Calling all Juniors!

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>So this is it. Our most important year of high school as far as college admissions go. I don't know about you guys, but that makes me a little stressed out just to think about! Anyway, I know we already have a thread on jr. year schedules, but I saw a similar, but more expanded survey type thing on the parents' forum and thought I'd bring it over here, so we can all get an idea of what other juniors are doing as we get ready for college/try to survive hs. :)</p>

<p>Screen name:
Gender:
Location:
Preferred geographic location for college:
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.):
Possible academic interests/majors:
Schools you're interested in right now:
Junior Year Courseload:
Rank/GPA:
Most important EC's:
Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT:</p>

2

<p>Screen name: vegangirl</p>

<p>Gender: as implied by sn, female :)</p>

<p>Location: Denver, CO</p>

<p>Preferred geographic location for college: east or west coast (no more midwestern-ness for me!), probably east- specifically DC or NYC.</p>

<p>Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): medium to large, in or very near a large city</p>

<p>Possible academic interests/majors: history, journalism</p>

<p>Schools you're interested in right now: Georgetown (huge reach), George Washington, Barnard, Fordham, University of Maryland, Reed</p>

<p>Junior Year Courseload:
Advanced Creative Writing (double period- i go to a public arts magnet school, and this is my major)
Honors Spanish III
AP Euro
AP Calc AB
Honors Chemistry
Intro to Literature and Composition (college class for dual credit)</p>

<p>I'm thinking of adding another community college class as well.</p>

<p>Rank/GPA: 5/126 as of the end of sophomore year.</p>

<p>Most important EC's: President of Gay-Straight Alliance, Lit magazine staff, volunteering at an animal shelter (6 hours/week), work (15 hours/week). </p>

<p>My most important (and time consuming) is national history day. I spend the course of the year researching, writing, filming, and editing a documentary on a historical subject. This is also the only thing I've ever won a national award in- placed in the top three at the national competition the last two years. Hoping to make it to the national finals again this year.</p>

<p>Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT: I'm not stressing over national merit, so I'll probably just let the PSAT serve as a dianostic for me on what I need to work on for the SAT. Besides that, my study plans are mostly just to practice with old tests. I'll also probably practice some basic math to make sure I have it all down, because that's my major weak point. Colorado juniors must take the ACT in the spring, but I doubt I'll concentrate on that at all, since I'll probably only submit the SAT to colleges.</p>

3

<p>Screen name: DefyingGravity04
Gender:Female
Location:NYC
Preferred geographic location for college: East,West,Midwest. I will have to see where the colleges I really like are located.
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): medium sized, rural or urban
Possible academic interests/majors: journalism or musical theater
Schools you're interested in right now:Unc Chapel Hill,OberlinVanderbult,Agnes Scott,CMU,Northwestern,University of Michigan,OCU,University of Oklahoma (It's a very scatterd list right now becuase Im not sure if I want to major in Journalism or Musical theater. Im really into unc chapel hill or university of michigan though either way,
Junior Year Courseload: Honors English,Ap us history,math a/math b,physics,gym,my elective is us womens history
Rank/GPA: My average for last year was an 85 but thats becuase I ahd a 65 in chem, which was not my thing.
Most important EC's:theater,gymnastics
Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT:Take courses</p>

4

<p>Screen name: coolness_rookie
Gender: male
Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Preferred geographic location for college: doesn't matter
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): urban, challenging
Possible academic interests/majors: nuclear physics / astrophysics
Schools you're interested in right now: MIT, Caltech, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford
Junior Year Courseload:
English IB HL, World History IB HL, Mathematics IB SL, Physics IB SL, Biology IB HL, Chemistry IB SL, French IB SL, Computer Science IB SL, Physical Education, Art, Instrumental Music</p>

<p>Rank/GPA: 1 or 2 / 95.3%
Most important EC's: some regional/provincial/national math&science awards, basketball</p>

<p>Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT: I am very screwed for the moment, cuz I've just started preparing lol.</p>

5

<p>Screen name: jai6638</p>

<p>Gender: Male</p>

<p>Location: Hamden, Connecticut</p>

<p>Preferred geographic location for college: Northeast</p>

<p>Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): urban</p>

<p>Possible academic interests/majors: Mechanical Engineering</p>

<p>Schools you're interested in right now: Cornell, UPENN, RPI, WPI, CMU</p>

<p>Junior Year Courseload: AP Physics, Ap Comp. Science, Calculus Honors, EnglisH III Honors, US History & Spanish II.</p>

<p>Rank/GPA: 4.0 </p>

<p>Most important EC's: flying, etc</p>

<p>Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT: Just started self-studying... lol..</p>

