Can I attend Stanford University, Northwestern University, or University of Illinois at Urbana-Champain?

Question

I'm currently sophomore at high school in Illinois.
I'm Japanese and I've been living in the U.S. for 3 years so far. I am thinking going to the university in the U.S.
The goal is to attend Stanford U, or Northwestern U. U. of University of Illinois @ Urbana Champain.

Here are about my transcript so far

GPA 3.8 out of 4
Boys Varsity tennis from freshman year
A manager for girls tennis from freshman year
In school newspaper club
I went to 2 People To People trip (Europe) and summit (Stanford University).
I take AP and accelerated classes
In BPA (Business Professional of America)
(Next year NHS probably)

I haven't take SAT or ACT yet.

Since I am Japanese, it is my first, English as my 2nd, and Spanish as my 3rd language. I believe I am a minority for the admission for the college. I still learn Japanese language at Japanese school and I am really good at it.

I want to know what I should prepare before graduating high school, and please suggest me any advice.

I am enjoying school!

Answer 1

The good news is that you are on the right track. If you keep up these grades and get a high SAT score, you will get into a very good college. If you do this, U of I is almost certainly a Yes.

And if you do it, you would also be qualified to get into Northwestern and Stanford. But both of those schools turn down lots of qualified students. Stanford, in particular, is one of the hardest schools to get into in the world.

If you continue on this path -- apply to both schools -- but also apply to other comparable schools (e.g., Duke, Rice, Emory, the Ivy League Schools, the better state school like Michigan or Berkeley). You would get into some of them.

I actually disagree with the other poster that being Japanese would make you stand out for Stanford. I think it owuld actually hurt you -- since California schools get a lot of applic ations from qualified Asians. I think it would help you more at Northwestern or an Eastern school.

Answer 2

Assuming you stick with AP classes, and your GPA stays around the same, I think you're good to go for all of them. Definitely for U of IL and Northwestern. Since you are Japanese, you stand out from your average applicant in one extra way for Stanford.

This is also assuming you score well on the SAT. Even if you don't, you're probably safe with U of IL.