Advice for a rising junior?

Applying to College
1

<p>Hey all, I'm going to be a junior this fall. Reading the "What are my chances" forum is rather discouraging, so I'm looking for some advice. Here are some of my stats:</p>

<p>Asian-American Male at an extremely competitive private school (best in Texas)
GPA: 4.25 weighted, 4.00 unweighted with the hardest courses available
Rank: School doesn't like to, but I believe I'm tied for 2nd out of 90-something
Only standardized test was a 710 on SATII Chem. Maybe retake after AP Chem this year</p>

<p>Some ECs:
Math team - 9, 10, (11, 12, will be a captain as a senior)
Intercultural club - 10 (11, 12, plan to increase involvement and possibly be president as senior)
Volleyball - JV 9, 10 (11, 12, made varsity this week)
Crew (rowing) - 9, 10, (11, 12)
National Spanish Exam - 5th in region in 9, 3rd in 10
Band - 9, 10 (quitting b/c it won't fit into my schedule, but joining choir instead since it meets after school)</p>

<p>Our school does an annual fundraiser for a shelter which raises $20,000+ a year. I will be in charge of the money this year.</p>

<p>School requires 15 hours of community service each year. I've only met the bare minimum. Is it worth doing more these next two years? I think I can rack up at least 100 this year, but I'm afraid the colleges might see it as me just doing it for admissions.</p>

<p>Worked for my dad in between frosh and soph years, and studied abroad in Spain for a month this summer.</p>

<p>I'm not gonna lie, I don't really do much outside of school. I'm really not a racking-up-500-hours-of-community-service type of guy either. And I'm not too sure about my passions. I really don't do much besides hang out with friends and play sports and video games, and starting something junior year doesn't make me look very committed. However, I hope to apply to the top schools like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. Any advice on what to do?</p>

2

<p>Continue in the same strain, my friend. You're doing fine. Don't shape your life according to what the colleges want you to be. I don't think they like people who shape themselves according to what they should be, actually...they want forward thinkers. With good grades, scores, and ECs, which you've got.</p>

3

<p>Here's where to start. Rethink how you're choosing colleges. </p>

<p>Sounds like you're just hooked on prestige and want to go to the "top" colleges as if any highly-ranked college is a substitute for any other one. Bad idea, but I'm not going to write too much because I doubt you can be persuaded to look for colleges that are a fit for you; name is all that's going to matter, right? </p>

<p>Reading this forum is already giving you a peek at what your chances are going to be and what the competition looks like. You have the time now to begin forming a more realistic list, or you can just focus on schools that are reaches for even the most talented and pay scant attention to those where your odds of acceptance are actually good.</p>

<p>Here's one link for those reading thru the thread, an excerpt from a book about college admissions. <a href="http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/78/07879796/0787979678.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/78/07879796/0787979678.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

4

<p>Really, it's my parents that care about the name more than I do. You know the stereotype about Asian parents, right? I'm basically going to have to apply there anyway, so why not try to get in while I'm at it? Though I don't necessarily want to go to those schools (I haven't done much research), it's always said that aiming high yields better results.</p>

<p>You know nothing about me, please don't make assumptions.</p>

5

<p>Yes you should definately apply to the "reach" schools. But apply to some safeties as well.</p>