Reasonable expectations with my current stats? (HS sophomore)

CraTer
Sat, 21 Jan 2023 21:23:14 +0000

As a Junior, I was in the same situation not too long ago.
Just be wary of education requirements for these jobs. For psychology related jobs, one will most likely need to have a PhD.

Cost is also something to be wary of. In a PhD field, your undergrad matters far less than your graduate school. Talk to your family about finances, as none of the public schools you mentioned are cheap for oos students with UCs and Michigan being roughly 70k. On top of all that psychology is notorious for having small stipends during a phd. Take all of this with a grain of salt because it can be different depending on circumstance, just be sure to research this.

Getting into undergrad schools at the top level, as you seem to be targeting, can be very difficult.
Your Class Rank and Rigor will not hold you back. Your biggest issues seem to be extracurriculars and test scores.

I don’t think you need to worry too much about your PSAT 10. I got a 1290, but after doing stuff on khan academy, I was able to get a 1540 on my first sat. I know many who did the same. Just be sure to grind practice tests, and I’m sure you will do fine.

Extracurriculars.
These are probably some of the most important parts of the application and will probably require the most work. Even if you don’t find them particularly interesting, i think it is beneficial to you if you join some clubs that relate to psychology or sports in some way (math club, sports, debate)
I would also look into trying to intern with a researcher. If you can find local psychology researchers, and you gain some knowledge in their research topic, they may let you intern for them. I have done this twice, and once the researcher even listed me as a coauthor when they published.