<p>Hello College Confidential Community! As this is my first post in these forums, I apologize if I am going about this incorrectly. I have searched the "What Are My Chances?" forum, and am only creating a new thread because although there are similar questions to mine, I feel that the information that those posters provided is somewhat different from mine, and could therefore generate different answers.</p>
<p>I am thinking of applying to Boston University come this new school year.</p>
<p>I realize that this is extremely lengthy, especially when only asking about my chances of getting into one university. Boston University is my dream college. I am going to go visit there in June, so I can get a better feel of the place. I just wanted to give you all the all the information, out of fear that I would not give enough. However, I guess I could also be asking if I have a chance to get accepted into colleges along the same caliber. </p>
<p>Let me begin by giving you a very lengthy profile of myself.</p>
<p>I am a 17 year old Junior going to BASIS Tucson High School in Tucson, Arizona. We are a small charter school of about 350 from grades 8-12. My high school has been ranked in the top 15 or so high schools in the United States from a variety of sources, such as Newsweek, The Washington Post, and US News and World Report. To me, I don't care about this as much as my school does. All the college visitors who come, as well as all my staff, say that going to a school with continually high rankings is beneficial to us, and that colleges like that. I don't know what they mean, and I don't mean to sound arrogant or ungrateful, but I really don't think it plays an enormous part. Does it? </p>
<p>At our school, we do not weight our GPA, as many of the public schools in my city, and all over the country do. I still am confused on what a weighted GPA is, or how to convert to one. My director said that many colleges unweight all the GPAs of applicants, and reweight them to their own standards, so everyone has a fair chance. I also understand, and this may be incorrect, that the weighted GPA is affected by the kinds of classes you take, such as AP classes. That will be discussed next. </p>
<p>For now, my unweighted GPA is around a 3.33. In our school, we would say that is a solid B, but according to some websites, including the collegeboard, that is a B+. </p>
<p>At our school, our rankings are very much based on the school's AP scores. We are required to take something like 6 APs by the time we graduate. By the time I graduate, I will have taken 8 AP classes. (Government, Literature, Psychology, European History, Chemistry, Biology, Calculus BC, and US History). I have yet to take the last three mentioned. Except for the Chemistry, I have gotten, a 3 or higher on every AP I have taken. This year, I am shooting for a 4 or higher on the Biology, Calculus BC, and US History ones. </p>
<p>When colleges visit our school during the months of September and October, they mention that they take into account what classes we take, and because our school makes us take so many APs and AP classes, they will definitely take that into account. They say it improves our chances, and makes us look like we like being challenged. However, I am worried because unlike other kids who push themselves to take 6 or more APs, we are required to take them.</p>
<p>As for my other classes, they have been honors classes. A listing of my classes from previous years and this year, are below.</p>
<p>9th Grade
1. Pre Calculus
2. Word Literature
3. Honors Language
4. Mandarin II
5. AP Government
6. Digital Photography
7. Honors Chemistry</p>
<p>10th Grade
1. Calculus I
2. AP Literature
3. AP Psychology
4. Mandarin III
5. AP European History
6. AP Chemistry
7. Honors Biology</p>
<p>11th Grade (Current Year)
1. AP Calculus BC
2. AP US History
3. Honors Physics
4. Literary Theory*
5. AP Biology
6. Mandarin III (continuation of last year)
7. PE</p>
<p>*Even though our Literary Theory class is not an "honors" class, I am hoping it will improve my chances of college acceptance, because we are one of only 2 or 3 other highschools in the state that teach Literary Theory. In our state, and I am not sure about others, Literary Theory is taught in college, and that is why our two teachers have been college professors. </p>
<p>As for my SAT scores, I just took my first SAT on March 10th. I didn't do well at all, landing myself an 1810. I got a 580 on the Reading, a 630 on the Math, and a 600 on the Writing, with an essay score of 8. I am planning on taking the SAT again in October, and then November if necessary. I am shooting for a 2050-2100 but will be very happy with a 2000. I really do think that I can improve my score. I got around 1900 scores on my practice tests from the Big Blue Book, and even though there is no direct correlation, I am optimistic that I can improve. I am planning on taking probably 2, maybe 3, subject tests in May, as many of the colleges I want to apply to, including Boston University, require 2 subject tests for application. I am planning on taking the Biology and the Math II subject tests. I am hoping to score a 700 or higher on both of them. </p>
<p>I have not taken the ACT yet, but plan to during the new school year. I will be taking the ACT with writing. </p>
<p>As a side note, because we are required to take the classes that we take, there is no defined ranking in our school.</p>
<p>Our senior year is somewhat more lax, but there is still work to be done. We take classes called capstone classes. We have already been pulling our academic structure from colleges, but these capstone classes advance it somewhat more. All the capstone classes are very research based, and each of them require a large research paper due at the end of the year. I am planning on taking
1. Capstone Biology
2. Capstone History
3. Capstone Game Theory
4. Capstone Mandarin
5. Capstone Psychology</p>
<p>Also in our senior year, it is not required, but it is recommended, that us seniors do some sort of senior research project. This includes internships, and the like. We end classes in February, and get the rest of the year to complete our projects. Some seniors do volunteer work in other states, or even other countries. Others, and this is what I am considering, do research internships, interning with doctors, researchers, engineers, etc; close to home, or in other states as well. I am hoping to intern with a doctor at a local hospital, be it the one where I am volunteering now (talked about below), or another one. At the end of the year, we present our projects to all the staff, parents, friends, leaders of the school, and other guests. </p>
<p>As for my extra-curriculars, I am very worried that I do not have enough things on my list.
Because I am interested in the medical field, I started volunteering at my local hospital in August of 2011. I started working 4 hours a week at the Gift Shop, tendering the Cash Register and restocking the shop. This gave me cash register experience which will hopefully help my get a job over Summer, and into my Senior year. After about 3 months working at the Gift shop, I started working in the Neurology Unit of the hospital, interacting with the patients, and nurses, and getting a first hand look of how an inpatient floor works. I still worked at the gift shop, but on different days, giving me a total of around 7 or 8 hours a week. I am still volunteering there now, and plan to volunteer in the Cardiology Unit too. By the time senior year starts, I hope to have around 250 hours logged, and by the time college applications are due, 310 hours. I also hope that my internship, should I get one, will help me with college applications.</p>
<p>That's about it! Again, I apologize for the length of this post, as it probably contains a lot of unnecessary information. If someone does read this all, and finds some stuff that is not needed, please inform me. I also did not include the Boston University Statistics, such as average GPA and SAT scores. If you need this, I could get them, and post them in the reserved spot below.</p>