Not feeling very confident about college admissions...

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

I know this is long, but please read this to the end. Thank you so much!!! Any input is appreciated. :)

  So I'm currently a junior in high school, and I've been stressing a LOT about college lately. I know I'm not going to be applying for another year, but I can't get it out of my head. I have this weird feeling that I might not be good enough for any college I apply to in the near future. No, I'm not aiming for any prestigious colleges, but still...I feel like most colleges are only concerned with finding applicants with the perfect combination of outstanding academics and extracurriculars....which I DEFINITELY don't have.

  I live in NC, and I only plan on applying to in-state, public colleges (minus Chapel Hill, because I doubt I'd get in with my stats). My tentative list includes App State, UNCW, UNCC, UNCG, and ECU. (I also kind of want to apply to NC State, but I'm not sure if I'm good enough for that school or not, so that one's a maybe.)

  Here are my stats (so far):

-GPA: 4.3438 (weighted)
-SAT/ACT: I haven’t taken either of these yet, but I will later in the school year.
-AP classes: 1 completed (AP Gov, 4 on the exam), 5 in progress (APES, APUSH, AP Lang, and AP Micro + Macro)
-Extracurriculars:
-Environmental Club (1 year; quit)
-Key Club (2 years; quit. Completed 25+ hours of community service each semester.)
-Volunteered at church (1.5 years; quit)
-International Club (1 year, in progress)
-Part-time job at a fast food restaurant (1 month, in progress)
-I have a couple of other ones, but I don’t think they’re significant enough to be on this list.)

As you can see from the above list, my interests have shifted throughout high school. There have been multiples instances where I thought I was passionate about a certain activity, and it turned out I wasn’t into it, and I ended up discontinuing said activity. I feel like this will seriously harm me in the long run because I’ve read that colleges care about dedication and leadership in extracurriculars, neither of which I have demonstrated well. :confused:

  I also know that colleges like diversity, and I have some, but not a whole lot. I'm Hispanic, but that's pretty much the only interesting thing I've got to offer, because the rest of my demographic (middle-class female who lives in a metropolitan area) isn't exactly appealing. I've been told that being a minority helps with college admissions, but I doubt the validity of this belief. I mean, let's be honest: if it were between me and a white, male applicant who had a 4.9 GPA, played 4 sports, was the student body president, and whose parents made $200k+ in income, who do you think is more likely to be accepted?

  Hypothetical situations like the one above make me nervous, and it makes me wonder: am I actually good enough for college? Or are those standards exclusive to top colleges (which I'm not aiming for)?
2

I think that you are underestimating yourself. A weighted 4.34 GPA is excellent. Most students change their mind about ECs as they go through high school. Part of the point is to try different things and see what you like and what you don’t like.

One of my daughters had almost NO ECs at all at the end of her junior year of high school. Her GPA was similar to yours (although I don’t know exactly since different schools compute weighted GPA very differently). She still got accepted to every university that she applied to, and is currently doing very well at a university that is a great fit for her.

“There have been multiples instances where I thought I was passionate about a certain activity, and it turned out I wasn’t into it”

This puts you as somewhere on the boundary between “a teenager” and “human”. This is very normal. Your tried things out. That is great.

Your high school grades are the best estimate that exists of how well you are likely to do in university. It sounds like your grades are great. Being hispanic will help your admissions chances.

“if it were between me and …, who do you think is more likely to be accepted?”

That is the point of in-state public universities, most likely you both will be accepted.

There are four things that I think that you should do. (i) Keep up the good work in your classes; (ii) Include your in-state flagship (Chapel Hill) and NC State on the list of schools that you apply to; (iii) Do some SAT or ACT preparation before taking either test; and (iv) Relax. You are doing very well.

3

Got it. Thanks for your input!

4

I agree with everyhing @DadTwoGirls said. Don’t underestimate yourself!

You are a strong student and I think you’ll have a lot of options. Talk to your guidance counselor and use this site to get advice. Keep being you and exploring your interests, even if they change. Tell YOUR story on your app. You belong in college and don’t aim too low.

