<p>I am currently a sophomore at a somewhat prestigious catholic high school. I am VERY passionate about getting into the college of my dreams (University of Maryland at College Park) but theres alot of problems. #1 my gpa - currently a 2.7 due to lack of care freshman year, leading to a terrifying foundation. #2 i have 2 extracurriculars during freshman year and none sophmore year BUT i plan on doing track the next 2 years. I am a VERY interested in physics and the colleges i am planning on applying to are Rutgers (New Brunswick campus in state), Penn State University Park (i won't be thrilled but i am willing to enroll in the 2+2 plan), University of Maryland College Park, University of Washington, University of California at Davis, and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. I understand i am reaching towards colleges maybe a little further then the average student comparable to me would apply to, but i believe i can receive admission to at least one. I would drop dead if i was accepted to schools such as: MIT, Cal Tech, Columbia (in which i have a relative who attends, if thats relevant), etc. from what i can gather, they're out of my league. I am planning on studying vigorously for the SAT, and i am anticipating around a 1900-2000 [so i wont be crestfallen if i don't receive up to my expectations, but hopefully i do better :)] I know i also have some time to raise my gpa, but from my calculations with a steady 3.7 gpa (in which i have as of now) my gpa won't reach much higher than around a 3.35. I'm only going into one honors course next year, Honors algebra 2. Then over the summer i'm taking pre calc so i can enroll in calculus senior year. This summer i am taking a pre-college course in rochester on cosmology and quantum mechanics. I received honor roll this quarter for the first time in my highschool career (very sad), Iron Man award in wrestling, i had my own dj'ing company, and i have just about 40hrs of community service but i plan on doing MUCH more community service, and i want to be an ambassador but looking back at the little achievements i accomplished, i would guess i am going to be denied. Hypothetically, if i end of with around a 3.2 Gpa, a 2000 on the SAT's, and everything i previously stated, how do you think i would compete? I would appreciate feedback and tips PLEASE.</p>