Soph. in High School here.. Posting Stats... Goals for Junior Year?

Applying to College
1

<p>Gender: Male
Race: White
Location: Illinois
Prospective Major: not sure... </p>

<p>GPA: UW- 4.00 W- 5.00
Class Rank: 1/560</p>

<p>Schools I'm interested in (in order): Macalester, Rice, UC, WashU, Yale, Penn, Cornell, any Claremont School, Reed</p>

<p>SAT: Haven't taken (Should I?)
Math:
Reading:
Writing: </p>

<p>SAT II:</p>

<p>Took ACT at beginning of Soph. Year; shooting for 35 or 36 Junior year</p>

<p>ACT: 33
English: 33
Math: 35
Reading: 32
Science: 30
Essay: -</p>

<p>AP Courses:
None available at my school until Junior Year</p>

<p>Prospective AP Courses:</p>

<p>AP Physics 1
AP Physics 2
AP Calc BC
AP English
AP Bio
AP Political Science
AP US History</p>

<p>I'm a great test taker so hoping for 4's and mostly 5's</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:
-6th place in IHSA State Journalism Contest (Review Writing)
-2nd place in Color Photography at State Jr. Beta Club Convention - competed nationally
-2nd place in Literature Interpretation (hard to explain) at State Jr. Beta Club Convention
-School-wide Leadership award (frosh. year)
-HOBY ambassador</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>-Community Theater and plays since about 2nd-3rd Grade; numerous leads
-Speech and Debate- This is my main activity in high school-- I attended a summer Speech Program at Bradley U for two weeks last summer and plan on going later this year.
-School Newspaper - Incoming Editor-in-Chief as a junior (never happens)
-Math Team member both years of high school
-Hosting a foreign exchange student this summer - this will make me eligible for the Presidential Service Award as well
-Volunteered Fresh. and Soph. Year half hour each day through school working for teacher instead of study hall</p>

<p>I plan to achieve a lot this Summer, but I want to know a) if you think I would have a chance at the schools I'm interested and b) what you think I should build on or begin doing to become more attractive to these schools. I'm a very strong writer so I'm not really worried about the essays and teachers + counselors tend to love me so I'm not worried about recs either. </p>

2

<p>Are you being honest? How do you have such high grades on the ACT as a sophomore. If you are being honest, keep up the good work! Remember to take the ACT Writing portion. Most colleges don’t accept ACT scores without it. 7 APs at one time may be a bit much, but if you can handle it, go for it. And being a good test taker won’t get you 4 or 5s on the exam. It measures how well you have mastered the course, so I think you should hold back on that a little bit. Your ECs are pretty weak. Nothing out of the ordinary and overtime, I’m sure your volunteer hours will add up. I’m not sure helping a teacher is really considered “volunteer work”.</p>

<p>Other than that, I guess you have an average shot at each school. All the Ivies are still a reach, but if you maintain your grades, you should be good. </p>

<p>But ask yourself this. Are you willing to lose your rank in order to take such a rigorous course load? It might me too much for you seeing that you have never taken an AP course. It could be too much. </p>

<p>Other than that, good luck! Keep your grades up! Next year is the most important year in your high school career!</p>

3

<p>I am being honest! I took the ACT not really expecting anything magnificent and part of me would like to blame an easy test or something of the sort, but I try not to be that cynical especially to myself :-). My AP course load is kind of daunting to me and I am afraid of dropping in the ranks, but I think especially at where I’m looking to apply it’ll do more for me than dropping a few spots. Thanks for the response and sorry if I originally came off as a bit overconfident!</p>

4

<p>How many APs are offered in your school? Because you could try to balance them between two years rather than taking most of them in junior year. Colleges will see the rigor of your senior year schedule when you apply.</p>

5

<p>Oh! I thought it was clear that I’m already planning taking those AP courses over two years. I’m taking Physics 1 and US history next year and then the other 5 Senior year. Sorry if that was unclear.</p>

6

<p>you are in very good shape.</p>

7

<p>FWIW, my daughter (a Harvard admit as you might guess) got a 33 ACT her sophomore year. Not a big deal for a bright student.</p>

8

<p>Hmm… I’m not sure that taking 5 senior year is the best idea. You will be working on applications and having to balance that with AP English, AP Calc BC, AP Bio, and AP Political Sci might be too much. Is there any way you could bump up AP English to this year? It will make the fall of your senior year much more manageable while still maintaining the rigor.</p>