Advice for an Incoming Junior?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>So obviously I'm a little young to be doing a chance thread, but I'm more just looking for advice as to how to add to my application. The time has come to start seriously looking into colleges so any advice would be greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>Scores:</p>

<p>PSAT: Sophomore: 197 (no prep) will retake Junior, practice tests say 215ish trying to get it up.</p>

<p>SAT: Practice tests = 2100ish, will take for the first time in October, then again in March</p>

<p>ACT: Is it worth it? Should I look into it? No one really takes it here.</p>

<p>SATII: Biology, Physics, US History (May), Math2 (June)</p>

<p>Grades/Classes:</p>

<p>Freshman:
Algebra II: A/A
Speech and Debate: A/A+
Beginning Composition (grad. req.): A+/A+
Concert Band: A+/A+
Biology:A/A+
Honors English: A-/A
Spanish 1: A/A-
Fitness Athletic: A/A</p>

<p>Sophomore: First Semster was a little rough, I moved the summer between 9th and 10th and had a really hard time coming to terms with it.
Symphonic Band: A/A
Spanish 2: A-/A
Math Analysis: A/A
English: A-/A
Modern World History: A/A
Chemistry: A-/A
PE: A-/A-</p>

<p>So I didn't take any APs sophomore year. I didn't really qualify and my classes got really messed up. I should have been in precalc but my old school put trig with precalc and my new school puts it with Algebra II, so they wouldn't let me into precalc until I took math analysis (basically just trig, it's a filler class for kids who have a hard time with math). A few kids took AP Physics, but I didn't qualify without the trig. A lot of kids took AP Euro but I didn't qualify because they take World history freshman year and it's a prereq, but at my old school we take world (or AP World) sophomore year. I tried to get into AP Music Theory but it was full. (Sorry to ramble..) </p>

<p>Hopefully my junior & senior years can make up for lack of rigor?</p>

<p>Junior (confirmed):
APUSH
AP Biology
AP Physics B
AP Statistics
English 3
Spanish 3
Precalc (online, I need 7th period off for softball)</p>

<p>Senior:
AP Gov/Econ
AP Lit
AP Calc AB
AP Psychology
AP Comp Sci
Honors Spanish 4</p>

<p>My School is a rigorous top 100 public school (its not magnet or anything). It doesn't have many honors classes but has like 17 APs (I will take 9)</p>

<p>ECs:</p>

<p>Science Club/Science Bowl Team: 9 (Secretary), 10, 11, 12</p>

<p>Leo Club (Volunteer work, significant time committment): 9, 10, 11(treasurer), 12 (99% sure I will be president)</p>

<p>Club Connect (Founder & President): 10, 11, 12. A group I started with the local nursing home where students of all ages write letters to nursing home residents. Last year I worked with 2 classes, this year I have 6 lined up at various schools.</p>

<p>Science Olympiad Team (Co-Founder & Co-Captain): 11, 12. Already planned/confirmed</p>

<p>Internship at UC Berkeley (3 hours/week) : Already rec. for the program. 11, 12. I have a choice of helping in a lab (but not doing any of my own research) or going to schools and science fairs to teach about projects at Berkeley. I would love to do either, but I'm torn as to which I should do. Any advice?</p>

<p>Level 7 Pianist: Basically my whole life. I'm not spectacular or anything, but I'm okay.</p>

<p>Work Experience:</p>

<p>Employed at a local piano school where I assisted group lessons (2hours/week): 9</p>

<p>Started my own "business" where I teach 3 piano students to make spending money/reaise money for summer programs 10, 11, 12</p>

<p>Volunteer Work: </p>

<p>Local nursing home: will have 400 hours by senior year, already have 150. 10, 11, 12</p>

<p>Leo Club (see above): 20 hours so far, will probably be around 50 by application time.</p>

<p>Athletics:</p>

<p>I played competitive club soccer for 5 years, but quit at the end of ninth grade for various reasons (injuries, time, moving, etc.) worth mentioning?</p>

<p>JV Soccer: 9
JV Softball: 10, 11 (just got elevted captain for next year)
Varsity Softball: 12</p>

<p>Summers:
After 8th: 2 weeks volunteer work in Costa Rica, club soccer training
After 9th: I moved, this summer was a little crazy. I did do CTY Genetics though (I've heard this can actually hurt your app and just make you seem like a rich kid?).
After 10th: 5 week internship at Mahidol University in Thailand (partially subsidized, I will pay some for travel and room & board, but i raised the money myself) through an exchange program called KEI. My lab will be working on immunology. They say they have had some Intel Finalists & papers published, somehow I doubt it can be done in five weeks but if that goes well I will definitely try to get published and enter Seimens, Intel, JSHS etc.
After 11th: Obviously nothing certain. I will definitely apply for Clark Scholars (chances for that too?), a local internship program at Berkeley that also offers a stipend, and a few other internships that offer a stipend. If I get rejected from all of them I will probably take Anatomy, Microbiology/Immunology or Genetics at the community college and try to get a job. </p>

