Am I on track? Please help!!! sophomore for HYPS

Applying to College
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<p>ACADEMIC:</p>

<p>I have a 4.0 unweighted GPA and I'm in the top 1% of my class. I'm planning to take AP Calc AB, AP English, AP US History, AP Bio, and AP Psych next year as a junior...and also Marketing and Band, which are both extracurriculars of mine. I plan to take Band all four years. Is this enough to show commitment? It's the hardest schedule possible, and I'm really determined to maintain my 4.0, and I know I can do it if I work hard.</p>

<p>EXTRACURRICULARS:</p>

<p>I recently campaigned and won a state officer position in DECA, so I have a state officer position as a sophomore and I plan to continue that leadership position as a junior. I've won lots of DECA awards, and I've heard that having a state officer position is extremely impressive to adcoms. Is this true? Because I just won my position but I heard it takes a lot of time, so I'm not sure if I want to do it again next year. Also, my state officer position relates to volunteering, and one of my focus areas is volunteering (see next paragraph), so will this help my application?</p>

<p>I'm also in band, which I've won lots of state comps. I play flute and I take lessons outside of school too. I intern for McNerney's campaign for congress, and I have lots of volunteer hours at the library, tutoring in India, as a Girl Scout (working to get Gold Award), for VT Seva, human rights club, and Unicef club. I'm treasurer for the human rights club, and I'm also an officer in VT Seva. This year, I'm going to run for an officer position in Unicef club and I know I will win because I already have so many leadership positions. Will having four leadership positions (DECA state officer, human rights club officer, VT Seva officer, Unicef officer) be enough for HYPS? If not, what other clubs should I join to get more leadership?</p>

<p>TEACHER RECS:</p>

<p>My teachers have told me that I'm very smart and talented. I know I'll get really good recs, and I'm planning to get them from my AP English teacher next year and maybe AP Bio. I'll also get one from my DECA adviser, and since I'm already a state officer, I know that rec will be good too.</p>

<p>I try to talk and visit my counselor a lot because I know he'll be writing one of my recs. He's already wrote one for me for my DECA state officer campaign, so I know that he'll write a really good one.</p>

<p>SAT/AP/SUBJECT TESTS:</p>

<p>I haven't taken any, but I took the PSAT and I did ok (in the ~200) range. I plan to take SAT prep at Elite this summer to bring it up. What is a good SAT score for HYPS? Is it possible for me to bring it up that much?</p>

<p>Am I on track for HYPS? What part of my resume should I improve the most? What part am I good in?</p>

<p>Also, should I start a club? My friends have started a Model UN club, but I know they're only doing it for colleges. I want to do something in volunteering, because I have lots of leadership and extracurriculars related to volunteering. What do you suggest? I was thinking about Key club. Does anyone know anything about Key club?</p>

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<p>[url=&lt;a href=“http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/05/500x_not-a-chance.jpg]Nope.[/url”&gt;http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/05/500x_not-a-chance.jpg]Nope.[/url</a>]</p>

<p>The fact that you are asking what clubs to join/start solely for the sake of putting an EC on your application is ridiculous.</p>

<p>Also, does this really matter right now? Just study and stuff.</p>

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<p>JoJoBear: I didn’t mean to come off as asking “solely for the sake of putting an EC on my applications”. Thanks for all your helpful advice.</p>

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<p>You should not add more leadership positions, as colleges will begin to question how much time you spend on them.</p>

<p>I’ve worked with people who’ve taken on tons of leadership positions, but they have so much on their plate that they do nothing with them other than claim the title.</p>

<p>You really need to calm down and enjoy your life instead of doing a bunch of artificial things to build a resume.</p>

<p>I would not advise starting a club with so many leadership positions on your plate. If you’re taking leadership positions, you had better be putting effort into them so that others don’t have to pick up your slack. Putting effort into four leadership positions and putting in the effort you need to start and successfully run a club would leave you with little to no time for anything else.</p>

<p>Oh, and don’t bother with band if you’re just taking it for the apps.</p>

<p>Fake is not better. Fake people who bite off more than they can chew and who put very little effort into a large number of things just so they can look good on paper don’t win many friends in the real world.</p>

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<p>I definitely don’t want to actually jump to conclusions, but it seems like you are probably Asian, judging by VT Seva and volunteering in India.</p>

<p>It is too difficult to say for sure as a sophomore. The ~200 PSAT score raises red flags to me though. If you get the equivalent score on the SAT, that could be problematic. If you want to be “safe” (realistically there’s no such thing at HYPS) then you probably need to get at least a 2200. </p>

<p>Let me try my best to address your questions:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Yes, four years of band shows commitment, especially if you have progressed to a higher level band (varsity/honors band for example). Your academic schedule is fine.</p></li>
<li><p>In terms of your clubs, it seems that you have sufficient progress and focus in your various activities, so you don’t really have to add more clubs. If you have a specific major you want to shoot for, it might help to join a club related to that. </p></li>
<li><p>Key Club is a service organization, so its more of the volunteering stuff you are already doing.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>You are probably more or less ok at this point. If you do want to make your own club or pursue more ECs, I would recommend you do something that isn’t necessarily volunteering related, as you have plenty of that.</p>

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<p>You haven’t disqualified yourself from the rat race yet.</p>

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<p>Thank you for all the help, everyone! I didn’t realize that I might come off as asking for clubs and leadership positions purely for colleges, but that’s not the case.</p>

