First things first, don’t worry too much. I worked in admission at a selective liberal arts college for four years and counseled a number of students in your situation. You will get in to college, and I have a feeling that you will get into a good one, too.

Your grade trend is what schools would like to see (well, they would usually like to see a consistent grade trend across the board – but if there is going to be a change in direction, the change had better be upward, which you say you have). Keep your schedule rigorous, keep up your involvement. Most colleges are going to be looking at your transcript only through your junior year (but they will look at what classes you are taking your senior year). With that in mind, if your extracurriculars are overwhelming you so that you can’t do as well in your classes, you need to focus on the classes and your grades.

Take as many practice tests as possible (ACT and SAT) – there is nothing else that will prepare you as well as being familiar with the style of the test. Plan to take the test at the end of your junior year and again at the beginning of your senior year (before November).

You list some amazing schools – and there are many others in your neck of the woods that I would strongly encourage you to consider – Northeastern, Bennington, Hampshire for example.

Visit the schools, talk with the admission staff (they are nice, and their job is to help you apply to the school – use them!), and enjoy the process.

Hi there. I wish you the best of luck with your college application process. Those are all fine schools. The thing about them is that they are also all extremely selective, and they’ve been getting harder to get into each year. I was admitted to Colby, Middlebury and Bowdoin as an undergrad back in 1995, when things were slightly easier. I had over a 4.0 GPA and very high test scores. I did not get into Williams even then. (I also had good extracurriculars and letters.)

All of these schools have gotten harder to get into since then- the competition is intense. If I were to apply now with my high school record, I might not get in.

So that’s a sobering thought.

I’d recommend choosing some backup schools as well. Aim for your dream schools too– but have a backup in case it doesn’t work out. Bowdoin, for instance, only accepted about 20% of its applicants last year. That’s tough. Do your best, though- play up your strengths in your applications, and see what happens.

BTW, if you look at their admissions office websites, you can usually see charts with stats on the admitted freshman class from last year (with GPA ranges, test scores, the percentage they admitted, number of applicants, etc). It’s useful info.

Good luck.

How you get into a College really depends on the college. Some do a basis of all your activities plus grades and class rank and others just on your grades and ACT score. With a GPA above 3.0 you shouldn’t have a problem getting into a State university.

If you are shooting for an Ivy league or Private School then I would say at least a 3.5 and usually these schools require you to write an essay for your admissions application.

So work hard, keep the grades up and study really hard for the ACT. ( And if you have to take the ACT more than once don’t worry about it most people do. ) and work really hard on your admissions applications stuff and you shouldn’t have a problem.

Colleges will receive a copy of your high school transcript when you apply so they will usually see the cumulative (as it is the cumulative that is on your transcript). Ask your school registrar for a copy of your transcript and see whether it’s cumulative or not. You can also ask if the college that you plan on attending looks at a cumulative or a separate GPA. Also, you should strive for those high GPA since a high GPA applicant is more likely to be picked than a low GPA applicant. As for the admission essay, that plays a very important role whether you’re applying to a large state university or a small liberal arts college as the essay is really the thing that separates you from the rest of the pack. Hope this helps.

You can take the ACT as many times as you wish. Study hard and you will do well and increase your score every time.

Schools like that have very low acceptance rates. I know some people who had prefect GPA’s, even as high as a 4.4, a perfect SAT/ACT score, excellent essay, lots of extracurriculars, and awesome references who STILL didn’t get in to top schools. This is simply because so many people are applying, and there are going to be many people with very similar grades, etc. applying.

Of course it doesn’t hurt to apply, but don’t be upset if you don’t get in. Keep in mind that their acceptance rates are sometimes below even 10%. State universities and private liberal arts colleges provide just as good an education as other schools.

Good luck!

You always have a chance, but a lot of it depends on how challenging your classes are, and how many APs your school offers overall. If admissions officers feel like you’re not taking full advantage of what your school has to offer in relation to how much you can reasonably handle, your application may suffer.

Definitely maybe.

Schools like you list are looking for different things and you seem to have most of the basics covered for a selective or even highly selective school. Your list covers a lot of ground in selectivity (look at USNews for selectivity standards or some other ranking system)

The best school for you is the one you like best and that has the best ‘fit’ for you. Students seem to drop out if the fit is bad.