Looking for advice...

<p>I'm a junior attending an average public high school, #3 in our state though, I believe. I would like to major in International Relations/Affairs and maybe double major or minor in Linguistics (particularly French and Arabic). I live in a southern state, although I am not an American citizen (I'm and African MK and TCK) but I am a PR, and I will be the first in my family to attend a college in the US (although not the first to attend college, my parents both have high degrees). Basically I don't really know where to start. I'm interested in Georgetown and Johns Hopkins for their programs in International Relations/Affairs, I recently began thinking about Brown and my dad wants me to apply to Stanford. I don't know if these are all too high of a reach, and I don't really know what other colleges to consider, or how to find them. Also, I don't know anything about LAC and the difference between them and research colleges, so any and all advice would be very much appreciated. </p>

<p>Oh, and I'm going to be applying through Questbridge, if I'm accepted.</p>

<p>So here are my stats:</p>

<p>Transcript
All my classes have been Honors, (except for electives)
GPA: Unweighted - 3.722/ Weighted - 4.486
Rank: 23/382 (top 6.35% i think) </p>

<p>English - 4 yrs, English 4 this year, A avg. throughout (AP Lit&Lang next year)</p>

<p>Math - 4 yrs, Pre-Cal right now is my lowest grade, 87. I expect to bring this up!!! Otherwise I've had high B's and A's thoughout (AP Calc BC next year)</p>

<p>Science - 4 yrs (3 labs), AP Bio right now is a 98, pretty easy class for me, I'm gonna take the SATII in this (I'm not sure on E or M yet) probably Physics H next year, bleh</p>

<p>History - 3 or 4 ( I don't know if I should count World Geo), I'm stacking up on History this year with APUSH and AP Euro cuz I love history :) and I'll be taking Dual Credit GovEcon next year</p>

<p>Foreign Language - I tested into French 3 H freshman year, because I was already semi-fluent, and I took French 4 H last year but couldn't take 5 this year, so I'm taking it next year. I plan on taking the SATII with Listening next year. I don't know if this will count as 2 or 5 years of french though, will they look at the level, or the # of years I actually took it?</p>

<p>EC's</p>

<p>Track and Field - 3 yrs this year (Varsity last year, and probably this year), I'm regionally ranked in hurdling and I'm coaching it this season, since we don't have hurdling coach and I'm basically the only one doing it</p>

<p>Cross Country - 2 yrs this year, all JV</p>

<p>FBLA - I went to state last year in Public Speaking, this year I'm doing Excel (2 yrs so far)</p>

<p>Jr. Civitans (service club) - I was the treasurer last year, but I'm not doing it this year (2 yrs)</p>

<p>Student Ambassadors - Treasurer this year, its only open to 10-12th
I've done VBS and nursery at my church for 3 years now</p>

<p>These aren't all my EC's, but they are the ones that I've spent the most itme on.</p>

<p>Tests
I was a Duke Tip scholar for the SATs (I don't know if that counts for anything)
I took the PSAT's last year and got a 194 and a lot of schools (including the Ivies) have contacted me about them, thats probably not anything special though.
I took the Practice SAT cold and did...ok, I guess. I bombed math (570), did good in reading (730) and ok in writing (680), which I don't understand since I only got 4 questions wrong and a 76 on Grammar. Apparently I didn't do so well on the essay, but I'm pretty sure I did. I'm taking the real one in December, hopefully I'll improve.</p>

<p>I'm feeling overwhelmed by this whole process (which is why I love CC so much) and I feel like I'm kind of weak applicant for these schools, especially with my test scores, rank and EC's. I know it might be a little early for chances, but I really just want advice. Hope I havn't been a burden,</p>

<p>Thanks in Advance!</p>

<p>Brown and Stanford will be high-reaches for you, as they are for 99% of people. For JHU and GTown, work especially on your SAT’s and SATII’s - you have some time, but try enrolling in some classes, getting work books, and/or a private tutor. There is also the ACT, which, in my opinion, many people never take because it is far less publicized than the SAT, yet some people do much better on the ACT than the SAT. Your current SAT total is at the bottom of the JHU/GTown mid-50%, work on the math, and you can get it up I’m sure (math being one of the easiest sections to improve). Your GPA might be on the weak side for GTown, fine for JHU. Assuming you improve your scores, add a few more significant things to your ECs, and perhaps boost your UW GPA a bit, you are a pretty strong candidate for both these schools.</p>

<p>PS: Tufts has a good program in International Relations etc., you should definitely consider it.</p>

<p>Thank you so much! Yeah, I figured for Brown and Stanford. I’m actually planning on taking the ACT in January, and from what I’ve heard, I’ll probably do better on it than the SAT. And could you clarify what you mean by “add a few significant things to you ECs”? The ones I listed aren’t my only EC’s, I just didn’t want to list everything. Also, I feel like if I join a bunch of clubs this year, it will look like I’m just stacking up on ECs.</p>

<p>But thanks again for the informative reply, I’ll definatly look in to Tufts.</p>