Sophomore, worried for my future

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi I'm currently a sophomore in a pretty competitive high school in California.
The colleges I'm looking at are:</p>

<p>UC Berkeley
UCLA
Emory
Georgetown
Carnegie Mellon
UC Davis</p>

<p>Now that my marks aren't looking on par with most of the applicants, I'm starting to feel really bad about my future. I was really hoping to step it up and get my grades up so I could go to Berkeley (my top choice).</p>

<p>Here is what I have right now:
9th grade classes ---
Honors English 9 - B/B
Honors Geometry - A/B
Honors Biology - B/A
French 3 - A/A
Chinese 4 - A/A
Geography / Health - A/A
PE I - A/A</p>

<p>10th grade classes (1st semester only, second semester prediction)---
Honors English 10 - B / (A)
Honors Algebra 2 - B / (B/A)
Honors Chemistry - A / (A)
French 4 - A / (A)
AP Chinese 5 - A / (A)
World History - A / (A)
PE II - A / (A)</p>

<p>By the end of high school I will have taken 7-9 AP classes (however I'm not taking AP French, tell me if this is a mistake).</p>

<p>PSAT - 209</p>

<p>AP Chinese predicted 5</p>

<p>Will take SAT Bio, Chem, and others TBA</p>

<p>ECs:
Debate 10th- ( will continue for the rest of high school )
2012 SCU Invitational Policy Novice Quarterfinalist (my first ever tournament)
Will be attending Berkeley invitational in a few weeks</p>

<p>Piano for 6 years- ( will continue for the rest of high school )
DECA Member 10th- (will continue for the rest of high school)
JV Badminton 10th- ( will continue for the rest of high school )</p>

<p>2012 summer - Volunteered in city program as counselor for children's summer camp</p>

<p>Hoping to find internships or part time jobs over the next 2 years and to volunteer at the local library as a tutor during the summer.</p>

<p>Feel free to tell me what schools I'm already out of for sure, and what to work on to make my application stronger for when I apply.</p>

2

<p>I know that this may not be what you want to hear, but being only a semester into your sophomore year, its still too early to give the definitive answer that you might be looking for. However, with a 209 psat and a solid number of A’s and only a small number of B’s, its looking promising. Keep up the work and your colleges shouldn’t be too far off. </p>

<p>Its probably nothing you don’t already know but its still just too early being that you’re not even half-way through high school. Regardless, like I said, keep up the work and you have a solid shot</p>

3

<p>Are you sure? I was under the impression that my GPA is no longer competitive enough for schools like UC Berkeley (average GPA is 4.16?).</p>

4

<p>Are you northern or Southern California? Cal and UCLA flip flop a bit on acceptances each year (Cal will accept more NorCal one year, SoCal the next). Not sure what year it’s on (just check the stats) but that might help a bit.</p>

<p>Do really well on the SAT/ACT and get some awesome ECS (can you so anything with piano outside of just playing?) and you’ll have a good shot.</p>

5

<p>I am NorCal but I don’t know where to check on those stats.</p>

<p>As for piano, there’s probably not much I can do to make that stand out. Maybe Certificate of Merit Level 10 and playing with local bands / orchestra, but to be honest, piano is not my forte. I will probably be spending more of my time on other ECs.</p>

6

<p>Just the fact that you are worrying about it now means that you are college bound! Make sure that you apply to at least 10 schools. Space you applications out between Reaches, Matches and Safeties. I guarantee that you will get into college. However, one thing that is missing from your posting is your intended major. Remember, you are not just applying to a university – that is too broad. You are applying to a specific department for a specific major in that college. That is key. Also, you want to pick the right school for your major and the school’s teaching methodology. For example, my kid was accepted to the top UC’s including UCLA and turned them all down because he correctly felt that none of these schools could give him what he (specifically) needed for mechanical engineering. He ended up choosing Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as that was the best fit for his intended major and learning style.</p>

<p>In your case, you need to get really clear what you want out of college. You also need to understand that getting into college in and of itself is not the goal. It is what you will do AFTER college that is most important. This does not deny that college will be an amazing life experience. However, the days of just getting a college education for the sake of getting an education are long over. Be more strategic.</p>

<p>For example, if you want to be a doctor consider cheaper state schools that will prepare you for the med school exam and give you all the classes that you need. Then go for prestige after that. The reason why? Cost and class rank. If you go the elite route from start to finish you could end up $500,000 to $600,000 in debt before your first job. Also, you don’t want to get too competitive too early. It is a 10 year long distance trek to become a doctor.</p>

<p>If you want to be a business major, some of the UCs may be an absolute mismatch. Did you know that at many UCs there are no undergraduate business administration majors? You will have to settle for Econ or Accounting. UCI and Berkeley have a business major, but UCLA and many others do not!</p>

<p>If you want to be an engineer, consider schools that focus on a hands on polytechnic approach. Here is a comprehensive list of schools that focus on that <a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_of_Technology_(United_States[/url])”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_of_Technology_(United_States)&lt;/a&gt;. You see, if you end up at a UC for engineering as an undergrad you may have to wait for 2 years to get your first engineering classes while you get ECs out of the way, etc. Also, as an undergrad you need to understand that you may not get the resources that you need as often these go to the graduate programs and research. Consider a school that focuses on an undergrad technical education.</p>

<p>If you want to be an English major or focus on the humanities, or if you want a diversified liberal arts education consider the many fine Liberal Arts colleges in the US. Here in California there are many to choose from including any of the colleges in the Claremont Consortium (except Scrips is for women only).</p>

<p>Anyway, I’ll stop here. I think that you get the point. You need a specific reason to choose which schools to apply for.</p>

7

<p>But wait, you don’t need to decide what that major is right now! Many people to in undecided! As long as you know the general idea (liberal arts v engineering, for example), you’ll be fine. And honestly, I couldn’t care at all about prestige! The school’s level of prestige will not make it a better fit for you (contrary to many opinions). </p>

<p>You mention Cal, why? What about that school is desirable for you?</p>

8

<p>Your UCGPA looks like a 4.2 (remember, in an UCGPA there are your best eight honors/AP/IB classes bumped up a grade point)</p>

<p>Berkeley: High match
UCLA: High match
Emory: High match
Georgetown: Reach
UCD: Match
CMU: High match</p>

<p>You need a safety or two, geared towards your major.</p>