What are my chances of getting into top colleges in the US? And what colleges do you think would best fit me. Here are my stats so far.
- I have moved schools and the first school gives out 3 grades per year while my current school gives out 2 grades per year*
9th grade: 3.35, 3.37, 3.40
10th grade: 2.45,(moved schools) 4.0
(My GPA was really low for the first part of 10th grade year because I lived really far away and lost a lot of sleep, so I was not able to focus on my school work.)
I just finished my sophomore year but I plan on keeping my 4.0
My cumulative grades for 9th grade years is 3.431 and for 10th grade year is 3.369 ,but I will work hard and I will keep my 11th grade GPA a 4.0 or really close to that. I am not sure how to even calculate my cumulative GPA, by the first semester of 12th grade year I think it would be a 3.5 or above a 3.5.
AP classes I plan on taking 11th grade year :
AP Calculus ab
AP chemistry
AP lang and composition
AP computer science (maybe)
AP classes I plan on taking 12 grade year:
AP Biology
AP literature
AP Calculus bc
AP psychology
My school does not offer many AP classes, but I am going to take the most challenging classes that are offered.
SSAT ll:
Math level 2: 790
I plan on taking:
World History
Math level 1
US History
Literature
Extracurriculars:
Founder as well as president of chemistry club
Robotics club
editor of Newspaper club,
run track, run cross country
founder of a charity organization.
I am really studying a lot for the SAT and based on my psat scores they should be high (above a 2100). This is also true for the ACT.
Based on this do you think I have a chance at the ivy leagues? What about Georgetown, U Michigan, Northwestern, Notre dame, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Stanford? What colleges do you recommended and what can I do NOW to improve my chance of getting into an ivy?
Please if you are reading this, tell me what you think. It would really be a lot of help.
You can strike Stanford and Berkeley off that list.
It’s obviously a stretch for Ivys and some other schools listed like Stanford and Northwestern. It’s pretty bad that you didn’t wake up with the 3.4 freshman year and dropped further sophomore year. But, hey, miracles happen.
What’s also concerning is that you plan on taking 5 subject tests, including both math I and math II. I’m not sure your train of thought there.
A 2100 is around the lower end for many of those schools. Probably want to shoot for 2250 at least.
What is your career goal? Why is it so important to go to an ivy or similar? At this point, you need to consider other good options.
@mom2collegekids thank you so much for your reply. I want to go in the medical field or the technology field, but I am not exactly sure what I want to do. I really like learning (although it might seem like it) and I want to get the best education. I was asking if it was possible to get into a top college if I have an upward trend of having a 4.0.
What other good options and schools do you suggest?
Thank you again for your reply.
I think that even with an upwards trend it will be hard to get into an ivie unless you do something really spectacular. Maybe if you focus on your charity and help that really take off it would help your chances.
okay thank you for your feed back @elphiew
Why do you say “in the US”? Are u an int’l student?
@GMTplus7 no I am not an international student. I live in the US but I was born in a different country, It has always been a habit for me to say “the best school in the US” since I was a child. Sorry for the confusion.
I’m sorry to be the bearer or bad news, but I think these schools are extreme reaches. I know you have a special circumstance, but the GPA is simply too low. However, with your scores I still think you will get into some great schools!
Georgetown, from what I can tell (daughter is applying there next fall) is extremely focused on class rank. They seem to pretty much not take people unless they are in the top 5% in their class and they really like the top few students. They have the most complete profile I have ever seen, linked here:
https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/xani81o0z2iq0anudhge
You can easily compare yourself to it if you know your class rank. Consider that they took 3 out of 45 with an 800 math that were ranked in the 2nd 5% of their class compared to 182/395 (46%) with an 800 math in the top 5%. In fact, math SAT 600-690 had 378 admitted of 1543 (25%) in the top 5% of their class. So you are much better off with a 600-690 math and a top 5% rank than having a rank worse than the top 5% and an 800 math.
There isn’t an equation for what college you can get into. All that you can do now is work hard and study and apply to your reaches, safety and match schools and hope for the best. You will end up where you are meant to be. 
The schools you name, as well as the Ivies, have 30,000+ applicants each year. Northwestern, for example, had just over 32,000 applicants and accepted 4,187. Stanford had 42,487 applications and accepted 2,144. There is absolutely nothing that you can do about these numbers.
What you can do is to dig deeply into the group of schools just below the uber elite tier. Look into places like Case Western, University of Rochester, Emory, etc. You would receive a phenomenal education at one of these schools, you very likely would be a much happier student, and your chances of being admitted are greater. It’s easy to visit Stanford and fall in love with the campus. It is much harder to find 5 schools that you can actually get into, visit them, and see yourself enjoying attending there. So spend the bulk of your time on more realistic choices. Look at the common data sets for each, and honestly assess your chances. And once you have this group of potential schools selected, then add as many high reaches as you wish from the list you have above.
The students who approach it the other way around (visiting their high reaches first) often end up very disappointed at the end of March.
@MidwestDad3 THANK YOU. You have given me the best advice so far, both in the cc forum and in real life. I will take a look at the colleges that you mentioned. Also it is possible to do well really in those schools and then transfer to more elite schools. Thank you again I really appreciate your time.