Almost Halfway Through -- What Now?

Applying to College
1

<p>I'm currently a sophomore approaching the midpoint of my high school career, and I'm just looking for some input on how I've done so far and what I should improve on in the next year and a half or so before it's time for me to fill out those apps.</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<p>SAT/SAT II/ACT:
Have not taken yet, plan to take SAT in October and SAT II Math II in June, probably Literature sometime during junior year
PSAT:
Freshman year: 202 (77 CR, 65 M, 60 W)
Sophomore year: 222 (77 CR, 65 M, 80 W)
*Did not study for either test, plan to next year to try for NMSF or NMF
Weighted GPA: 4.07 (should be 4.125 at end of sophomore year)
Unweighted GPA: 4.0
Rank: 10/500 -- should go up a little at end of year
AP: Taking Euro this year, see below for later years.
Junior year courseload (tentative): AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, AP Lang, AP Art History, AP Psych, AP Physics B, Advanced Journalism, Advanced Journalism -- 4x4 block schedule
Also planning on taking US History and an intro physics course (to cover a pre-req for AP) at a local community college this summer
Senior year courseload (tentative): AP Stats, AP Lit, AP Gov/Econ, AP Environmental, AP Human Geography, either AP Chem or a sociology course at local CC, Advanced Journalism, Advanced Journalism
I'm planning on either taking a few more community college courses (probably Calc 3 and maybe Spanish IV or something) or attending the Medill Cherubs summer journalism program at Northwestern (if I get in) the summer before senior year.</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
Journalism (10 -- co-copy editor and online editor -- I will definitely be a section editor next year, if not editor-in-chief). I really, really love my journalism program, and I'm sure it will be my main EC. I set up a program for the distribution of local high school newspapers in the city's library system, but currently only mine is a part of it. I was also running my program's website during the judging process for the NSPA Online Pacemaker Award, which we were nominated for (for the first time ever), and I am currently working with our digital editor to design a new one, which should be better and thus should stand a fair chance of another nomination/possibly a win.
Academic Decathlon (10 -- county champions for first time in school's history, I was the highest scoring decathlete on the team at both county and state, won six medals at county). This was our team's first year going to state, and we didn't know what to expect -- we got crushed. But I am really motivated to see us do much better next year, and I have rather lofty goals for myself. Also, I don't know if this means anything, but this year's captain is convinced that our coach will make me captain next year.
Future Business Leaders of America (9-10 -- secretary (9), president (10) -- good success at section-level, minor success at state last year, looking to place again, but probably won't move onto national-level until junior year, if at all). I think I'll run for president again, and I think my chances of getting it are high.
Marching Band (9-10 -- no leadership). At this point, I don't think I'm going to continue with this. I enjoy it, but the football games and competitions will interfere with journalism deadlines. The band is also rather terrible, and I myself am not that good of a musician, so I don't think it would've meant much in terms of college apps. I have had some pretty fun times, though.
Small things: CSF (9-10, very little involvement, don't really plan on getting very involved), National Honor Society (applied this year for the beginning of junior year, which is the earliest my school allows people to join -- probably won't get very involved, besides community service), International Club (not very involved right now, but it's pretty fun, so maybe next year) </p>

<p>Job Experience: None, but currently applying for an internship with a local newspaper, which I'm hopeful that I'll get.</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community service: Some library work (boring, I know) freshman year, thinking about getting involved with friend's program in which band members go to a local elementary school once a week and play music with the kids to keep them interested in music -- to an extent, it would be my penance for quitting.</p>

<p>Teacher recs: One from my journalism teacher/AcaDeca coach (same person) should be really, really good, not sure of the other at this point
Counselor rec: I feel like I know him better than most of my classmates do at this point, and he seems to like me.
Essays: I don't know...I've been told that I'm a good writer, and I don't think that I'm bad, but I'm also not sure that I'm amazing or anything. </p>

<p>Other:
State: CA
School Type: Public suburban, about 2000 students
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Male
Income: Too high for good aid/hook
Hooks/Misc: I'm one-eighth Spanish, so I think I can check the Hispanic box? lol
Schools:
No set list yet, but the schools I want to apply to at this point are Stanford, Yale, Northwestern, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, University of Washington, and MAYBE Brown and UChicago.</p>

2

<p>When you say that your income is too high for good aid, what exactly do you mean? Can your family comfortably cover the cost of the CSUs or UCs? Or, will your bottom-line safety be a CCC for the first two years?</p>

<p>Your PSAT scores are predictive of very good SAT scores, and you have a very nice GPA. Talk about the money issue with your parents. You may want to be looking at places that have good merit-based aid. There are a number of threads on that topic in the Financial Aid Forum. Just keep scrolling down until you hit them.</p>

3

<p>I’m not sure of the exact number, but right now it’s at a point where, yes, we could easily cover a UC/CSU (~250k/year, maybe a little more). It might go down a little bit, because my dad is approaching retirement, but his pension would still keep us over 200k/year. </p>

<p>However, my parents and I have talked in the past, and while they still want me to apply for as many merit-based scholarships as I can – and I will – they have told me that we are in a place financially that I can choose a school without worrying about the impact on the family, which I am very grateful for.</p>

4

<p>That is truly wonderful! As you continue to post here at CC, you will probably be asked about the money issue again, so do include a note about having the money for up to $X available each year, when you ask for recommendations. The biggest scholarships are the ones that the colleges and universities award themselves. There aren’t many large independent scholarships that are purely merit based and that will pay out for all four years - many are small (good for books or a computer) and/or only for the first year.</p>

5

<p>Ah, okay, thanks for the advice! </p>

<p>If you don’t mind, can you tell me what you think of my decision to stop doing band? I’m rather worried that colleges will see that I stopped after two years and label me a quitter – I think I probably COULD do it even with Journalism, but I feel like I’d be able to focus on my other things more if I didn’t. It’s that whole great-at-a-few-things-not-average-at-a-lot thing. (I’d also be able to take two more AP/community college courses if I didn’t do band – not that it really matters, but it’s a bit of a consolation prize.)</p>

6

<p>It is fine to drop A so that you can concentrate your energy on B. Don’t worry about that. Especially because it will also allow you to take some tougher classes that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to fit in.</p>

7

<p>Anyone else? Bump.</p>

8

<p>Don’t worry about dropping an extracurricular you’re not interested in. If you quit one extracurricular but continue to work hard and advance in another (especially if you show enthusiasm about it in interviews/essays) adcoms won’t see it as a sign of a quitter, but rather someone who can prioritize.</p>

<p>Do what matters most.</p>

<p>You’re very strong academically. I would suggest you really push the journalism aspect since it looks like you’re really interested in it and involved in doing journalism-related projects for your school, as a job or internship, &c…showing significant depth and commitment to an activity can be very impressive. You’ve already done some really cool things in that area. If you can do extraordinary things within that realm, it will be much better than being a pretty accomplished but unremarkable person in a handful of other ECs. (I’m probably kind of biased against National Honor Society…but I think it isn’t particularly interesting/a tipping factor in college admissions. You obviously contribute to your school community and have great grades. It doesn’t really add anything additional about who you are.)</p>