<p>Hello, I'm a junior at a mid-size public high school (about a 1000 students). I have a 4.15 weighted GPA and a 4.0 unweighted. I took AP calc AB as a sophomore and recieved a 5 on the AP test. As a junior I am taking 4 more more ap classes. In total during highschool i will have 7 ap classes which include: calc AB, calc BC, english lang. and comp, english lit. and comp, chem, gov, and US history. I will take 9 Ap tests (my classes plus both physcs). I am also currently first in my class of 200+. I am also still waiting on my SAT scores but expect to score around a 2200.</p>
<pre><code> What I'm really concerned about is my EC's. I have 4 years of football and weightlifting. I am a member of key club, dare, envirothon, my schools "trivia" team, and have 100+ hours of community service. I am not particually talented in any area besides math and science, and also haven't done anything outstanding with those.
I am going to apply to Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, U Chicago, and MIT, with OSU and Case western as fallbacks.
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<p>I was wondering what my chances are at any of these schools and just looking for feedback in general. So any comments?</p>
<p>Well, here's my opinion
Carnegie Mellon = High Match/Low Reach (If you do well, I don't think it's a problem)
Cornell = Low Reach (because it's an ivy, and your record isn't full yet... so... yeah..)
UChicago = Low Reach (make sure you have good essays)
MIT = High Reach (a lot of people apply here. If it's ur 1st choice, apply EA. Even if you get deferred, you get a higher percentage of getting in.)
OSU + Case Western = safety</p>
<p>I will be applying early action, I konw that at MIT people who apply early action have a 5% higher rate of acceptance. Not that I really expect to get in.</p>
<p>Hey, another Ohioan!!! Yeah!!!
(at least I assume you're from Ohio looking at your profile)</p>
<p>Unlike other posters have said, extracurrics are the most important part for highly competitive schools. They are essentially the icing on the cake, since they know that your stats are good enough to succeed at their school. Colleges use extracurric involvement to see where your interests lie, how interested you are in your future career field, how you use your interests to benefit others or your school, and to also see whether you would contribute positively to their school. The most successful students are ones who are passionate about their future field of study, and have already experimented in high achool to see where their interests lie. </p>
<p>Anyways, you should get into most of the schools you listed just fine, but UChicago and MIT might give you problems (also Cornell will, too, depending on your major) You should also be looking into OSU's honors college, which you should be able to get into with the SAT score you projected (30 ACT is required) So, good luck!!!</p>
<p>Also, come chance me at Small-town Junior Looking for Advice and Chances for Big-Name Schools (sorry that I don't have the link, but it's now on the second page) thanks!</p>