<p>I have a little question about admissions. Do colleges take into consideration the quality of the school in regards to your grades, ACT, and rank? The school I go to here in Chicago has an average of 12 on the ACT and 98% of the students have terrible grades. </p>
<p>I’m a junior and I’ve got a 3.8 GPA at the moment and hoping to raise it up to a 4.0 by next year. I’ll be taking the ACT soon and I’m aiming for a 30 or higher. Would colleges see the difference from other students?</p>
<p>I’d also like to know what else I could improve.</p>
<p>As for EC:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>This summer, I’ll be going to a university to do some research in Chemistry. (Which is also what I want to major in.)</p></li>
<li><p>I help take care of the environment… Clean up waste, keep the river clean, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m a volunteer at the hospital near where I live. I help patients with various tasks. I also assist doctors with management of documents, files, and other paperwork.</p></li>
<li><p>I help educate students that come to our school every year about environmental issues and how we can fix them.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>I’ll most likely do other things this coming summer besides the research, so this won’t be it.</p>
<p>Your summer and EC schedules sound really fruitful.</p>
<p>As for the relative quality of your high school, yes, colleges do take that into account. Along with transcripts and evaluation forms, GCs need to send in a secondary school report that includes a profile of your school, which allows adcoms to compare you to the rest of the students at your school.</p>
<p>I’d like to ask about my what my chances at a university would be but I’m scared that I know the answer! I’m going mad thinking about getting into Northwestern University. I’d love to get into their Chemistry classes. I hear it’s one of the best.</p>
<p>How much would my chances of getting into Northwestern increase since I live in-state? …Of course, assuming that I get a 30 or higher on the ACT, too.</p>
<p>Northwestern is a private university, so being in-state has no official status. However, they have strong relationships with several local schools and, IMO, accept a disproportionately high percentage of local kids. (Some of this number can be attributed to kids whose parents work for the school or are alums.)</p>
<p>Your description shows that you have overcome a difficult school situation, and that will work in your favor. If you are from a family that has faced other challenges, that is also a consideration. However, you must realize that your school will not have prepared you for college as well as the top schools in Illinois do, and you are competing against seniors from those schools. A 30 ACT is commendable, but fairly average for Northwestern.</p>
<p>Summer programs like your chem research can help give you a boost. Be sure to get a strong letter of recommendation from your professor before you leave. If you need additional summer programs to look into, the U of Chicago has some great offerings and scholarships for Chicago Public Schools students. Also, you’ll need to prepare for and take SAT IIs in June or next fall. These can go a long way towards showing strength in a particular subject.</p>
<p>Though Northwestern may be your dream school, don’t overlook the other strong schools in the midwest. Some may fit you better in terms of smaller classes, more focus on undergraduates, and less “affluenza.” Good luck with your search!</p>
<p>Colleges do look at you in the context of your school. Many top schools are trying to recruit from inner city and poor rural schools. Your ACT/SAT scores will be important though, they need to know you can handle the work.</p>
<p>Sounds like my school in the ghetto. You have my full support. </p>
<p>I definitely agree that individual stats should be the only factor in how colleges evaluate you, rather than how much your family can put down so you can go to a private school in Long Island. </p>
<p>Keep it up. You sound very involved in the community, and in studying for the ACT.</p>