Hi, this is my first post on here.
I’m from NY and I would really prefer to stay in state to go to college. That being said, I have three schools that have piqued my interest. All three are selective/very selective and I’m wondering how well I would fair. Be warned, however, because I haven’t taken the SAT/ACT yet (I’m just one of the millions of nervous sophomores), but I have taken the PSAT.
While I know comparing the SAT and PSAT can be like comparing apples and oranges at times, my score was in the 98th national percentile. I’m actually thinking I want to put prevalence on the ACT since I like that test better. I’ve taken a few practice timed ACTs and calculated my own scores; they come out to be like 31 or 32 each time. I know I can improve that over time, though.
My top 3 schools, in no particular order, are:
- New York University (31-35% acceptance rate)
- Columbia (6-7% acceptance rate)
- University of Rochester (33-35% acceptance rate)
I don’t have a winding list of ECs, mainly because I’m introverted and I prefer to devote my time to only a few extra things so I don’t distract from academics. I participate in:
- Math League (there are no leader positions, just randomly assigned competing teams with other schools)
- Masterminds Quiz Bowl (this is like an academic trivia bowl, similar to Math League w/ no leader positions)
- Hospital Volunteering (I volunteered over the summer once a week for 3 hours in my hospital in patient discharge, and I hope to return or follow similar volunteering opportunities)
I plan to take my first AP tests this year. Once again, I have no solid scores at the moment but I’m planning on a 5 in AP Psychology and a 4 or 5 from AP World History.
My GPA is a 4.0, I believe my class rank is 5/350?. The rank is an estimate at the moment because my school apparently doesn’t reveal ranks to students until junior year, but when I was speaking to the counselor I saw that I was ranked 5th on his computer.
I have no prestigious state/national awards, I only have things like high honor roll and school awards like Best In English, etc, which I’m afraid won’t really matter at all to be honest.
I aim to keep volunteering and keep my ECs and grades the same over the next two years. I don’t know if this is applicable at all or could somehow help me (especially to Columbia, being an Ivy) but I come from a low income family, and both of my parents are war refugees. I speak 3 languages.
If you read this all, thank you! Also I’m sorry if I made a blunder somewhere, post-etiquette wise; I’ve never posted on here before and I’m unsure on the reactions I’ll receive.
Once again, I’m sorry for all the speculation and the fact that basically none of my numbers are solid. I wish I had set in stone SAT/ACT scores to report, but this is all I have for now. Thank you.
