- I am involved in: Spanish Club, German Club, and Model United Nations
- I have multiple sailing and scuba certifications
- This year I plan learning another language at UW-Madison
- I have just applied for few internships online too, so if I do get one...how much would that help my chances?</p>
<p>I think that's it. Thank you!</p>
<p>I would not worry too much about your GPA.</p>
<p>Which of the “Ivies” are you interested in? They are not “one size fits all.”</p>
<p>Your SAT/ACT will matter a lot, as will your essays, recs etc. </p>
<p>Do you have a chance? If you apply. Please do your research and select wisely the ivy where you best fit.</p>
<p>That said, they’re a crapshoot. You apply. You forget about it and make sure you apply to plenty of matches and a couple safeties. If you are admitted to an ivy you are surprised, gracious, and festive.</p>
<p>Can you afford it? That’s another matter. Have you run the net price calculators for any of them? This too is part of fit.</p>
<p>Since you have a medical reason for your freshman grades, that may help your GPA look better than it does at first glance. A lot will depend on how you do on the SAT or ACT. So yes, I’d say you have a shot. You had better look up the mid-50% range of test scores for the schools you’re interested in; if you fall below that range, your chances become very slim.</p>
<p>That said, you need to understand that Ivy League schools receive about 3X as many applications from “qualified” students as they have spots for in their entering class. So it doesn’t do much good to look at your stats and say yes, you have a shot at the Ivies. Thousands of kids each year have a legitimate shot at the Ivies and yet they don’t get admitted, simply because there wasn’t room. What determines who gets in and who is rejected? Many people have theories, but only those who make that decision as to that particular student could tell you for sure.</p>
<p>As @jkeil911 says, if you want to apply, go for it; maybe you’ll get in. But you should never pin your hopes on admission to an Ivy. You should pay more attention to your applications to match and safety schools because there is a very good chance that you will be going to one of them, no matter how outstanding your stats are. Readjust your expectations and you will have a much less stressful college application experience and will be much happier at whatever school you end up going to.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I’ll be taking the ACT for the first time this September and plan on studying a lot! The Ivy League I’d be interested in are Brown, Princeton, Columbia, and I’ll be honest… Harvard has always been a dream. </p>
<p>Also as far as affordability I will need some assistance. I have a single mom and she is trying to pay for my brother’s rehab…it’s kind of a mess. Before my brother had drug problems he was in college, so my mom was paying for about 80% of the tuition as well. So in short…even though I work during the school year I won’t be getting a lot of money for college. </p>
<p>If your father is living, some schools will want to know his financial situation and expect him as well as your father to provide for your education. Some calculators will take into account medical expenses such as your mom has.</p>
<p>Most students need some assistance. The only way to find out how a particular school is likely to handle your particular circumstances, OP, is to run the net price calculators. I encourage you not to dream about Harvard but to plan to go there. Planning includes figuring out how to pay for a college. Children dream; adults figure out how to make their dreams reality.</p>
<p>I know this means bugging your mom (and probably your dad) for financial info when that might be the last thing she wants to think about or, in the case of your dad, the last thing you want to think about. If they have nothing to give you, at least you’ll know that. If some schools expect your family and you to provide 20K, at least you’ll know that. </p>
<p>You need to know where you stand so you can choose wisely. Do it now because it will make it that much more likely that you understand where you can go to college next year.</p>
<p>@jkeil911 has some good financial advice, but it may not be so important that you worry about it yet. Harvard, Princeton and Yale give the best financial aid in the country. If your parents make 150K+ year you’ll be expected to pay a sizable portion of the tuition, otherwise, not so much.</p>
<p>The OP’s bigger hurdle is getting in. I had a 4.0, 35 ACT, and much better ECs but I still didn’t get into all of HYP. I was exceptionally fortunate to get into Princeton to be honest. Tough field out there, and the OP has yet to do anything especially impressive… Focus on getting good test scores, and make sure you always go to bed exhausted in a good way (i.e., put forth the effort necessary to win national awards).</p>
<p>Keep in mind that Harvard rejects bilingual perfect test scorers with much better GPAs and very impressive internships every year. I know a girl who was one of them.</p>
<p>Your interest in languages reminds me of the quality language programs at Yale and Cornell and non-ivies like Middlebury (a reach for you), Valparaiso (academic safety), and Dickinson, Scripps, and IndianaU (matches). (It would be nice to have a standardized test score to assess your chances, but if you take my suggestions with that grain of salt you’ll be okay.) If you’re really interested in languages and have a talent for learning them, your government not only would like to speak with you but would be interested in supporting your education. Of course, DoD and counterterrorism efforts require personnel with excellent language skills, but so too do more traditional departments such as State. Here’s a study abroad program the state dept runs:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nsliforyouth.org”>http://www.nsliforyouth.org</a></p>
<p>and here some summer language institutes:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.clscholarship.org”>http://www.clscholarship.org</a></p>
<p>Here’s one from DoE for summer and school-year:</p>
<p><a href=“Foreign Language and Area Studies Program”>http://www2.ed.gov/programs/iegpsflasf/index.html</a></p>
<p>And there are more.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, too, that several colleges will have housing dedicated to language learners where people are expected to speak to each other in their non-English languages. Some have floors of dorms dedicated to a particular language or two.</p>
<p>So, I have been an alumnus interviewer at one of the most prestigious schools out there. I have seen kids with better GPA’s not get in and worse scores get in. </p>
<p>What you need to do is something that is extraordinary that is somehow externally validated. The problem is so many students are doing so much, for example getting internships and doing (allegedly) original research that the schools want the kid’s name to be on a published paper. Follow your interest, BUT be extraordinary. Cal Newport’s book really captures it. See his book “How to be a High School Superstar”. and look through his columns. </p>
<p>Update: I have received an internship. Will this help me with my chances?</p>
<p>maybe, but get a good letter of recommendation out of the internship.</p>
<p>I also want to apply to Northwestern, Middlebury, Boston College, NYU, and Swarthmore…thoughts??</p>
<p>It’s impossible to assess your chances without ACT or SAT scores.</p>