Recently, I have begun to look at colleges so far I have only visited one, Georgetown, and all of this talk about getting good grades on the SAT and ACT are really freaking me out. Any tips? I really want to go to Georgetown but my grades are mediocre A’s and B’s and I only have 1 honors class, I may have 2 next year but that is yet to be decided. Overall, I feel very underqualified considering that they only want students in the 98th percentile. Also, what should I do with SAT and ACT prep I am a rising sophomore and will take one of those exams in the spring of my junior year. What other activities and/or sports should I begin taking up to try and build up my extracurricular. So far I am in a couple clubs at school, student council, 2 sports teams, and I do a lot of volunteer work out of school. I know that this may be a lot of questions and advice I am asking for but I know that many of you may have gone through the stressful college application process and maybe even the fear of being rejected from a college. All I am asking is that someone will help guide me through this since I am still new to this whole process. Thank you so much 
It’s too early to begin focusing on specific colleges or to stress out about college admissions.
At this point you should:
- work on getting the best grades you can
- take coursework that will challenge you
- talk to your high school counselor about when to begin SAT/ACT prep; it’s common to focus on only one of the two tests, and to take it multiple times
- follow your passions regarding extracurriculars and only do the things that you find rewarding; don’t make the mistake of adding EC’s to simply pad your resume…admissions want to see authenticity not quantity
- don’t fear being rejected by a college; most students are rejected from some, it’s going to happen
- there are 5,000+ colleges in the U.S., keep an open mind when Junior year arrives and you start building your college list; you’ll find some colleges that fit your qualifications, goals and personality
Good luck!
However, it may be worth starting with one of each in junior year, since some students do better on one than the other. Then, if a retake is needed, retry the one that was initially higher after additional preparation.
College admissions should not be a frenzied dash to get into a highly-ranked “dream school.” Do not fixate on one school. Do not let “rankings” drive your search any more than you would let them drive who you will marry (e.g. The person who most of your friends find the most attractive.) Do your best in HS but don’t let getting the best grades distort the experience. In fact that can have the opposite effect as teachers do not write glowing LORs for kids who come off as grade grubbers. Do your own research on the kinds of schools out there, the differences, and how much of a difference the school you go to makes for your future (very little). Research where most senators, congressmen, mayors, engineers, doctors, and successful businesspeople went to college. Ask where your family’s professionals (doctors, lawyers, etc) went to college. Most “successful” people out the went to state flagships and local LACs. Hanging out on CC gives kids the idea that they have to shoot for big names. Find out for yourself whether that a wise criterion in choosing a school. Use HS and college as times to find out what you are interested in and good at, how to work with people, how ideas and projects work. If you make high grades and board scores the goal, you short circuit yourself from real learning and growth. This is the advice that I will give to my own children in a few years. Best wishes to you!
Get practice ACT and SAT books and use them. Take BOTH tests to see which one you do better on. Retest as necessary.
Talk to your parents about how much they’ll pay for college.
Have them run the Net Price Calculator on a few websites…G’town, your flagship, and a couple of others. Avoid running the NPCs on the Ivys or Stanford (particularly HYPS) because they give more aid and might mislead your family into thinking that others give like that.
Get the best grades possible.
Don’t ask your GC when to start testing. GCs are notoriously BAD at giving college advice.
Practice for the PSAT which you’ll take your junior year in Oct (make sure that you take that. THAT you can ask your GC about)