<p>I'm a sophomore in high school now, my GPA is 4.0 (unweighted), and rank top 5% in class. I have an honored math & 10th grade level science in my freshman year, an AP class (AP calculus AB) in my sophomore year (this year). I play piano at school worship team, and violin at state youth orchestra. I volunteer/community service 4 hours a week, tutoring/ technician at church elementary group. I got 2nd place in Beijing for piano when I was in 8th grade.( I'm chinese, but now I'm in US for high school.) I want to apply for some 'better' universities, but I don't know what's my reach. Please give me some advices and a list of college that I might fit. And I know that I need more extracurriculars, but I'm in a small school and there are hardly any clubs to participate in, so any suggestions??
PS: I didn't take the ACT/ SAT yet.</p>
<p>First off, don’t worry too much yet.
Second off, when it comes to extracurriculars, look into things in the community and volunteer opportunities.
Also, it makes a difference whether you need financial aid, merit aid, both, or neither.</p>
<p>You seem to be on the right track for many top schools. And if you continue studying piano/violin and performing at a high level (particularly if you win more competitions) and if you keep up your volunteer service, you’ll be OK.</p>
<p>Will you be applying as a foreign national or as a US citizen/green card holder? And is money an issue for your family? Those factors may make a difference as to what schools might be on your list.</p>
<p>Keep doing what you’re doing. Take the PSAT in October next year, and the SAT the following January.</p>
<p>Then come back with your stats and class update.</p>
<p>ECs: just find ECs that interest you, involve yourself as much as possible, and become part of the leadership team.</p>
<p>Classes: whenever you have the option, take the more demanding. Always take Honors when offered, and AP in areas of interest. If you are targeting top 20 schools, always take AP instead of Honors when available.</p>
<p>Don’t spread yourself too thin on your extracurriculars. It’s your depth of engagement, not quantity of activities that matters. If you focus on your music - perform, compete, compose -and continue to participate in your church while showing increased levels of responsibility, you will be fine.</p>
<p>First of all, thank you for all your responses. Financial aid or scholarship is not a problem for us, we won’t consider too much as of money issue. Also regarding to ‘worried_mom’'s question, I’m going to apply as an international student. And as for extracurriculars, as I’ve mentioned, my school is very small, with only 50 students per class/grade, so there are hardly any clubs at school, so beside at my church, where can I find leadership opportunities? I’d appreciate it if you could give me some specific organization names or advices on that.</p>
<p>And one thing I forgot to mention is that I would probably be majoring in Accounting (or other business areas), and I might add a double major or minor on English or Statistics. </p>
<p>So, thank you all for these great advices again.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the most selective universities (HYPMS and their ilk) and liberal arts colleges don’t offer pre-professional degrees, like accounting (or marketing, or finance). They tend to offer Economics instead. If you want do a business degree, take a look at Wharton, a business school at U Penn - a top ranked undergraduate business school.</p>
<p>Thank you, but the question is, am I good enough to go to Wharton? If not, is there any undergraduate business schools that fits my grades/ ability?</p>
<p>*Thank you, but the question is, am I good enough to go to Wharton? *</p>
<p>There’s no way that we can answer that question based on the info you’ve given us. A gazillion kids have straight As and such. We need to see test scores before we can give you some feedback.</p>