Q:  I have been taking AP courses since my sophomore year at a competitive high school.  All of them have been hard. I am averaging around a B/B- with occasional C’s and some A’s.  My SAT score is 1950 (out of 2400) and I am now a junior.  I have many awards in science and math competitions and over 250 hours of community service.  I also fence competitively, and am involved in 4 or 5 extra-curricular activities and clubs.  Will I get into a good college?

A:  Short answer:  Yes.

Longer answer: I sense that you are aware that you do have pretty impressive credentials!  Although you do not have primarily all A’s (and all A’s is not a magic formula for academic success), you have been challenging yourself with a rigorous curriculum.  Your high school must indeed be competitive, because most schools do not let students take AP courses until their junior year.  You are averaging a solid 650 on each part of the SAT -- and scores tend to go up when students take the SAT again at the end of the junior or the beginning of senior year. Balancing several extra-curricular activities, plus your fencing, you still manage to give an average of over 80 hours each academic year to service.  Honestly, I don't know how you find the time to do all this!

(You don't say anything about whether you are enjoying any of this.  I hope you are!  You are only a teenager once!)<!--more-->

Now we are left to define what you mean by a "good" college.  Do you mean just the Ivy League schools?  Entrance spots for these, of course, are the hardest to achieve, as many Ivies admit less than 10% of their applicants.  And Ivies tend to prefer mostly A’s and test scores in the 700’s, although there are exceptions.  But the Ivies represent, literally, just a fraction of the colleges and universities out there.

What do you mean by a "good" college?  Is it one where a highly-trained faculty is devoted to the academic and personal success of each student?  Where classes are relatively small, allowing for personal dialogue between teachers and students?  Is it one with up-to-date laboratories and well-stocked libraries?  An inviting-looking campus?  A rich program of cultural, athletic, intellectual, and social events?  A career center that helps you with internships, career counseling, and job placement services?  A campus climate that is genuinely welcoming to students of all backgrounds and orientations?  Nice dorms that you'd really want to live in?  Physically  safe surroundings?

You get the picture.  Please do not shop by "brand name"!  There are many vibrant, beautiful, intellectually stimulating schools from which to choose.  Give yourself time to do the research.  If you want to continue fencing in college, I suggest you start by looking at colleges that have fencing programs, and then see what the rest of the school is like. Go on some campus visits next spring.  Explore.  This is supposed to be fun!  There are scores of good -- and great! -- colleges waiting for you to discover them.