Sophomore Chances to Northwestern, UNC Chapel Hill, Columbia, etc.

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>I'm a (African-American) sophomore in high school and although it's early, wanted to know what my chances could be for these colleges:
Northwestern University- top choice
University of Maryland, College Park
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Syracuse University
Columbia University</p>

<p>Sophomore Year Classes:
Honors Sophomore Religion
Honors Pre-AP/IB American Literature
Honors Pre-AP/IB Spanish II
Honors Pre-AP/IB Geometry
Honors Pre-AP/IB Chemistry
AP US History
Computer Concepts & Applications (Mandatory Technology Credit)
Study Hall (Semester 1)/Team Sports (Semester 2)</p>

<p>PSAT Sophomore Year- 193 Total Score (63 CR, 56 M, 74 W)
GPA- 4.35 Weighted, 3.9 Un-weighted (School Doesn't Rank)</p>

<p>Junior Year Classes: IB Diploma Program
IB International Religions I
AP World Language & Composition
IB Spanish III
Honors Pre-AP/IB Algebra II
AP Biology
AP European History
AP Comparative Government & Politics
Theory of Knowledge (for IB)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Sports:
Cross Country- Freshman to Senior Year
Indoor Track- Freshman to Senior Year
Outdoor Track- Freshman to Senior Year
Karate- From Elementary School to Middle School (Achieved Black Belt)</p>

<p>Clubs:
Project Change- Sophomore to Senior Year
Fellowship of Christian Athletes- Sophomore to Senior Year
Peer Counselor- Junior to Senior Year
Speech & Debate- Junior to Senior Year</p>

<p>Other:
Camp Counselor @ School's 5 Week Summer Camp for Impoverished Children- Junior to Senior Year
Campus Ministry Leader- Junior to Senior Year
Student Ambassador- Sophomore to Senior Year
Honor Council- Junior to Senior Year (Selected by school faculty, Only 3 students per grade)
National Honor Society- Junior to Senior Year </p>

<pre><code>Selected to participate in "Envision: National Youth Leadership Forum in Digital Media, Broadcast, & Journalism"
Selected to participate in "National Youth Leadership Conference"
(I know that both programs are not very exclusive, but still)
</code></pre>

<p>***If my chances are not good, what can I do over Junior & Senior Year to improve them (Weighted GPA will rise over next two years due to large amount of AP & IB Classes</p>

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<p>I’m not going to be rude like you were to me, but I’ll give you some honest criticisms that I believe should shape you into a more competitive applicant (Because pay-it-forward right?)</p>

<p>Your sophomore year schedule seems very easy (Only 1 AP class, taking Geometry (Most competitive applicants take that as early as 6th-7th grade, and Chemistry (not too bad, but 1 year late (sorry for parentheses overkill))). Try taking courses at a University or Community College. Some courses I recommend are General Physics, OCHEM, and Math 1 and 2 (Equivalent to Calc AB and Calc BC). If you’re truly competitive and intelligent, then I believe you have the merit to teach yourself and accelerate past your peers.</p>

<p>Your PSAT is relatively low for an Ivy League reaching student. Most people from my school that are going for Ivy’s, myself included, had 210+ freshman year, and 220+ sophomore year. Aim for 2300 on the SAT or 35/36 on ACT.</p>

<p>You have a healthy list of EC’s, and it looks like your biggest hook is continuous involvement in church related activities which shows a passion, however you’re not very involved in STEM related EC’s which colleges and work-fields heavily look for in today’s industry. Try doing science fairs, AIME, tutoring etc.</p>

<p>As of right now, all the schools are reaches for you.</p>

<p>Best of lucky!</p>

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<p>@bluberaptor Thank you for your helpful and educated response !!!</p>

<p>Actually, APUSH is the only AP class for sophomores at my school and only 10% of sophomores take it so…
And I went to a private middle school where you take Math 6 and Math 7, not Algebra and Geometry so…
Also, I congratulate you on your spectacular PSAT scores, but I’d assume my math score would rise dramatically considering when I took the PSAT, I had only taken Algebra I and two months of Geometry.</p>

<p>Furthermore… I want to be a journalist, not a scientist so STEM activities wouldn’t necessarily help me.</p>

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<p>@greenman46‌ There’s no need to act sassy LOL I was trying to advise you on things you could do to have a higher chance at all the colleges you listed.</p>

<p>Even if your school doesn’t allow sophomores to take many AP classes, you can self-study for tests. I self studied AP Comp. Sci. and got a 4. It’s not impossibly difficult.</p>

<p>Furthermore, even if you want to be a journalist, you need to be good, not just good, but talented at math to enter difficult schools. Most of the kids that get into the schools you listed get 5’s on AP Calc AB and BC tests and have 800’s on Math Subject tests.</p>

<p>Finally, you can’t expect your scores to rise substantially by October 2014 as you won’t have finished Algebra 2 which is a key component of the PSAT. You can expect a rise to maybe 650-700 which will land you at 210.</p>

<p>You seriously need to up your mathematics skills because you’re headed for Trig/PreCalc senior year which is what most non-competitive students take (Kids who want to go to State colleges).</p>

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<p>Yes, @bluberaptor‌, you obviously feel so entitled to help him that you OBVIOUSLY don’t use sarcasm in your own first post, don’t you?</p>

<p>First, unless that guy’s from your own school, your statement: “Your PSAT is relatively low for an Ivy League reaching student. Most people from my school that are going for Ivy’s, myself included, had 210+ freshman year, and 220+ sophomore year. Aim for 2300 on the SAT or 35/36 on ACT.” doesn’t apply here.</p>

<p>Second, @greenman46‌, you have a good extracurricular list. However, your karate extracurricular can’t be counted because it’s not in high school. However, if you did some karate during high school, you could list that and talk about your prior achievements in an essay.</p>

<p>Third, don’t listen to @bluberaptor‌ about your clubs/organizations (the math/science ones) unless you absolutely want to do something in STEM. If you aren’t, it really doesn’t help. Also, start next year so you have two years on your application, instead of just one (if you start senior year). Seriously, if you’re not interested, don’t do it. Instead, continue with more liberal arts related clubs, such as FBLA (for business) or mock trial (for law).</p>

<p>Fourth, bluberaptor, maybe he wasn’t sassy. In fact, you were probably sassy, although I can’t say for sure since we’re on the internet. I don’t know truly who was sassy, but you are very judgmental.</p>

<p>Fifth, if you have access to a private tutor for the SAT nearby, take the opportunity to learn stuff (especially math) from the tutor. I had a 207 PSAT score sophomore year, and I raised it to a 231 after a tutor. I also got a 2310 on my SAT first time around, so a tutor really helps.</p>

<p>So, unlike bluberaptor, I believe that all schools except for Columbia are matches. Columbia is a reach, just because it’s an Ivy. If you live in Maryland or North Carolina, you have an even better chance of getting into that state college. And don’t listen to bluberaptor’s thing about how state colleges (which he says only non-competitive students go to) are lower status. In a way, if you really go with prestige, then no school is right for bluberaptor except for the Ivies and the very high level non-Ivies (such as Stanford, MIT, CalTech, etc).
If you want competitiveness at a state school, you could apply to its honors program. Even if you don’t get in, there are some smart people at state colleges.</p>

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<p>Actually, I’m going to change Northwestern to a low reach. I thought you had said Northeastern (NOT the same school, lol)</p>

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<p>And because of affirmative action, your status as an African American may help you (in your SAT/PSAT scores)</p>