<p>I’m a junior in HS & my parents’ are pressuring me on schools to visit soon. And since I have no idea about where I want to go to college any suggestions are welcome and very much appreciated on the best schools I could hope of getting into. So essentially, what are my chances? </p>
<p>SAT: V:800 M:700 (took old one once, planning to take new one twice)
PSAT: 216 V:76 M: 60 W: 80 (possibly point short of semi- in my state, but has always been enough before)
GPA/Rank: GPA: 5.4/6.0 my crazy school refuses to give rank before senior year, approx. 700 ppl in class, and a 5.4 should be in top 15 people
APs: not available yet, will take two this spring and 6-7 next year (my school offers only a few)</p>
<p>Extra-curricular:
Newspaper: Features co-editor (9), asst. editor (10), editor-in-chief (11, 12?)
(9-11) - Academic UIL journalism team- various placings/ other boring newspaper awards (10) All-state journalism staff, 4th place region UIL (11) National Scholastic Press Association Feature Design of the Year (2nd place, lost to kids in Taiwan)
Quill and Scroll (11, 12)
Academic Octathlon (9-10)
Academic Decathlon (11-12) - 2nd place overall district scorer in scholastic, various other medals
Mu Alpha Theta (9-12) - treasurer (11)
Latin Club (9-12)
Anticipating NHS induction this year
Leadership High School delegate </p>
<p>Volunteer Work:
Hospital- 1,500+ hours, officer, volunteer of the summer (2002), most dedicated and creative vol. (2004)
Zoo volunteer 150+ hrs (2004)
…whatever i do in the next year. Thanks.</p>
<p>Interesting username, but I’m more of a fan of the Lonesome Crowded West. Anyway, barring any bad teacher recommendations or a bombed interview, you have a good chance for anywhere. In terms of communications, I know the University of Missouri, Northwestern University, and Stanford would be good choices. However, if you’re like me [interested in journalism but not wanting to be limited by it], basically any school can offer you the core education to eventually work as any type of journalist or get into to graduate school. Therefore, do you want a public or private school? University or LAC? Small or large? It is recommended by the Columbia School of Journalism [graduate only] that you have a “broad-based” bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, “with course work in political science, literature, sociology, psychology, and foreign languages.” I know that Carleton College [simply because that’s where I’m going] is near the top in all the above fields, but other LAC’s such as Reed, Middlebury, Williams, Amherst, Pomona, and Swarthmore would be OK too. Any of the Ivies could give you what you need, as could the University of Chicago, Duke, and Berkeley. </p>
<p>To get into these places, stay involved and keep up with academics. Also, you may wish to diversify into another extracurricular, be it a sport or debate-type event. Be sure to check out Carleton.</p>
<p>Am I totally screwed if I say that I actaully don’t want to do anything with journalism undergraduate and am more interested in bus./eco., law, or english? BTW public or private doesn’t matter but def. not too small, otherwise I am very open-minded.</p>
<p>In my application, I never said I was interested in journalism even though I was the editor of two school publications. I think if you explain your interest in English or law, they will understand. You should definitely investigate Dartmouth if you want a medium-larger size school with a focus on the social sciences/humanities. Also, the University of Chicago is the best economics school in the country, and is highly ranked in all of your interests.</p>
<p>bump- so what would my chances be at schools like u of chicago, dartmouth, duke, northwestern etc. ?</p>
<p>You have very solid chances at those schools, so make Chicago your first college trip! Airfare is usually under $300 from anywhere on the mainland, and you can take public transportation to both Evanston (NU) and U of C. And they are very different schools, so you’ll get a nice sense of what fits you. You may as well come when the weather is cold, because it’s part of the charm …</p>
<p>The problem with kids is that we are insecure. We know we are good, but we don’t know if we are good enough. I’m here to definitively tell you - you can be accepted anywhere you apply. Anywhere - Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, UPenn - the whole shebang. This doesn’t mean, of course, that you will be accepted. You have as much of a chance as anyone else who applies. The point I’m making is that you can confidently apply anywhere and know you have a good shot. And if you apply to many of these schools - you will get accepted to at least one.</p>