<p>Yes I know, eighth grade is way too early to be thinking about college but for some reason for the last two weeks or so I have been coming on this site and reading chance threads and depressing myself by thinking I can never get there. I do not think I can ever win a Robotics or Mathematics competition and to tell you the truth I don't want too. Then why do I keep murdering myself over things.
I never even wanted to get into Harvard before and only recently got interested by some of the subjects that are offered there. Truthfully, I just feel like that by the time I have to apply to colleges that I want to be up to the standard that I think I should be at that people think you should be for applying to Harvard.
I know that the best thing to do is to work hard towards what I like to do and enjoy doing it to my fullest extent but I really do not know what that is yet.
I have a long way to go in life and I know in the end where you go to college does not matter as much as what you do there. Like really, going to community college does not mean you are going to be working at McDonald's for the rest of your existence.</p>
<p>In the end I just think I want to know, what I should be working hard towards other than grades and SAT scores. I am a straight A student with nothing less than an A on my report grade till now with is really not too tough even in all the honor courses you just have to be organized and work hard. Basically all I know now is that I like history and algebra and I have a passion to learn more. Philosophy and really learning about ancient civilizations especially about the Aryans and Ancient European History interest me and I am really trying to find programs and plan out my perfect high school career. I know I am hard working and will work with all I've got as long as no one leads me astray but I get nervous by looking at these threads with people not getting into these Ivies after winning International Art contests or whatever.</p>
<p>So...after my long rant, if you even bothered to read it after me saying I'm in eighth grade. Can you please help me and give me some reassurance and just tell what I should be working hard on during high school. It is just that if I have the time should I not do this? Like I don't want it to be senior year and I think I did not do my best, right?</p>
<p>Thank you if you care to reply to this. It will really mean something after all the time I have spent on this site.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it. I didn’t know anything about colleges in 8th grade. I didn’t even think I would make into my state school and I didn’t care either. I didn’t look at colleges until the end of junior year. My interests completely changed in high school.
I now look back and say, “Wow, I had that many international awards?! But I still feel like an idiot!” Just completely forget about this site and come back in 3 years.</p>
<p>I decided that I was going to apply to Harvard, Princeton, and Yale during August-September of my senior year. I’m a 2014 applicant, and though it’s impossible to predict my chances, I’d say I’ve got a pretty good shot at getting into at least one of the three. So I suppose it worked. We’ll see in April.</p>
<p>How to get in:
Take tough classes, get good grades, get good test scores.
Find something you LOVE (not just something that will look good on an app) - and do everything you can with it - not because you feel you need to, but because you want to. Enjoy your high school experience. It’s what I chose to do.
Fill in the app. Write a good essay.
Wait. This is the hardest part. Then it’s a coin toss. (Or a dice roll, or a lottery pick). There’s no “in” path. (besides being a recruited athlete)</p>
<p>(iM TALKiNG AB0UT WAHTGR0UPTHE0RY SAiD) N0 D0NT F0RGET AB0UT iT!!(^^^^) THATS TERRiBLE ADViCE!! WHEN Y0U GET T0 HiGH SCH00L THEY ARE G0iNG T0 START PREPARiNG Y0U iN NiNTH GRADE S0 iTS G00D THAT Y0U ARE ALREADY THiNKiNG AB0UT iT. i AM iN NiNTH GRADE AND i ALREADY KN0W M0RE AB0UT HARVARD UNiVERSiTY (BECAUSE i T00 WANT T0 G0 T0 HARVARD) AND UNiVERSiTY 0VERALL THAN M0ST JUNi0RS S0 N000 EiGHTH GRADE iS N0T T0 EARLY D0NT LET ANYB0DY TELL Y0U iTS T0 EARLY. ALS0 STARTiNG T0 THiNK AB0UT C0LLEGE iN Y0U JUNi0R YEAR (^^^^) iS WAY T0 LATE! S0 i C0NGADULATE Y0U iN BEiNG S0 F0CUSED.</p>
<p>I’m a thirteen-year-old freshman, and I believe it’s never too early to know and work towards your goal. Put effort in everything you do. Do extracurriculars you love. Establish good relationships with your teachers. Have a good attitude and personality. You’ve heard all this before.</p>
<p>There’s absolutely no guarantee that if you win an international mathematics competition, you’ll be admitted into Harvard or any other prestigious school without a second thought from the admissions officers. Be an outstanding, passionate person with a desire to learn, and it won’t matter where you go to school; you’ll be successful.</p>
<p>Indeed, freshman year of high school is not too early to set such lofty goals - that is, if your goals are “healthy”. However, I have the impression that the goals of which we speak of are not healthy; in fact, I believe these goals are generally stress-inducing goals. In other words, my advise to HS freshmen in not to FORGET about college, but to leave college in the back of one’s mind.</p>
<p>^^^^^^
I think he’s right about that. But really, concentrate on high school. College can indeed be a great goal, but be concerned about your attitude approaching college. Don’t stress out about it. Don’t read the results threads because those will only depress you. I personally know someone who got into Harvard, and he got in by keeping a 4.0, getting a 35, and doing what he loved to do in HS. (which involved a great EC - US Congressional page and quite a few awards, etc.)</p>
