I am currently a sophomore in high school. I go to a private high school in Memphis, TN.
I have competed Algebra 1, Physical Science, and English 9.
Now I am in Algebra 2, Biology, and Honors English 10.
I had a terrible GPA freshman year (last year). A 2.6 unweighted and a 2.8 weighted. I failed my English class because I kept on getting bored. In the last quarter of school freshman year we took the OLSAT. If you aren’t familiar please do some research, this is important to my story. I got a 138 verbal and 147 non verbal. My principal saw this and said I need to be put in honors classes. She wanted to put me in honors English after failing. I agreed.
I took the ACT in January of freshman year and got a 23 Composite
25 Math
23 Science
20 English
22 Reading
I took it again October sophomore year (this year) and got 26 Composite
28 Math
25 Science
25 English
27 Reading
I recently took the PSAT/NMSQT for sophomore year
I got a 1230 total (94th percentile)
640 reading and writing
590 math
I have an extreme interest in numbers and business. I am constantly reading books about speaking, personal finance, and securities. I want to go to an Ivy League school with everything in my heart.
What do I need to do to make this happen? I will do anything…
hiii. i’m going to be very honest: as of right now, your grade point average is very low, and your scores are not within range for any of the schools. however, you’re only in your first semester of sophomore year. if you work your behind off in school the rest of your two-and-a-half years, taking the most rigorous course load available (all while passing with straight to near-straight A’s), and increase your standardized test scores by a minimum of four points to receive a 30 (remember, it is always easier to go from a 26 to a 30 than a 30 to a 34), i say you have just as much of a chance as anyone else. you have to really, really, REALLY want it. the ivy league schools reject people with perfect everything–gpa, standardized test scores, extracurriculars, etc. but, hey: shoot for the moon, and if you miss, you’ll land upon a star. you have time to shape and mold yourself. use it wisely.
I really appreciate the honesty, ok so what if I end high school with a 33 ACT, 3.3 GPA, national merit finalist, and 1580 SAT. what would my chances look like then?
You need to keep ahead in your classes, take every class seriously, study hard, and dramatically pull up your GPA.
If you were to go to a top 50 university, you will discover that students are just as smart as you and some are smarter, and they have a long history of working hard. Catching up at this point is possible but will be difficult and will require a lot of work.
Frankly your best bet to ever go to an Ivy League school at this point is to work hard for the rest of high school, improve your GPA dramatically, go to a “pretty good” (top 100) university, then try to get into an Ivy League school for graduate school.
no problem. although the standardized test scores are within range, you still stand an extremely high chance of being rejected. the ivy league schools are some of the most selective schools in the country and the world. harvard and columbia are the second and third most selective schools (per the statistics for the class of 2021) right behind stanford. in my opinion, you don’t need to be looking at colleges right now anyway. focus on your present academics instead of distracting yourself with future aspirations. in order to achieve those aspirations, you have to do well in school first.
also, i heavily agree with @DadTwoGirls. take it from me who went through a phase where i felt like if i didn’t get into an ivy league school i would never be good enough for anyone or anything: there is more to life than the ivy league.
I don’t believe you can get into an ivy league school with an ACT OF 30. Also you need to bring your gpa up a lot. Looking at your current numbers why don’t you have a more reasonable goal for yourself?Why the need to get into an ivy league school? Sometimes its more about staying at a school after getting in and being able to have a balanced healthy life. There are so many great schools where you would need a 30 ACT which is on target with your current scores and is attainable. Even with a 35 ACT and a 4.2 gpa I know people who got rejected from ivy league schools in fact alot do. Try and do your best and have a goal. Try and get help if you can afford to by taking an ACT prep course that has good results. Do some research and have a goall and you’ll do great. You’ll end up exactly where you are meant to end up so try not to stress.
There are lots of great schools besides the Ivy League that will challenge someone with high intelligence. Try looking at the best colleges by major at collegexpress and College Transitions Dataverse. Look at the lists for business, finance, and math majors for example. There are a lot of good schools out there.
This isn’t wasted work. Even if your record is perfect from here on out and you decide to apply to some reach schools, you still need matches and safeties.
