<p>I plan to apply to the school my mother went to, Columbia.
I am currently a Freshman so I have time to add more activities now.
I am doing all of the following:
The top band at my high school
The marching band
The jazz band
Boy Scouts (should be Eagle by my junior year)
GSA at my school
All the honors classes I can take with As
Preparing for PSAT (I know it's changing)
Preparing for ACT and SAT</p>
<p>I've made a 2200 on a practice SAT (Made by the College Board) and 177 and 224 on both the PSAT and a practice one. I'm from Alabama (Just in case that matters to any of you)
What do you think?</p>
<p>If anyone knew the “secret formula”, it would be copied and duplicated over and over. Your best bet into Columbia is to be an athlete they want or have Mom dump a ton of money into the endowment. Short of that, be the best You you can possibly be, enjoy high school, and don’t worry about getting into a specific school too much. If you have strong academics, test scores, and ECs, you’re bound to wind up someplace good, even if it isn’t Mom’s alma mater.</p>
<p>Don’t worry too much about ACT/SAT right now. The material on that test is based on things you learn in school. It will be a big help to just take time and get more comfortable using it. </p>
<p>While its nice to have an eye on college admissions down the road, more important IMHO is to use these years to do things for yourself and your benefit. So here’s what I wish someone had told me when I was around your age.</p>
<p>There’s a saying that the last thing you expect a fish to discover is water, so your day-to-day life probably seems routine and unremarkable. Yet this is the last time in your life you’ll see your parents & siblings on a daily basis. Right now it may feel like that’s too much, but once its over its going to be over forever. So make an effort to enjoy some time with them these next few years. The memories & bonds you make today are going be be a big part of the glue holding you together. Similarly make time for your friends.</p>
<p>As for school, if you take care of the learning then the grades tend to take care of themselves. Colleges really look for students with an inner love of learning. Its a funny thing that in your 12 years of schooling thru HS graduation, you’ll probably never get even an hour’s instruction in how to learn; its just what to learn. There’s a I highly recommend called What Smart Students Know by Adam Robinson, written by one of the founders of the Princeton Review prep service. I have never seen a better explanation of the steps you need to follow to really learn the material. You can also find lots of material on the web; start with [University</a> of St. Thomas : Academic Support Center](<a href=“http://www.stthomas.edu/academicsupport/studyLinks/default.html]University”>http://www.stthomas.edu/academicsupport/studyLinks/default.html)</p>
<p>BTW you are not limited to the teachers in your school; I hate seeing kids whine in the forum “I had a bad teacher” to try to excuse a bad grade. There have long been workbooks and other resources out there, and in just the past 5 years or so programs like iTunesU have opened up avenues that were once unthinkable. You can watch some of the best profs in the country lecture on almost any subject under the sun, including ones overlapping what you’re learning in school. And this applies even if your teachers are good; watch some of these series to supplement what you’re getting in class.</p>
<p>One area you could make some changes is in your planned ECs. Its a smart idea to explore in 9th and 10th grade to see what really captivates you, but that can’t be it. Member of this and that is not the way to impress very selective colleges. As Stanford writes