Am I on the right track for the Ivies??? I'll chance baaaaccckkkk!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Sophomore, class of 13!!! </p>

<p>Before you turn away, just please read what I have to say!! I'm not asking you to "chance" me because it's waayy too early for that, but I could use some advice so I can plan my future ahead of time. Don't a lot of you wish that you had all your "senior applying to top school" wisdom ahead of time? Well now you can help an ambitious sophomore!</p>

<p>I'm thinking about applying for Cornell's Bachelor of Architecture Program ED... but long way to go 'til then! So here goes:</p>

<p>Gender/Ethnicity: Female Asian
School: Public non-competitive in Texas
Current G.P.A.: weighted- Around 4.5 (13.6 on 12.0 scale) non-weighted- 4.0
Current Rank: 2 or 3/850</p>

<p>Planning on taking PSAT in the fall
Lots and LOTS of AP/Pre-Ap/Honors Classes</p>

<p>Art Related Stuff:
1. AP Studio Art: Drawing (I realize that the portfolio i'll submit to Cornell is super important!!!)
2. The Modern Art Museum of Ft. Worth Teen Artist Program (selects 15 teens to work with professional artists for a semester)
3. Plan on volunteering at a local art museum next summer (should I?)
4. Plan on entering in TONS of art competitions this year: Scholastics Key, TFAA, PTA Reflections... etc. etc.
5. Won some awards (school-wide and state-wide), ribbons, etc. and had my work in museum exhibitions and cafes... pretty much too lazy to go into details right now :/
6. Part of the Art Club Leadership Committee at school.
7. Plan on applying for the Marie Welsh Sharpe Art Foundation Summer Seminar the summer between junior and senior year-- not sure if I'm good enough though :p</p>

<p>Architecture:
1. Hopefully I can intern at a local architecture firm; hahah 'cept I doubt any of them care about high school kids... any advice?
2. Summer after my junior year I plan on taking a three-week introductory to architecture program at Cornell.
3. Taking PLTW Engineering program at my school</p>

<p>Other ECs/Volunteer/Teams
1. JV1 Tennis (10th)--- Probably only doing for 1 semester. Program SUCKS since the coaches only care about the top 8 varsity players who represent the school. (Btw there are four teams: Varsity, JV1, JV2 and JV3).
2. Leadership/Student Council (9th grade)
3. Joined other clubs like Junior World Affairs Council (has a weeklong study-abroad type program in Italy during spring break)--- which sponsors Invisible Children (club that raises money for orphans in Uganda), Key Club (community service; most likely will do "Adopt-a-Teacher in which I'll help out a teacher during lunch with grading papers, etc.), French Club---> French Honor Society senior year (LOVE French art, music, architecture, food, movies, culture... I could go on and on! They might have a study-abroad program in France but not sure yet. If they do, I would probably choose it over the Italy trip in JWAC), and possibly the school's literary magazine club (one of my friends convinced my to go to the first meeting). Most likely will be a part of NJH. Photography club and Engineering club also interest me... also maybe UIL Math :) (BTW, I know that it sounds like I've joined A LOT of clubs but right now I'm just going around to see which clubs are fun and actually do some interesting projects. After this year I'll probably have narrowed it down to the ones that I'm most passionate about and hopefully will land some leadership positions!!!)
4. Planning on volunteering at local library and soup kitchen place Saturday afternoons. Might get some of my friends to volunteer with me so it wont be such a drag... got the forms in but still waiting for them to register. </p>

<p>Hopefully I can get the SAT/ACT/SAT II/AP/PSAT scores to qualify. I know Cornell B.Arch is next to impossible to get into and it's pretty hard to chance me now but can you at least tell me if I'm on the right track? Any advice is welcome!!! Thanks</p>

2

<p>youre on the right track, but you cant really tell until you get your test scores back</p>

3

<p>It’s kinda early because you don’t have any SAT or ACT scores to help gauge where you are in comparison to all the other applicants. That being said…</p>

<p>It looks like you are absolutely on track for the top schools. If you pick three or four extra curriculars and realllly focus on them deeply like you look like you’re doing, then at that point you have done everything you can for the Ivies. </p>

<p>The tricky thing about the Ivies is that you can do everything right and still get rejected. So the absolute most important thing is you apply yourself fully in school and ECs and pursue what you genuinely enjoy. It looks like you’re doing that, which puts you ahead of quite a few applicants already. </p>

<p>On the standardize testing, give yourself plenty of time to take them for a first time, study intensely and then retake if necessary. And try both the SAT AND ACT!!! Some do better on one than the other and you would be surprised how different the scores can be. </p>

<p>Good luck!!! Push yourself for the next three years and have fun with it!</p>

4

<p>Ok, like I said earlier, I DONT WANT YOU TO CHANCE ME. I’m well aware of the fact that it’s too early to do so. </p>

<p>All I want is some advice like:</p>

<p>Am I in the right programs and clubs?
How can I land a job shadowing/internship position at an architecture firm?
What can I do to improve my situation?
What are my weaknesses?
What can I do NOW to make me stand out during the application process?</p>

<p>Stuff like that, you know?</p>

<p>And thanks jaimeleschevaux for your advice!</p>

5

<p>And if any of you out there had taken AP art, what can you tell me about the class? I’m slighly intimated because all the juniors and seniors in there have INCREDIBLE artwork but I know that if I challenge myself I will improve.</p>