<p>Hi , Im currently a freshman at Florida International (FIU) university majoring in Business/Hospitality. I've been a Miami local my whole life and would like to go somewhere else for my college experience. Ideally I would like to attend a school like Carnegie Mellon , NYU , Columbia , Villanova , Cornell, or Georgetown. There is some others on that list but those are the primary ones so you guys have an idea. Im contemplating whether to apply for next year as a sophomore or to apply next year for junior year and which would be more beneficial to me. I am also coming here for some advice on what i need to get my stats too , for my best chance to get into some of these schools. I am very willing to work hard , i just need to know what I need to do. I have a college counselor but he really hasn't helped much so thats why I came here to get some advice. </p>
<p>Some Background :
I've always gotten good grades in high school but have kind of slacked most of my way through it. Now finally this semester in college I'm starting to take school more seriously and apply myself. Anyways,I graduated one year early from high school ( currently 17) with a 3.75. I took some honors and one AP in freshman and sophomore year(College Prep School) and for my junior and senior year(one year combined) i switched to a more slack high school but finished straight A's with all regular courses. I only took the SAT once with no prep and got a 1750 (3 Part) ( I know there is some room for major improvement there.) </p>
<p>I'm about to finish my first semester in College, I didn't take too much of course load because I'm also working 24 hours a week and I'm a year ahead of my friends in high school. But my grades are as follows Intro to Hospitality A+ , Intro to Psych A+ , First Year Experience A+, Intro to Business B+ , and I had to get a drop grade for my English 1 class because it was online and the professor was terrible. Next semester I'm taking 18 credits in challenging classes and am quitting my job to focus on school so i know I can maintain a 3.75+.</p>
<p>Some questions I had :
If i apply this year for Fall 2012 , will they look at all the grades from this year?
Will my drop grade affect me drastically?
When does it make more sense to apply? I don't mind spending one more year in Miami if thats the case</p>
<p>Sorry for the long post, just trying to provide as much info so you guys can be as helpful as possible. Just trying to play my cards right for this to happen. Any help, advice , or comments are greatly appreciated. Thank you!</p>