<p>I am currently a sophomore at a very competitive private school under a modified seven point grading scale. Over the last few month's I have been working hard to compensate for my B+(91) average as a freshman. My dream is one day to go to UChicago or Georgetown (Legacy). I wanted to know if I was on the right track to achieve these goals. I would greatly appreciate it if people made suggestions. Thanks</p>
<p>GPA: 4.25 out of 4.7 (96/97)
Ethnicity: Hispanic (from Puerto Rico)
Languages: Spanish, English, German and I am in the process of learning Italian.</p>
<p>Courses: Please note that honors courses are not offered at my school due to the already rigorous course load.</p>
<p>English II
German IV
Geometry (I suck at math.)
Chemistry I
AP World History (Only AP I could take sophomore year besides psych)</p>
<p>EC's:
- Yearbook Staffer (Editor next year) 2nd year
- I am currently undergoing a philosophy independent study with my English teacher.
- Volunteer at the local stamp convention hosted every three months
- Work at an RPG store (2nd year)
- People pay me to cook for dinner parties. I am a great cook and took a course at Johnson & Wales cooking school two years back.
- Co President of the book club
- Founder of my schools audio club </p>
<p>Summers:
Last summer I did a four week exchange program to Germany and this year I will probably be going to Columbia for a three week philosophy program. </p>
<p>Notes:
I consider myself a very cultured person. I have been traveling the world since I was about six months old. I know this is something GTown might value as they consider diversity and cultural knowledge important (or so my dad says). I just need some advice to see if I am on the right track. I asked my brother who is currently a junior at Columbia and all he told me was to work hard and be myself. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Thank you for your time.</p>
<p>EDIT: I forgot to add that I am planning on taking three or four AP's next year.</p>
<p>Sure. I think you you’re on the right track. I’m a Sophomore too, Georgetown was one of my choices you are WAY more suited than I am. Like your brother said be yourself and take classes that interest you and you’ll be fine :)</p>
<p>I also forgot to add that I took the AP Spanish exam last year and got a 5. Any other suggestions for EC’s? I will probably have to stop working at the gaming store this year due to school work. I feel like I need something…</p>
<p>Wow, you are looking great! Your EC’s are wonderful, and I personally wouldn’t recommend and more. Colleges would rather see that you are dedicated to a few EC’s, rather that seeing that you were minorly involved in countless EC’s.</p>
<p>As someone who is also not that great at math, I would not recommend taking AP Calc senior year. AP Calc involves nothing but word problems (which can be a problem if you have problems with word problems, lol). It also involves combining everything you’ve ever learned in math. For example, to solve a Calc problem you will often have to combine different things you have learned in math. You might use a trig. technique for your first step, and end up taking that answer and using concepts from Algebra I to find the final answer. If word problems are your strength, go for it! Otherwise I would suggest taking something like AP Stats your senior year. AP Stats only uses math up to Algebra II; however, it is still an AP class with a fairly challenging workload, so it still looks good on college apps. Perhaps not quite as good as AP Calc, but an A in AP Stats will look soooo much better than a D in AP Calc.</p>
<p>Advice
Perhaps you should consider taking more classes? I’m not sure if this is an option for you; at my school 5 courses is the bare minimum and is only allowed for seniors (everyone else takes 6). However, this really depends on the school you go to.
Does your school offer AP German? If not, consider self-studying for the AP German exam. Since you are taking German IV, I think you should be able to do this. Try getting a study book and see how it goes.
It never hurts to self-study for AP exams. If you do well on them, it shows colleges your self-motivation. And if you score well on a lot of AP exams you can win the National AP Scholar award.
Win things! Titles, honors, awards, whatever! It will ask you on your application if you have won any awards or honors. The only thing I had was Honor Roll, haha. I hear that it’s always good to have won things.
Rock your college essay senior year. UChicago rates it as being a “very important factor.”
I have heard that SAT subject tests will boost your college application.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! My school does offer AP German but I might not take the course since the teacher is an ass. I still have some time to decide class vs self study.</p>
<p>As far as awards go my school does not have much.</p>
<p>So final semester grades are out and I am freaking out a bit. My exam grades were atrocious and my grades dropped 2 percent on average. My GPA plummeted from a 96 to a 93.4. I am panicking a bit. Should I really be this worried? </p>