<p>I was just hoping to get your expertise on this.</p>

<p>So should I run for Unicef officer? I mean, I already have three leadership positions, one being a state office which I’ve heard is very impressive in itself. However, I still want to have as many leadership positions as possible to increase my chances of admission. Is Unicef officer worth the time? I mean its just a club, but it is actually one of those clubs where people actually do things.</p>

<p>Also, I currently have a kind of risky grade in AP World. I doubt I will get anything less than a A-, but in case I do get a B somehow, would that completely eliminate my chances for HYPS?</p>

<p>Lastly, what can I do to improve my resume? (Besides SAT…because I’m going to take Elite SAT prep over the summer, so that will be covered.)</p>

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<p>Someone knowledgeable please help!</p>

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<p>Bump please… Is Key Club a good club to start for volunteering?</p>

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<p>Enjoy highschool, chocofever. It’ll end before you even realize.</p>

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<p>Calm down and do what you love and love what you do. HYSP knows a fake, molded applicant when they see one.</p>

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<p>4.0 in the most rigorous schedule your school offers is plenty for academics.</p>

<p>Your ECs are boring. If you join or found a slate of clubs, they will still be boring. Look at some of the threads here and in the chances forum about impressive ECs. You’re a sophomore so you can put some time into developing something meaningful. By the way, do something you’re actually passionate about.</p>

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<p>Here’s what you do:

  • Have a passion
  • Do ECs that are tied to your passion. For example, my passion was education reform so I interned with the lieutenant governor and worked on an education project, I published a piece on education reform, I volunteered at a free private school for poor girls, and I did research on alternative education. None of those things were especially time consuming or draining, but they looked pretty unique and impressive.
  • Shoot for 700 or above on every section of the SAT
  • Don’t be crazy about studying and grades, do a reasonably good job and aim for no more than 2 Bs a semester
  • Don’t give yourself a masochistic schedule, do what’s challenging and reasonable
  • Be really curious and intellectual. I truly fascinating student will be really evident in teacher recommendations. Colleges don’t want a grind.</p>
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<p>it looks too stereotypical (especially if you are asian). nothing pops out (if you are asian). you need to not be a stereotype (asians in band is a stereotype). show interest in something that is not stereotypical of asians (if you are one). for example: there was a kid in my school two years ago that was asian with 4.0 uw & 2300 sat & perfect sat2 scores. he was really “interested in african culure” so he said that he “taught himself swahili” and put that as a thing on his app. he was pretty much science/math/with varsity tennis (again stereotypical of asians), so I guess that made him standout a little? he got in but then again, his brother also went to harvard so…
If you are white, go learn chinese ;)</p>

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<p>“it looks too stereotypical”</p>

<p>Then how do I make myself look less stereotypical? What should I change about my resume? I’m still a sophomore, so I’d like to know how to market myself better as soon as possible so I can make changes and plan things out.</p>

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<p>I see you tutored in India. so if you go to India again, you can open an English class and earn money by teaching english. instead of keeping the money, donate it to a needy school as a scholarship for needy children. this will show, leadership (you opened your own thing in a foreign country), desire to help/volunteering (setting up scholarship in India), and make you standout (how many people does that?).</p>

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<p>You are getting good advice on this thread and on your other thread: It’s quality, not quantity, of your leadership and engagement that matters. Collecting leadership positions as if they were trophies works against you because you can’t possibly make a meaningful contribution to all these organizations. You end up looking superficial and too similar to too many other applicants who are also in the trophy-collection business. </p>

<p>raiderade has it right: find what you love and use your junior and senior year to really engage at a meaningful level in that area. Not only will it make you a more interesting applicant, but it will make you a more interesting person and the latter is a benefit that will keep on giving for years to come.</p>

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<p>Thank you all so much for the advice! Keep it coming!</p>

<p>“instead of keeping the money, donate it to a needy school as a scholarship for needy children.”
Exactly that! I actually already had a plan like this for my Gold Award project. I plan to use my state officer position (in a very important student business organization) to collect money to build a SCHOOL in India. I think this will help show altruism, my sense of nationality, and I can also show my leadership ability. Can someone confirm this? </p>

<p>If I do choose to use my state officer position to build a school in India, it will take a lot of time, so I’d like to know if it’ll pay off if I do it. Thanks!!!</p>

<p>ALSO, some of you have mentioned that I appear fake or that my resume is too padded. How can I avoid appearing fake or padded? My mom has searched a lot of college admission info for me, and she has helped me plan out my extracurricular and academic spreadsheets. I am confident in my mom’s ability to market myself to colleges (especially HYPS and Wharton), but some of you said I still appear fake. How do I avoid that?</p>

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<p>"How can I avoid appearing fake or padded? My mom has searched a lot of college admission info for me, and she has helped me plan out my extracurricular and academic spreadsheets. I am confident in my mom’s ability to market myself to colleges (especially HYPS and Wharton), but some of you said I still appear fake. How do I avoid that? "</p>

<p>Ummm… why don’t you ditch your mother and get some of your own ideas that spring from your own interests and desires and not for their appeal to outsiders? You wanna stop appearing fake? STOP BEING FAKE. How many HS sophomores have a full time college marketing agent working for them and planning out their litany of impressive looking activities?</p>

<p>I’m sorry to sound so harsh but you’re in it so deep you can’t even see how upside down your situation really is.</p>

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<p>T26, I was never “so deep that I couldn’t even see how upside down my situation was”. I was only asking if I was doing the right things for college, which, in my humble opinion, is not even close to what you said.</p>

<p>I’m certain of the fact that everyone plans out their activities to maximize their impressiveness for college. Like what, you haven’t ever thought of doing something to benefit your resume? I don’t mean this harshly. I am just saying this as a matter of fact.</p>