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Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, Yale, and Princeton
My parents are convinced that none of the big schools will accept me and that I should aim a little lower. All their friends' kids have gotten rejected from those schools.
My GPA is a 5.43 out of a 6.0 (AP classes are worth 6 pts, 5 pts for honors, 4 pts for academic) after junior year, unweighted is a 4.0. I am ranked 1 out of 540. By the end of high school, I will have taken 17 AP courses and 2 college courses. My SAT score is a 1450. I have only taken the SAT II Math (750) and US History (680).
For extracurriculur activities, I am the President and Founder of a club called Step UP, which helps urban families to finance their money. I am the President of Habitat for Humanity and Vice President of Amnesty International. I am my youth group's President and was the Vice President my junior year. Over the summer, I have done Boys' State, NSLC at Stanford University, and an Internship with USI. I work throughout the school year as a YMCA Afterschool counselor and also work weekends as a YMCA Youth Basketball Referee. I started a Spanish Magazine at my high school with a group of friends.
PLEASE EVALUATE!

By Sooky6 (Sooky6) on Tuesday, October 07, 2003 - 09:59 am: Edit

You sound like a great candidate, but no one is a sure bet at any of these schools. Prioritize what you are looking for in a school academically, socially, etc and choose some safeties/matches. (Michigan, NYU, Northwestern, WUSTL sound like matches to me if you are looking for big universities). Aim high but listen to your parents and play smart!

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Tuesday, October 07, 2003 - 11:16 am: Edit

Your parents and Sooky are giving you good advice - add some schools that are matches and at least one safety. If you go back into last year's college confidential archives you'll see lots of people talking about the school's they were rejected from and you'll see why having good back ups is smart. Hopefully, you won't need a back up plan but it's better to be prepared than scramble around for someplace to go next spring.

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Tuesday, October 07, 2003 - 12:38 pm: Edit

very good test score and excellent GPA
how many hours a week and for how many years did you devote to each of your ECs? you also seem to be interested in a lot of things...charity, human rights, student government, boys' state, YMCA, and Spanish, but it might help to emphasize the activity you are most passionate about. other than that, we can never be too sure who'll get in and who won't. good luck!

By Clickspring (Clickspring) on Tuesday, October 07, 2003 - 12:48 pm: Edit

You're a decent candidate for those schools, but remember, those schools reject thousands of kids who are even more qualified than you every year. Don't get your heart too set on any of them because there is a possibility you will be rejected by all of them. Try to get all your SAT IIs over 750. You'll probably want to retake US History and take Writing. Try to pick some saftey schools to ensure that you'll be able to go to a 4-year school next year. Don't rely on Northwestern or WashU for matches or safeties; those schools are reaches for everyone too. What state are you in?