<p>Okay, so I'm a junior with a really hard course load (all my major classes except fore. lang. are APs) and I'm getting straight Bs. </p>
<p>I know grades aren't the only thing colleges look at but how much is this going to hurt me? Also, I'm taking the ACTs soon, I'm getting 29-30 on my practice tests, but I'm hoping to bring this up...how much would I need to consider colleges like Hopkins, Northwestern, and (maybe) UPenn?</p>
<p>Any info would be appreciated!</p>
<p>At my school, your stats would indicate that UPenn is a reach and the other schools are high-matches. My school is a very top, large public, though. So if your school is average, I’d consided UPenn a high reach and the others reaches.</p>
<p>It really depends on your rank, and essentially, what B’s mean at your school. If you’re in the top 5% or so of your class and can get your ACT to 32 plus, you would be in the running for these schools.</p>
<p>does top 800-900 in the nation count as…well…top public school?</p>
<p>We’re pretty good in our state…</p>
<p>I wouldn’t consider it a top public school, but a very good public school. Here are some questions that should give everyone a better idea of your school:
-As someone else mentioned, are Bs average or good in your difficult classes (are you one of the top three to five students in your classes, despite your grades)?
-How many students are in your class?
-What approximate rank are you?
-How many students get accepted in HYPSM (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT) each year (our school averages about 10 to 15 people each year)? There are other great universities, and I’m just using these five as an indicator, as most people know who gets into these schools, or at least at my HS that’s true. </p>
<p>And to get a better idea of you:
What kind of grades did you get the other two years of high school?
Do you have any very significant extra-curricular activities?
Do you have any hooks (legacy, first-gen, minority, etc.) at any top schools?
How good of a writer are you? In your AP English class, are your essays the ones used as good examples or is your writing just serviceble?</p>