<p>Ugg it's my junior year and I've been working non-stop since 7th grade, I've gotten only 1 B+ since then in honors pre calc (like 89%). However my problem is that I'm about 1 month in to my junior year and I'm burning out because my parents keep droning on about how I need to do more and I might as well not be looking at these top universities etc... Maybe they're right but I've come here to post what I've done so far and if you agree/disagree with them. </p>
<p>I go to a very competitive public high school ranked in top 5% of nation and is in a wealthy community. My GPA is roughly a 4.4 and my class rank is around 28-32 of 500. I am Hispanic (about 1/8) but I consider myself Hispanic because I really love the culture and I can't stand the boring one shade of everything wealthy white culture (although im in probably the top .5% of America If that matters for colleges). Freshman year I was part of fbla, crew and volunteered at school library fora few months, I got all A's but not much beyond that. Sophmore year I took 4 honors and 2 ap classes, I was part of the mountain bike team which was the teams first year, I also did FBLA and placed 2nd in two categories at regionals, I volunteered a lot at an organization where you fix bicycles for homeless people. Junior year I have 2 college courses, 4 AP's, 1 normal and one VAPA. I will also be on the mountain bike team and in fbla again, I co-founded and I am vice-President of a stock Club at our school, I am also part of a club called science olympiad where you and a partner compete in science competitions, also I'm part of an organizaton called boys team charity which is like NCL, you go around to places like homeless shelters and children's hospitals to help them. Also I should mention that in my club we raise money to invest in learning. Another thing is that during all of my years in high school I've also managed my own portfolio for my college fund and I've nearly doubled it (mostly on BAC). Also my whole life I've had speech and people used to make fun if me and how I pronounced "r," and it took me until about 7th grade to get over my speech problems but I still have to work on it. Because people used to make fun of me this always made me self conscious and shy and slightly awkward with people ive just meet so doing things like forming a club where I have to talk in front of people was a huge step. Btw I want to go to Georgetown, uChicago, Cal, USC, Columbia, NYU etc for economics. I haven't taken SAT yet but I hope for 2100+. What do you guys think, also sorry for bad English I wrote this all on my new phone and I'm not used to keyboard.</p>
<p>If your parents are giving you a lot of pressure, maybe you should approach someone they respect and ask them to help you convince your parents to give you some room. That may not work for you, but it’s worth considering. You seem to be doing fine, as long as you don’t burn out now.</p>
<p>Consider the possibility that your parents just want to protect you in case you don’t get into any of these places on your list.</p>
<p>Go over the money situation with them. Do you have $250,000 in that college fund yet? Has it been shifted out of stocks and into something more stable yet? If not, run the Net Price Calculator at each website and find out which places could be affordable.</p>
<p>Your grades and test scores will get you into a lot of nice matches and safeties, so work with your guidance counselor and your parents to build up that part of your list.</p>
<p>Lastly, prep for the PSAT. A good score on that can make a difference too.</p>
<p>You have a very nice profile. However, none of the places on your list is a definite shoo-in. If you neglect to come up with some safer options, you could end up with no acceptances. So do go sit down with your guidance counselor, and get solid advice on where students with . profiles like yours have been admitted in recent years. You need some matches, and at least one flat-out-guaranteed-admission safety. Or you need a solid Plan B for the Gap Year(s) you might be facing.</p>
<p>For all those top schools, you do really want to try your best in all aspects. After all, you are who you are. Having too much impact from parents can be very annoying. I am a father and I do understand parents want their kids to excel. Nevertheless, your future is your decision. being burnt out in junior is definitely not a good thing as you will feel more pressure in the next 15 months when you are preparing for the PSAT, SAT, ACT, SAT2, AP, and college application. Forget about the rank of your school and your class rank. Just be yourself and do your best at the pace you feel comfortable. Being URM, if you can maintain your grade and get 2100+ in SAT, you will have a lot of opportunities. Perhaps it is not in Ivies (you do have a chance there though), but you will definitely be accepted by a great school.</p>
<p>You do sound on track and it is a pretty good mix of schools. You can use some of the less competitive UC’s for a safety, if you are happy with that outcome should you get shut out elsewhere. Otherwise you need other safeties. Chi and Columbia are going to be difficult because of the admit rates. Berkeley, USC, NYU, Georgetown are more likely, though you don’t mention your UW gpa.</p>
<p>Officially, you are supposed to be 1/4 to be considered Hispanic.</p>
<p>Jr year is very important and usually the most stressful year of HS. If you are burning out so early in the year, you don’t want to torpedo your chances, so think what you should cut back on in order to keep your grades up. Just tell your parents straight out that you’d like support, not criticism. Tell them that their attitude is contributing to the feeling of burnout. </p>
<p>Your EC’s sound nice, I like that your volunteer work is tied to your EC’s. I wonder what investing for learning is, though. Forming a club and having to speak in front of people might make a good essay and show there is more behind the scenes with that EC than just forming a club. But it is a little early to be worrying about that–next summer.</p>
<p>Finally happymomof1 makes a really good point that it is time to stabilize some of that money now that you will be using it soon. You don’t want to have to liquidate it if the market takes a dip when you need the funds.</p>
<p>UW GPA is a 3.9 something, and Im from California so in-state for UC schools, also how are my chances for UCSD? I’m not extremely worried about where my under grad degree is because I plan to go on to get a masters degree. For my first 4 years of college I’m going to do engineering and then I plan on hopefully going to an elite Business School such as Stanford, Harvard etc…</p>
<p>Also, will you actually be using the money you’ve saved and invested for your education, or are your parents paying for all educational expenses?</p>