How Competitive Will I Be?

Test Preparation
1

<p>I have just finished my sophomore year at highschool and I need some advice.
I am going to list off everything that I think a college would look at and/or care about and I need some input as to how competitive I would be for admission and/or scholarships to high and medium level colleges. I am going to give my opinion on my grades and things how I see them so please don’t call me cocky or hubristic if you think I sound that way, I am just trying to put my best self out there.</p>

<p>Test Scores:
PSAT sophomore year - 201 - no prep (national merit is only about 207 in my state so I feel like I will have a very good shot at it next year)
ACT sophomore year - 33 - no prep</p>

<p>Academics:
GPA nonweighted - 4.0
GPA weighted - 4.5ish
Valedictorian class of over 400 (most likely)
NHS (possibly president)
NTHS (national technical honor society)
National Merit Scholar (most likely)</p>

<p>Extra-Curriculars:
President of Mu Alpha Theta - Math and community service club
President and founder of Philosophy Club
Mentor at school
Varsity cross country letterman freshman and sophomore year
FIRST Robotics team (nationals)
SkillsUSA speech team (I think I will do very well in this. In 8th grade I won a $1500 college scholarship through the Optimist Oratorical Society.)
Possibly MENSA (heard they give scholarships)</p>

<p>This is all I can think of at the moment, but if I remember something else I will post it.</p>

<p>My questions are…
1)What do you think I could get PSAT, SAT, and ACT if I study next time?
2)How competitive would I be in high level engineering schools?
3)How competitive would I be in medium level engineering schools?
4)What could I do to be more competitive?</p>

2

<p>Your scores may or may not go up. Either way, you are in a good position to get into good schools.
Now with that out of the way, you should really stay focused on your EC’s. Find those things that you enjoy, then do them well. Really, really, well. All colleges will see kids with great scores, but when they see kids who actually do things outside of taking tests, that is what impresses them. The essay will be crucial, too.
I’m not trying to scare you or bring you down a notch, just saying don’t get too wrapped up in what your test scores are, because no score alone will guarantee admission. Other than that, keep up the good work, keep challenging yourself and make it through your junior year. (Oh yeah, alot of colleges do not look at freshman year, so make sure you have a solid junior year in the classroom)</p>

3

<p>all i can say is to keep up the good work (both academic and ec’s), and prep for those exams to get higher scores, and do a good job with your applications. you’re looking good, and many selective engineering programs will be glad to have you. good luck with national merit, i hope you get nmf. that would open up many more opportunities for you.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for all the input.</p>

<p>I have another question.
What do colleges look at when they get your list of EC’s</p>

5

<p>They want to see consistency, leadership, assertiveness, all that good stuff. They don’t give a crap about one night community service stands that you do here and there, they want COMMITMENT. You seem to have it so gl.</p>

6

<p>Thanks for the encouragement Quix!</p>

<p>If anyone else has some input I would love to hear it.</p>