<p>Other info:
State: CA
Female
Third gen. Harvard (dad, uncle and grandpa went there)
Parents both went to Stanford for grad school (I doubt they care, just in case though)</p>

<p>Schools:
Harvard
Brown
Stanford
NYU
Columbia
Pomona
Caltech
Cornell
Dartmouth</p>

<p>(Obviously I'll apply to safeties too but those aren't really a topic of interest)</p>

<p>Thanks for reading this ridiculously long post with waayy too much info. I would love advice (especially as to how to help out the nonexistant awards department).</p>

2

<p>You have a really impressive resume. I don’t know too much about the schools your applying to but it seems reasonable that you would be accepted to at least a couple of those schools. I’d say the most import thing for you to do is make sure your grades stay good junior year. The lack of awards shouldn’t matter so much because your ecs and grades show that you are more than worthy of one. Your piano will reflect really well on your work ethic and dedication. Schools tend to love it when you show a lot of commitment to something.</p>

3

<p>You have an impressive resume no doubt. Focus on slimming down your ECS a little, they are still very good, but the number doesnt matter as much as the involvement. Its better to be the leader and founder of one really active club than to be a nonsignificant member of 100 clubs. With regards to the ACT: TAKE IT. The ACT has been gaining popularity and in the midwest and south it is MUCH more popular than the SAT. Many colleges actually think the ACT is better in terms of testing how you will do in college, which is why if you take the SAT you have to take subject tests too, but just the ACT is fine. That being said NO college prefers one or the other. I got a 2020 on the SAT my soph. year. My junior year, on my first time taking the ACT, I got a 34, which is about equivalent to high 2200’s. Obviously this was a big difference. It all depends on what type of test taker you are. My cousin did the opposite, she got a 2220 on her SAT but a 28 on her ACT. It all depends on what type of learner you are, some people do better on one and some on another. The ACT gives you the benefit of not taking points off for guessing, however, the ACT gives you less time per question than on the SAT. If time constraints don’t really bother you, you might do better on the ACT. The ACT has a science section, which is not very knowledge based, more reasoning and logic based(reading graphs and charts and interpreting info). If you are good at this you might do better on the ACT. The math is pretty much the same on both, but the english is a little bit easier on the ACT (there is no vocab). You should take both the SAT and ACT. If you score much better than one on than on the other, obviously send the higher one. If you score close to the same on both, send both to show that neither one is a fluke(it reinforces your score). Good Luck! As of now you look to be on target for all those schools.</p>

4

<p>@stewta4 thanks for the advice I will definitely look into the ACT do you have any recommendations for a prep book?</p>

5

<p>One more question: will my lack of sophomore AP’s and resulting lower weighted gpa hurt me in the admissions process? Any opinions?</p>

6

<p>They say they want you to have the most rigorous schedule possible. But perhaps you could explain how the moving affected you so you couldn’t for the first year at your new school.</p>

7

<p>Hopefully that will work. Looking back I should have taken one or two AP’s online but too late now I guess.</p>

8

<p>i’m a rising senior and after nearly 100 hours of studying I got a 2260 on the SAT. It was soooooo hard for me. This summer I decided to look into the ACT b/c I couldn’t get my reading score on the SAT up high enough: I took a practice test and got a perfect score on the ACT reading first try, science was my only hard section. TAKE THE ACT!!! DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THE SAT LIKE MEEEEEE!!! go to the store and buy a practice test book for the ACT, I always refused b/c I was afraid of the science section, but it’s not hard at all: YOU CAN GET AT LEAST A 34 IF YOU STUDY REALLY WELL!!! (that corresponds with a 2280 btw) i was just like you as a junior: stressed out. if you want evidence here’s my junior year chance thread:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1007749-university-chicago-early-admission-chance.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1007749-university-chicago-early-admission-chance.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>i wish that i had someone who told me to take the ACT instead: MUCH BETTER IDEA!</p>

