Hi all,
I am a sophomore in my high school honor class program, and the classes that I take which are NOT honors are AP (8 APs in total throughout all 4 years).
I want to major in something related to finance or accounting. I have a 97.28/100 UW GPA and around a 102.8 weighted (first honors with distinction). I got a 1410 on a recent SAT practice test so I will probably be able to get a 1520+ with some dedicated studying.
Here are my extracurriculars: I am a dedicated member of tech crew, and I help design/build/paint etc. sets for my school’s drama productions. I stay after school every day 4-5 times a week for 2+ hours just for this club alone, and even work on sets on the weekends right before the shows. I will be a stage manager next year for at least one of the shows, meaning I will basically direct everything. Also, I am a part of the math team, italian club, school service club, debate club, and TV news broadcasting club. I have won 2nd place on the national italian exam, and seeing that this is my best subject, I have a good chance at winning another one in the upcoming years. I also won a scholastic gold key for my state in 8th grade (probably irrelevant but I’d thought I would mention it here anyways.) I will most likely be in NHS and Italian honor society next year when I am qualified to apply. Over the next two summers I am planning to intern at an office of some type, and find a volunteer position. I also am going to take some college courses at my local community college next year. My question is, is this enough? I don’t play a sport or an instrument. I will only have one leadership position, as my other clubs are teacher-run. Should I compensate by starting my own club at school? I was thinking of creating a DECA chapter, but I don’t think that my school would allow us to take trips to different states bc. of lodging, transportation, etc. Therefore we would just have to keep it regional. I’m from RI so state competitions would be very close. If this is too much, I was considering also starting a more casual type of business club, where I invite guest speakers and we learn about the fundamentals of finance, marketing, etc.
For reference, I am interested in attending schools such as: UPenn, NYU, UCLA, UCB, Northeastern, BU, UMich, etc.
This year I applied to NYU UCLA Northeastern BU and UCB
My SAT is a 1510 and my gpa is a 4.46
For NYU Northeastern and BU I got accepted on regular decisions since I didn’t want to commit
For UCLA I got waitlisted but for Berk I got denied
My stats is somewhat similar to yours but I did have many extracurricular and I’d suggest you take some subject tests since I took 3 (Math 1 for fun lol, Math 2 (you need if you want to stand out), and Bio (for my major)).
I took a total of 10 APs with 4s and 5s, one 3 for AP Physics 1. You should be able to get in though I do wish I’d have spent more time on my UC essays since I believe that was where my downfall was. I only did it in a week when I’m sure many others took the entire summer of going into their senior year to write it. Pfft, I’m not that studious but keep working! Your chances are great!
Don’t start a club as a Jr just to impress colleges!
You are already doing all the right things- working hard on your academics, doing ECs that are meaningful to you and being a good member of the community.
Assuming your school has Naviance, next year you will get an idea of how students from your school with similar stats do in admissions.
In the meantime the best college application prep work you can do now is to:
- Have the money talk with your parents. What are they expecting to pay for? Will there be debt- for them or you? What is the budget? Unless the answer is ‘we can and will write a full-price check for any school’ you will need to factor finances into what schools you apply to.
- Figure out why you want the names you listed. Then, research safety and match schools that share those traits. Build your list from most to least likely for admissions. Find things you genuinely like about each of them.
Pro-tip: if you are in an academically competitive environment your senior year is going to be a much happier time if you resolutely refuse to own that you have a favorite or dream school! Instead, spend the year floating possible schools from your safety and match lists: “college? Right now I’m really impressed with the theatre program at X, but I did just hear of the great Y program at Z college. I can’t decide if I want to stay in the NE or maybe head south…” the more open you keep it the less weight pride / ego will add to what will be a stressful season, and it will help you stay focused on the (real!) things you pick a college for.
Thank you! I do want to start a club because I genuinely want to also- I understand it came off as if I was only doing it for admission, but that’s just a side bonus! With that being said, which option of club do you think I should start?
Thank you and congrats! Where are you committing? I am taking SAT subject tests.
Also, which extracurriculars did you do?
I like that you asked about top 50 schools and not top 10 or 20. Although all the schools you listed are prob top 30.
Penn is a reach and so is UCB. The others are all pretty realistic. I agree- only start a club if you really want it- it’s important to be committed to the ones you have.
And after those top 30 schools are some great ones between 30 and 50- Brandeis, Rochester, Lafayette, Case Western…as long as you don’t get too attached to any one place you will have great options.
Yes, I am committed on starting a club! It just would be a plus for my application.
Rankings are probably the single worst criteria you can use to find a college. Worse than getting rejected, is having a list of acceptances to a bunch of colleges you can’t afford. You can always put in a few reach schools. The main focus really needs to be a good affordable list of target and safety schools you’re serious about. And NO…it’s NOT worth paying triple the tuition to go out of state.