<p>Do you think I have a chance? I'm thinking about majoring in either history/political science with the goal of going on to law school.</p>
<p>white/female/tennessee/rising senior</p>
<p>GPA: 3.72 (unweighted)/4.1 (weighted) (.5+ for honors/1+ for AP)
I will have taken 9 AP classes, 6 honors classes, and 4 years of foreign language.
I have no idea what my class rank is, but its probably in the top 10% or very close to it.</p>
<p>ACT: 30 (33 reading/30 math/29 english/26 science)
SAT II's: 670 for US History
I'm taking Math L2 and Literature in the fall, expecting around 700 for both</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Assistant Karate Instructor (been involved since 1996 and have done many things on regional/national level)
Sports Editor for my school newspaper
Student Council representative and committee member
Interact(service club)-head of various projects and treasurer
National Honor Society committee member
400+ hours of volunter work by time of graduate (Presidents Gold Award)
Distinguished Spanish 1 Student award</p>
<p>You certainly have a chance, although I'd put Carleton in the low reach/high match category for you. Test scores are only so-so...I would suggest that you take the SAT I as well as retaking your ACT. Extras seem pretty strong...not amazing, but very solid, IMO. Schedule is good, and GPA and class rank seem solid as well. Focus on having an excellent senior year, raising your test scores a bit, and then getting great recs and the writing the best essay you possibly can.</p>
<p>The truth is I'm horrible at standardized tests...I've taken the SAT but lets not go there...
My schedule for senior year is:
AP's:Modern European History, Macro Economics, English, Calculus, Environmental Science
Honors:Spanish IV
regular:gym class</p>
<p>Just get good grades...preferably straight A's! There's no better way to boost your application in January than to send in a great Midyear Grade report. Well, okay, winning a state or national competition would be a bigger boost, but you get my drift :). </p>
<p>You're not bad at standardized tests...you're just not as good you would like. If you really tanked on the SAT, then just focus on the ACT. Do you have any idea what to work on to improve in each subject? For example, I was usually under a time crunch on the Science section, and no matter what anyone says, there <em>is</em> science knowledge involved. Maybe it would help to focus on one or two sections to move your score up. Also, if I were you I would try to raise either the math or the english up a couple of points. For an intelligent, well-educated student, I don't think that either section is terribly difficult. When I would study for the math section, I would be sure to study up on Geometry and learn a few handy formulas/rules--arc length, for example. I'm a super fast memorizer, so I didn't have to spend to long on it, but if memorization isn't your finest point, I'm sure longer-term study would stick in your mind. For the english, I would just review some of the more basic rules of punctuation and such...it's not too tricky, especially if you spend a couple of weeks reviewing. Since you can withhold all but your highest ACT, I would plan to take it a couple more times. Good Luck!</p>