<p>also, you need to expand your passions and do something FANTASTIC! make your business exceptional or go to nationals with your science olympiad or expand club connect to something MASSIVE! you have to impress those admissions officers. if you get a 33+ ACT SAT Subject Tests that are 750+ each, continue your straight As, and do one, just one thing, fantastically, you’ve got yourself a shot at harvard, especially with legacy. GOOD LUCK!!!</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1168613-chances-congressional-page-columbia-ed-will-chance-back.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1168613-chances-congressional-page-columbia-ed-will-chance-back.html&lt;/a&gt;
chance back!</p>

9

<p>also, if you were wondering about applying to the page program like you wrote in my thread: apply to your local representative’s office, or really any office in the state. You can also apply to one of your senators’ offices if you want to become a senate page (BOO!).</p>

10

<p>@anonymousstudent thanks for the advice! I will definitely take an act practice test then since that seems to be the general opinion :)</p>

<p>About the page program, what’s the deadline? I’m looking at the spring term for next year. Do I just call some representatives until I find one who can/will accept me (if one will lol)?</p>

<p>Also, what were the classes like? Did your AP classes get all messed up?*</p>

11

<p>You look like a very well rounded applicant and will most likely be admitted to all the places you want, as long as you mantain grades during your junior year and do as well as you have projected on the SAT/ have good subject test scores. HOWEVER, like most people are saying, TAKE THE ACT!!! I cannot stress this enough. Being from the northeast, not many people take the ACT. I did not prepare much (spent 3 months with my tutor on the SAT, then had 2 weeks of quick prep to learn the ACT) I came out of the ACT thinking the highest I got was in the mid-20’s which would be awful, but I ended up with a 33 composite with my lowest score being a 31. It really is worth it to try it out at least once and if it’s not for you, go back to the SAT. But definitely take it once</p>

12

<p>@volleyball13 hopefully I’m not too well-rounded i know that could also stand against me since I havent stood out in anything really. </p>

<p>And thanks for the advice on the ACT I will definitely take it. If I did poorly would I be required to send the score to schools who don’t have score choice? I dont really know how that all works.</p>

13

<p>But try the SAT too. I got a 2330 my first time taking the SAT (I had done practice though) but when I did practice ACTs I did pretty poorly. Really it’s different for each person. Maybe one will be better for you, or maybe you’ll get the same for each. You’ll never know until you try.</p>

14

<p>I just got a 2160 on my second SAT practice test but I only got 710 on math and I know I can get that up to 790/800 really easily (I just forgot one formula grrrr) so I think I’m in good shape for the sat with a little more prep I could probably get over 2300. I’m not worried about standardized testing as much as whether or not my EC’s and course rigor will be good enough :/</p>

15

<p>so i just got back my AP scores and got 5-calc ab 5-microecon 5-US history and 3- lang and comp</p>

<p>i don’t think the page program messed up my APs too badly. if you are taking calc they have a FANTASTIC teacher. For US History you will have to study alongside the class but it’s not hard. they have advanced physics and advanced language. so you won’t really mess up your AP stuff too much.</p>

<p>go on the website of a couple congressmen/women in your area and the information of how to apply will be there. then you can submit that app to as many offices as you like.</p>

<p>[Congressional</a> Page Program | Congresswoman Lois Capps, Representing the 23rd District of California](<a href=“http://capps.house.gov/services/page-program.shtml]Congressional”>http://capps.house.gov/services/page-program.shtml)
here is a congresswoman in CA’s website and it has details about the application, it was the only pdf file i could find online that allows you to type on it, so it is the one i used for my application. (i know is says fall 2010, but it the app is the same)</p>

<p>call a member and see which offices are accepting applications. if you get in it WILL BE THE BEST EXPERIENCE OF YOUR LIFE!</p>

16

<p>No, I think it’s just you either send in all or none, but you can chose not to send in any. As for being well rounded, that isn’t a bad thing. But it’s better to be well rounded with maybe one EC that sticks out and youre really passionate about!</p>

17

<p>@anonymousstudent I called! They told me to call back on Tuesday because the person with the info is in DC. And sadly I am not taking calc because when I moved my math classes got all switched around and I got put in a second half of algebra 2 trig remedialish math class instead of precalc where I would have been at my old school. But anyway This sounds like an amazing opportunity if I get it I’ll lose captain of softball and probably president of Leo club but I don’t even really care it just sounds so cool! :smiley: besides it’s a long shot anyway so most likely I’ll be staying. </p>

<p>@volleyball13 yes I will be working on making one thing stick out! I’ve been adding science things gradually but what I’m mostly hoping for is some kind of science Olympiad award (even though thats unlikely for the first year of the program) or getting a really cool internship next summer. Or maybe science bowl will go better this year we were one spot away from placing :)</p>