Getting into good schools?

Question

Currently I am a sophmore at a Jesuit school and I am starting to get intersted in colleges. I have a 3.75 gpa out of 4 and I am taking the maximum number of Ac/AP classes my school will allow. I am interested in schools such as UVa, Duke, Cornell, Boston College, Notre Dame and Georgetown. I play one sport and will be a member of the NHS. I should also be an Eagle Scout.

Does any one have any experience in admissions that could shed some light on what I need to improve on to get into one of those great schools? Or has anyone attended any of these schools and what was your resume like when applying?

Answer 1

I'm a faculty member at a Jesuit university, and I have been involved in admissions selections. Since several of the schools you mention are Catholic schools, you probably need to have some community service activity, and some leadership experience would be useful as well. Keep your GPA at at least the level where it is now (and make sure that your class rank is high - this will tell schools if a 3.75 is a good GPA, or if most people at your school have high GPAs), and you will, of course, need to do well on the SATs.
These are generally very good schools, so you need to recognize that there isn't a single standard for admissions, but that who gets in depends upon how many students apply in any particular year and how strong their applications are. Several of these schools have major sports teams which have done well in some years (and less spectacularly in others). What often happens is that if the year before you apply for college, the team did well, there may be many times more applications submitted that year and you may have to meet substantially higher standards in order to be admitted. In years in which the teams have not done as well, there are far fewer applications, and it is much easier to get in.

Answer 2

To get into all those schools you better raise your gpa to atleast a 4.0. To get into Cornell, SAT scores need to be like 2200-2400. To get into UVA and Duke, SAT scores should be like 2050-2100. Good luck with Notre Dame and Georgetown (hope your parents are rich) they are VERY selective.