5

Thanks! The reason I’m concerned is because I know a bunch of people at my school who have WAY better stats and accomplishments than I do, and they also want to go to top state schools like UNC or NC State, or even Duke. It makes me feel like I’m not competitive enough.

6

You can worry yourself day in and day out and it won’t change a thing. Try to keep being your best you and move forward. Focus on what you might like to do, take the steps to make that happen, and know that you will land in the place meant for you.

7

Someone told my daughter when she was applying to college: “you can’t move forward if you’re looking side to side.” Don’t compare yourself to others - as my 16 year old says (all the time) “you do you.” Concentrate on you and what you have to offer. Your grades are great! Focus on those and doing things that make you happy - that’s what schools want to see.

8

Schools want to know what your doing in your free time. So what do you do in your free time?
Don’t compare to others. There are always people doing more interesting things, they are taller and run faster. But there are also people that are shorter and run slower. Then there are tall, slow people… Lol… Everyone is an individual. Show what your individuality looks like.

9

It is important not to be overrealistic nor underrealistic.

Apply to all of those (including Chapel Hill) so you know you have given yourself the most options.

10

Maybe take a look at what drew you to your list of ECs, both what you were expecting and what actually transpired, and why you dropped them. A big part of choosing a school, especially when you have a very good record (like yours) where you’ll have a lot of options, is knowing what you want from college. Spend some time getting to know twilightrose, and figuring out what you want so you have some idea what to look for next year. You have a much better chance of getting what you want when you know what you want.

There are many ways to sort a list, so you need to find out what matters to you. Start by talking to your parents about money so you know which schools cost too much and eliminate themselves. Then consider things like near or far, big or small, religious or secular, sports culture or not, liberal or conservative, greek or no, dry or party culture, particular academic programs, etc etc etc. try to visit a few schools of a variety of types so you get the feel for a few campuses. There’s no right answer, and your first few lists might be goofy and wrong, but the exercise of reflection and ranking is the point. The biggest outcome is when you figure out that what’s important to you, the list you create, isn’t going to be the same as US News or Niche or anyone else’s list. They don’t know you so don’t let them determine your success.

11

If you are interested in UNC Chapel Hill or NC State, definitely keep them on your list.

The rest of the country has to overcome the fact that they are obligated to take 80% of their student body from in-state. That works to your advantage, and rest assured that except for basketball players at UNC CH (and a few other athletes) that 20% from OOS is near the top of the statistics. I’m sure a 25-75 number for in-state would be lower, especially the top number.

Being female probably works against you slightly, being Hispanic definitely is a plus. Outside of top schools, EC’s aren’t nearly as important as grades, and you have that. I’m assuming your test scores will be similar to your grades. If you keep working, then you get cut a bit of slack on the EC’s, because they can see you are still doing something productive with your time.

Don’t just slack off, but it seems to me like you are doing fine. I’m sure you will have options when you graduate, probably better than you think!

12

Agree that it is well worth sending in an application to UNC-Chapel Hill if your standardized test scores come out in the school’s range.

13

I think that (except for recruited athletes) ECs tend to be less important in admissions to state schools than to small liberal arts colleges or elite private universities. In these smaller schools, the admissions counselors are trying to create a balanced community of students of many different types to fill up various sports teams, clubs, choirs, orchestras, jazz bands, dance and theater groups, etc. With far fewer students, every student must count in adding something unique to that community. Large state schools have so many students that there will always be enough to fill those roles. Also, the main purpose of tax-funded state schools is to educate the populace of that state. So, as long as you have a good academic record and show that you ARE active in some things, you have less to worry about in terms of impressive ECs. Having a part-time job is looked upon very favorably, BTW.

Also, ECs don’t have to be organized school and church activities. They include anything positive that you do on a regular basis. Do you have any hobbies, reponsibilities or activities that you do regularly by yourself or with family or friends? Maybe texting your friends or watching you-tube videos won’t count, but if you babysit younger siblings, are a passionate cook, do any arts or crafts, those are ECs too.