What colleges should I apply to? Types of school/selectivity/help with resume?

Applying to College
1

Here I am:

black,female
going into junior year of hs

grades: 3.95 uw, 4.6 w (all honors other than P.E. and art)
school: public school, best in the state, 2000 students

AP’s already taken (exam grade in parentheses): AP U.S. Government (5), AP U.S. History (5)
AP’s to take: Calc AB, Calc BC, AP World, AP Macro economics, AP Micro economics

SAT/ACT: Took a practice (no studying)- SAT (1910), ACT (30), will take the ACT spring of junior year
SAT II: U.S. History (720), Math II (700, retaking for 770+, bad day)

Sports:
Varsity Track and Field (regional competitor, top 3 from school)
Varsity Co-Ed Golf (regionals), one of 3 girls on co-ed golf team

Work Experience:
Production Assistant during the BET Awards show
Paid internship for CEO of a business marketing company
Tutor for Aristotle tutors (only accepts top 7%)
Worked as a production assistant for a market
Certified Babysitter (regular)

EC’s (other than work and sports):
Co-President and Co-Founder of the Book Club
Treasurer of Senior Teens Jack and Jill
Worked on schools drama productions (its award winning)
Student Emerging Leaders Program Participant (won judges vote)
School Ambassador (interview process, im in the inaugural program)
In my schools art program (maybe taking AP Art, idk yet)

Awards:
Honor Roll
Varsity Letter, Golf
Won 3rd place at Chantilly National Golf & Country Club Classic
Won 2nd place at Lake Presidential Golf Club Classic
STAR Merit Winner (essay contest)
Versatility Award – Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity
African American Festival of Academic Achievement Award
Alpha Phi Alpha, W. E. B. DuBois Academic Achievement Award
Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor (Bach), piano accompanist, Solo and Ensembles Festival, received highest rating

Service:
a variety, will win award for having 300+ ssl hours

SOOOO… what types of colleges should I be looking at? Anything I can bump in one year (so no starting a huge club ect)? THANKS!!!

2

Don’t add ECs. Frankly, cut some if you can take some test prep. They might give you the most bang for the buck – in terms of more college accepts and scholarships. Congrats so far. I think you’ll have many good choices.

3

@T26E4 I’ve already applied for the Student Member of the Board Cabinet and my state’s youth advisory board… there’s nothing I can do about that… I will be taking test prep too, but I also added a free period in my academic schedule to fit it all in (I’m not cutting any classes though that I need to take, still taking the core math science social studies english and art). Any test prep you recommend?

4

Since you’re going into your Junior Year prep for the PSAT. Getting NMSF or NASF will provide you many options for schools.

5

@“Erin’s Dad” Any advice for how to do this? I’m the first in my family and have no idea what to do!

6

have you taken the PSAT before? because if you have your score report will show you exactly what questions you got wrong. i looked at the questions i got wrong from sophomore year PSAT right before i took it my junior year and my score went up 39 points

7

@kelika I have not taken an official one. I have taken practice tests but I dont do so well (180-190). All my sections are about the same score. I dont know how to proceed.

8

Study using Khan Academy.

Just curious that you are first generation but in Jack and Jill which is an upper income often highly educated group.

9

@nw2this I am not first gen/ african at all. I am first gen Jack and Jill (if thats what you mean). Both my parents were the first to go to college in their family. I will not be applying for aid.

10

I was referring to post #4, maybe you meant the first in your family to do test prep. I thought you meant first in your family to attend college.

11

Oh, I meant the first to do test prep (oldest child). I appologize for the vagueness. @nw2this

12

Anyway your ECs and grades are very impressive, but I think they look at test scores and grades first, then ECs to distinguish between the group of students with high scores and grades.

13

Just focus on test scores now, that should be objective number 1. Your ECs are FANTASTIC! Buy the SAT Blue Book and some test prep to knockout a 215+ on the PSAT in order to qualify for NMSF/NMF and then continue to prep for a 2100+/32+ on the SAT/ACT. Junior year (especially spring break) will be a great time to start visiting and heavily researching universities/LACs that have the type of environment that you prefer and will thrive in. Best of luck to you! You’re in a great position right now!

14

Go the SAT Prep subforum under SAT and ACT Testing on this forum. Look for the pinned threads for the Xiggi Method and Silver Turtle’s Method. Both do an excellent job of explaining how to prep (and they both used their methods themselves to score high).

15

@JoseAMendez Okay great! I’m doing Khan Academy for prep. Is that okay?

16

Khan Academy is great, but the Blue Book has 10 Practice SAT tests that are actually written by the College Board, so it is the closest thing to the real SAT you’re gonna get. I’d do both Khan Academy Prep and SAT Blue Book for sure. Also, if your Crit Reading score is a little low, you can buy Direct Hits Core Vocab and Direct Hits Toughest Vocab. Reading Direct Hits was a huge factor in increasing from 52 to 68 on my Junior PSAT CR from my Sophomore PSAT CR.

17

@JoseAMendez The PSAT this year is the new, redesigned one. According to the reviews, all the tests were also released online by the college board. I found these tests and printed them out with answers. I’ll check my Crit Reading score to see if I should get that book. Thanks!