Colleges for A- Students

forkateiwait
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 21:40:59 +0000

There’s a lot of advice on here for A+ students and B students, but I’m interested in a little more help for the students in the middle. I’m a student who’s good, but not great. I definitely don’t have an amazing GPA or perfect scores, but I’m a little above average.

My Stats:
GPA: 3.6-3.8UW and 4.3-4.6W
SAT: 2100-2200
ACT: 30-32
Course Load: Most rigorous I could take/fit in my schedule
Awards: Nothing major, a few small writing awards, local community service awards, Commended scholar
EC’s: Model UN (3 years, won an award), Mock Trial (2 years, made it to states, award), Quiz Bowl (4 years, conference champ), Shakespeare Competition (3 years, placed once), Shakespeare and Dance classes, ASL classes
Volunteer Work: Working with kids with disabilities(4 years, 400+ hours, top 10 volunteer, volunteer of the month, van aide, leadership workshop, Volunteer Committee), Working with adults with disabilities (2 years, only HS volunteer, 250+ hours), Usher at local theater(2 years, 35 hours), Therapeutic Horseback riding (2 years, 30 hours), Ran a Concession Stand with proceeds going to a youth wrestling club (2 years, 150 hours).
Summer: 2 weeks at a foreign language program (paid for), Volunteer work, summer classes
Work: none
Hooks: none, I’m a white upper middle class girl who’s not first generation with no good legacies.
Weaknesses: I’ve transferred schools every year. I went to public in 9th, private in 10th (GPA dropped), back to public in 11th because I had problems with the teachers, and next year I am going to Connections Academy online because I can’t take any more AP classes at the public school. This means I haven’t really had close relationships with any of my teachers of counselors. :(

So I know there’s no way I’ll be able to get into HYPSM, but I do want to go to a school that is at least somewhat well-known and highly-regarded in academia. Does anyone have any recommendations about schools that I would be a match for? Or advice on how to boost my application a little? I really have no preference for colleges except for preferably private and with good financial aid. Thanks :)