Increasing my chances

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

I am a high school sophomore currently. Here are the list of colleges I am looking towards. I will probably end up majoring in history and political science because I would like to get involved with government. The list is obviously large right now and I will probably not apply to every single college on here.

Princeton
Columbia
University of Chicago
University of Pennsylvania
Georgetown
Boston College
NYU
Northeastern
Boston University
Fordham
Rutgers New Brunswick
Cornell

I would say my top choice is Columbia and UChicago(but I may not be able to go here because it is 11 hours away). My next top choices are Penn, Princeton, Georgetown and NYU. My backup is Rutgers. My prospective colleges are probably going to change as I get my PSAT scores and complete the SAT and ACTs.

Here is the list of honors and AP classes I will take in my high school career:

9th grade:
Honors English I,
Honors biology,
Honors geometry
Honors world history
10th grade:
Honors algebra II
Honors english II
Honors US history I
Honors chemistry
11th grade:
AP US History II
AP World history
AP Chemistry or AP Physics
AP English III(this is what my school calls it)
Honors math analysis
Honors french III
12th grade:
AP European history
AP psychology
AP biology or Honors anatomy & physiology
AP English IV
AP calculus or Honors calculus
Honors french IV

My GPA (my school weighs it on a 100 point scale) is 104.01 weighted. I am pretty sure my class rank, out of 250 or so students, is #2 or #3. Definitely in the 1-5 range, but my school does not release class ranks until mid-junior year. I have never gotten a B, and the lowest number grade I have ever received is a 93. If I were to calculate my freshman GPA, it would probably be around a 3.95 unweighted.

Here are the extracurricular activities I am involved in:
Practice squad(JV) cheerleader 9th grade
Varsity cheerleader 10th
JV track 9th grade (not sure if I am going to continue with it or not)
Key Club 9th & 10th grade
Key Club officer position as an editor 10th grade
DECA 10th grade
School musical 9th & 10th grade
School choir 9th & 10th grade
Young women leaders 10th grade
Action team captain with volunteers of America 10th grade
Friends of Rachel 9th and 10th grade
Gifted and Talented 9th and 10th grade

Here are extracurricular activities I expect to be involved with in the coming years/hopefully will achieve:
Varsity cheerleader 11th & 12th grade
Key club 11th & 12th grade
Key club officer position 11th grade(unsure of which position yet)
Key club president 12th grade(hopefully)
DECA 11th & 12th grade
School musical 11th & 12th grade
School choir 11th&12th grade
Young women leaders 11th& 12th grade
Action team captain with volunteers of America 11th & 12th grade
Friends of Rachel 11th & 12th grade
Gifted & talented 11th & 12th grade
National Honors Society (hopefully)
Habitat for Humanity summer of junior and senior year
World Language honors society

Probably will have a job by the summer of junior year

With all the information I’ve provided, I want to know if my chances for being admitted to the colleges I have listed are in reach. I do not know my test scores yet, but that is not exactly what I am asking. I want to know if I should not continue with any of the AP courses I have listed or any of the extracurriculars, or if I should join something else to increase my chances.

Thank you!

2

If it helps mentioning, I am white and female from NJ. I’m middle class; I would say my only thing that sets me apart is that I am a buddhist.

3

bump

4

What’s your unweighted gpa? It’s really hard to tell anything without your official sat or act scores. However, I do want to recommend one thing. Don’t take so many AP classes junior year since that will be your first year as an AP student and you’ll probably have to adjust. I’d start with 2, maybe 3, tops.

5

^^ For the top schools on your list I would NOT follow this advice. Take the hardest schedule you can handle. When you apply your GC has to rate the difficulty of your class schedule and it is important they check the most demanding. Also, your ECs appear to mostly joining a bunch of school clubs. Find something you are truly passionate about and try to do something of impact with it. Otherwise, you will not stand out at the elite schools on your list.

6

Yeah, I know I should be following that advice, but I’m finding it increasingly difficult to find something I’m truly passionate about. I’m really interested in true crime, politics, and movies, but I really don’t know what to do with that. There isn’t really much you CAN do in my school. I do really enjoy helping other people, which is why I’m involved with key club.
I’ll admit, I kind of do join a lot of clubs, but it’s mainly because National Honors Society at my school is really competitive and they require you to actively participate in 3 clubs to be admitted.

7

Maybe some other posters can give you suggestions how to develop those interests. Perhaps, post a thread in the College Admissions forum where more parents visit to get ideas.

The admissions rate for unhooked applicants for schools like Princeton, Columbia and UChicago is probably 3-5%. That means they are roughly taking 1 out of every 25 application they review. Getting good grades and test scores will ensure your application gets a thorough read but if your ECs are mainly club participations then it’s really hard for you to stand out among the other 24 applications they are looking at.

So here’s the thing, I’ve always felt that what you do in school is very important but what you do outside of school is what can set you apart. Of course, your recs, and essays also have to be stellar to be selected by an elite school.

You have time to develop an interest very deeply. Make sure you use your summers productively.

Best of luck to you!

8

@Multiverse7 Meant to tag you- I appreciate hearing what you have to say; you seem to know what you are talking about! I got a 1250 on my PSAT with no preparation( I made another thread about this). I’m in the 95th percentile (94th for math, 96th for r/w). I have no idea how accurate my PSAT score is compared to what I will get on the SAT, and I have no idea how good a 1250 is on the PSAT with no preparation whatsoever.

9

You should probably plan on prepping for the SAT or ACT this summer so you can take it next fall. This will also be helpful for the PSAT. Your PSAT score will only matter if you become a National Merit semifinalist and could help with scholarships down the road. Being a Commended Scholar won’t mean anything to elite schools. Bottom line prepare this summer for the ACT and/or SAT and hopefully be done with it in the fall so you can concentrate in the spring on your AP exams and SAT subject tests.

Don’t worry about the 1250, there’s plenty of time for improvement. You will need to aim for a 1530+ SAT score or ACT 34 for the top schools on your list. Good luck!