Am I on the right track?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
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<p>I'm only a sophomore in high school but I am so in love with the University of Chicago (and I really don't feel like doing school work right now...) and I was just wondering if I am on the right track to a U of C acceptance. If not, then I would really love advice on what to improve. </p>

<p>classes so far:
Drawing/Painting 2
French 2
English 1 Honors
PE Dance
Geometry Honors
Biology 1 Honors</p>

<h2>Science Research 1</h2>

<p>Studio Art 2D AP
French 3 Honors
English 2 Honors
Intermediate Choreo (dance team)
Algebra 2 Honors
Chemistry 1 Honors
Science Research 2
Science Advanced Projects
European History AP</p>

<p>(I've gotten all A's so far, and I'm expecting to have straight A's seconds semester this year as well)</p>

<p>classes I'm planning on taking junior year:
French 4 AP
English 3 Honors
Intermediate/Advanced Choreo (whichever I get in to)
Pre-Calculus Honors
Chemistry 2 AP
Science Research 3
U.S. History AP
(I'm thinking about self-studying for an AP, maybe Music Theory AP? I've been playing piano for over 10 years now so I'm hoping that it won't be too difficult. do you think i should self-study?) </p>

<p>EC:
Chair/JV Captain of J.E.T.S. (Junior Engineering Technical Society) (my team won 1st place in Southern California and 2nd place in the state this year)
Co-Founder/Co-President of Club L.I.V.E. (Learn Interact Volunteer Experience)
Secretary of Publicity for S.T.E.M. Club (Science Technology Engineering Medicine)
(woah I never realized how many acronyms there are in my life...)
CSF for the past so many semesters that I've been in high school
I plan on completing all 10 Certificate of Merit levels next year (my level 9 playing test thing is tomorrow, actually. ah!)
next year my friend and I are going to start a club for the arts because we realized that our school doesn't really have any
INTEL Science Fair (Honorable Mention last year, and this year's science fair is next week so I'll see what happens with that) </p>

<p>volunteering:
Ride to Fly (an incredible organization that teaches people, mainly children, with disabilities to ride horses)
playing piano for the patients and staff at the Kaiser Permanente hospital
this summer my friend (different friend, not that it matters to anyone reading this) and I are looking for programs in Los Angeles that teach children art (let me know if you are aware of anything like this, please!) </p>

<p>I haven't taken the SAT yet but I'm going to try to get at least 2200. Nothing, of course, is a guarantee so for now just assume that I'm going to do really badly :)</p>

<p>That's all I can think of off the top of my head, please please please tell me what you think and give me some advice if you have any. I would really appreciate it. </p>

<p>Oh and I go to a top 100 public high school in SOCal and I'm Persian, if that makes a difference. For now I don't think Persian means anything since we don't have minority status even though we so should! If America has not noticed, many Persians have skin far from "white". But, I digress...</p>

<p>I don't have anything more to say, I just don't think I should end this message with the last paragraph. THE END. (there we go)</p>

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<p>oh and I would also like to know what schools you think I should apply to based on this information (I know that this doesn’t really give enough to determine something like that, but I figure why not ask anyways)</p>

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<p>126 views and no responses, really?</p>

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<p>Your interests seem pretty engineering-oriented; what attract you to Chicago, a school that won’t have an engineering program until at least 2020?</p>

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<p>Yeah, I would agree with the post above mine. I think you’re definitely on the right track to go to any “top university” (recognizing, of course, that no one is really a shoo-in for a school with this low of an acceptance rate), but I don’t know if UChic would necessarily be the best place for you. I think research university, definitely, but you probably should go to a school that at least offers engineering because even if that’s not your exact interest right now, you never know how you’ll change in college. I would recommend looking at Washington University in St. Louis, Northwestern, Northeastern (as more of a safety), Boston University (also as a safety), NYU, and the ivies.</p>

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<p>I guess it does look like I’m meant for engineering, but the thing is that though I like it, I don’t love it. I am good at math which is why I’ve become so involved in these programs, but you can see through my music and art that I really enjoy creativity and I love to question any and everything in order to reach a conclusion or discover a greater meaning. What would probably give me the most happiness in life is to work in business, which is why economics and anthropology really stick out to me as subjects to study in university. University of Chicago is so perfect in my eyes because of its strength in those categories as well as its appreciation for the individual and for uniqueness, which is something I have been missing from the people and society I currently live with. The school is also near Chicago which is a huge deal for me because I live and breadth off of creative urban energy. Everything about that city I find awe-inspiring and just incredible. This is one reason why I have placed Washing University in St. Louis lower on my mental list of universities I would love to go to. I realize that St. Louis is a city, but it really is not the city for me and I am not sure if the air and atmosphere of St. Louis is something that will inspire me to want to live like Chicago does. Do you have any suggestions on what I could do to let U of C know that my interests are in line with theirs?</p>

<p>Sorry that is so essay-ie, I’m writing an essay for my English class right now so I am just in that mental state…</p>

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<p>and if it makes a difference I’m also going to be doing Academic Decathlon next year (I found out a couple days ago that it’s way more awesome than I thought it was!)</p>

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<p>Just to make sure you are well aware, UChicago’s econ, math, and music classes are highly theoretical. For example, in math you will be more interested in finding if a function is integrable on a region rather than actually calculating what the integral is equal to. Proving theorems about what guarantees a sequence to converge than proving what something converges to, etc. Similarly, in the economics department, it is highly math focused. And for music, there are very few classes that you will teach you how to play the piano or write a piece of music (though there are a few here and there that people find)</p>

<p>This isn’t to say people don’t end up being successful businessmen (women) or whatever else your heart desires – I know quite a few! It’s just a different route than most people in the field end up taking (which could be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it).</p>

<p>As an aside, there are engineering clubs on campus that are starting up that you may enjoy while you are here. One of them is hoping to build a solar car? In addition to this, there are students who end up majoring in math and/or physics and go onto grad school for engineering – so there are options if that what you end up wanting to do.</p>

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<p>Thank you so much, the more I learn about the school the more I want to marry it!</p>

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<p>You’re welcome and glad to hear it. :)</p>