stressing about college! Need advice

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm currently a sophomore in high school, and am really really stressed about college stuff right now. Can you guys tell me if my application sounds good or not, and what more I should do? </p>

<p>I go to one of the best high schools in the USA, and it is rated in the top 100-so it is a lot harder than normal high schools. It is a magnet school, which means every student joins a program of specialization and I am in the MST magnet, which stands for math, science, and technology. The MST classes are a higher level than honors, but lower than AP. All the classes I take are honors, MST, and AP. However, only the AP classes are given higher weight at my school, and not honors or MST. The thing I am really worried about is that my GPA is only a 3.2 right now, but I plan on raising it to around a 3.5 by the end of junior year.</p>

<p>For extracurriculars, I've been playing piano for 6 years and am planning on taking a piano exam at a certain level this summer. Other than that, in school I am part of the key club and will have over 100 community service hours by the end of my junior year, considering I am doing it again next year. Last year when I was a freshman I was in the national art honor society. I am also planning to volunteer at a hospital this summer. I also paint and draw, and have taken oil painting and photography classes the past two summers. How can I make this look good on an application?</p>

<p>I am also going to take an online course this summer so I can get an A and slightly raise my GPA. I am planning to get over a 2000 on the SAT and over a 30 on the ACT, which I am pretty sure I can do.</p>

<p>My question is, what else can I do to look better to colleges? And looking at all of this, what kind of colleges do you think I can be admitted to, and what kind of scholarships can I get?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Here are three things you can do to improve your chances:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Improve your GPA. This is BY FAR the single most important thing you can do. However, your GPA will be taken into account of your own school. Does your school rank?</p></li>
<li><p>High SAT/ACT scores. Since your GPA is a little low, try to get scores that are around the 75 percentile for schools you want to go to. Don’t settle for less if you’re sure that you can do better.</p></li>
<li><p>Develop your EC’s/passion. Figure out what you want to do, and go do it. Try to get a leadership position in this area. Remember, being a leader in one club is better than being a member in 5.</p></li>
</ol>