Hi everybody!! I’m going to be a freshman next year and I’m wondering if it is, in anyway possible, to balance everything that I’m trying to do. I’m planning to apply to Ivies, Stanford, Berkeley, UCSD, and UCLA for a major in Political Science and then go on to law school to become a lawyer. I want to do as many things as possible (I dunno if that’s the right decision or not tho). Here’s a list below:
All honors (bio, global studies/health, english 9, and math 3 which is basically algebra 2 and pre-cal)
ASB
Cross-country in fall season and track in spring season
Academic Decathlon
Mock Trial
Amnesty International
Interact (community service)
Science Olympiad (maybe??)
Again, please recommend to things that I should focus on and cut from my freshman year plans. Thank you!!
Do you plan on taking any AP/IB classes? Your schedule doesn’t sound all too time-consuming, although I wouldn’t know about XC and track. You’d have winter season to train on your own, maybe begin prep for SAT/ACT tests, do more volunteer work outside of school.
One thing that I would just like to say for your help is that something I’ve realized is that as soon as you hit high school- there are a ton of scholarships and contests available to enter that you could add to your app if you win. Try making a profile on fastweb.com and looking at local and specific ones if you’re interested.
Since you’re interested in a range of things I’m not going to tell you to drop anything to focus on others, rather, just focus on one or two things competitively. That may be Olympiad, or Decathlon, Track, whichever things strike your fancy.
And don’t get too obsessed with sticking to your plan! Things change.
I am not an expert though~ http://calnewport.com/blog/2010/02/18/want-to-get-into-harvard-spend-more-time-staring-at-the-clouds-rethinking-the-role-of-extracurricular-activities-in-college-admissions/
^^ But he is. Good luck c:
yeah once im a sophmore ill take APUSH and in junior and senior im taking all APs (im indian so yeah :D) BTW thx for the article. I’m really intrigued by it and am really going to rethink my plans. Thank you so much!!!
ASB, Science Olympiads, and academic decathlon look pretty trivial to me. Pick either academic decathlon or science olympiads, and do excellent in it. You have a long list of extra curriculars going for you; make sure that you prioritize and choose few in which to excel. Since you have so many, it’s very easy for colleges to interpret you as a resume builder.
If you’re pretty sure you’re going to major in Political Science, then going to law, another activity that I’d recommend is debate. Your ECs also seem a bit low on community’s service. Look at KEY Clubs, NHS as clubs or independent internships/ volunteering.