I am in incoming high school junior at my towns public school. Freshman year I got a 3.1 unweighted GPA and 3.7 weighted GPA. I took all honors classes which was the highest option for freshman year. I was also part of the unofficial freshman Academy that was an unofficial step higher than on honors classes, it does not show up as a level on the transcript but the guidance counselors write it in a special letter for colleges. sophomore year I did better and got a 3.4 unweighted GPA and 4.0 weighted GPA taking one AP class in biology and rest honors. I got a 3 on the AP Bio exam and Junior year im taking AP English AP Stats Physics anatomy and physiology precalculus Spanish and history all honors level. (we dont have accelerated) I was a unregular member of the SADD club and I’m a junior peer leader next year. Next year I also plan on being a middle school tutor and plan on being a regular member of the interact club. I’ve done more community service then required but not so much it stands out. I was on JV track and JV softball freshman year, JV softball sophomore year and plan on being on JV basketball Junior year and varsity softball then too. What are my chances on going to a name school for science, not like Harvard, but something like Northeastern University or Boston University or any of the universities of California . Any tips also? I am the oldest of immigrant parents in my family and we are unfamilair with the college proccess. Also please name any school you think i would get into.
When you say “science,” what do you mean? Do you mean some sort of biology/chemistry/physics, or engineering/applied mathematics/computer science? (I’ll assume you don’t mean SOCIAL sciences.)
Don’t forget to sign up for the SAT/ACT near the end of junior year, because most colleges require at least one of those. There’s no real suggestion for which you will score better on because everyone is different, so I would suggest taking both once, and then whichever you feel more comfortable with, take that test again the beginning of senior year. (Don’t forget to try to get fee waivers if you can, because college stuff can start to add up quick. And if you are a lower income family [even middle class], definitely fill out the FAFSA and try to find colleges that give lots of need-based aid.) It will become much easier to “chance” you at the end of junior year, because the information leading up to senior year is all colleges will have to go on.
Keep in mind that there are a lot of colleges in America, so there’s no need to see what you could get into. You CAN get into something; you just need to see what colleges you WANT to go to.
Another suggestion: find 1-2 “reach” schools (schools where general acceptance statistics are slightly higher than your statistics), 2-3 “match” schools (schools where you are spot on with statistics) and 1-2 “safety” schools (schools where your stats are above average.) I would suggest using something like College Board’s College Search or CC’s own SuperMatch to begin finding colleges that match certain criteria you want (major, size, etc.)
There’s a lot of information online about the college process - more than I just wrote here - but if you have any other sorts of questions about it, feel free to message me. Good luck with the college process!