<p>If I seem naive or overly-confident at any time, I apologize. This is my first post, so let me know I am doing something wrong. Anyways, I just finished 9th grade and ended up 1/589 in my class (straight A’s, obviously). So my question is, when will I begin to see any college interest? I know it is very early, but I would think seeing some “come check out our college” letters would be typical, at the very least. Again, I am not stating I am the smartest person in the world and should begin seeing full ride scholarships from a college every other day, but I was thinking I would see something; I worked extremely hard for my spot as 1st in my class and seeing as nobody cares, or at least from my perspective, is a bit of a let down.
Thanks in advance</p>
<p>Usually after you take the PSAT the mail will start if you have checked the box to have your scores released to schools. The mail will start regardless of how well you do. It will just be from bigger name schools if your scores match your grades. ;)</p>
<p>As noted, you will receive mail starting after you take the SAT. BUT don’t think that every mailing you receive means you are a sure admit for that college. Some schools seem to send large numbers of mailings to a vast number of students.</p>
<p>Schools won’t know that you’re ranked 1st in your class, and many won’t care since you’re a freshman. After you take the PSAT or SAT, and if you score high, you’ll receive mail from selective universities. Even if you do bad you’ll still be flooded with mail. </p>
<p>I’d strongly recommend either not putting your email down on the PSAT or creating an email strictly for college crap. It gets really annoying!</p>
<p>“I worked extremely hard for my spot as 1st in my class and seeing as nobody cares”</p>
<p>Well, you’re a Freshman and typically, it’s not too hard to get all A’s freshman year, thats why it may seem that way. Yes after like 2 or 3 months from your PSAT date you’ll start getting junk mail from a host of schools you could care less about. But 99% of it has nothing to do with a schools “interest” in you, and is mostly just junk mail. Miami (FL) sends me things periodically, however its going to be a reach school for me, and there’s no way they’re personally sending me things. On the other hand, I just received a free application from Roanoke College who really wants me to apply. But it’s not really personal if a school you like doesn’t end up sending you stuff - the big schools with lots of publicity don’t need to get their name out there, because they already have plenty of means of doing so.</p>
<p>The biggest names out there send stuff to the top kids.</p>
<p>You may have to elaborate…</p>
<p>How would colleges know about your freshman year grades? Do you think that your school contacts colleges about stuff like that?</p>
<p>As other posters have said, the schools don’t know that you exist until you take the PSAT. And even then, most college information packets that come to your house will not have anything to do with you personally, even though it may look that way. Most are just fishing for any and all students.</p>
<p>The other thing - struggling to be number one just for everyone’s recognition and praise is not a healthy thing to do. Do the best you can, but not just for the sake of reward. There are literally thousands of straight-A students, and hundreds who are first in their graduating class that do not get into Ivy League schools. There simply isn’t room for all of them. And Ivy league schools do not give achievement-based scholarships. If your only motivation is to be accepted at the best schools and to have a full scholarship, you are setting yourself up for a huge let down.</p>
<p>But congratulations on your great grades, because they are something to be proud of!</p>
<p>I know a lot of kids who got accepted into top 20 schools who never got junk mail from anyone, even in the top 50.</p>
<p>You only get the mail IF you check the box, see post #2. My point was that top schools do send mail.</p>
<p>So you are saying there is nearly no chance I will get a full scholarship to a college such as Georgia Tech? This is assuming I keep on track and stay first in my class.</p>
<p>I also do not have the intentions of going to an Ivy League school. I would prefer going to a local, but reputable, college on a scholarship than having to pay Harvard back for the rest of my life. A degree is a degree, right?</p>
<p>You will get flooded with mail once you take the PSAT, maybe next year.</p>
<p>^That’s the good thing about going into pre-med, a doctor is a doctor we don’t care about “prestige” we just want the GPA.</p>
<p>In the end, we all need doctors right?</p>
<p>“So you are saying there is nearly no chance I will get a full scholarship to a college such as Georgia Tech?”</p>
<p>Whoa – what does playing soccer on scholarship have to do with your high ranking at your HS? Question 1) are you a good soccer player? 2) are you good enough to warrant a NCAA team giving you a spot?</p>
<p>3) Harvard is one of the most generous Fin Aid colleges extant. The avg debt load of graduating seniors there is probably less than a GA Tech grad. Don’t slag a school like Harvard based on baseless stereotypes.</p>
<p>Lastly, if you do well on your PSATs, you’ll get tons of college mailers. And so will everyone else at your school to scores as high – even though they aren’t the first ranked student. Hope that doesn’t diminish your ego too much.</p>
<p>If you smartest person in the world I think you do not need any advice</p>
<p>Yeah, I mean the higher scores you get on your PSAT the more the good schools will notice and send mail, but like most have said, that doesn’t mean you’re going to get accepted. After I took mine, I did receive mail from some Ivy Leagues like Columbia, Brown, Cornell, but that didn’t make me feel confident of getting in, because they send those to thousands, if not tens of thousands, many of which probably have no chance. I also got a lot of junk mail from smaller colleges from all over. </p>
<p>My friend ended up being a National Merit Scholar and got mail from Harvard, which in that case, probably makes you feel good about yourself, but still, not a guarantee in any stretch of the imagination.</p>