Need help narrowing down my college choices?

<p>So I'm a current junior and will be a senior after this summer, and I'm already worrying about the college application process because most of my friends have a pretty fair idea of at least a few schools they will apply to. At the moment, my list of colleges that interest me are basically the "lower-Ivies" or the "pseudo-Ivies". These would include colleges such as Rice, Duke, Georgetown, Northwestern, UChicago, Vanderbilt...you get my point. Some Ivies like Cornell, Columbia, and UPenn are also on my list. I don't know how to narrow that list down, since they all have great science/pre-med programs (which is my main interest) and business programs (my 2nd interest).</p>

<p>bumpp…any help would be appreciated</p>

<p>what are your academic stats - Test scores, GPA, rank? did you take the hardest load your HS offered? how big is your HS? what is its record of sending students to the places you want to get into?</p>

<p>do you have any kind of ‘hook’ - a special extracurricular and-or demographic trait or traits ? </p>

<p>HAve you founded a charity or a club?</p>

<p>Without getting too specific or boring with my stats, here they are:</p>

<p>SAT-2160
GPA-4.0 unweighted
Rank-15 out of 790
Took hardest classes offered—my junior and senior year (next year) consist of all AP classes
My EC’s aren’t outstanding or special…I’m in several school clubs (1 of which I’m the treasurer of) and honor societies. Unfortunately, I don’t have any kind of “hook” that would set me apart from other students. I do alot of volunteering, but so do many other HS kids…</p>

<p>Everything looks great! Your SATs and GPA are excellent. What it really comes down to, though, is your personal statement. That’s how you can stand out among the applicants. </p>

<p>As of narrowing down your college choices, I think you should apply to all the schools you hope to get in. That way, you’ll have more to choose from. And give those Ivies a try! You never know:)</p>