<p>besides college confidential, naivance is also a very stressing website. I've hovered and skimmed some stats of acceptes of top schools such as ivy leagues or MIT etc., and most of them have 95+ averages and 1400+ SAT (CR+M). My school is really competitive in temrs of gpa. If you have a 95, you're only top 75/1050 people, approximately 7% percentile. I'm just a rising sophmore, nearing my junior year, which isn't very far, jsut a year and something months. But i realize that i will be in an even more stressing position when I'm a junior! </p>
<p>I don't feel that i have all these great stacked up numbers like the valedictorians and top candidates. I don't want to end up going to an unpopular and not well-known college, but all this stress is just killing me..... my freshmen avg. wasn't so nice and its really pulling me down the ladder. My practice SAT scores aren't so pretty either, 1860. </p>
<p>I'm just totally disappointed in myself that i feel that i can't be like those amazing applicants... :(</p>
<p>There’s nothing particularly special about the “big name” schools. There are plenty of schools that will be a match for your GPA and SAT that are still good schools-- it’s not like every university out of the top 20 are “unpopular and not well-known.” There are hundreds of popular and well-known schools, including state schools.</p>
<p>Every year thousands of applicants dream of getting into them, get shot down, and end up at a school they enjoy. There’s no good reason to have your heart set on schools just because they have a “big name”-- they reject almost all of their applicants.</p>
<p>Also, based on your last post, your “not so nice” freshman year consisted of straight A’s… TAKE IT EASY!</p>
<p>@pancaked. well… my parents keep nagging me to work harder and it just makes me feel like if i don’t get into a good school and i don’t satisfy my parents criteria, then i’ll pretty much feel worthless… </p>
<p>Well. my not so nice freshmen grades don’t really stack up with the people with 96 averages. that’s the only thing that’s bringing me down. in fact, i can’t even bring my average up to a 96+ anymore. the most i can bring it up to is a 95 if i try my best in soph/junior year. </p>
<p>The point is that lots of colleges are good, not just the insanely selective ones. Just because some random person on the street hasn’t heard of a school doesn’t mean it isn’t good.</p>
<p>“Everyone” does NOT assume that if a school isn’t popular (whatever that means)= it’s not good. Do you realize that in high school you live in a tiny, regional bubble full of people who know next to nothing about colleges they haven’t heard about in movies or tv? Popular with whom? High school students? Parents who haven’t learned anything about college since they left 20+ years ago? You’ve spent enough time on cc to know better than this so please stop working yourself up over something that isn’t important in the grand scheme of things. Being obsessed with status never yields good results.</p>
<p>Have you ever considered that even if you were admitted to these “elite”-type schools you may not be happy there? You need to focus on doing the best work you can in high school and then try to find schools where you are a match in terms of stats and that you will like and can afford.</p>
<p>As a rising sophomore, what you should be doing is thinking about what you might like to study in college in order to have the career that you might like to have, and you should be discussing with your parents how it is that they expect you to pay for your education. Don’t worry about the name or size or location of the institution just yet. </p>
<p>If you haven’t spoken with your parents about the money issue yet, do that. Ask them to run the Net Price Calculators at the websites of your closest community college, the most famous public university in your home state, one of the less famous public universities in your home state, and two or three colleges and universities that you think you could get into right now with your current GPA and projected SAT scores. That way your family will start to have a notion about what the various places are likely to expect them to pay. If money is going to be an issue, the sooner your parents know that, the better (have a box of tissues and adult beverages handy though, many parents find the results quite disturbing).</p>
<p>Don’t compare yourself to the people here at CC. Concentrate on becoming your own best self. The best college/university for you might be one that never is mentioned here at all.</p>
<p>MTEP, remember that most colleges re-calculate GPAs anyway. Some very prestigious ones totally disregard freshman year of HS. Others count it, but but at a far lesser weight than sophomore and junior year grades - they appreciate a HS student that raises their grades over time. Don’t stress about it - you can’t change your previous grades anyway!</p>
<p>Most decent accredited universities seem basically the same to me. You take standard courses and end up with a degree (and, hopefully, an education). The experience is what you make of it. The fact that you’re on this website indicates that you’re probably not going to end up anywhere truly bad. (I think prestige/rankings matter on some level, but not nearly as much as people on here think.)</p>
<p>I’m saying to please stop stressing out over other people’s opinions on which schools are “popular” and focus on doing your personal best in high school. Most of the time, their opinions on this subject are quite uninformed. If your own parents have not gone to college they may not have a realistic view of which schools would serve you best and help you to thrive. See Happymomof1’s post for excellent advice on planning for college.</p>
<p>@happymomof1, that’s pretty deep. money isn’t an issue. i believe after i get out of college i’ll be able to pay off my student loans, if I can’t my parents have extra income and a bit extra money to pay it off, and still have a lot left over, but of course, I’m not rich or anything, just luckier than some that don’t have any support. My parents want me to pay off my own debts so i can get a taste of the bitter world and how its hard to earn money. </p>
<p>Thanks for such great advice. But you mentioned my best college might not be listed here on CC? well. if that’s the case. then i’ll assume it’s not the best known. I mean, i do find a lot of sense in what you say, and thats good, but statistics show on websites that annual salaries are higher in top well known universities that on those of unpopular and not so well known universities. </p>
<p>oh, and, a question, if i apply for student aid or something, is there a good chance i might get it? my parents don’t make much because they haven’t gone to college. and how many people usually apply for financial aid at big universities/colleges like nyu, cornell, UVA, uc berkely? I just want a rough estimate. thanks for helping</p>
<p>Every college has its own financial aid policy. Even if you have a very low income, colleges are not obligated to give you any money (and most colleges don’t). Many of the highly selective universities do guarantee to meet your financial need through grants and loans, but this is the exception to the rule.</p>
<p>You’re getting an 1860, and you’re hardly a sophomore. That score alone can get you into some pretty good colleges, and you’ll probably do a lot better in a couple years. As competitive as your school may be, your main focus is working as hard as you can and doing your best. Don’t spend too much time comparing to others, and if you stress out too much you won’t enjoy high school. In addition, there are plenty of scholarships out there, especially for students from low-income families. You just have to do your research. With the financial aid question about specific colleges, I think you’d be better off asking their respective college admissions offices through phone/email.</p>
<p>You only really have 2 sections that need improvement, and you have years to do it! It’s totally possible to bring it up by a lot, and you seem like you’ll take the prep work seriously. Either way, your score should naturally go up as you progress through high school, so that’ll also help. But if you’re still worried, I think grammar’s the easiest part of it to improve. Work on that. Baby steps. After all, YOU HAVE TIME. KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON.</p>
<p>my weakness that most high schoolers possess: procrastination… i don’t really like taking baby steps lol i like taking huge amounts and cramming. but the sat isn’t like something for that. hardest part is critical reading. gosh! why can’t they just eliminate that section…</p>
thanks for helping</p>