Stanford, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

GPA(weighted)- 4.8
Unweighted- 3.85
Rank- 11/437
SAT- 2110
ACT-32- I’ll take it again
EC- Cheerleading (won state)
Diving
Track
Junior exec (planned prom)
Dance Marathon Morale dance member for Riley’s children hospital
Student Renaissance member
Math team and Fine Arts team member (Academic Super Bowl)
Currently running for SC president
I also just got my pilot’s license, so that’s unique I guess?
AP psych-5
AP macro-5
Ap chem, AP bio, AP Lang-?

I’m currently a junior, and I plan on applying to several ivy and top tier schools next year- Stanford, Dartmouth, notre dame, Yale, Princeton, USC, UC Berkeley etc. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to improve my application. I really wanted to take a college course this summer like computer science or physics, but the schedule conflicts with cheer and diving practice. I want to learn computer science because I could see it as a potential major of mine, but I think my only option is to self study for the AP exam due to my busy schedule. Is there anything that I could do this summer to really make me stand out? I know my test scores are pretty low, but I’m fairly confident that I can improve my ACT to a 34 or above. My SAT score is stuck because I have taken the test 3 times, and Stanford does not practice score choice, so I hope the schools will forgive my SAT score if I have a better ACT score (wishful thinking I know). If I wrote about flying airplanes in one of my essays, is there any possible way for that piece of writing not to be terrible? I’m not bad at writing I just can’t picture incorporating flying into any of the Stanford essay prompts.
What should I do over the summer to make me look good? I like STEM subjects a lot and flying airplanes and doing flips on the ground and doing flips into the water. So anything that combines all of those things would be ideal, or just something academic. All advice welcome, criticism too I guess.

P.S. Stanford is my dream school

2

Hi! Your credentials already seem pretty impressive to me so you shouldn’t worry too much. From what I’ve noticed so far I feel like some students have clearly impressive stats - test scores, GPA, AP tests - but they don’t focus too much on being active in the community. If there was something to set you over the top, I would say just get involved in volunteer work, it may sound corny but I think it really helped me get into UC Berkeley, which is where I’m going in the fall!! Cal especially values people who care about their community and will then in turn better their college campus. So, my advice would be to pick one or two community activities and do it every other weekend, the hours will add up and it might even be fun. I am currently a volunteer at the National Air and Space museum (right up your alley) and some other stuff, just pick something you’re interested in. You could help teach little kids about flying, which is part of what I do at NASM, or work at an animal shelter. There are lots of opportunities. I hope that helps, good luck!

3

You will need to have a much higher SAT or ACT score. All the schools you list are reaches for everyone. You need to apply to several matches and safeties.

4

You should apply to only two safeties, about a 7 or eight reaches, and as many improbable schools.
You never know what might happen