What colleges should I look to apply to? (Reach/Target/Safety)
I've just finished my junior year and will be a senior starting August, but I still don't really have any idea of what college I want to go to. All I know is that I want to get into a good school majoring in business, but my backup major would economics. For my stats, I took all regular classes during my freshman year and had straight A's but one B in Biology in the second semester. I screwed up my sophomore year due to my mental health caused by family issues, getting a C in Algebra II Trig and a B in Chem Honors in my first semester. Second semester, I had a C in English, Algebra II Trig, and Chem Honors and also had a B in AP World. I took 2 AP's and one honors class that year. My junior year, I really picked it up and got straight A's while taking 3 AP classes and two honors classes. I'm also planning on taking two more AP classes to boost my GPA a little in my senior year. Any recommendations for reach/target/safety schools?
Stats:
Unweighted GPA: 3.78 (If straight A's through first semester of senior year)
Weighted GPA: 4.20 (If straight A's through first semester of senior year)
7 AP (Computer Science Principles (10), World History (10), Pre-Calc (11), U.S. History (11), Computer Science A (11), Gov/Econ (12), Calc AB (12))
3 Honors (Chem (10), Physics (11), Physiology (11))
SAT: 1460 (taken once)
Didn't take ACT
Extracurriculars:
Have done taekwondo since the age of 5, receiving the honor of a 2nd degree black belt and have also been an assistant teacher for it.
Have played piano since the age of 5, competing and winning places in various piano competitions. (2nd place winner in the international piano competition Carnegie Hall, performed my winning piece at the Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, New York in December of 2022,
achieved 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place in the U.S. Open piano competition, received the highest rating of Unanimous Superior in a duet performance as the pianist in CMEA (California Music Educators Association)
Part of school band since 6th grade.
Have played golf since I was 7 years old, now earning a spot on my high school's varsity golf team.
Experience:
Part time job during my junior year + president of one club + officer of one club
100+ volunteer hours
Your ECs are very strong, and your SAT score is pretty good too, so depending on the level of colleges you're planning on applying to as your targets/reaches, I think you can try retaking it a couple times for something in the 1500s if you want to. Your GPA is a little bit of the low side for the prestigious colleges (T20s), but I think the rest of your application can balance that out pretty well, and you can always explain those circumstances in the Additional Information Section! I would suggest discussing your career goals, interests and what you would like to get out of college with your school counselor and your parents to help come up with a balanced list.
To start off, you can consider these factors:
Location (weather, state - in state is less expensive than out of state, type of community, urban/rural etc.)
Good programs for your Major
Good Professors
Double Major, Minors, BS/MD or Bachelors + Masters 5 yr program (depending on your career path and aspirations)
Residential Living (dorm rooms)
Research Opportunities
Internship Opportunities
Safe and inclusive environment
Part-Time jobs around the area
Accepts All AP Credits (could help save some money)
Scholarship opportunities
Cost of Tuition and other accommodations
Difficulty of the programs (can you handle the rigor? selective colleges have harder programs than local colleges)
Prestige/College Rankings (your application seems really good so I would suggest targeting colleges close to the top of these rankings)
Diversity/Gender Ratio
Religious/Political Affiliation
The college vine "Find Schools" tool is very useful with providing such information and calculating your approximate chances based on the information on your profile. Make good use of that during this process. It helped me loll Good luck!!
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
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