Sophomore- what do i need to do? Will try to chance those who reply!

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>So I'm a Sophomore, gonna be a junior next year. I go to a pretty good public school, known mostly for athletics, but above average academics. </p>

<p>I have not taken any standarized tests except the SAT 2 Chem (720, could be better), so i know it will be hard to judge my chances so far. I was wondering what else I need to do next year to boost my chances.</p>

<p>Btw my goal colleges are Columbia, Dartmouth, and Duke. </p>

<p>GPA UW: 4.0
GPA W: 4.49 (this will most likely go up)
SAT II: Chem (720)
AP results: Stats (I dont know yet, I'm gonna guess it was a 4)
Class rank: Most likely top 3 out of 290 students</p>

<p>Course load: (7 total academic classes per year)
Freshmen Courseload- 2 Honors classes (Maximum available for Frosh)
Soph Course load - 6 Honors Classes; 1 AP class (Stats)
Junior Course load - 4 AP classes (Economics, Programming, Calc BC, US History); 3 Honors classes</p>

<p>Extra-Curricular Activities:</p>

<p>PIANO
State-level Piano Audition Honors 6 Years in a row
Cecilian (prestigious state award) Piano Award - 1st place
Crescendo International Piano Honor Award
Performed in Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall
IMPACT young virtuoso Piano Honor Award
A few other small piano awards- I am planning on submitting a recording when its time to apply</p>

<p>SCHOOL CLUBS
JV Tennis (9,10) Don't know about JV or varsity next year
Red Cross Club (9, 10, 11)
Red Cross "Operation Smiles" Branch co-head (11)
Red Cross "Alexia Foundation" Branch co-head and founder (11)
Spanish Cultures Club (10 ,11)
Spanish Cultures Club President (11)
Model UN Club (10, 11) not available to Frosh
EMS Club (9,10,11)
Debate (10,11)
Entrepreneurship Business Club Co-Founder and treasurer (11)
Newspaper Business Staff (10, 11)
Stock Market Club (10, 11)
Freshmen Ambassador (a leadership position for helping incoming freshmen) (11)
*Note: Juniors rarely get leadership positions in my school, so come senior year I might have a couple more</p>

<p>SUMMERS:
Summer SuperStars Camp CIT (a camp for intellectually gifted and talented kids) (9)
Taking Advanced Pre-Calculus at Private school Dwight Englewood (10)
Research opportunity at NYU Research Lab in Tuxedo Park</p>

<p>OTHER:
Counselor said I'm getting into national honor society next year (frosh and soph not eligible)
Self-learned Javascript and Psuedocode for programming
High Honor Roll all semesters
My dream career: anything wall street related, preferably economics, finance, administration, etc. Don't mind coding too</p>

<p>I am a self-labeled bookworm/nerd, but I can speak very well and communicate well with others and am rather social. My writing is definitely a big strength of mine (I am especially good with creative writing), so I am looking forward to the application essays and making them unique and eloquent.</p>

<p>VOLUNTEER WORK:
I started and am leader of a new program at the library that helps senior citizens learn about new technology; should definitely get a lot of hours from this</p>

<p>FUTURE:
So if you didn't notice, I kinda slacked in Freshmen year in terms of extra cirriculars (my grades were fine though). I sa down with my parents one day and I realized I needed to step up my game. That being said, I think I have an upward trend, not based on my grades but based on my other activities. Also, I expect to win more piano awards and continue to excel in my classes and gain more leadership positions, since I am really starting to improve. I am well-liked in school and have a really popular friend, and we plan on running for Student Govt President and VP (I'll probably settle for VP, unless you guys think I should try to persuade my friend to give me the Pres. position).</p>

<p>As far as standardized tests go, I am planning to take at least 4 SAT Subjects, including chem. I'm preparing already this summer, and I really didn't prepare well for chem, so I expect higher than 720s on them. I also didn't study well for my Stats AP test, so I will bite the bullet and fight for 5's on my future APs. I took the practice SAT and ACT: I'm projected a 2200 on the SAT and a 34 on the ACT. I am already preparing for both tests, so I expect to do rather well on them. </p>

