I had a 3.8 weighted freshman year and a 4.1 so far this year (I’m a sophomore) at an elite private school. I do lots of service outside of school and play year round volleyball (club and for school). I am interested in business and plan on applying to many of the top public schools early action: Michigan, Virginia, Texas, North Carolina, Wisconsin. I want to go to a big school and get the ultimate college experience if you know what I mean. What are my chances at these schools and others?
It’s way too early to tell you what your chances are. However, you are off to a really good start. Make sure you take the toughest classes available to you (APs and honors) and get A’s in those tough classes. While GPA is very important, colleges want to see how rigorous your courses are and how you perform. Anyone can get a perfect 4.0 with easy classes, so take the hard stuff and dominate them. Also, keep up with just a few extracurriculars and make sure you are passionate about them. Too many kids in high school have a list as long as their arm of ECs but they are mostly meaningless and just try to pad their resume. Colleges see right through that. Make them count and try to add a leadership roll in those ECs.
Finally, study your butt off for the SAT or ACT. Both are just as valuable so don’t let anyone tell you one is better than the other. I got a decent 2100 SAT (old version) but I received a 34/36 on the ACT my junior year without studying, so clearly the ACT worked better for me. That score alone, plus my solid GPA will allow me to apply anywhere - even the Ivies. Where you live will also dictate your chances. Even with a great GPA and test scores, a place like Virginia only accepts about 20% from out of state. Same for Chapel Hill. So you have to be exceptional for those two schools if you don’t live in their states. Like I said, good start, but don’t get too hung up on college yet. Just be a good student first, the rest will take care of itself.
PS: Don’t just pick a big name brand school thinking you’ll get a good college experience. You MUST visit them and see for yourself. I have a friend who went to Univ of Florida because he loved football (dumb reason to choose). Guess what, two of his classes have more than 500 people in them. How good do you think that learning experience is? I would hate that myself.
No one can give you chances as a sophomore with no test scores.
Advice:
Start a club
Stay consistent with your current activities
Take advanced courses
Keep class rank high
Study for the PSAT; NMF goes a long way with scholarships
If you are good enough at volleyball, attempt to get recruited (very difficult)