Btw, Cornell doesn’t offet merit awards. None of the Ivy colleges do.
Do you know how difficult it is to go from a 24 to a 35?
Really? Our valedictorian last year got what I understood to be a full ride. Admittedly I haven’t researched the school personally so I was only going on what I’d heard at the award ceremony last year. In any case, I only meant to indicate that if such options weren’t viable financially it might be easier to stop dreaming about a school that it such a reach academically.
Rigor doesn’t mean taking AP Psych in lieu of an actual course which a kid might be interested in. And we are talking here to a student who logged a 2 on an AP exam which isn’t exactly an advertisement for the “college level” prep that course provided.
helewidis1005 “National awards aren’t looked at that much because that really has to do with where you live and some students simply do not have easy access to award winning research or may not have the time to invest in applying.”
This is just incorrect. Of course National awards are considered. National means that students from less well represented states sometimes have more opportunity to win them since it is easier for them to win at the state level.
There are plenty of students in top schools with 35’s and good but not great grades. Some are legacies. Wash U accepts plenty of students with lower scores or grades but who are full pay. So, if you had that pattern there are great schools that would accept you, I’m sure. But you have a 24. That is about the 74th percentile. Not bad but not great. There are still great schools out there for you that recruit students with your grades and scores.
Something to consider, let’s say you do get in to Cornell. Your stats will put you the bottom 25% (maybe even bottom 10% – I am guessing ACT will go up but maybe to 30, not 35.) With such a strong group of classmates, the expectations from professors will be very high. It could be a pressure cooker. Have you read Malcolm Gladwell and his thoughts/theories on being a big fish in a small pond being beneficial? He applies this to college specifically. If not, I would recommend it as a counterpoint to trying for the very best and hardest school you can get into.
Cornell class last admitted:
25th Percentile 75th Percentile
SAT Critical Reading 650 750
SAT Math 680 780
SAT Writing
SAT Essay
ACT Composite 30 34
@delilahxc your Val likely got full-need based on their economic condition, not their merit. People often mix up financial aid vs. merit aid in conversations (and sometimes purposefully).
No ivy league school is considered “low-tier” by anyone. CMU is not in the ivy league and it certainly isn’t a “low-tier” school either.
Maybe consider Case Western Reserve? A great school that is a little easier to be admitted to.
This poster misrepresented and should apologize.
If the poster had asked what colleges would be a good fit for a weighted GPA of 3.5, ACT of 24, PSAT of 1320 (PSAT scores are usually lower than SAT’s), and some AP exam scores in the 2-3 range, this thread might be helpful.
But asking about chances at Ivies with an ACT of 35, which the poster has never achieved and most likely will never achieve, is wasting our time, and verges on pathology.
@compmom I’m so sorry! I am being very sincere with my apology. My intention was not to say that I received a 35, but to ask my chances if I did get a score that high (I didn’t explain my situation in detail). I should have used “IF”.
compmom, I took my first ACT with only a small amount of prep (I have another post about that). I only took 1 practice test and got a 30 on it so I thought I was well prepared to take it for the first time. On my previous post alot of people were saying that it is possible to go up a lot. So that gave me some motivation.
I made this thread in order to see if I can go to a school if I get a 35. I don’t want to study for a 35 if I can’t make it. Rather study to get a 32 or 33 and then focus on AP exams.
I’m sorry once again!
@NoEffort : Going from a 24 to a 32 or 33 is also not realistic. Your weighted GPA is concordant with your AP scores of 2-3. Perhaps the 24 ACT is low, and your PSAT score indicates that you may have better luck with the SAT. I hope these 4 pages of excellent feedback have convinced the OP that he/she should be looking at universities more in line with the existing academic credentials, not ones based on wishful thinking. Also, OP should focus efforts on obtaining a decent GPA. I am not sure how OP’s school lets them take so many AP’s when they do not seem to have a great track record with the weighted grades.
Thanks for the apology. Sorry for seeming harsh.
I don’t think you should over focus on doing anything to get into selective schools. Take classes that interest you, a reasonable number of AP’s (which increases your chances of doing well on exams), do extracurriculars that interest you, hang out with friends, and generally enjoy high school. You will end up at a school that will work fine for you. I don’t know why you are fixed on Ivies or top schools in general. Prestige is one thing, excellence can be found in many places.
Get yourself some books by Loren Pope: “Colleges that Change Lives” (also a website) and “Looking Beyond the Ivy League.” They are available used online. I think you need more information on the schools available.
Also, some very selective schools are test-optional. Rather than spend so much energy on standardized testing, why not consider some of these: http://fairtest.org/university/optional
Note under B you will find Bates, Brandeis, Bowdoin, Bryn Mawr, Bennington, Berklee, and Baldwin-Wallace, just for starters.
You can have a great experience at a gazillion schools. Living in the present is as important as the future 
Good luck.
Plus all the state schools that are great for CS. The point is really to make it through with the right skills and personal strengths. There’s a reason the phrase is “fit and thrive.” Lots of kids forget their lives aren’t set when they open the envelope.
Even if you can pull off that 35 it wouldn’t even really help you with the GPA of 3.5 because it would make it look like you were a really smart kid who didn’t work hard at all. We have a friend who had a low-ish GPA (not 3.5) for the strength of his schedule and his test scores. He got into 1 top 5 school that is very holistic in it’s admissions by writing an essay that everyone who has read it says is brilliant and they’ve never read one close to as good. He also got denied by 8 other top 30 schools and his only other acceptance was a safety. Study more now–good grades junior and senior year can make a huge difference!