<p>Keeping college on the back burner and preparing for it is okay. Obsessing over it is not. I don’t think you are, though; it sounds like you know what’s healthy and what’s not when it comes to this. Follow Ancalagon’s advice, and most of all ENJOY your high school years. The upcoming four years are going to have more stuff happening around you than you ever imagined. Keep yourself motivated and do what you feel you need to do, but remember that many, many kids get into schools like Harvard that truly enjoyed high school and had tons of fun in life while still achieving high goals. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for all your input. I’m still confused but oh well I did try. I just felt as if I had time then I should start to prepare for everything so you know what you have to do when you get there. But I guess I will just know what I have to do in high school when I get there and work my hardest, do my best, take advantage of all I can, and basically do the right thing at the right time.</p>
<p>Thank you again, I hope I get wherever I’m supposed to.</p>
<p>Please don’t burn out. Make this casual. I recommend focusing/researching colleges at most for 2 hours a day. Just focus on your grades and what you like to do. Your career choices will likely change from 8th grade to 12th grade when you actually choose your majors.</p>
<p>I know what you mean. I’m a junior and I feel that way sometimes. Don’t think about what you NEED to do to get into college; you’ll only stress yourself out. Whenever I look at my resume for college, I look at everything that could be better. Instead, think to yourself “yeah, I AM a straight-A student!”</p>
<p>Besides, you’re in eighth grade. You have nothing to compare to other CC users. Don’t freak about things like SAT scores. Yes, maybe someone got a 2310, but that person is also a senior in high school who has been preparing 4 more years than you.</p>
<p>In all honesty, just work at your grades day by day, and don’t think about how things are adding up on your college resume. That’s like staring at the clock during a boring class; it just makes things go by slower and stresses you out more. I feel much more chill when I only think about the short term things because it all seems like a small task that I can easily accomplish.</p>
<p>And don’t worry about finding colleges. 8th grade, I was convinced I was going to a small engineering school. 3 years later, I want to go to a huge, research-based, D1 sports school.</p>
<p>So the bottom line: just take things one day at a time. Be mindful of the future, but don’t dwell on the future.</p>
<p>I’m just here to echo the words of these above posters. Your post says it all and shows that you have a remarkably developed understanding of the “college game”. I do firmly believe that collegeconfidential is an invaluable resource and that it will undoubtedly help you though I do advise you to avoid excessively looking over chance threads. They are a surefire route to a severe case of CC neurosis and will only make you insane, not to mention depressed.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback everyone. I’m just going to try to pursue what I love and try my best to keep a good gpa and good test scores while doing that.</p>
<p>One thing I want to ask though, is in your opinion which is better AP or IB courses. I’m in NJ and looking for a good high school to go to next year. For some reason I feel like IB is better to take because it seems that you have to work harder in it but then again I do not think AP seems easier by any means. </p>
<p>Anyone know which one they like better from experience?</p>
<p>I also would like to ask if you recommend me taking a college credit class this summer, I feel wary of it for some reason. Do you think its better to get started early?</p>
<p>To Totalderiv- Of course not, I have just really started thinking about want I want to do in life and really what I feel I want to work toward. Where you go to college, I have realized really makes a difference in wherever and whatever you do in life. Not to say that going to community college ruins your chances of doing well in life but I think it makes a considerable difference. It is okay if in the end I do not get into Harvard(I probably will not) but I definitely want to work hard to get into a good college because it may affect my years after college.</p>
<p>There is no formula in any way to get into a good college, and I know it now. I just wanted to know of other people’s opinions of what they think I should work hard on in high school. I think I have got my answer. I just hope I apply it this September when entering high school.</p>
<p>@ OP: It seems crazy right now, but really, you change so much between your years of 9th to 12th grade. I didn’t believe it when people told me this as a freshman, but now as a senior, I really think it’s true. You may <em>love</em> Harvard right now and think it’s the end-all, as I did, but odds are good that your opinions will change. It doesn’t sound like you’re into Harvard just for the name, which is good, but at the same time, it’s hard NOT to take the name into account.</p>
<p>Basically, for your freshman year at least, just enjoy high school. Take classes you like to take, and start exploring what subjects interest you the most. Outside of that, there’s not really much you can do. Good luck :)</p>
<p>Thank You fuzzyfirebunny. Yes I know, I probably can not imagine yet what lies ahead in the 4 years of high school for me, what it will do to me and how I will come out of it. I hope it goes well, whatever happens.
Harvard is a good school and that is why I think I might want to it. It is not the end all but it seems like it is a benchmark for people, and if you can get in, it puts you in a new light to people. Not to say you can’t do anything after getting rejected from the place, look at Warren Buffet or Ted Turner. These guys became great people in life after getting rejected from the place. But people consider Harvardinians the best of the best, and I would definitely not mind being in that group.
So I will work hard in high school, not just to get into Harvard but to surpass what people consider what you have to be to get into the best college in the country.</p>
<p>Hey I do not think anyone answered a question of mine. I want to do something this summer. I am probably going to volunteer at the local library-my favorite place- but I would love to do have some kind of internship or such at a local museum. Anyone have any ideas for that around the New York/New Jersey area?</p>