Where should I be aiming?

<p>Hey everyone, before I found out about this website I thought I was headed to a top college no problem, but after seeing some of the stats many have I have started to seriously doubt my chances. I would appreciate it if anyone can tell me what type of colleges I should expect to get into with the following stats. </p>

<p>About 96 weighted average
2170 SAT - 760 math/750 verbal/660 writing
Chem SAT II - 710
Taking hardest courseload available
AP Euro - 4
Total of 8 AP's by the end of high school
Very good public high school on Long Island, school doesn't rank
Various school awards </p>

<p>EC's
JV tennis - 9, 10
Italian Club - 9,10,11
Stock Market Club - 9,10,11
Orchestra (cello) - 9,10,11
Foreign Language Honor Society (spanish)
National Honor Society
Model Congress (central committee) - 10
Teen group that helps think of ways to bring teen's to the public library (one of the founding members)
Stock market class outside of school taught by a former Wharton graduate - 9,10,11</p>

<p>tutor/babysitter
Interning this summer on Wall Street (Mercantile Exchange) for same Wharton graduate</p>

<p>I was interested in possibly applying early to Cornell...do I have a shot?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated</p>

<p>You have a great chance at Cornell.</p>

<p>But you still need a solid safety or two, and you should also add some schools even more competitive than Cornell. Maybe another Ivy?</p>

<p>honestly, a lot of people on this site make up or exaggerate a lot of their stats and you have to remember that most of the people on this site are going to apply to harvard or some other school of that caliber. Don't be discouraged...your stats are fine!</p>

<p>thanks a lot for the insight/encouragement.</p>

<p>renindetroit, in regards to other Ivy's, I doubt I will apply to HYP, but I was considering applying to brown and/or dartmouth.....but we'll see when application process comes closer</p>

<p>I also have another question.... my weighted average is around a 96, so how do you figure out how to convert that on a 4.0 scale?</p>

<p>Well, the numerical system is different at different schools, but here is the most common system:</p>

<p>93-100 = A = 4.0
90-92 = A- = 3.67
87-89 = B+ = 3.33
83-86 = B = 3.0
80-82 = B- = 2.67</p>

<p>1) Give each class a grade point based on the chart above from your unweighted average in the class.
2) Add all of the unweighted grade points together.
3) For each honors/AP class you're in, add .33 (so if you're in 3 you add .99)
4) Divide your total by the number of classes you're taking.</p>

<p>For me, I have 4 A's, 1 A- and 2 B+'s. I'm in one AP class, so I add .33. I get a 3.8 GPA.</p>

<p>thanks for taking the time to explain.....but I am curious, do honors courses and AP courses really get weighted the same amount (.33)? In my school they add more onto our grade of 100 for AP's. Also, if you get .33 for each weighted class, then by that reasoning the highest average you can have is 4.33, yet I see some people on here with 4.5 or 4.6 weighted averages. How is that possible??</p>

<p>anyone? anyone? Bueller..Bueller..Bueller..</p>

<p>Try Stanford, Cornell, princeton, MIT etc...all the usual suspects. Then go for non-ivy schools as backups. That way, if you get into an Ivy, you can go there.....if not, then you have good schools as backups.</p>

<p>Are you applying to CALS? I think you have more than a fair shot ED.</p>

<p>I'm not exactly sure which school I will apply to, but it will almost definitely be one of the three public schools. Do you recommend I apply to CALS?</p>

<p>Though it's not guaranteed that you'll get into the ivies (look around at the horror stories of people thinking they'll get into one ivy and end up having to go to CC), you should consider at least ONE safe safety school such as a state school. Other schools to consider are Tufts, Emory, Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins etc and some elite LACs .</p>

<p>The GPA calculation system I gave was the one used at my school. (Yes, 4.33 is the maximum where I go). Some other schools weigh AP heavier than honors.</p>

<p>i think you're chances are fair to poor at best. oh, and whats that library thing? it sounds kind of stupid.</p>

<p>Cornell ED sounds like a good shot - as others have mentioned, make sure you have backups. Start your ED application as soon as you can so you will have plenty of time to polish it, obtain your rec's, rewrite your essays, etc.</p>

<p>Lol. As I learned, you can't use Cornell as a "safety" Ivy. I got into Penn (Wharton) and Columbia College, but was waitlisted at Cornell. Applying early will definitely help you though.</p>

<p>And stats definitely do not determine acceptance. Honestly, you're on the upper end (cept for writing. try to pull that up?). I hope you have some leadership somewhere, though.</p>

<p>You also have a great shot at Dartmouth and Brown, if you're interested. Your SAT is definitely in range.</p>

<p>You have a 70% chance at Upenn as well.</p>

<p>everyone, thanks for your feedback so far.</p>

<p>I have started to think of a preliminary list:</p>

<p>Cornell
Brown
Princeton (hey, its worth a shot)
Dartmouth
Michigan
Wesleyan
Binghamton (safety)
G.W. (safety)
Northwestern
Tulane (safety)
Duke</p>

<p>Out of the tougher colleges....I was wondering which are reaches and which are matches? Obviously all the Ivy's are reaches, but what about the others?
Also, if anyone has any suggestions for colleges that I overlooked</p>

<p>I'm surprised that Wharton isnt on your list, especially with the obvious interest and experience in business...seems like it'd be a good fit for you</p>

<p>well eighteenforluck, the truth is my initial interest kind of wore off after I saw just how competitive Wharton was, and although I know my stats are respectable, they don't seem to be anywhere near Wharton level.</p>