<p>Note: This is pretty long but I just wanted to throw all the info out there that I could to get some good informative advice from the experts on CC!</p>
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<p>Hi, I am a junior in high school and I have a few questions regarding college apps. Btw this is my first post so sorry if it's not up to College Confidential par or something haha I just thought this would be the best place to ask for advice (even though SOME people on here can be kinda uptight and belittling when it comes to score expectations). I don't stress over things like this too much but I'd like to be educated on something significant like it beforehand so I can prepare well.
This'll probably be a pretty in depth answer thing so forgive me if I provide too much info. Basically, I'm honestly a pretty intelligent person (academically, socially aware, existentially aware, etc), however due to a couple reasons I feel as though, resume-wise, I really am lacking. </p>
<p>I really want to build a strong resume for college, mostly because financially my family is very middle class (~$65k+ annually w/ mortgage, car payments, 2 college-aged children) - which means that we're at that awkward point where we make too much money to receive any significant financial aid based on need, but we don't nearly make enough to cover education for the type of colleges I dream and have passion to go to. Yes, I know that prestigious universities and such can often be overrated and unnecessary for a good education, and I could likely easily enter my state's flagship school with no issues (OSU). However, I think that between things like quality of education, connections available, looking better for grad school, etc, I would be more fulfilled if I was able to enter a "dream school" (of course, this doesn't mean I wouldn't be quite happy with a regular state school. I'm just ambitious.) Sorry for the rant haha but all in all, I want to build a stronger college resume because I don't have many other factors going for me I'm also Indian-American. I am first generation tho. Not sure if thats all advantage, disadvantage, or irrelevant).</p>
<p>Academically, I currently do pretty well. However, freshman year of high school I did not do very well. This was due to multiple things, ranging from my lack of a structured work ethic, depression, dealing with severe long-term and still occurring insomnia, awkward existential crisis at too young of an age to understand why, etc. I don't blame these things for why I did bad, that was my fault, but I know those are the main causes. Ended freshman year with a pretty horrible 2.8 gpa (yeah i know), I took that summer to sort of stop being an idiot and learned to deal with all my issues and etc. Sophomore year I ended up taking any AP and Honors classes I could and even with barely having to study and just paying attention in class, I had a cumulative of 4.3 gpa through the year (once again, i am smart haha but I guess I get stressed too easily which explains freshman year). My cumulative is now something around a 3.4gpa. This year I am taking all Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and Honors classes. If I do as well as last year, I should receive a 4.5 gpa and by the time I apply for college senior year I hopefully will I have reached 4.0+ cumulative. </p>
<p>I'm currently studying for the ACT and PSAT (SAT I might take later depending on my ACT score. I'll probably end up taking both but if I score 34-36 on ACT then yeah). I'm in an ACT Prep class which is going pretty well (last diagnostic test I scored a 32 which isn't great but pretty good for minimum studying/practice). Hopefully the PSAT might throw me into National Merit Program (my brother was a finalist just of his PSAT score). But who knows. Also I take all college-level classes, and I got a 4 on both AP exams I took sophomore year.</p>
<p>Due to both my parents working full time/late hours and because I don't live in walking distance from my school (and my neighborhood has barely any people my age that I can carpool with) I haven't been able to do much if any extracurricular things. However now that I have my license I want to try to take active roles in some clubs I enjoy! Freshman year I was a part of a Business/Finance Club at my school where we discussed business, ran stock simulations, etc. I'm a Youth Leader at our local cultural association. Also, because of my aforementioned issues regarding transportation before this year, I used to (for money) do motion and graphic design work online. I gained a fairly large following and made a respectable amount of money and worked for fairly large clients (this was when I was 13-15. I was really good at it esp for my age but not anything I am passionate or interested in now/long term). I don't know if I should list that as work? Should I? I was technically self employed but I did make money.</p>
<p>All in all, thats basically my academic and EC history. I know it's a freaking TON of stuff but I found that on here people will generally ask a lot of questions (like why I didn't join clubs or play sports earlier, or why I did so bad freshman year. etc.) so I thought I'd just be weird and over-write to get it all out of the way. Sorry if its a long read but hopefully it gives you more insight in my situation and what I want to do. I really just want to know what I can do to be a more appealing student. I am personable and friendly, so interview-wise I think I will do well when I get a chance to meet an Admission Officer/Interviewer, but before that I need my app to look good. I want to start volunteering this year at places like our local library, soup kitchen, donation facilities. I have various clubs I want to join this year also and be dedicated to them. I'd also love to find some interships somewhere but that can be hard, especially in central Ohio where there aren't many credible internships. Any good specific advice?
If it helps, I can let you know what I'm interested in. This can be confusing and I'm very weird about what I will pursue, and I will often decide something passionately I want to do for the rest of my life and a week later change my mind (Doctor, Computer Scientist, Investment Banker, etc). I'm good at alot of things but not EXTREMELY good at anything specific, which makes it hard. But heres an abstract varied list of what I'm interested in (keep in mind I don't want to study all of these things, but when I eventually decide it will likely be in one of these fields or a combination)
- Business (MBA, Business Administration, Marketing)
- Econ/Finance
- Engineering (mech)
- Technology (CS)
- Philosophy (no matter what i study for my major, i will probably minor in philosophy)
I probably will end up doing undergrad in something im interested in (mech eng, comp sci, finance, marketing), take a couple years to work in that field, and then get my MBA. I know thats kinda overly structured for a junior in hs but it changes all the time haha.</p>
<p>Well I wrote a crazy amount of stuff here so if you've gotten this far then you probably know me better than some of my friends now and hopefully you can help! Thanks :)</p>