If you think any particular Ivy League colleges are good fits for you, then do check them out. But the most important thing about the colleges that you select are that you think they’ll be good fits for you – it doesn’t matter if they are Ivy League, so long as they fit you well. Heck, you can get into Harvard, drown and flunk out, or you can get into Syracuse (very good school), thrive and get a 3.5 GPA. Which would be better for you? Which would employers prefer to see?

Start exploring schools now. Use the Princeton Review counsellor-o-matic search, from their site, to start thinking through things that may be important to you re: the college you pick. You’ll start to see some patterns (maybe location, or size, or certain majors, or atmosphere, or heck, whether or not they have a football team – whatever interests you can be used to help narrow down the list of possibles.)

As for extracurriculars: you’re a junior, and I’d say to pick an extracurricular and devote yourself to it, if you could find something that you’d really like. No need to start your own club unless you’re passionate about the subject matter. No need for millions of extracurriculars, if you can find one or two that really inspire you. So if you like military history, and that’s it, then do that club and *really* do that club. By the time you’re a junior, you’d want to have a bit more focus in your extracurriculars, anyway. And people have gotten into Ivys with just one extracurricular – my friend got in, with good grades and etc, and her only extracurricular was skating.

But if school related extracurriculars and volunteer work don’t rock your socks, then get a part time job. Elite level schools are seeing fewer and fewer applicants who have real, paid work experience, and this could be a way for you to set yourself apart from the crowd, and have something to talk about in essays. Work counts as an extracurricular.

So, ignore grades and test scores for the time being. What kind of environment do you think would make you happy? Does your lack of school spirit bother you, or would you rather be left alone in that regard? Do you want a place with a rigid core curriculum that’ll force you to get a solid background in certain subjects before you specialize, or do you just want to explore whatever looks interesting to you?

If you’re not even sure of the answer to those questions, find some places across the spectrum, explore their websites (visit in person if you can), and then start narrowing. Good luck.

You will need an SAT in the 2100 range. Everyone talks about extracurriculars — but I can’t imagine that they are as important as everyone says — because there is no way that the university can verify them. I do not recommend lying about them — but put down every club you ever entered & don’t mention that they petered out after a few meetings.

If you can get a high SAT score, the determining factor will probably be your admissions essay. You have to remember that these schools accept about 10% of those who apply — and that at least half are qualified. These schools will turn down someone with perfect SATs and a 4.0 in facor of someone with 2200 SATs and a 3.8 (unweighted) if they think the latter is a better fit.