6

<p>Screen name: conscious denial
Gender: Male
Location: Jersey
Preferred geographic location for college: NYC, DC, Boston, in that order. Definitely in the Northeast.
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): Urban, large but not huge, more than just a pretty face (aka good quality, not just name)
Possible academic interests/majors: Environmental science, Biology, and related
Schools you're interested in right now: Brandeis, Columbia, Cornell, GW, Georgetown, NYU, Yale
Junior Year Courseload: AP Chem, AP Lang, AP US, AP Calc AB, Honors Artificial Intelligence, Honors French 4
Rank/GPA: 3.9 UW / 4.6 W / No rank
Most important EC's: Debate, Amnesty, Tutoring
Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT: Blue book, Grammatix, Kaplan... Hope to be commended for PSAT - the cutoff is 222 :(.</p>

7

<p>State: Oregon
Preferred Location for college: either Oregon or somewhere West of the Mississippi (All the best colleges that aren't in California are in the East)</p>

<p>Most importand EC: Cross Country, Swimming and Track. 12+ hours/week, each sport takes up 1/3 of the year for a total of 52 weeks.</p>

<p>Study Plans: I think we should add this to each post.
Take PSAT in October like everybody else
Take SAT: December, Jan, or April
Take SAT II: Chem in May, Math IIC in June
Take ACT: Senior year if needed
Taking these APs: Chem, English Language, Economics, Spanish, and Calc.</p>

<p>Academic interests: Pre-med</p>

<p>My Stats:
SAT: 1200 in 7th grade, hoping to improve on that, lol.
SAT IIs: US His 780
GPA: 4.0 w, 4.087 uw (2 APs so far)
Rank: 1
AP Scores: AP USH 5, AP Euro History 5</p>

8

<p>Screen name: ReninDetroit</p>

<p>Gender: male</p>

<p>Location: Detroit, MI</p>

<p>Preferred geographic location for college: midwest or northeast, with Stanford and UNC as exceptions</p>

<p>Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): either really big (20,000+) or small (1500-3000). Not sure which yet. :D</p>

<p>Possible academic interests/majors: theater is primary major, will double major in business or management or something</p>

<p>Schools you're interested in right now: Brown, Cornell, Stanford, Michigan, UNCCH, Macalester, Middlebury, Wesleyan, Chicago</p>

<p>Junior Year Courseload: only one honors class (english) and skipped a year of science, everything else regular (but competitive private school so still tough)</p>

<p>Rank/GPA: school does not rank, but roughly top 20. GPA: 3.7-ish</p>

<p>Most important EC's: theater, politics club, gay-straight alliance (president of all 3)</p>

<p>Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT: already taken SAT class. will take more practice tests as testing date comes closer</p>

9

<p>Screen name: l gnix l
Gender: male
Location: nj</p>

<p>Preferred geographic location for college: northeast or cali</p>

<p>Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): urban, medium sized</p>

<p>Possible academic interests/majors: business major or medical field
Schools you're interested in right now: princeton, harvard, columbia
Junior Year Courseload:</p>

<p>Calc AB
Chemistry Honors
English 11 Honors
US History AP
AP Lang/Comp
Gym/Health
French 4 Honors</p>

<p>Rank/GPA: roughly 20/500</p>

<p>Most important EC's: table tennis (nationally ranked and junior olympic gold medalist), piano, newspaper editor, teaches chess class at chinese school, staff writer for a chinese newspaper, work at kumon (does this count?), teaches table tennis at community center</p>

<p>Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT: Tutor whom I go to once a week
Math IIC: 800</p>

10

<p>Screen name: wuwei
Gender:female
Location:chicago
Preferred geographic location for college: around here or ne
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): large, urban
Possible academic interests/majors: fine arts definately and possibly aviation
Schools you're interested in right now: uicu, chicago, duke...others...
Junior Year Courseload: ap lang and comp, us hist,alg2trig, meteorology/astronomy/oceanography/geology, spanish 4h, advanced drawing, ideas in art h
Rank/GPA: mid50's of 625-30ish of the 2nd to 3rd public school in il
Most important EC's: literaty arts mag - editor (prob) and staff, spanish club, art club, national art honor society (vp hope), iternational club, habitat for humanity, tons of art classes and recognition/awards
Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT: take class if i have time or independently study</p>

11

<p>I'm also in Columbia Science Honors Program. Does that count for anything?</p>

12

<p>Firstly, I wholeheartedly apologize...for not being a mother****ing mutant child like the rest of you.</p>

<p>I'm what they call... "sorta average-smart."</p>

<p>Screen name: thewildflower
Gender:female
Location: Geneva, Illinois</p>

<p>Preferred geographic location for college: Well, I'm restricted to the midwest by the parents, so either Iowa or Ohio if I can push it.</p>

