<p>Well, I just finished my freshman year of high school and I've drastically shifted my college perspectives. Upon entering high school, I was obsessed with getting into Yale. But then I realized that you can get an awesome education in other colleges as well, and that's really all I care about. I think I've set my sights on schools like UC Berkeley (the closest non-community college to where I live), University of Chicago, Boston University, etc.</p>
<p>What do you guys think I should shoot for? I'm thinking about college early :P</p>
<p>SAT (this is from 8th grade haha I took it for a gifted program): 2150 (740 M, 730 W, 680 CR). I'm going to take it again in junior year after studying and shoot for a 2300.</p>
<p>SAT IIs: Biology (800), Math II (800)</p>
<p>Freshman Course Load: Algebra 2/Trig., Lit/Writ, Principles of Business, Spanish 1 (middle school didn't offer languages), PE 9, Biology. Nothing special here, just one-yr advanced math. </p>
<p>Freshman Year GPA: 4.0</p>
<p>Sophomore Year Course Load: Physics Honors, AP Computer Science A, World Lit, World History, Spanish 2 (ugh.), and AP Calculus BC (skipped Precalc).</p>
<p>Extracurriculars: </p>
<p>Member of Octagon & Interact service clubs (over 100 hours of volunteering)</p>
<p>Founder and Co-President of our school's radio</p>
<p>Member of DECA, a marketing club (received fourth place internationally for event and helped raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association)</p>
<p>Media & Electrical Engineering divisions of Robotics Team</p>
<p>Scholastic Art & Writing Awards (Gold & Silver)</p>
<p>Started a global-issues publication with writers from around the world (<3)</p>
<p>Track and Field (V), Tennis (JV)</p>
<p>Piano (I've been playing for 10 years, and have won 3rd and 2nd place awards at the US Open Music Competition, receiving a HS Diploma in Music junior year in addition to my regular diploma)</p>
<p>Research Club Member (woohoo! Science research!), Technovation Challenge (national app program/contest for HS girls, 3rd place regionally)</p>
<p>Summer job at mobile app startup (Silicon Valley ftw. I direct marketing, PR, and market research)</p>
<p>Yeah. That's pretty much it. I also did the USABO freshman year, but I was 3 points off qualifying for the semi-finals; I'm going to try again sophomore year after actually studying. During junior year, I'm going to apply to be a DECA state officer (no one runs for that, though, so idk how "special" that is; I'm just doing it cuz I love DECA), and next year I'll be on the staff of our literary magazine. None of this has actually happened yet, as of today, so I don't consider that tangible. </p>
<p>As for school, my school is a huge, supercompetitive (and super cutthroat) public school. I still love the place though. :P And it doesn't rank. A note about my GPA - it's a bit deceptive. I actually received an A- in PE (because of my trip to DECA Internationals), but the thing about my school is that A minuses are counted as A's and so are A plusses, so whether you get a 90 (A-) or a 98 (A+) in a class, it'll just show up as an A on the transcript.</p>
<p>Anyway, my passions are writing, music, and science. Is that too trichotomous?</p>
<p>What do you guys think are some good target schools for me? (I still haven't COMPLETELY ditched my Yale ambitions, but I consider that a high reach for me in any case.)</p>