I have straight A’s (except for one A-) in my freshman year. I plan to take Linear Algebra or Differential Equations in my senior year after completing Calculus 1,2, and 3. I play basketball. I’m not in any clubs, but I plan to join Homeroom Rep, Student Council, Chess Club, and Debate next year. I am in Spanish 1 sadly. I am willingly to take courses over the summer and volunteer. I’m planning on taking 10+ AP Classes.
What should I do if I want to get into an elite college? What college will I be able to get into?
Try to include some extra ECs (community service, etc. Looks like you already have this planned) and make sure to score high on the SAT and/or ACT. Keep up your 4.0 for as long as possible
Main points for colleges are the numbers. GPA, SAT/ACT, and course load will be considered first. These will ultimately determine what sort of college you’ll be able to get into.
You’re a freshman?
Have some fun. Follow your interests, not what you (or, worse, others…) think you should be interested in. Obviously, do well in school – give your best.
If you come back in a couple years as a junior, we’ll probably tell you to apply to schools based on fit and finances. That is generally good advice.
Something you can do in the mean time – only when you’re bored and nobody’s available to hang out or talk (you’re only a teen once!) – is to read about schools. Learn about where they are, the setting, the weather, the dorms and food, what the students do for fun, the political climate, class sizes, majors available, etc. – things that are important to you that will help to decide which schools fit you the best.
And maybe over the next couple of years, having spent 10-15 minutes reading about schools now and then, you will have already formed a list of schools you really like.
Then you can come onto this site again and tell us these are your schools according to fit, and your parents can (hopefully) afford them according to the NPC, and you’ll ask us what we think. You’ll give us your stats and we’ll figure out which schools on your list are reaches, matches and safeties, and suggest whether you need to add more schools or think about removing any.
So – have fun, study hard, and read about colleges. You have plenty of time.