I'm an English citizen, living in the US. I'm white/caucasian. I'm also a junior. GPA: 3.61 UW (4.0) 4.83 W (5.0) Class Rank: 47/719 Junior Year: AP English Language/Comp, AP Spanish 4, AP US History, Pre Cal Honors/DualCredit, Business Information Management, Orchestra, Physics Honors. Senior Year (prospective): AP English Literature, AP Spanish 5, AP Euro, AP Govt., AP Econ., AP Calc BC, Orchestra, AP Bio II. PSAT is 201. Averaging 700s in all subjects on practice SATs. SAT in March. ECs: JV Soccer, 9,10 [stopped because our head coach retired] Chamber Orchestra, 9-12 Eagle Scout Sea Scout Ship Leader National Honor Society 10-12 Spanish NHS 11-12 Key Club 11-12 Math/Spanish/Science Tutor 9-12 Board member of 501c3 charity Semi-professional video game player (lols?) Attended genetics internship with Dr. Craig J Venter [human genome] Asian Culture Club 10-12 Primary interests in Genetics/Microbiology. Desired colleges (greatest to least) Rice Uni/Reed College, Baylor/UT Austin, somewhere else? I'm having a lot of trouble deciding/knowing where I should apply, because both of my parents went to college in the UK. Potential hook (?): My dad went to a Polytechnic college in the UK (received Bachelor's). My mom went to a cc for nursing (associates). Does this make me a first generation university student? Anything else? Thanks :) ----EDIT----- Regions I'd like to study in: Texas, SW, West Coast, Northwest. My UW GPA should be going up a lot, I had a really bad year last year because of my parent's divorcing. But this my grades are improving a lot (my class rank should go up, a lot of people aren't taking the courses I am). My school is really competitive. I don't understand the whole concept of "reaches". Baylor, Reed, Rice and UT Austin are all schools I like. Oh, and as for college experiences... I'm not one for huge sports teams, I'm kind of a recluse. My friends note me for really witty humor and über liberal viewpoints. I plan on maintaining my current relationship in college, and have no interest drinking. I guess. I'm not really going to be a "frat boy" I'm not looking for a party school. I really love genetics, and I want to focus on my school work with a smaller group of friends. Oh, and I refuse to go to an ultra religious school or a really conservative school. Because of my personal opinions, which is why I'm incredibly drawn to Reed. :)