Early decisions are coming out now. Go read some of the results threads in the college-specific forums. When you get down to it, the rejected and deferred students are not all that different from the accepted kids. They all have great academic records and involvement in various activities, service, and competitions. There just isn’t room for everyone. Of the millions of undergrads in the US, only a few thousand are able to attend the most highly selective institutions. (Something less than one percent of all undergrad students are in the Ivies.)
Focus on your career path and find many different ways to get where you want to go. Develop your potential as best as you can and build a good list of options for your future.
How can someone failed an English class because of getting bored and at the same time getting low score in English and Reading for ACT? You need to work hard and get a realistic list of schools. Keep in mind that it is not only the GPA and ACT that count.
When the time comes, if your GC notes you were underchalleneged and have turned around with more rigor, it can help. But you have to actually show that improvement.
With my simple math, if you get a 4.0uw average in 10-11th, you’d have better than a 3.3. You haven’t mentioned grades this year. Some problem?
But as ever, it’s not simply gpa, it’s grades and rigor. Top adcoms look at the transcript. Grades reflect both learning and, to some extent, dedication. The Ivies need to see that, know you’re repared for their classes.
And just asking about stats misses the rest that’s so important to Ivy adcoms. How about focusing on schoolwork, then ECs and balance, then reassessing in a year? See what you’re actually dealing with.
The only reason I want to go to Ivy League schools is because I know that I have the raw potential, I know that my IQ and OLSAT are rare numbers, the people at my school keep stressing to me that I have a special ability to go to schools like that. They may be wrong but I want to go to these schools, nonetheless. I have all A’s this semester for those asking.
But your PSAT and GPA are not rare.If all high school sophomores took the PSAT, approximately 180,000 students in the U.S. would score better than you. The Ivy League schools only accept 23,000 applicants. The number of U.S. students accepted is is even smaller due to multiple admits and international students. You are starting to fixate on one test score that measures one dimension. The top schools look at many dimensions. They include aptitude (test scores), work ethic (GPA), leadership potential (EC’s), etc. Even if you excel in all of them, the limited availability makes it uncertain for almost all.
btw: why are you wasting so much time with standardized testing? Taking the ACT as a Frosh? Don’t you have something better to do on a Saturday morning, such as English essays? The ACT-Math section includes trig questions and if you have only completed Alg 1, you have zero chance of scoring well.
Reality check: the #1 criteria for college admissions is your transcript: grades and courses. A high IQ will not supercede #1.
My son got a 26 on the ACT in 7th grade when he took it for Duke Tip Program. He got a 1330 on his PSAT in 9th grade. But his GPA is around a 3.7 at a rigorous private school. What this tells me (and what I can see for myself in the evenings) is that he’s very smart but lacks self discipline regarding studying. When i get onto him, his grades go up. It’s going to be hard for you to overcome the current low GPA. I know plenty of kids at his school who applied to Ivies with 35-36 ACT and straight As and got flat out rejected.
@bluebayou It’s not unusual for private schools to use (even require) standardized tests for all HS grades. At son’s school, the 9th and 10th graders take the PSAT midweek in Oct when all the 11th graders do.
It’s not special “potential.” It’s actual performance. That tells a lot more. The tippy tops have thousands of applicants with special abilities who have been fulfilling them and stretching. Tippy tops are not “lab schools” experimenting with underperformers. They can and will cherry pick the kids ready to hit the ground running. They don’t need to listen to explanations, pleas, or dreams.
You’ve got to internalize the message that they pick their class, it’s not what you think or others’ opinions.
“Show, not tell.”
OP: You need to give up the idea of only attending an Ivy league and focus on being your best. In addition, your scores are not at all high enough to compete at that level. Even if you had perfect OLSAT scores, you would not be that rare. The thing is, there are enough people in the top 1% to fill the Ivy league. You also seem to have had a tough time keeping up your interest. I think you should be your personal best and see where that leads.
The IVY league choses from those with high grades (few exceptions), high test scores ( few exceptions), interesting activities and interpersonal skills. Stacking yourself up against the folks who are already meeting these standards might result in more stress which will translate into lower grades for you. I’m not at all sure why someone told you these scores are rare but you should look up a chart and see how many people get those same scores. I think it’s important to be realistic and still protect your dreams