<p>Hey guys. The end of my Junior year in highschool is fast approaching and I'd like to get some advice on what I should do in order to better my chances for my dreamschools, and what other schools I should be looking at.</p>
<p>Location: Chula Vista, CA
Sex: M
Ethnicity: White</p>
<p>GPA: 4.31 W
CSU/UC GPA: 4.19W
Class Rank: 10/660.</p>
<p>Classes:</p>
<p>Sophmore Year:</p>
<p>AP Eurpean History
Pre-AP English
Hnrs Chemistry
Algebra II Acc.
Spanish 3/4</p>
<p>Junior Year:
AP Chem
AP US History
AP English Literature
Hnrs Math Analysis
Spanish 5/6
Art Appreciation class at community college</p>
<p>SAT:</p>
<p>12/06: 670-Math, 570-Writing, 590-Reading
Going to retake in March. Have been studying my A** off for the retake and have been enrolled in the Kaplan prep course. Have been consistently scoring 2100-2200 on practice tests so I'm hoping my scores will be up there after the retake.</p>
<p>EC:
-Waterpolo (9th and 10th)
-Cross Country (11th)
-Track (11th)
-Youth in Government (11th)
-Licensed Private Pilot, working on Insturnment rating. Hoping to have insturnment rating by time of college applications.
-Nominated to Boys State. Interview is next week. Chacnes are looking really good that I'll get selected.
-70 hours of community service. I really need to work on bringing this up. I've applied for an internship with Rep. Bob Filner, and am also looking into interning with the Mayor Jerry Sanders of San Diego. Any other ideas for getting more community service hours? I'd like to keep it focused on government.
-CSF every single semester
-Looking into starting a current events club at my school.
-Outward Bound Wilderness Course</p>
<p>Awards:
- Top AP Euro Student
- Cross Country Most Improved (Haha figured I'd throw this in)
- Most entertaining in Senate for Youth in Government (Another lame one ..)</p>
<p>I'd really like to stay in Socal, but pretty much any school in the country I'll consider. Right now, I'm really looking at Claremont Mckenna, USC, UCLA, UCB, Stanford, and UCSD. </p>
<p>Looking at your stats I'm going to guess that you will major in political science in which case you should probably look into taking AP American and Comparitive government, also it may be a good idea to take AP Micro/Macro Economics. I would also continue in math to AP Calc AB, and as far as AP goes I'd stop there because your sure to catch a case of senioritis (everyone does), and you will therefore need some other classes to cushion the blow so your GPA won't be destroyed. That would definately prep you for a political science program. Also if your school has it take a basic communications course, it will help.</p>
<p>Your list is unrealistic. With current scores even USC is a reach. A 2100 might make several of your schools more realistic reaches, Stanford out of reach. Doing all of those ECs for one or 2 years is not good.</p>
<p>suze thats a funny joke... Being ranked 10 outta 600 is medicore i guess. Your ECs are good as weel as ur courseload. If u get ur sat scores up every school, outside of stanford, would be very attainable.</p>
<p>
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Your list is unrealistic. With current scores even USC is a reach. A 2100 might make several of your schools more realistic reaches, Stanford out of reach. Doing all of those ECs for one or 2 years is not good.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I didn't spend my time typing that post so I could get BS replies like the one quoted above. If your'e being completely serious, then explain how. With the advice I've gotten from others though, it seems like your being anything but. I asked for advice, not unwarranted criticism. Go waste your time somewhere else ...</p>
<p>If you raise that SAT score to 2100-2200, UCB/UCLA/USC are matches. UCSD would be a safe match. For you, though, it'd be more dependent on your essays. If you show a strong passion, Stanford would be more likely.</p>
<p>That's what I'm planning on my SAT scores to be. I've really been studying for it, and my practice tests have all been around 2100-2200.</p>
<p>What would you guys put my chances at for Claremont Mckenna? I've shown a lot of interest for this school, and would love to get in. I'm on pretty much every mailing list they have. In March, I'm going to go spend a few days with my cousin who goes there just to get an idea of the academics and social life.</p>
<p>Get real people, have you seen many go from his current SAT scores to a 2200? Then there are WEAK ECs. In fact, they are damaging as he looks like a quitter. So the only real strength is rank--not bad but nothing special at a non top school. His only awards are school based and absolutely nothing says top college. White and from an overrepresented state at top privates.</p>
<p>So yes, as I said before, maybe one of his UCs with better scores.</p>
<p>Again, go waste your time somewhere else. You make yourself look like a bigger and bigger pretentious ******* with every post. Your input is of no value, and only wastes disk space that could be used for other more productive posts. Every post I've read from you is negative and offers zero value to the forum. If you feel I'm such a weak applicant, then maybe you should give me some suggestions on how to improve. </p>
<p>Also, did you ever consider that certain extracurriculars of mine were discontinued due to personal issues/and or injury? Can you explain how that makes me a quitter?</p>
<p>There have been a couple of issues that have been brought up including: amount of B's, are you taking the most rigorous classes (3 is good, but I/people at my school are taking 5/5 for IB Diploma on Trimesters...) Ideally you could get 2100 on the SATs, it seems unlikely unless you just had a breakdown your first time, but possible.</p>
<p>Claremont's 25 - 75% range is around 1950 - 2250 (correct me if I am wrong), so if you could get somewhere in that range, it would help</p>
<p>Also, Suze does have a point w/ your extracurrics, I mean they just sort of seem random. It is viable to have an injury and then be out for a season, but why not manage or something? Don't beat yourself up about this... Do things that you are passionate about, don't do Community Service for the hours, but do it because you love it. Same with the internship. Your EC's don't really stand out, however the Pilot thing is awesome! You can look at my Stats (I consider Claremont a Match/Low reach) if you want, or I can Message them to you, just tell me.</p>
<p>You will really have to work hard on Essays/Interviews to shine. LAST BUT NOT LEAST: if you are good enough to run/play polo for Claremont then contact the coaches, this could help you a lot!</p>
<p>A lot of people have told me to try to emphasize the Pilot's license. It's something different, and requires a ton of work to obtain. </p>
<p>Would colleges accept a reccomendation letter from my flight instructor? He probably knows me, and my work ethic, better than any teacher or administrator at my school. The only problem I see with a reccomendation letter from him though is that I pay for his services. Thoughts?</p>
<p>I had an absolute blast with Waterpolo my freshmen year. I was starting on JV, and would play in the occasional varsity game also. Towards the end of the season though, I hyperextended my arm and was no longer really able to throw. I came back sophmore year, and was never really able to play that well again. Also, I got along terribly with my coach and the time commitment required to stay on the team just wasn't worth it. My day would go like ...</p>
<p>5am-7am - Practice
715am-215pm - School
3pm-6pm - Practice
6pm-9pm - Homework</p>
<p>I had absolutely no time to spend with my family and friends, and just felt it wasn't really the thing for me anymore. The time commitment, my animosities with the coach, and my injury all lead to me not playing a 3rd season for waterpolo. Since I wanted to continue playing sports, I picked up cross country last season. Track is the logical extension of cross country, so I'm doing that right now. I'm planning on sticking with running for the rest of my highschool career. Should this be something I bring up in my essays?</p>
<p>Ive gotten one B every single semester. They have always been in Chemistry also. My courseload is as heavy as it can be with the classes, and class requirements my school has.</p>
<p>I think unless you are nationally recognized for water polo, cross country, or track, Stanford is out of the running. I think if you raise your SAT's to over 2000, USC and UCSD are in the area of a low reach/match for you. UCB and UCLA are a bit larger reaches, but with some more community service, improved SAT's, and your high class rank, they are achievable.</p>