<p>I'm currently a junior in high school at a public school in Minneapolis, MN. </p>
<p>Currently my gpa is around 3.47 (unfortunately). </p>
<p>In general I take challenging courses
(for example)
AP US
AP Euro
AP Language and Comp
AP Stats
AP US Govt
Honors Bio
Honors Physics
and then 2 french courses that count as college credit but aren't APs</p>
<p>My extra curriculars involve:
-member of a successful debate team for 3, going on 4 years (potentially captain)
-have been in boy scouts my entire life and am currently working on my eagle project
-member of the marching band (although not in a leadership position)</p>
<p>I haven't taken the official SAT or ACT yet but on my first practice ACT I recieved a 27 with no studying beforehand which I think is pretty good. </p>
<p>Basically, I'm looking for advice on how to improve my chances at Occidental, although I know its hard to predict my chances without my official ACT / SAT scores. What sort of reputation does occidental have for admissions? Is it difficult to get into? I'm planning on applying early action because I desperately want to go there, will this help my chances? NYU would be my second choice, although I think it might actually be harder to get into.</p>