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I'm female, Caucasian, and from a NJ suburb.

SAT: 1340-1450 (I'm predicting based on how I did on practice tests and the PSAT, which I got a 209 on)

GPA: 4.0 (at the moment)

I'm taking SAT IIs in US history, bio, and writing and expect to get 700 or over on all of them. I'm taking one in math too, but I have no idea how high or low I'm getting.

We don't know our class rank yet, I'm estimating I'll be somewhere between 1 and 5 out of 450.

AP's taken between this year and next year:
US history, bio, English composition, English literature, world history, calc AB

ECs:
-Marching band, clarinet (9, 10, 11) and I'll probably be clarinet section leader next year
-Pit orchestra, clarinet (10, 11, and probably next year)
-Jazz band, tenor sax (10, 11, and probably next year)
-Essex County Symphony Orchestra (10)
-Literary magazine: submissions editor (9), literary editor (10, 11), and editor-in-chief next year
-JSA (1 year and probably next year)
-Public library teen book club, executive board (3 years and probably next year)
-Hebrew school (three years)
-Hebrew Union College Miller High School (1 year)
-NJ Science League (9, 10, 11)
-A's in Italian 103 and Mythology at Montclair State University last summer

I'm not sure where I want to go. I'm looking pretty closely at Williams College, but I want to know how high is reasonable in general.

A note about Williams: One of my grandmother's best friends of 60+ years is a major alumnus there and is "ecstatic" that I'm seriously considering it.

By Julz711 (Julz711) on Friday, March 05, 2004 - 11:10 pm: Edit

I should mention that the GPA I posted is unweighted. Weighted, it's about 4.7 or 4.8...

By Chen (Chen) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 01:11 pm: Edit

You should consider applying ED to Williams. I think you could aim anywhere, but don't make half of your list ivy legues because your courseload isn't too tough, and you don't have anything spectacular going on in your ECs. Your SAT IIs should help you make your college list. And, your grandmother's friend won't carry much weight unless there is something she could do personally for you.

By Julz711 (Julz711) on Saturday, March 06, 2004 - 01:55 pm: Edit

I've been taking pretty much all the APs that I can. My school isn't very good compared to a lot of NJ schools and doesn't offer many APs to juniors (which limits the number of AP's I can take next year because they won't fit in my schedule). And though they don't look like much, I normally put about 12-20 hours a week into my ECs.

I hope that didn't sound defenisive; it wasn't intended to. Thanks for replying!

By Piglette (Piglette) on Sunday, March 07, 2004 - 01:18 pm: Edit

If you really want Williams, you should definitely apply ED. Your SATs are on the low side. Also, Williams really likes the student/athlete combo, and I see no athletic ECs on your list.

Good luck!