<p>I'm just wondering how's my college list. I'm only a rising sophomore, so it may change over the next three years. I'm trying to stay close to home or relatives or stay with what I know. </p>
<p>Some stats:
GPA: 4.50 W, 4.00 U
SAT: 1810 (Goal 2200-2350)
Planned APs: 4-5
Planned Honors: 14-16
Class Rank: 1/128</p>
<ol>
<li>University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill</li>
<li>Duke University</li>
<li>Wake Forest University</li>
<li>Emory University</li>
<li>Washington University in St. Louis</li>
<li>University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign</li>
<li>Campbell University</li>
<li>East Carolina University</li>
<li>Hampton University</li>
<li>North Carolina State University</li>
<li>North Carolina Central University</li>
<li>Elizabeth City State University</li>
</ol>
<p>Aim higher! If you can really achieve that SAT score and maintain that GPA and class rank, you have much more potential than those schools. I would look into liberal art schools; they often are greatly overlooked and can offer you a lot. Make sure you invest yourself deeply in a few extracurriculars that mean a lot to you. It’s better to be heavily involved in a few EC’s than be a foot deep in a whole bunch of them. Don’t worry too much about college research right now, however. You have many years to enjoy your high school life. Good luck!</p>
<p>@whiippedcream: I know that my list is somewhat low for my stats. But, I just looked at what’s close. I’ll be looking at other colleges around the country next summer, when I have more time to explore. I know that those last five maybe taken off sooner or later. I’m looking at Davidson, Elon, and William & Mary too, but not as seriously as my top 7 up there.</p>
<p>evan, you’re doing great, just keep it up for the next two years and don’t worry about your “list” yet. Nothing wrong with staying close to home – especially since your home state is especially blessed with good colleges – but you may just decide to widen your geographic horizons. Keep an open mind.</p>
<p>What you should focus on (in addition to academics) are 1)finances: How are you going to pay for college? and 2) Extracurriculars/Profile: What will make you stand out from the pack of applicants?</p>
<p>Right now you have more safeties than you need. Do take at least 2 SAT II your junior year (subject tests). If you can get the SAT score up, you have so many more options, so use Xiggi method, or take a prep course. Keep up the gpa and keep adding to your EC resume. Good for you for starting the process early.</p>
<ol>
<li>University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill</li>
<li>Duke University</li>
<li>Wake Forest University</li>
<li><p>Emory University</p></li>
<li><p>William & Mary</p></li>
<li><p>University of Virginia</p></li>
<li><p>Davidson</p></li>
<li><p>Vanderbilt</p></li>
</ol>
<p>@momrath: I was planning on staying in state because tuition is cheaper that way. I have a sister 4 years behind me and I want to be as easy on my parents as possible in case I don’t get a scholarship. I have alot of ECs and awards, but I was too lazy to type them all up here.</p>
<p>@jkiwmom: UVA and Vanderbilt! Vanderbilt has been sending me college junk trying to get me to go, but they won’t stop! I’m guessing that they want me that bad, even though I haven’t received a letter from the undergrad admissions department (gotten letters from Duke, Emory, U of Illinois, and Hampden-Sydney). I know UVA is pretty good. I’ll definitely research UVA next summer.</p>
<p>Being from a non-metro county of NC (ex. NOT from mecklenburg, wake, orange counties to some degree) really helps you with UNC-CH admissions. If your SAT score does rise (2000s) I drop some of those other schools like ECU, Fayetteville State since you’ll be a shoe in at Chapel Hill. You already look strong for instate admission. To quote from a recent thread, “you will be very hard pressed to find a school that is the same caliber as UNC, will cost no more than UNC, and that [you] can get into.”</p>
<p>UVa is essentially neck and neck with Chapel Hill, so it’s more than “pretty good” (UVA is ranked #25 nationally and UNC is #30). Their OOS FA is supposedly good. Agree though, if you are trying to keep cost down, then higher SAT scores will probably be enough to get in to Chapel Hill. Good luck.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks for the comments everyone. My top 5 are definitely staying up there. The suggested colleges that you all have left for me are ones that were matched up when I used College Board’s College Finder tool. I’ve heard nothing but excellent things about William & Mary, Davidson, UVA, and Vanderbilt, along with others. Just thinking, what do you all think of NC State as a school in general? Also what about University of Miami?</p>