<p>I feel like I’ve taken advantage of the opportunities around me…I’m the only person to hold the state position I currently do because it was created by my own initiative, and I feel like I’m one of the pillars of my (small) school. My problem is that my scores leave a lot to be desired. I took the SAT twice sophomore year because I applied to a state magnet, which I was rejected from. My 2nd score was significantly better than my first: 1870 {670 CR, 560 M, 640 W}. </p>
<p>I’m wondering what schools I have any business looking at…I’m not sure what I want to do at this point; I’m stuck mostly on whether I want to go to a liberal arts/humanities/theoretical type of school or an engineering/technical/applied kind of school. Let’s say I can get my SAT score to a 2000 {700, 650, 650} and continue getting good grades. Do I have any business looking at Top 15 schools? A kid from my area was rejected by QuestBridge but was accepted by Princeton with an SAT score between 2000 and 2100, though he was a minority.</p>
<p>Other than my EC’s in the context of my background, the only other thing I can think of that would make me different from other applicants is my course-load. My school offers no AP courses or similarly advanced courses and I’m the only one at my school pursuing AP courses online or upper-level college courses through dual-enrollment. Could this help significantly? For comparison the 98% of students in my county take a total of 8 courses a year.</p>
<p>Here’s my junior and senior course-loads as they will appear on my Transcript, assuming I don’t have to change them for the millionth time:</p>
<p>Junior</p>
<p>AP English Literature and Composition (1st Semester)
AP United States History (1st Semester)
Biology Honors
CHM 151: General Chemistry I
MAT 271: Calculus I
AP English Literature and Composition (2nd Semester)
AP United States History (2nd semester)
CHM 152: General Chemistry II
Civics and Economics Honors
MAT 272: Calculus II
POL 120: American Government
ECO 251: Principles of Microeconomics*
ECO 252: Principles of Macroeconomics*
English IV Honors*</p>
<p>*Summer courses are apparently added to the previous year and nothing designates them as such.</p>
<p>Senior</p>
<p>CHM 251: Organic Chemistry I
ENG 231: American Literature I
ENG 232: American Literature II
College PE
MAT 273: Calculus III
Philosophy Honors
PHY 251: General Physics I
CHE 205: Chemical Process Principles
CHM 252: Organic Chemistry II
Health Education/Healthful Living
BUS 137: Principles of Management
MAT 285: Differential Equations
E 101: Introduction to Engineering & Problem Solving
PHY 252: General Physics II</p>