Arts Sophomore Aspiring to be in Ivy League School

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi guys, I'm currently a sophomore (never too early to panic! :D) in a magnet school for the band program. This post may consist of many questions so please bear with me. For one, as a part of the visual and performing arts academy, I'm required to have at least two arts classes a year out of a total of six classes. </p>

<p>As an opening question, I was wondering if my peers in the IB (all four years) program (which I sometimes wish I was in) will be compared with me, despite not being required to take two arts classes a year.</p>

<p>Now, I'll be honest, I know being in this arts program particularly, extremely encumbers me from sizing-up against those in academically-rigorous programs. So if not specific Ivy League schools, what other schools will I be a great candidate for by my senior year (given my current track, intended track of classes and my intended major possibly being physics or civil engineering)?</p>

<p>Middle School (High school classes)
Algebra 1 (Honors)
Geometry (Honors)
Earth/Space Science (Honors)
Biology (Honors)
Spanish 1
Extracurricular: Math Club (7th,8th), Science Club, National Junior Honor Society, Big Brothers Big Sisters (Peer mentoring), volunteering in church, volunteering in music tutoring</p>

<p>9th grade schedule
Algebra 2 (Honors)
Chemistry (Honors)
English
AP World History (Sadly received a three)
band
band
Physical Education (Taken online)</p>

<p>10th grade schedule
Pre-calculus (Honors)
AP Chemistry
AP European History
English
band
band
Extracurricular: Debate club, marching band, Environmental club, Ecology club, Mu Alpha Theta (math club), Best Buddies (special needs student mentoring), Music Club, Bible club.
Outside of school: Youth symphony, orchestra for a musical theater, County Honor Band, NSHSS</p>

<p>Intended schedule for 11th grade and 12th grade
online classes: Spanish 2, AP Spanish, Physics (Honors)
Extracurricular (in addition to aforementioned): science honor society, drum major for band, NHS, SECME.</p>

<p>11th grade
band (honors)
band
AP Physics B
AP Calculus AB
AP US History
AP Literature</p>

<p>12 grade
band (honors)
band (honors)
AP Physics C (or AP Biology)
AP Calculus BC
AP Government/AP Macroeconomics
AP Language</p>

<p>Current unweighted: 4.0 Community service: 350</p>

<p>Thank you for all your help! (I also have a chance to attend a high school AA Program known as School for Advanced Studies, so going there is an option as well.)</p>

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<p>The problem that you will face is the competition, many/most of which will have 5 academic core classes over four years, including foreign language.</p>

<p>If you are an engineering/math/physics type, splitting Calc over two years will probably be too easy for you.</p>

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<p>Hm… would you have any suggestions for non-Ivy League schools? :(</p>

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<p>@imnotrodel - I’ve moved this response from the “prep school admission” forum:</p>

<p>It’s a big job to start thinking about where you might want to go to college - and sophomore year is a great time to start! Does your school have a counselor? If so, make an appointment with him/her, and ask for their help. Talk to your parents - they will be able to help you with this process, too.</p>

<p>On your own, you might want to do a bit of research. Here are some books for you to check out; your public library might have these, or could get them for you via InterLibrary Loan. (And you can often find used copies from previous years; a new edition of these books come out every year, and often there is not much change in the info year-to-year.)</p>

<p>Fiske Guide to Colleges
Complete Guide to Colleges, Princeton Review
Book of Majors, College Board
Guide to Colleges, College Board</p>

<p>Ivy League schools are great - but there are many, many, many other great colleges out there! Admission to an Ivy League school is a long-shot, even for someone with supposedly “perfect stats.” Be sure and expand your search to a wide variety of schools. One book that I particularly like:</p>

<p>“Colleges that Change Lives - 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College,” by Loren Pope</p>

<p>“Colleges that Change Lives” also has a website: <a href=“http://www.ctcl.org%5B/url%5D”>www.ctcl.org</a></p>

<p>General advice: don’t worry about comparing yourself to other kids in other types of programs, IB for example. You sound like a really neat young person - be confident in your own strengths. Have you taken the SAT or the ACT yet? You’ll want to do that soon - your test scores will give you an idea of what schools might be a good academic fit for you. </p>

<p>There are SO many options out there - it can be daunting to try to pare them down to a reasonable list to research. Ask yourself some basic questions:

  • do I have a pretty clear idea of what I want to major in? If so - concentrate on schools that have strong programs in that major. If not, you might want to lean toward a more “liberal arts” college to keep your options open
  • do I want to be close to home (a few hours drive away) or can I be across the country?
  • do I want an urban environment, or a suburban or rural environment?
  • do I want a small (less than 2500), medium (up to 5,000), large (5,000 to 10,000) or REALLY large (10,000 and up) school?
  • do I need substantial financial aid? What kind of aid is available at the school (both need-based and merit-based)?</p>

<p>That’s just a very short list of questions, but hopefully you get the idea. I expect when you talk to your school counselor, they’ll talk to you about applying to a range of schools:</p>

<ul>
<li>Safety: apply to at least one or two schools that you know that you will be accepted to attend, and that you would be happy attending</li>
<li>Likely: apply to 4-5 schools that you have around a 35-40% or better chance of attending, and that you would be happy attending</li>
<li>Reach: apply to 2-3 schools where it is very difficult to gain admission (25% or less)</li>
</ul>

<p>Some kids apply to only a few schools, other kids apply to more than a dozen. I personally think applying to 8-10 schools is plenty.</p>

<p>Notice the phrase - “that you would be happy attending” - that is key! It may seem obvious, but when you put together your list of schools to apply to - keep that in mind! Otherwise you’re wasting your time and money applying to a school you just can’t see yourself attending!</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best in your college search!</p>

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<p>I think your class schedule actually looks pretty good, but I am quite confused how you can be taking an AP language senior year after not taking language before that.</p>

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<p>@exultationsy - My mistake, meant to switch the English classes around. :)</p>

<p>Really? Another thing that’s bothering is class ranking as I believe I’m going to be put in the same ranking as the IB people who aren’t at a disadvantage like I am. =/</p>