<p>Hey I'm currently a junior in high school and Ive been procastinating on all things related to colleges for a while but now that application time is on the horizon, I thought that I should start cracking down. </p>
<p>I just wanted to see what schools I should be looking into and whether my current top schools are out of my league, so if anyone could help me out that would be great.</p>
<p>Me:</p>
<p>Academics:
3.75 GPA Unweighted, 4.5 GPA Weighted
IB Program
By next year I'll have 4 Higher Levels (Bio, Math, Eng and History)
and 2 Standard Levels (Spanish and Enviro)
but Ill also have taken a total of 9 APs
<strong>I havent taken all of these exams yet but Im hopeful</strong>
There are no class rankings at my school
600+ Volunteer/Community Service Hours</p>
<p>ECs:
Student Government Since 3rd Grade
National Student Government-Delegate (1 year)
State Student Government-Staff and more (6 years)
County Student Government-Officer, Staff and more (7 years)
High School Student Government- Officer, Staff and Class Officer (3 years)
Youth Campaign Director for a Local Politician's Campaign last year
Field Organizer for Governor and County Council Member during last year's Campaign Season
National Director for Youth based Nonprofit Organization (2 years)
City's Youth Commision (2 years)
City and State Certified Leader
Middle School Student Government Officer (3 years)
Ballboy for a Professional Tennis Tournament (3 years)
Local Library Children's Reading Program Volunteer and Counselor (3 years)
Youth (1st Graders) Soccer Coach (2 years)
Youth Soccer Referee (1 year)
Travel Soccer Team (4 years)
National Club Swim Team (6 years)
School Soccer Team (1 year)
School Swim Team (3 years)
National Honor Society (1 year so far)
National Math Honor Society(1 year so far)
National Spanish Honor Society(1 year so far)
Key Club-Officer(1 year so far)
Multicultural Club-Creator (1 year so far)
A Capella-Singer (2 years)
about 7 other various Clubs For roughly 2 years each</p>
<p>Tests:
SAT: 2150 but taking it again in june (aiming for mid 2200s)
ACT: Havent taken it yet
SAT 2s: 780 Math Level 2, others in october</p>
<p>anyway my current tops are Rice and an unnamed Ivy League that my sibling currently attends (not the holy trinity lawl)</p>
<p>so where do you think I should be looking and are my tops ok for me,/ what should i focus on from now til november/december?</p>
<p>just to add on, Ive coordinated massive fundraiser efforts for National Honor Scoiety and taken part in various activities for each of the clubs mentioned above.
In my schools grading system 3.7 GPA and above is an A and Ive taken the hardest possible schedule for my interests.</p>
<p>Your top choices are not out of reach, but they’re definitely going to be reaches. I would apply because you have enough of a chance to make it worthwhile, but you’ll want to fill in the rest of your list with some slightly less selective schools. You’re numerically qualified for the Ivies (and equivalents), but it’s really a lottery. The schools right below that level are a little more predictable and I think you should get into some of those.</p>
<p>Can your parents afford the 50K plus schools? Will you and your brother be in college at the same time. (overlap)? Have a serious discussion about what your parents are willing to pay, don’t assume. Do they qualify for need-based financial aid?</p>
<p>What kind of educational experience are you looking for? What do you plan to study? </p>
<p>LACs/public universities/mid-sized private?
Urban/rural/suburban?
What part of the country? How far from home? Weather? Need oceans? Mountains?
Culture: rah-rah, preppy, artsy, granola, intellectual, quirky, liberal/conservative - give us some descriptive language
Deal-breakers: single sex, religious, tech</p>
<p>What attracted you to Rice? We can name others that have a similar feel if we know what you are looking for.</p>
<p>Yeah Ive talked with my parents and after going over my family’s financial records we seem to be in the clear for paying for college, so that’s not too much of a problem. Right now, I’m more or less undecided for what I wish to study so somewhere with a lot of options would be preferable and as for the setting; anywhere where the weather isn’t too extreme (aka prone to flooding or excessive hail/ice storms) is fine for me. I’m pretty accomodating to new places and things but culturally, I guess you could say that I’m a mix? I like sports, but also am a diehard intellectual and my friends seem to be of all social groups as of now so that doesn’t seem to be that much of a problem.</p>
<p>And I have several safeties and target schools that I am looking into but I haven’t seemed to get one that really clicked for me. I liked rice because its low student to staff ratio and the study abroad options but this is very tentative since I havent seen that many colleges yet. As for the Ivy, I really loved the atmosphere and the people and from what my sibling says and from what Ive seen from my visits, it seems like a great place to live, learn and grow.</p>
<p>My sibling will be at the same school as me (if I am to go there), but I’m not sure whether this will help or harm me in the long run.
On that note though, what influence does having a sibling at the school have on your admissions process? Does anybody know?
And thanks for the responses, you guys are awesome.</p>
<p>All top schools offer extensive study abroad options: It’s a huge industry overseas catering to American students who will pay an American tuition to study in a place where the local students pay highly subsidized tuitions. If you look at the study abroad options at a few schools, you’ll see the same reputable programs/schools over and over. </p>
<p>If the student/faculty ration is important to you (and I assume that means you want small classes and a lot of faculty contact), then you should look at the LACs (liberal arts colleges) where quality teaching and mentoring is their raison d’etre.</p>
<p>Intellectual LACs with decent weather? Swarthmore, Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Davidson, to name a few. Willing to go colder? The northeast and midwest have another 20 schools that offer great educational experiences with small classes and a lot of personal attention. (And they all have lots of study abroad options.)</p>