<p>I'm a sophomore taking all honors classes. If everything goes according to plan, I will take 8 ap classes before graduating. My weighted gpa is a 4.36. Unweighted it's somewhere between a 3.9 and 4.0. I was in the 99th percentile on my PSATS. </p>
<p>Extracurriculars: Voice lessons, High School Chamber Choir, Church youth group and choir, Member of the board of my church and society and my church. President of Forensics Club since freshman year, Assistant coach to the middle school debate team, Model UN , Model Congress (won award), Marching band (received varsity letter, seriously), Orchestra, Newspaper</p>
<p>During the summers I have gone to summer programs at universities, and taken classes relating to politics. I've done volunteer work with my church, and also volunteered for the Kerry campaign last year.</p>
<p>Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to increase my chances of being admitted at Princeton or Georgetown?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I appreciate this suggestion, but would like to know if anyone has any other ideas, like joining another club, doing more volunteerwork, etc.</p>
<p>My uncle's an admission's officer at Georgetown and he basically said that you would be a reach :(. He said your PSAT's are fine, but everything else seems to be lacking. You have too many EC's and too few leadership posititions. He said that you should look into alternative colleges such as Villanova or Holy Cross. A major problem is that he's also a republican, therefore he did not vote for Kerry nor did he support him. He also said that they would question actually receiving a varsity letter in marching band. You also don't play any sports... He thanked you for your interest in Georgetown and said that things can seriously change in two years...</p>
<p>I agree with Mikey. But luckly you still have time to turn things around. You should run for class office or Student Council. Also see about joining a sport (colleges love athletics). Maybe track or cross country team becaus these types of teams let everyone join, so even if you aren't the best player you can at least put that you were on the team.</p>
<p>Take what Mikey said with a grain of salt. Best of luck to you.</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore, so I clearly am not filling every leadership position that I possibly can. The way things stand, my senior year I will have 4-5 leadership positions. Also, my marching band is one of the top bands on the east coast. For several years we have competed at the east coast championships at Giants Stadium. Because my band is so competitive, we practice as much as many sports teams (causing for the creation of a marching band varsity letter). Does any of this change things?</p>
<p>It doesn't matter how well your school is, it matters how good you are. It sounds like your on the right track, except you shouldn't set your heart on one school such as Georgetown because many well-qualified students such as yourself get rejected every year. You shouldn't count leadership positions before you actually get them... focus more on EC's than academics... 'Gtown is looking for a people who do crew or other unusual sport, such as fencing, a sport unlike basetball which not too many people do. You need to raise a couple of your grades and take more AP's this year.</p>
<p>Ya know... I'm am so sorry. My uncle is not an admission's officer. I seriously feel terrible. I made up all of that because I was jealous because you have half of my stats. I really am sorry...</p>
<p>this has ceased making sense</p>
<p>OK... I a freshman whose applying to Georgetown as well. I got jealous, and I feel really bad that I discouraged her... I seriously appolozige, and I feel terrible</p>
<p>the two of you wouldn't even be applying in the same class, so that was kinda pointless...</p>
<p>demgirl: your stats certainly look fine for Georgetown. You're going to need something special for Princeton, though...what that is, we can't necessarily tell you. Choose a couple of things to really focus on and be very very good at them. That's about as much advice as I can give.</p>
<p>Princeton, as you know, is an fairly big reach for anyone. There are many things that one could do to increase one's chances there, but all of them are going to involve really reaching above and beyond for opportunities both in and out of school. Just be aware of how much drive and motivation (or major connections) it takes to get in.</p>
<p>To better evaluate your chances, it would be helpful if we knew your exact PSAT breakdown. I know it seems stupid, but it would help us get an idea of where you stand in terms of testing. Being in the 99th percentile could mean a wide range of scores and breakdowns. Also, without any SAT II's or AP scores, it's hard to get an idea of where you would stand generally. At this point, you don't necessarily need to have them, but they are very helpful placement indicators.</p>
<p>I know you'd write a really passionate essay, although I would advise you to try to make it unusual in some way, especially since political science is a very common major in which many people are likely to have similar activities. Therefore, you need a way to distinguish yourself from the general pool of applicants. The essay and general application provides an excellent opportunity for this. You can also excel at something that seems unusual.</p>
<p>All of that being said, I still think that if things continue the way they're going, you have an extremely strong chance of being admitted to the liberal arts college at Georgetown. If you're at all interested in foreign service, I would just remind you that the Walsh school is very exclusive and it's somewhat of a stretch even for the most qualified. But whatever your college choices are, good luck!</p>
<p>Try to guess who this is ... LOL.</p>
<p>Princeton, as you know, is an fairly big reach for anyone. There are many things that one could do to increase one's chances there, but all of them are going to involve really reaching above and beyond for opportunities both in and out of school. Just be aware of how much drive and motivation (or major connections) it takes to get in.</p>
<p>To better evaluate your chances, it would be helpful if we knew your exact PSAT breakdown. I know it seems stupid, but it would help us get an idea of where you stand in terms of testing. Being in the 99th percentile could mean a wide range of scores and breakdowns. Also, without any SAT II's or AP scores, it's hard to get an idea of where you would stand generally. At this point, you don't necessarily need to have them, but they are very helpful placement indicators.</p>
<p>I know you'd write a really passionate essay, although I would advise you to try to make it unusual in some way, especially since political science is a very common major in which many people are likely to have similar activities. Therefore, you need a way to distinguish yourself from the general pool of applicants. The essay and general application provides an excellent opportunity for this. You can also excel at something that seems unusual.</p>
<p>All of that being said, I still think that if things continue the way they're going, you have an extremely strong chance of being admitted to the liberal arts college at Georgetown. If you're at all interested in foreign service, I would just remind you that the Walsh school is very exclusive and it's somewhat of a stretch even for the most qualified. But whatever your college choices are, good luck!</p>
<p>Joey</p>