Am I qualified enough?

Applying to College
1

<p>Well, somewhere between sophomore and junior year I for some reason gained drive and actually wanted to..work. I have decided on a major and have finances to back up ivy league schools, however competition is tough and would like any course recommendations and criticism as possible.</p>

<p>Here was my schedule for Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and (most likely) Senior year </p>

<p>Freshman Year:</p>

<p>Honors World Cultures
Honors English I
Honors Biology
Algebra I
Creating music w/ Technology
Italian </p>

<p>Sophomore Year:</p>

<p>Honors US I
Honors American Literature (English II)
Honors Chemistry
Honors Business Organization & Managment (Recieved 3 college credits from MCC as "BUS101")
Geometry 9
Italian II</p>

<p>Junior Year:</p>

<p>Honors British Literature (English III)
Honors US II (Was going to take APUSH but was never exposed to AP Classes before and didnt want to overload myself)
AP Biology
Algebra II
Italian III</p>

<p>Senior Year:</p>

<p>AP English IV
AP Calculus (consisting of both AB and BC, its a double period course)
AP World History
AP Environmental Science or AP Physics B
Honors Economic Seminar
(Maybe? If there's space in the schedule) Accounting I</p>

<p>Questions about AP:</p>

<p>Right now as im writing this im in AP Biology, we have covered about 32 chapters and the class is intensive. We recieve approximately a chapter a night with 1-2 labs (and corresponding writeup's) per week. I personally liked Biology but adjusting to the course was difficult and i escaped the first marking period with a 78. Our teacher's tests consists of 50% prior AP Exam questions and 50% self constructed questions. Her questions are extremely difficult, however they are meant to (over) prepare us for the exam so it seems easy in comparison. I brought my average up, and passed the Ecology unit (Consisting of 5 chapters) with an 85 (unweighted, our school adds 10% increase in grades if in Honors or AP Courses). I have a 90 in the class now and the workload is tough but managable. </p>

<p>I wanted to add (alot) more AP courses for the next year, I can pass them if I devote the time. Over the summer im taking a Trigonometry/Analytical Geometry course at Rutgers Prep (it's a prerequisite for Hon. and AP Calc, would have been in Trig this year if I had only studied for my Algebra I midterm all the way back in 8th grade. Sigh.)</p>

<p>I've talked with the AP World History teacher (My US II teacher) and the course load dosen't seem difficult to the behemoth that is AP Biology, apparently she (AP Bio teacher) is making it unecessarily difficult..however she does have a 95% pass rate on the AP Exam. Im not mathematically inept so, im claiming the course that was rightfully mine by taking the prerequisite over the summer and headed to AP Calc. I feel that if I want to make it into an Ivy league school I should take a more challenging science course for my 4th year.</p>

<p>Should I take Physics B or Environmental Science? AP Env. Sc. is the easy choice however If Physics B is passable Im sure it'll give me an advantage.</p>

<p>Extracirriculars - Clubs - Volunteer work</p>

<p>Here is where I feel I will fall flat on my face when It comes to admissions, my extracirriculars are..okay, however they are nothing spectacular.</p>

<p>Extracirricular Courses (By end of Senior Year)</p>

<p>Creating Music w/ Technology
Hon. Business Organization & Managment
Hon. Economic Seminar
(Possibly Accounting I)</p>

<p>Clubs (By end of Senior Year)</p>

<p>FBLA - 3 years (Attended NFLC in '10, possibly in '12, also considering competitions)
Genetic Engineering
(Done side by side with college students of the Waaksman Institute, analyzing strands of Amino Acids to find groups not found before, if found a research paper will be published which will have my name on it)
Key Club - 2 years
LFD
(Leaders for Diversity (also known as Anytown) which runs the P.E.A.C.E club at our school, Leaders for Diversity aims to increase diversity and awareness amongst social justice issues present around the world)</p>

<p>(If colleges even look at Middle School or below, here are the other clubs/activities ive been involved with)</p>

<p>Yearbook Club
Music Instruction/Band - 5 years (Clarinet 2 years, Tenor Saxophone 3 years)
Jazz Band - 4 years (Picked up the Tenor Sax in 5th grade and learned enough to play in the Jazz Band then continued the Tenor Sax in 6th grade onward)
NJHS (National Junior Honor Society) in 8th grade</p>

<p>Out of School Activities</p>

<p>Private music instruction - 9 years
(9 years of private instruction consisting of Piano, Tenor Saxophone, Studio Production)</p>

<p>Volunteer Work</p>

<p>No continued applied volunteer work outside of school, short term volunteering acitivities include.</p>

<p>-Reading to children at the Library in the summer
-Assistance at Elder homes
-School car washes</p>

<p>PSAT Scores:
Freshman Year - 1650
Junior Year - 1700</p>

<p>SAT:
Didnt take SAT's yet, my first test is scheduled for Dec. 3rd (also taking May and June exams)</p>

<p>Is there anything I should add to my scedule to increase my chances of being accpeted to my schools of choice? Any advice would be appreciated.</p>

2

<p>Your target list should reflect a modicum of relationship to your credentials. You don’t cite a GPA and if your SATs follow your PSATs, you’ll be out of the running for Ivy-type schools altogether, I’m afraid. These are schools that reject the vast majority of 2400SAT scorers. You have to understand that. </p>

<p>You should make an appt w/your guidance counselor who can match your metrics with similar students from your school and where they have successfully applied. Good luck to you</p>

3

<p>You will not have grades from your prospective senior year schedule by the time you apply to school, so what you have now is what it is. That said, your schedule does not put you in the mix on the rigor of HS curriculum scale. Particularly since you are not taking advantage of resources that are readily available. If you (your family) have finances and your school offers a full range of AP and/or IB opportunities and you have not made the most of these advantages, your stock will likely go down at admissions time.
I know of many kids who have done well in full IB diploma programs run concurrently with AP and covering the curriculum for both in 1 year (so they end up with 6-8 AP exams in addition to 6 IB) who are still reaches for ivies. By way of example, D had AP Bio, AP World and IB Spanish 4 sophomore year and it ramped up from there. Also - you would need more solid academic classes senior year - you only have 4 listed and 2 years of bio followed by one year of APES is not considered rigorous, especially if you are ducking physics and AP Chem</p>

4

<p>Slow down…at the school where I work it would be hard to go from one AP as a junior to a full slate as a senior. You could be setting yourself up for disaster.</p>

<p>In a all honesty, an ivy league college to start probably isn’t in the cards. Transferring to one after doing very well at a solid college might be, but ivies accept kids who have excellent records and rigorous classes ALL through high school. And scores starting at about 2200 for those without a hook.</p>

<p>You can continue on your good course at many good colleges, being able to pay will put many within reach. So take this one step at a time, keep excelling and an ivy will be in your grasp for grad school.</p>