<p>I'm currently a hs sophmore and have my sights set on UVA but idk whether or not I should set UVA as my backup and shoot for an ivy like Princeton.</p>
<p>I took the SAT in 8th grade for a John Hopkins thing where if you're score is high enough u can take their classes, and so I got high enough. I just took the SAT again a few days ago as a practice test and I think i got 750-800 math, 650-750 verbal, 650-750 writing. Based on what my scores will be when i find out I'm predicting like a 2300 on the real thing as a Junior. </p>
<p>I'm taking 2 AP's right now and planning on taking 5 more both Junior and Senior year with 1 over the summer in order to get AP finalist award (13 total). Yes, i'm asking my chances if i get AP finalist cause i think i can, and...my only real problem area is my freshmen GPA which sucked so i'm shooting for a 3.95 for Fr, So, and Ju years, and Senior year would probably bump it up past 4.0 but idk if colleges look at senior year gpa. </p>
<p>So, should i shoot higher?</p>
<p>i think princeton ignores your freshman year grades but i'm not sure, so you might not have to worry about that. do you live in VA? if you do it's a lot easier to get into UVa. i'm not really sure about getting in out of state, but UVa has to take around 70% of its students from in state. so yeah... if you get a 2300 and do well in all those APs and get a good GPA and get involved in ECs and all that good stuff, you'd probably be overqualified for UVa if you're in state, just judging by my experience as an in-stater. </p>
<p>also, you'd probably get more responses if you post this in the regular princeton forum and not the 2011 forum... good luckk!</p>
<p>You should look into the Echols program at UVa. </p>
<p>I'd say it wouldn't hurt to apply to both--you never know until you try.</p>
<p>Yeah, Echols is great. There is a good chance I would have gone for that had I not been accepted to Princeton.</p>
<p>oh really? i have heard that Echols doesn't really get you much anymore. i really don't know much about it though. but i do know that getting the jefferson scholarship would definitely be a plus.</p>
<p>What is Echols? And if the Jefferson scholarship is for TJ people, i'm not one of them.</p>
<p><a href="http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/echols/%5B/url%5D">http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/echols/</a></p>
<p>Basically, you get to pick all your classes ahead of all the non-Echols people (even upperclassmen, I think), live in special housing, and a bunch of other cool benefits. It's a pretty sweet deal. </p>
<p>Like Ernie, I would have been an Echols if I hadn't decided on Princeton.</p>
<p>By a strange coincidence, several of my friends at here at Pton were also almost-Echolses.
UVA is awesome!</p>