What can I do as a junior right now to better my chances of getting into a great college? (even Princeton?)?

Question

When I'm reading questions about colleges, and the requirements for them, I can't help but feel extremely nervous and screwed. All my life, I've done my best on everything in school, and in turn, it has landed me in honors and AP classes. Even with that, I'm doing pretty good with that too. I think my GPA at the end of my sophomore year was 3.7 or something. (although I'm not sure if it was unweighted or not).

But in the meantime, I haven't done much for the school, either because I have no school spirit, or I'm not interested in like selling cookies on the weekend or whatever.

I don't even know what I want to do in my life, and I have to apply for colleges soon. I have no idea how so many people know exactly what they want to do and what college they're aiming for.

It just makes me depressed and feel hopeless that I may not get into any Ivy League schools.

What can I do as a junior to better my chances?

Not to say I don't do anything, but it's nothing spectacular. I do volunteer work at my local hospital, but I haven't been going as of lately, and I think I've racked up only like 40-something hours. I'm not musically oriented nor am I good at sports, although I played volleyball in 8th grade and I tried out for it in Sophomore year.

I did do like 2 clubs last year, but they only had a few meetings and vanished. This year, I'm joining the military history club.

Also, there's the SATs, which really make me nervous. My whole future and academics career is supposed to be judged on this test. WHY??

I took the PSAT as a sophomore and I think I got a 1680 without any classes, and I'm taking it in a few weeks. I plan to take the SAT II subject tests this year, and I'm taking some SAT prep classes. Even then, I feel uncomfortable, since all of this feels like it's happening at once.

What can I do to make me seem like a quality applicant? Do I have to start a club in my school?

Not to say that I'm totally clueless as to what I want to do, but I can say I'm more interested in science and business over anything like law and politics. Law is just too boring, memorizing books and applying them, and I just can't stand politics.

I also want to go to an Ivy League because of the prestige and higher education it offers, but there's thousands of people applying to every college having just as much to offer and even more.

I can't believe I forgot about mentioning jobs! I'm applying to some places right now, and I'm hoping to get a job really soon. So if I got a part time job, which I dedicated myself to, I would be good to go?

Answer 1

First of all, you don't have to get into an Ivy League in order to be a success. In fact, you don't even need to get into an Ivy League in order to go to a very good school, one which employers jump all over themselves to recruit from.

If you think any particular Ivy League colleges are good fits for you, then do check them out. But the most important thing about the colleges that you select are that you think they'll be good fits for you - it doesn't matter if they are Ivy League, so long as they fit you well. Heck, you can get into Harvard, drown and flunk out, or you can get into Syracuse (very good school), thrive and get a 3.5 GPA. Which would be better for you? Which would employers prefer to see?

Start exploring schools now. Use the Princeton Review counsellor-o-matic search, from their site, to start thinking through things that may be important to you re: the college you pick. You'll start to see some patterns (maybe location, or size, or certain majors, or atmosphere, or heck, whether or not they have a football team - whatever interests you can be used to help narrow down the list of possibles.)

As for extracurriculars: you're a junior, and I'd say to pick an extracurricular and devote yourself to it, if you could find something that you'd really like. No need to start your own club unless you're passionate about the subject matter. No need for millions of extracurriculars, if you can find one or two that really inspire you. So if you like military history, and that's it, then do that club and *really* do that club. By the time you're a junior, you'd want to have a bit more focus in your extracurriculars, anyway. And people have gotten into Ivys with just one extracurricular - my friend got in, with good grades and etc, and her only extracurricular was skating.

But if school related extracurriculars and volunteer work don't rock your socks, then get a part time job. Elite level schools are seeing fewer and fewer applicants who have real, paid work experience, and this could be a way for you to set yourself apart from the crowd, and have something to talk about in essays. Work counts as an extracurricular.

Answer 2

If you don't have any clearly defined ambitions yet, then the Ivy Leagues may not be a good fit for you regardless of your qualifications. When you're surrounded by a bunch of highly driven people who've known they wanted to be doctors, lawyers, professors, and senators since they were eight, it's easy to feel like even more of an aimless loser, or to just do what they're doing even if you're not sure it's what's best for you.

So, ignore grades and test scores for the time being. What kind of environment do you think would make you happy? Does your lack of school spirit bother you, or would you rather be left alone in that regard? Do you want a place with a rigid core curriculum that'll force you to get a solid background in certain subjects before you specialize, or do you just want to explore whatever looks interesting to you?

If you're not even sure of the answer to those questions, find some places across the spectrum, explore their websites (visit in person if you can), and then start narrowing. Good luck.

Answer 3

If your GPA is unweighted, you are in the right ballpark. Most people who get into Ivy League schools have an unweighted GPA of about 2.8 and a weighted GPA over 4.0. Since you are taking honors classes and AP classes, you should be able to do the same if you keep getting mostly As.

You will need an SAT in the 2100 range. Everyone talks about extracurriculars -- but I can't imagine that they are as important as everyone says -- because there is no way that the university can verify them. I do not recommend lying about them -- but put down every club you ever entered & don't mention that they petered out after a few meetings.

If you can get a high SAT score, the determining factor will probably be your admissions essay. You have to remember that these schools accept about 10% of those who apply -- and that at least half are qualified. These schools will turn down someone with perfect SATs and a 4.0 in facor of someone with 2200 SATs and a 3.8 (unweighted) if they think the latter is a better fit.

Answer 4

Not every Jr. or Sr knows what they truly want to be when they graduate. Take some courses on different subjects to see which best fits you. Join some clubs at your school or donate some time at local charities in your home town. Volunteer for civic programs. Good luck to you and keep up those grades. You sound more mature to me than most teens your age. At least your looking toward your future.