Hi everyone!
I am a current junior at a private rigorus high school in suburban Pennsylvania. I have narrowed my college list to about 10 schools, these being my top choices. All and any information is appreciated!
Stats:
GPA: 4.197 (W) 4.0 (UW)
SAT: Currently around a 1340- hope to get it up to a 1450 with a few months of prep
Course Load: 3 APs this year, 3 APs next year, everything else honors
Extra curriculars: XC (4 years), Swimming (4 years- state champions), Track (2 years), Chorus (3 years, leadership position), Auditioned chamber choir (2 years, leadership position), Mock Trial (3 years, leadership position), Music Ministry (4 years, leadership), Model UN (4 years), Latin Club (4 years), Math League (3 years), Annenberg Science Symposium (2 years)
Honors Societies: NHS, Tri-M Music Honors, Math Honors, Latin Honors (possible leadership senior year)
Job Experience: Lifeguard (2 years) Starbucks Barista (1 year)
Volunteer Work: 5 hours per week at local hospital
Summer Activities: I applied for a competitive internship at CHOP for this summer, hoping to hear back soon!
I am also beginning my own medicine club at school next year for anyone interested in going into that field. I want to major in either biochemistry or biomedical engineering as a pre med with hopes of pursuing med school in my future. If you could tell me (honestly) if these schools are realistic for me and also let me know if there are any other schools that would be matches for me that are worth looking in to!
Honestly, you seriously need to work on your GPA. You have one semester left of junior year: make the most of it. To even have a real shot at UVA in Virginia, you should be top 10% of your graduating class, but since you’re OOS this is a MUST. If you’re not able to do this, your SAT needs to be at least a 1550 in my honest opinion. Your EC’s however are pretty good, but the one thing that’ll give you the slightest chance at UVA will be a huge increase in standardized testing. Anything is possible though! If you have legacy/other hook that might also help you as well. Also, ESSAYS matter a lot…work on them and make 'em unique! Good luck
Thanks for your response! My GPA is actually out of 4.0 unweighted and 4.2 weighted. I have gotten all a’s in ap and honors classes for 3 years, with the exception of 1 b+ 1st semester freshman year in honors algebra 2. My school is known for their rigorous academics, and I work really hard for my grades. My school doesn’t rank, but I think I am in the top 10% as I am one of the few that takes multiple APs and honors classes. I will work hard on my SAT prep as well. Thanks for your help, if you have any other advice please let me know!
@djschumacher That’s actually very good to hear as GPA is really important. As long as your SAT is in the 1500’s or near, I think you have a pretty decent shot! One of the best things to do is to finish off junior year on a strong note and apply early action. This gives you the advantage of having a decision earlier and they won’t see your senior grades, but rather just your senior classes if you apply early. It really pains me to wait for my RD schools, not going to lie. Also, for SAT prep you should go check out the SAT subreddit on reddit. If you PM me, I can send you some pdfs of some good SAT prep if interested
Curious as to how your UW gpa could be 4.0, if you have a B+ on your transcript. Do you have some A+ grades ?
Your high school profile will help explain what your GPA really means.if your school uses Naviance, you can get an idea of where similarly situated students ended up. Scroll through past posts on CC and you will get an idea of the stats for admitted students. All of the schools you’ve listed are highly competitive and kids with higher gpas and higher test scores are denied admission. That is not meant to deter you from applying, because UVA truly does a holistic review, and you should never let strangers dictate where you apply to school. Instead, the comments are meant to encourage you to set some realistic choices in the group of schools to which you apply. Good luck and it’s freat that you are thinking ahead.