Grade: Sophomore
School: Top public school in Northeast
GPA (100 point scale): 92.5
Courses: Honors English, AP World II, Honors Chemistry, Precalculus, Honors Spanish II
EC’s: Youth Group advisor (weakest area)
PSAT (sophomore year with no studying): 1340
Sports: soccer (likely captain as senior), track (likely captain as senior), lacrosse
Interested in schools in both the Northeast and out West
Can’t be sure without an SAT score. Gotta wait til you take it junior year for an accurate chance. Can’y chance with PSAT because it is easier than the SAT significantly. Good extra-curriculars(sports count as EC btw) maybe you could get sports scholarship. Try again after getting SAT scores back, and take some AP classes junior year.
Safety schools: Academically you are at or above the 75th percentile in stats. Also financially affordable without taking out large amount of loans/debt.
Before you start looking for Safety, Match and Reach schools (based on your Stats), find out how much your parents can pay each year for college? Also calculate out your EFC (Estimated Family contribution) and then go from there. If you are looking to go out of state, costs will be usually much higher than staying in-state.
You will need test scores and what is your Home State?
What is your likely major and career goal??
Talk to your parents about how much they’ll spend on college.
You are a sophomore. There is plenty of time to get a significant extracurricular. Don’t spread yourself thin - pick one thing that you care about and really can make a difference, and throw yourself into it with genuine effort.
I will posit that safety schools are not just schools you’re at/above the 75th percentile. Lots of people get rejected from Duke/Stanford/Harvard/U Penn etc. that are at or above the 75th percentile. Not that the OP said anything about them, but I just think he should keep in mind that safety schools are schools you feel you have an excellent chance at getting into (Yes, stats are pretty much what give you a range of possible safety schools. But I don’t think any college with an acceptance rate under 25% or so can really be classified as an outright safety school).
I was asking about PSATs not too long ago and from what I gathered, your scores will likely go up with maturity, more education and test prep. Also make sure to take the ACT too.
Talk to your parents now about how much they can afford for college. Then calculate EFC and run the NPC on a variety of universities:
A small LAC nearby, a prestigious LAC that meets 100% need, a directional university (“southern central state U”), your public flagship, and the most prestigious university you’re interested in.
Print out the NPC results and discuss them with your parents. Expect them to be floored by costs. (back in our day, public college cost less than a thousand dollars a semester, and Harvard tuition was 15k. Even 10 years ago tuition at public universities was half what it is now, but the huge funding cuts caused by the 2008 crisis mean that public university costs have increased beyond most people’s comprehension. Imagine buying a car for 13k a few years ago and discovering that to buy the same car, slightly tricked out with a phone port, you have to pay 26k. First reaction will be outrage at price gouging. So, be ready for that.)
What can they afford from savings and income? Can they set something aside each month starting now, in a college fund (“529”)?
The most important thing you can do is discuss costs now and understand test scores will play a major role in merit scholarships (if you need one) so prep for them.
Sophomore year is a good year to tour nearby colleges, not because you like them but to get an idea about various atmospheres and fit.
Take advantage of educational opportunities and experiences; explore what you like and explore career possibilities. For example, if you like math/science and want to explore what college experience in eng/CS is - schedule to go to a summer week long introduction to engineering (like a program for rising HS juniors and seniors - Univ of AL and a number of other schools offer such a program - often not really advertised because the sections fill up quickly…
http://site.eng.ua.edu/ ). If you can sort out what you do want to study before you go to college, it will help you in the selection process by looking at schools with your desired curricula.