<p>I just finished my sophomore year of high school.
I am interested in international relations, french studies, government and politics, political science, international law and journalism.
Currently living in the United States although moving to England this summer to attend a boarding school where I will be taking my A levels in French, Government and Politics and History.
I am Cuban, Puerto Rican, English and French - speak Spanish, English and French fluently.</p>
<p>Grades and Scores:
Have only taken one AP and SAT II this year (all that was allowed for sophomores)
World History: AP - 5 SAT II - 770
4.21 unweighted GPA (weighted around 4.7 - 4.8)
I took the PSAT last year and got a 1920 without any studying so hoping with classes at a cram school to bump this up to a 2250+</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Founder and President of :
School Newspaper
Model United Nations Club
Humans Rights Club
President:
French Club
Tenth Grade Representative:
High School Student Council
Member:
Debate Club
JV Volleyball</p>
<p>Awards and Other Achievements:
3rd place speaker award Varsity County Debate Tournament
3rd place team Junior Varsity County Debate Tournament
Top three both state and national rankings of the National French Contest - Le Grand Concours
Published poem in school literary journal</p>
<p>Summer Activities:
National Young Leader's Conference in Washington DC
Cambridge University Preparatory Program (took two college courses, received A+'s in both)
Volunteered in Japan at an orphanage
Will be volunteering in Senegal teaching English
Volunteered at a Equestrian Center training for a summer camp for underprivileged youth</p>
<p>70+ volunteer hours
Currently interning under the Executive Vice President of International Sales and Merchandising at a fashion company (for an understanding of international trade)</p>
<p>Top School Choices:
Georgetown University
Cambridge University
Oxford University
Yale University
Brown University
Stanford University
London School of Economics and Political Science
University of St Andrews
Harvard University
Boston U
U of Chicago
Columbia
Barnard
Washington University in St. Louis
Swarthmore
Smith
Amherst
Vassar
Wellesley
GWU</p>
<p>I understand these schools are VERY difficult to get into, so I would appreciate someone letting me know which are longshots, and what I can do to get closer to my goal universities.
Thank you.</p>
<p>First fatal mistake: you are a rising junior. Second one: your top choices are 20 schools, which differ from size to type (research vs LAC). How big is your safety list? 50 schools? Don’t ask for chances until end of junior year and trim your list in half</p>
<p>Oh, and you can’t apply to both Oxford and Cambridge.
The NYLC in DC also doesn’t do anything because anyone can go as long as they have the money. I am not sure about the Cambridge prep program. The fact that you can volunteer in Japan and Senegal only shows your parents have money, esp. since you can go to boarding school in the summer.
Ask yourself, have you done more to help your community than kids with similar wealth? Have you used every opportunity?
Finally, all of those clubs you created and are president of is great, except there are a lot of clubs and it looks very suspicious. Did you create them because you are passionate or because you thought it would look good? How many people are in each club? Just from looking at this, it seems as if you are an ok candidate but there some obvious red flags.</p>
<p>The UK won’t care about your ECs except as they are objectively quantifiable and relate to whatever subject you apply to.
Second, as Oberyn says, the colleges you listed are all over the map. It is highly unlikely that the student who will thrive at Vassar will love GWU, much less St Andrews v. LSE. You need to do some more thinking about what you want from college.
Also, Barnard wants people who really want to be there, not people who are looking for a back door into Columbia.
Finally, Oberyn’s comment about clubs is a good one: choose a few that really matter to you and show your commitment to those. </p>
<p>how can you expect to go from a 192 PSAT to a 2250+ SAT just banking on “cram school” without having taken a single practice test? Maybe you will, but maybe you won’t. Don’t start a chance thread without any standardized test scores; no one is going to take your “projected scores” seriously.</p>
<p>@yoloyng definitely possible lol i went from a 168 to a 2200 superscore with minimal prep so u can definitely raise ur score to a 2250+ with some effort</p>
<p>@satletsgo I know it’s possible lol I did something similar with my scores. My point was that at this point it’s a projected score. We can’t chance OP based on predicted scores. For you, it was possible. For me, it was possible. Will it be possible for OP? Maybe, but maybe not, it depends. We can chance based on actual test scores. Not predictions.</p>
<p>@yoloyng Ya I guess but I’m just sayin it’s pretty easy and that’s why the sat sucks so much just study for the test and u will do fine, it doesn’t actually measure ur intelligence.</p>
<p>Wow, some of you people have some harsh words. But it is understandable and what I needed to read. I know I just finished sophomore year and that I need to wait a while to know where I am at, but that was the point of the discussion, to know where I am and where I need to go. I am also aware that these schools are high reaches, and that I put a lot of schools down, but that was because I had hoped someone would have been kind enough to tell me which schools I should look more into with the foci, grades and extracurriculars I have. Additionally, if one does not set high goals and possess high expectations, how can they ever hope to achieve anything? As a younger student, I was looking for direction and some of you provided that for me for which I am very appreciative. Others were much more critical, but that can sometimes be as helpful as more positive input. Thank you all. </p>
<p>@oberyn In response to your comment, I know my school choices are all over the place. If they were not, I would not need a forum to ask for help from others. And in no way am I some wealthy individual who did nothing but be lucky enough to come from money in order to afford the programs I attended. Each program was paid for through scholarships, fundraising and hard work. I have had some form of a job since I was twelve, and work on average 4 or more hours after school to afford to do these things. The only reason I can even go to Japan or Senegal to volunteer is because I am using most of my savings from those jobs to pay to do something for other people while experiencing a new culture, a new way of life, not just to put it on my college application. And those clubs I started, they were created as an outlet for my passions in life which are human rights, french, journalism and global affairs, topics which I see as being interconnected. Despite that, thank you for you input because I now know better how others see what I have done. I now know that some people will think my attempt to do good is some ploy to get into one of the plethora of schools I provided. Thank you again for expanding my insight into the college application process. </p>
<p>@secgen1945 You should look more into schools that interest you. You don’t need other people to tell you what you should focus on because personal inclinations are subjective and unique. Those schools are very different, so I am almost certain you haven’t extensively done research on any of them to see which of them possess aspects that correspond to the “fit” of your preferences.</p>