With my profile, what are the best colleges I can get into? (and some other Qs)

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<h2>Hello CC members, I am having trouble deciding what colleges I should apply to. Well I know two I'll definitely be applying to (Penn State Park and New York University), but thats about it. So I was hoping you guys could help me think of more good, well-known (obviously not Ivy) colleges I could apply to, judging my profile.</h2>

<p>Well I'm going to be a senior after summer, and my cumulative average is 94.3, rank 26/145 on a public school. Thing is, I brought my average up from a 92.4 to a 94.3 in my Junior year, taking 2 Honors (English, Chem) and 1 AP (US History) class. I'm hoping to do better next year academically as a Senior, as I'm going to take 3 AP (English, Calc, Euro) classes and Advanced Art next year.</p>

<p>As for my extracirricular activities:
Sophomore Year- Snowboarding Club, Track and Field long distance runner (nothing notable), work at family restaurant</p>

<p>Freshman Year- Class President, I got 2nd on States at PJAS (a science fair kind of thing. Know that PJAS is assessed individually, so there are many 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places), Varsity cross country (I was actually automatically Varsity, since our school's Cross Country team is so small), Debate (my team got 8-0; another team in my school won the whole region's championship), student advisory, student government, work at family restaurant, Tennis</p>

<p>Junior Year- Student advisor (didn't run for President again), work at family restaurant, Model UN (nothing notable), Debate (my team got 5-3, but another team in my school got 2nd place in the championship), Varsity Cross Country, JV Tennis</p>

<p>Senior Year- I feel like slacking off Extracirricular wise in my senior year. Is that going to effect me? I just want to focus on my grades and hanging out hah.</p>

<p>SAT- My second time, I got a 530 on Reading, 660 on Math, 580 on Writing.
Keep in mind that I did little studying for SAT and will try to do better on October. If I do not study Vocabs, but look at everything else, what do you think is the best I can get on my SAT? Keep in mind I haven't started studying yet, but will probably soon.</p>

<h2>Finally, I'm Asian living in a relatively well-off family.</h2>

<p>So yeah, I got 4 questions now.
1) What notable colleges do you guys recommend, with the grades/Extracirricular Activities/SAT score I have now?
2) I know my 'profile' is probably far worse than you CC overachievers >.>. So if I just work harder on my Senior Year, what colleges can I possibly apply to (and maybe get in), if I just improve more?
3) When should I send my applications? This question is pretty important, because I want to get my grades up and take the SAT more than once before I apply to colleges.
4) Is Vocab review necessary for Critical Reading? I hate memorizing, and I'm not even looking for an 800. Heck a 680 is what I'm striving for. Is it seriously necessary?</p>

<p>Thanks for reading and please respond.</p>

<p>-----Don't bother reading the blurb below unless you feel like it---------------------
Ideally I want to go to NYU because I want to live in New York, take its filming courses, and possibly attempt to become a comedian in the NY clubs. Of course like other Asian parent's they want me to go to a good school, and just takes a pre-med/economics/engineering course. So yeah, just ignore this little blurb about NYU, as I need to improve my Reading score by about 100 before I apply anyway.</p>

2

<p>Do you have a preference as to a geographical area you would like to go to? The two colleges you mentioned are east coast so I was just wondering before I make any suggestions.</p>

3

<p>Well I live in the Lehigh Valley (Allentown, Pennsylvania), and yes my mom said she reallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly wants me to go to a school no further than a 6 hour drive.</p>

<p>HOWEVER, I’m really interested in going to California, or some other states. So I’ll probably convince my parents to let me branch out if I get accepted to a great school.</p>

<p>So yeah, most likely, the school I’ll be attending will be in the East Coast, but don’t let that restrict you, if you have some great suggestions. Thanks!</p>

4

<p>Look into USC (Southern California).</p>

5

<p>Do you definitely want to go to a school with a good film program? And unfortunately I’m not sure about your chances at USC because of your SAT scores… [College</a> Search - University of Southern California - USC - SAT®, AP®, CLEP®](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>

<p>But keep practicing and you’ll do fine. And yes, study vocab. I’ve been recommending this book to everyone, it’s called Hot Words for the SAT and it’s awesome. On my practice test I got a 720 CR but on the real thing I got a 780 = 60 point improvement!!! WOOO</p>

<p>Also, if you are interested in film, have you done any ECs related to this? Because I hate to break it to you but a lot of people applying to NYU and USC for film have written their own screenplays and probably even entered films into competitions and stuff. Work on something this summer maybe… it could make for an interesting college essay as well! Good luck</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/955353-chance-me-some-ivies-duke-rice-vandy-gtown-etc.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/955353-chance-me-some-ivies-duke-rice-vandy-gtown-etc.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>Oh and about senior year… I wouldn’t totally slack off haha. But you don’t have to join every club under the sun- that’ll make you seem superficial. Be proactive and maybe start your own club or something. At my school there is a video production club and a laughing club (comedy) so try doing something like that!</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the reply and yeah I don’t think I’m qualified yet for USC.</p>

<p>Regardless of what people say, I don’t think I’ll end up studying Vocab. Really, if I just study everything other than Vocabs on CR, what I can expect (with my SAT CR being 530).</p>

<p>Filming’s not necessary. I just want people to suggest notable schools.</p>

<p>Oh and sorry I don’t think I’ll be able to chance you hah, unless you want a bad guesstimation. </p>

<p>So yeah, can anybody answer my questions? Any suggestions would be great.</p>