Am I too late to aim for top colleges?

Applying to College
1

Hi all. I am in the midst of my junior year and currently in a month “stay at home” order from this COVID-19 situation in my state, so this “break” is giving me a lot of time to reflect on my accomplishments.

I finally decided that I want to aim for top colleges (my dream schools are WashU and NYU) , but looking at my past accomplishments, I would only be considered accomplished in my town. Out in the world, I haven’t really done anything extraordinary.

I have a 4.6 weighed GPA and an 1420 on the SAT (I know this isn’t an impressive score for top colleges, but I took it about a year ago and am planning to take it again soon with much more preparation, so I hope the score is higher).

I just suddenly have such a huge motivation to aim for those top colleges, but I feel as if my “mediocre” stats will stymie my chances significantly. Is it too late for me to change? What do you suggest I do?

Thank you for reading my rant. I hope all of you are safe and well.

2

A 4.6W is not mediocre at all. It’s really good! What’s your UW?
You may want to take a look at the testing policies for your schools. I know NYU has a policy that’ll let you send in AP scores instead of SAT/ACT. You also might see schools move to test optional policies considering SATs are getting cancelled.

3

My UW is a 3.9. And thank you for the suggestion! I will look into that. I understand that a 4.6W isn’t mediocre; I just meant that top colleges usually look into students who have accomplished much more than a decent GPA and SAT score as they already have a large pool of students with similar stats or higher scores.

4

Your UW is amazing! A 4.6 is also not mediocre for top schools either. Just focus on your essays and when you can meet with your GC so they can write a good LOR and give you advice.

5

What extracurricular activities have you done? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with applying to some reach colleges, but make sure you have a good list of matches and safeties that you would be happy to attend. Also make sure that you have affordable schools as well. Good luck!