<p>My name is Nick, I will be a junior next year. Its early, but I think I want to major in business or the humanities. Here are my grades: </p>
<p>(My school uses a 4.4 GPA scale)
My freshman year, my GPA was around a 3.8, and my sophomore year it was about a 4.0 (unweighted) or a 4.2 weighted. I took 2 AP's (AP Bio and AP World History)
I think that if i study hard, I will get a 4.1 unweighted next year, taking 3 AP's (AP English Lit, US and Euro) . Also, I am taking advanced math and science (not AP though)</p>
<p>I scored a 184 on the PSAT this year without studying, and I plan on studying very hard over the summer to get a 200+ on it this year and maybe being a National Merit Scholar. I will study A LOT for the SAT, I think I can get a 2100+. But dont pay too much attention to the test scores, everything is speculative at this point.</p>
<p>I am rich in EC's: I will be a VP of DECA (business club) next year, and almost certainly the club president in my senior year. I will run for County President next year; I think I can win. I finished 1st in the county and top-10 in the state for my DECA competition. I am also in Quizbowl and the Tri-M Music Honor Society. I plan on being in the National Honor Society and will likely have 60+ hours of community service by the time I graduate. I am also on Varsity Baseball and Volleyball, but I probably won't play a sport in college.</p>
<p>So, thats me! Where do you think I stand as far as what kinds of universities I can get in to?</p>
<p>Ivys if I can get into them! I’m not sure though, I know this shouldn’t be the case, but I think having a well recognized school will matter to me. I plan on visiting a few different colleges in the north-east that vary between them to see what kind of campus feel I will like.</p>
<p>Do you have a preference of where you want to go to school region wise? Do you want to go in the Northeast, west coast, etc, or does it not matter?</p>
<p>Get yourself a good college guidebook and start doing some browsing. My favorite is the Fiske Guide to Colleges. The first few chapters explain the admissions process and how you figure out where you stand. The rest is descriptions of various colleges.</p>
<p>Also, don’t forget what’s best for you in the long run. If you’re thinking business/humanities, UPenn’s Wharton school of business would be a better fit then MIT. Remember, the name can sometimes matter, but it’s you and not your peers/parents who has to live at this school for four years. Make sure you love it. Try to start figuring out what kind of school you want. Does the small, collaborative, and learning for learning’s sake atmosphere of a LAC appeal to you? What about the massive, driven, competitive, and party hard/work hard mentality of a state flagship? How about the wide variety found in privates? </p>
<p>Without junior year grades, it’s hard to tell where you stand. You may be a little short in all respects for ivies and ivy-equivalents, your grades, SAT score, and ECs are all just a little weak. Again, you could improve that junior year. That being said, there are plenty of great schools (UC Berkley, UChicago, Swathmore, and Tulane come to mind as examples from all over the country and college type spectrum) that have wonderful reputations as well as fantastic programs. Try to overlook the hype and find what’s best for you. I have some ivies and brand names on my list, but I also have some lesser known schools that would be a good fit for me and my interests. In the long run, when you’re a grown adult very few people are going to care if you went to Georgetown instead of Stanford, what’ll matter more is what you make of yourself out of that degree.</p>
<p>“Also, don’t forget what’s best for you in the long run. If you’re thinking business/humanities, UPenn’s Wharton school of business would be a better fit then MIT.”</p>
<p>Wharton is great and all, but Sloan isn’t half bad either…</p>
<p>Your stats are good, and you should be able to get into a very good college. However, I don’t know why posters have started bringing up the Ivy League schools. While your stats are good, they would make admission to an Ivy very unlikely. Schools with acceptance rates in the single digits are huge reaches for virtually everyone. And contrary to what a poster said above, I don’t think your stats give you a better shot than other applicants. </p>
<p>So, try to make a list of safety, match, and reasonable reach schools. For now, it is better to assume that your SAT score will be close to your PSAT score, say 1900 based upon your 184. If you are correct and you do end up making 2100, you can always add more selective schools to your list. On the Parents’ Forum, the advice is to build your list from the bottom up, and start with safeties. It is always easy to find reach schools that you love, but harder to find safeties that you love. </p>
<p>Generally, I think you should be looking at schools in the range of the Top 30-100 Universities or Top 10 - 100 LACs, plus any of the top regional Universities. </p>
<p>What state are you in? How is your instate flagship? What can your family afford to pay? Is your family income low enough that you will qualify for need-based financial aid?</p>
<p>What do you think you might want to major in? How large of a school do you think you would like? Would you prefer an urban or rural location? (It is a good idea to visit schools of different types to get a feel for that.)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the replies. This is about where I expected I would be, top universities but not quite Ivy league. To answer some of your questions, I like in New York State, and the state universities are top notch. SUNY Binghampton, and Geneseo look like good fits for me accademically. However, right now I find the prospect of going to these schools quite unspectacular, as they are poorly funded state schoools located basically in the middle of no where. They do have great academics, though. I think I will consider them heavily. They are a great value though, at around 10K/year, but my family has no problem paying for higher tution. I will not need to apply for finacial aid.</p>
<p>You’ve said a couple of conflicting things about finances.
</p>
<p>Most private schools in this selectivity range do run about $55k/yr now for tuition plus room & board. If your family can’t pay that and won’t qualify for need-based financial aid, you need to either attend a less expensive college or you need to get merit aid. How much can your family afford to pay per year?</p>
<p>Many out-of-state public schools will cost less than $55k/yr, and some privates will (for example Elon in NC has lower costs that comparable schools). If you want to get merit aid, you will need to aim for less selective schools, where your stats put you at the 75th percentile or higher. (You will also want to look at the data on how much merit aid is offered at particular schools.)</p>
but next year i may do a manual! Nice job!!</p>