Rising Jr. Needs College Advice

Applying to College Admission Stories
1

I’m a rising Jr. at a super-competitive, rigorously grading, small top-5 newsweek HS. We attend class 7:30-4. Almost no on-campus ECs, no school athletics and few facilities. We have to take all AP classes - 7-8 full year academic classes ar required. Here are my current stats:
PSAT(sophomore): 205 …I should be able to exceed the NMS cutoff in my state this year
SAT: around 2150 (practice) - I know I can get it to 2350+
(scored 1820 as an 8th grader)
GPA: By end jr. year will likely be unw 3.6 (All As with 2 Cs), weighted = 4.4
AP: 10th grade: AP Eng Lit - 5
AP Bio - 4
AP Macro - 4
AP Micro - 3
AP Calc AB - 3
AP Euro - 3
9th grade AP US Govt - 4
8th grade AP Comp Sci - 3
One of about 420 sophomores in US to get AP Scholar with Distinction
ECs:
Summers 2010/2011: Mayo Clinic HS Summer Volunteer Program - Nuclear Medicine
Summer 2011 Stanford Univ. Extended Program for Talented Youth - Artificial Intelligence
2009-present: Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth - JAVA Programming, Anatomy/Phys
2010-present: National Society of HS Scholars
2011: Founder/Pres. Computer Science Club
2011: Founder/Pres. Competitive Writing/Literature Club
2011: Founder/Pres. Key Club (service club related to Kiwanis)
2011: Founder of corp. that helps non-profits with computer/web applications
Martial Arts: Brown Belt
Competitive Weightlifting
Entering several essay competitions

11th Grade courses: AP Calc BC, AP Chem, AP USH, AP Eng. Comp, AP Comp/Sci, Hon. Phys., Spanish IV, Fine Art

Major area of interest: Comp Sci, minors: English/Literature/Writing/Accounting/Finance

What do you think are the best 4 or 5 schools where I have a good shot at getting in and what can I do to improve my chances of admissions at better ones?

2

Haven’t I already seen this somewhere before?

3

Does anyone have an opinion about taking AP BC Calculus vs AP AB Calculus? Is there significantly more value to taking the harder class when viewed by college admissions?

4

Sounds like you were in over your head with lots of APs but not great scores. And any Cs on the transcript is death. Sorry.

5

<ol>
<li>205 PSAT is definitely not near the NMS cutoff.</li>
<li>The difference (at least at my school) between the rigor of AB and BC is astronomical, but from what I’ve heard, colleges don’t really see much of a difference at all.</li>
</ol>

6

Justans, he scored a 205 his sophomore year. Understand how he will improve his second time taking the test a year later. 205, for some states, is quite close to the cutoff. I have no doubt he will make the cut.

7

Well, that’s embarrassing. I completely misread/misinterpreted most of that. Also, does anybody know why different states have different cutoffs? Do individual states have unique tests?

8

^ Nah, the test is the same across the country.

It’s just that even though states have different populations, the number of NMS Finalists is the same for each state. States with higher populations (MA, CA, NY) are more competitive and have higher cut-off scores (around 222) as compared to states with smaller populations (WY - around 205).