Suggestions on Improving my Stats?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>I'm in the middle of my junior year, so I still have stuff coming, but thus far this is what it looks like.</p>

<p>Student:</p>

<p>Gender: M
Location: Wisconsin
College Class Year: 2014
High School: Public
High School Type: rarely sends grads to top schools
Will apply for financial aid: Yes</p>

<p>Academics:</p>

<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.97
School does not weight.
Class Rank: top 5 students (2nd)
Class Size: 97</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>ACT: 30</p>

<p>E 34 M 25 R 32 S 29</p>

<p>SAT I: Will take in March
SAT II: Will take Lit., Math II, and Probably U.S. History in June</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Significant Extracurriculars: </p>

<p>Band (Concert, Pep, Jazz, Pit)
Forensics
Yearbook
Key Club
Student Council
Musical
FBLA (Now Disbanded Don't know whether I'll even put it on an application)</p>

<p>Leadership positions: </p>

<p>Treasurer, Conference Rep - Student Council (One Year)
President - Class Officer (One Year)
Vice President - FBLA (One Year)
Business Admin - Yearbook (One Year)
Lead Role - Musical (Two Years)</p>

<p>Athletic Status: </p>

<p>Cross Country - Varsity (Honorable Mention All-Conference) (Three Years)
Track - Junior Varsity (Three Years)</p>

<p>Volunteer/Service Work: 25 Hours (Will Work On)</p>

<p>Honors and Awards:
Kiwanis Award (Five Years)
Academic Letter
What else could I put on here? Honor roll?</p>

<p>Class Rigor: </p>

<p>Most Rigorous
One AP this year, but I'm self-studying three others. I plan on at least three next year (all that is offered at my school) and taking at least one college course probably in writing.</p>

<p>I plan on a summer course in Arabic (Accelerated Language), but it might not work out.</p>

<p>Desired College Characteristics:</p>

<p>Location type: Small City
Size: Medium (5,000 - 10,000)</p>

<p>Area: East Coast, West Coast, Midwest
Importance of cost: Secondary</p>

<p>So what else should I do? What tier schools do you think I am looking at?</p>

2

<p>Man, come check out my thread, small-town Junior looking for adivce and Chances on Big Name schools (sorry I don’t have the link). We have very similar situations. Here’s a list for you to consider though if you get about a 2100 SAT:</p>

<p>UW Madison
Carleton (looks like you might do well at a LAC looking at you ACT subscores)
WuStL as a reach
St. Olaf
Case Western
University of Dayton if you want to be an entrepreneur (would suggest a double major though- has an awesome finance program among others)
Miami of Ohio
U Chicago as another reach
Bradley U
Grinnel
U of M
Dennison
OSU Honors
Ohio U Honors
Indiana U</p>

<p>The private national U’s I listed, followed by the state colleges, are going to have the best business programs. However, the best-sounding college for you is a liberal arts college in the Chi-town suburbs that I can’t think of (it starts with a L I think, known for business- FORUMERS PLEASE HELP ME OUT!!!) Also, you sound like a great candidate for a LAC, so keep them in mind, too. Good Luck!!!</p>

3

<p>You should focus on what you liked the most, and make the ECs very focused on one subject. Say, you like volunteering, then concentrate on volunteering. Say, you like theatre, then concentrate on the arts. It looks better on the application form when its like focused since it shows that you are devoted to this specific area as compared to your ECs and leadership positions are all spread over the different areas. In addition, you can actually elaborate more on how your ECs shows your character and stuff. So, try to start focusing on one area that you are truly interested in. Plus, you should increase your volunteer hours to at least 100.</p>

<p>You should also look at activites OUTSIDE SCHOOL. Activies that I recommend would be Junior Achievement Courses(but only if you are looking at business and global issues) and Outward Bound. I went to Outward Bound just a week ago. It was a very enjoyable experience and not to mention, colleges really appreciate it if you had gone for such courses before. </p>

<p>You can also spearhead activites, like fundraising for kids in Africa. You can promote awareness and then raise funds. Then donate to NPOs that are readily available everywhere. It will look great on the CV!</p>

<p>For your results, I suggest that you take more APs. I am a freshmen and I am self-studying three APs this year. It’s not that hard. Since you are already in junior and havent done AP in your freshmen and sophomore years, you should take up say, 6 APs this year and 4 next year? That way, you can make yourself more competitive. In addition, it is best that you get at least 2250 for SAT I and all 5s on APs. </p>

<p>I think you shouldnt be looking at tiers right now. Since you are going to improve your results and ECs by lots anyway. Hoped it helped. :)</p>

4

<p>Good rank so focus on the scores and try the SAT.</p>

5

<p>“You can also spearhead activites, like fundraising for kids in Africa. You can promote awareness and then raise funds. Then donate to NPOs that are readily available everywhere. It will look great on the CV!”</p>

<p>I’m trying to get a trip organized to New Orleans for house building or something, but I’m having trouble finding an organization that I like. Habitat for Humanity has age restrictions on what you can do so if anyone knows of any good ones, that would be great.</p>

<p>“you should take up say, 6 APs this year and 4 next year?”</p>

<p>This year I planned on:</p>

<p>U.S. History (I’m in the class)
Physics B
Chemistry
Psychology</p>

<p>I’ve taken at least a regular course in each of these which is why I feel comfortable self-studying. What other ones would you suggest?</p>

<p>And I was basically asking for suggestions on what I can do to improve my chances for top schools, like Harvard, Stanford, Yale. The college writing class is for improving my essay writing so… Hopefully I have that covered.</p>

6

<p>Also, I’m not really looking into business. I’m still actively searching for my interests, but I think I have it narrowed down to PoliSci or Journalism. Or maybe both. I don’t know.</p>

7

<p>Keep your focus on your grades and shoot for valedictorian. Nail the SAT (take it twice) or take the ACT again for a 32+. Taking more than once will obviously help your composite score and give you time to study. Write good essays and do something different with your time. With all of this, I think you have a good chance at most schools.</p>