I’m currently a high school sophomore, and after suffering a motivation deficit much of the past semester, I’ve rekindled my spark for school and hope to attend an Ivy League school. My stats are as follows:
White
Male
GPA: 5.75 (UW 4.95)
Essentially my school has a weird system where an unweighted A is a 5 and a weighted A is a 6.
I’ve taken all honors classes except for one semester of regular Spanish last year, and will be taking AP classes in every subject except Spanish next year, with all APs senior year.
PSAT: 1490 (could be better but I didn’t prepare; I’m definitely going to prepare for next year)
No ACT/SAT or subject tests to show yet, but I plan on taking 2-3 SAT IIs in the future.
ECs:
Cross country
Track
Band (first chair trombone in highest ensemble) (band is where I am really dedicated, I am in several jazz classes as well; I also am in marching band and pep band–I plan on auditioning for some state ensembles this coming fall)
Citizen club (essentially a club based on current events)
Youth and Government
In the coming years I plan on joining Model UN, NHS, and some other various clubs, and I have been offered an internship with a private GP over the summer, which I plan to do.
I don’t have many awards yet but I anticipate that those will come (National merit, etc.)
Anyway, what is the weakest part of my resume? I got one B(+) the past semester, will this prevent me from getting into a top school? All suggestions and advice are appreciated.
I think we need official test scores (new SAT or the ACT) to officially chance you. Please stop being paranoid. You have a privilege unseen by most kids, hell most of the country: legacy at not one, not two, but THREE IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS. As a kid whose parents received their undergrad education outside of the U.S. and received grad educations at USC and an unnotable school in the U.S., I’d be over the moon with a gift like that.
P.S.- kids from my school (Asians, so makes it slightly harder) have been admitted to Ivies with anywhere from 4-9 B’s on their transcript piece together how much one B makes a difference.
Thanks for the response. I’m worried my ECs won’t be good enough, though. Does anyone have any suggestions regarding how to make the most out of them? Also, would taking an extra AP class help me significantly? Next year I am considering adding another class, but I might drop it for a study hall.
@bl2000 I think the general rule of thumb is quality>quantity. 10 random, scattered EC’s are nothing compared to 6-7 that you are truly dedicated to, and have made a big impact on the community. Find something you are passionate about, and excel in it. Get some meaningful community service.
When it comes to AP classes, think in terms of your school. Does your school restrict the number of weighted classes for underclassmen or any grade? How many AP’s does your school offer? How many of them can you take? Can you double enroll in two subjects in a year? Here, for example, let’s take a look at my school. We offer 15 APs and 8 honors (4 of which are languages, 1 honors science, math, lit (for juniors only), and theater). Sophomores and Freshman have core requirements that take up a good half of their schedule, so there’s not that much room for weighted classes. You can’t take both AB and BC at the school, and you can’t double enroll in any subject matter in a single school year (i.e. Spanish and Japanese, Stats and BC, Physics and Bio, you get the picture) with a max of 7 classes per year. If I’ve taken 8-9 AP’s with these rules set in, then that’s not too shabby. But, let’s say everything was open range, and I could take anything whenever I wanted, then that’s bad. If your school only offers 4 AP’s, then take 4 AP’s. If they offer none, see if you can go to a CC. Just don’t bite off more than you can choose. In the end, one AP class won’t make or break.
I think you are on a good track. But please (sorry to sound ranty) don’t downplay your 1490! That’s only 30 points from a perfect PSAT score! It bugs me how people will pretend that the scores they got are awful and blame it on lacking of studying - knowing full well they did amazing. Especially since I can’t even break 1450 WITH studying. Anyway sorry for invading your thread with this.
google prepscholar “how to get into harvard” and you should find a really long article by some guy who says he’s a harvard grad. when i first read this it totally blew me away and revolutionized the way i looked at ec’s and applications in general. I think it could definitely do you some good. also you are insanely lucky with that legacy so you have that in your favor.
piece together how much one B makes a difference.