<p>For Tennis, I'm really torn: It is a time-consuming spring sport, and during the spring I have the ACTs and the SATs and some piano competitions, not to mention AP exams is in May. I have a (slim) chance at making varsity, but most likely will be JV (where we don't have captains anymore). I don't know if I should consider quitting, I'm afraid I have too much on my plate.</p>

<p>Huge thanks to anyone who actually read this whole thing! </p>

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<p>Thanks for responding to my thread by the way. I think that depending on your score on the SAT/ACT you will have a good chance at Duke. Columbia and Dartmouth are reaches for everyone, but if you continue your ECs and what you’re currently doing, you’ll have a competitive chance. I personally think you should continue tennis, commitment looks great on an application and if you can do well academically and socially, while still managing to juggle a sport, you will look great. Good luck!</p>

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<p>thanks, i got a cousin who goes to duke and she loves it! </p>

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<p>You are taking very advanced classes and you are not even a Junior yet! It will be much easier to predict next year once you have actually taken the ACT and SAT. Your projections look good; i hope they come true! Don’t worry about 9th grade!! You have a very good chance of getting into very good schools, assuming that everything remains the same and your test scores meet your projections! </p>

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<p>@senior2015 night owl too? haha
thanks for the response, ninth grade went well for me gradewise, but couldve been better EC wise
fingers crossed for you seniors next fall! look forward to Senior Spring, youll make it!</p>

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<p>I’d say to drop tennis, just because I feel that if it isn’t your dream then you should not keep doing it. Your ECs are excellent and the volunteer work looks good, just make sure to keep doing the same thing, it looks good for colleges to find one interest and stick with it. I’d say you have a pretty good chance with Columbia and Duke, and Dartmouth you have a fair chance. I would say to also apply to schools other than these three, you’d be more likely to get into non Ivys which have very good programs.</p>

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<p>Keep doing you because wow you’re perfect</p>

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<p>You’re taking BC as a junior and I’m taking it as a senior next year wondering if I’ll fail lmao</p>

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<p>really nice of you @Marissa‌. and yeah, best of luck in BC, we are both royally screwed</p>

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<p>I think your chances are excellent. The only missing link I think are the test scores. If you can get the 2200+ then … BAM! Perfection :3</p>

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<p>btw why do you even need 4 subject tests? unless you are applying to Georgetown, 2 are enough already.</p>

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<p>i was hoping on not even using chem, or just looking impressive. </p>

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<p>It’s tough to predict without test scores, but you are definitely on the right track. Great GPA and EC’s, I would say with an SAT at 2200+ or an ACT at 32+ you would be as competitive as any student for Colombia, Dartmouth, and Duke</p>

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<p>Definitely stellar statistics, all that could really be done to ensure your chances would be focus on SAT and/or ACT scores, along with essay writing. Also, request interviews and further information from the colleges you’re interested in, displaying interest helps a ton.</p>

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<p>Your credentials are amazing right now, all you have left to do research and have it published in a scholarly journal or cure cancer lol. Just a not so random question: are you asian? @brickthelegend‌
And people are saying that Duke isn’t a reach for you but it is; it’s a reach for everyone. That’s the general rule if the admission’s rate is under 25%.
You will probably go places, but just remember that the Ivies aren’t everything and that you’ll end up in a great place regardless of your results come senior year. You are in a better spot than 99% of other people and if you do not get into the school of your choice, there is no doubt that other fairly prestigious schools will be waiting to bid for you with research opportunities and merit scholarships in hand. Good luck!</p>

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<p>I anyone wants to chance me for engineering, <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1663581-my-chance-at-engineering-schools.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1663581-my-chance-at-engineering-schools.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Nice and solid extracurriculars and stellar grades! If you keep up what you’re doing and push a bit harder I’d consider you a solid match, but there’s no saying for certain on ivy leagues. As epan1997 asked,“are you asian?” I’d say you’re at a pretty solid position.</p>

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<p>@epan @IBschol haha i am Asian, but highly non-stereotypical (okay, minus the grades and spending summer on college confidential lol). writing, communicating, and creativity are my strengths</p>

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<p>by the way, Columbia, Dartmouth, and Duke are my dream schools. I have safeties and lower matches, such as Tufts, Boston College, etc.</p>

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<p>Okay, good if at any time you want be to look at that list for you, feel free to send it to me. Best of luck!</p>