<p>Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): Small liberal arts school. Perferably no core curriculum :P like my beloved Grinnell...</p>

<p>Possible academic interests/majors: Writing and music. Most likely writing for the most part.</p>

<p>Schools you're interested in right now: Grinnell and Oberlin.</p>

<p>Junior Year Courseload:
-Algebra 2
-Physics
-Spanish 3
-Choir (1st sem only)
-World Literature (1st sem. only)
-AP English 3
-Music Theory 1 (1st sem only)
-Structure of English (2nd sem only)
-Consumer Ed (2nd sem only)
-Critical Approaches to Film or Psychology (2nd sem only)
(what'd I tell you. First of all, our school has no Honors/AP physics. Secondly, as I said. I'm only human)</p>

<p>Rank/GPA: 3.5/3.6</p>

<p>Most important EC's: Newspaper, drama club, art club and associations, literary festivals, joining NHS, and at the end of this year probly GAF, environmental club</p>

<p>Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT: Taking the classes/Studying/Study groups, tutor, solo, or all three.</p>

13

<p>Screen name: thisyearsgirl</p>

<p>Gender: Female</p>

<p>Location: Washington, DC</p>

<p>Preferred geographic location for college: Anywhere north of Pennsylvania</p>

<p>Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): Interesting students; intellectual curiosity; access to a city; cold weather</p>

<p>Possible academic interests/majors: English, French, psychology, journalism</p>

<p>Schools you're interested in right now: Yale, University of Chicago, Barnard, etc.</p>

<p>Junior Year Courseload:
IB English HL
IB French HL
IB Chemistry HL
IB History SL
IB Art SL
IB Math Methods
Journalism </p>

<p>Rank/GPA: Not ranked; 6.3/7 uw</p>

<p>Most important EC's: Photography, horseback riding, school newspaper, creative writing</p>

<p>Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT: Capital Educators prep course</p>

<p>Sophomore year PSAT: 214</p>

14

<p>Screen name: blythe89</p>

<p>Gender: Female</p>

<p>Location: HI</p>

<p>Preferred geographic location for college: New England area</p>

<p>Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): The classic college campus: sprawling lawns, ivy on old buildings, etc....a pretty campus is VERY important to me.</p>

<p>Possible academic interests/majors: Creative writing, journalism, education</p>

<p>Schools you're interested in right now: BROWN!!! boston university northwestern</p>

<p>Junior Year Courseload:
Alg 2
Chems
Honors World History
Honors English
Newswriting
Spanish 3</p>

<p>Rank/GPA: 3.6, around top 15%</p>

<p>Most important EC's: tennis, bigbrothers/bigsisters, starting a National Service Club this year and planning on helping hurricane victims</p>

<p>Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT: took SAT over the summer, but just got Grammatix and that contradicts everything my summer teachers taught me so I am having an internal battle on which advice to follow.</p>

15

<p>Ok.. so I found out that I'm not a Senior in the u.s.. I'm a junior..? I dunno I'm half way through being a junior and I'll be a senior from january..</p>

<p>Screen name:NoFX</p>

<p>Gender:Female</p>

<p>Location:New Zealand</p>

<p>Preferred geographic location for college:Anywhere on the east side and cali. HAS to be urban/suburban..</p>

<p>Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): Urban, large, HAS to be pretty, castley buildings, prestige, good social scene, nice dorms and internet thingeed everywhere</p>

<p>Possible academic interests/majors:Pre-med , Psychology as a major, French as a minor?</p>

<p>Schools you're interested in right now:Princeton, JHU, Duke, U Penn, Washu, Columbia, UCLA</p>

<p>Junior Year Courseload:English lit, maths calc stats, physics, chemistry, biology, art history</p>

<p>Rank/GPA: Top 5%</p>

<p>Most important EC's:Soccer</p>

<p>Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT:SAT: All will be done in the holidays. Practice exams everyday.</p>

16

<p>Screen name: xkrissy16
Gender: female
Preferred geographic location for college: east.
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): small-medium size? nothing toolarge. as for urban or rural, it doesn't matter to me as long as it's not hours away from a city.
Possible academic interests/majors: either education (HS math), or pharmacy? very different, i know. lol
Schools you're interested in right now: Boston College, Brown University, Wellesley College...a few others, but as of now I'm constantly changing my mind :). Those three I really like.
Junior Year Courseload:
Precalculus Honors
Journalism/Yearbook
AP English Language
AP Chemistry
Concert Choir
French IV
US History Honors ( AP's only for seniors :-/ )
Rank/GPA: I'm in the top three, I'm positive, but i don't know where :-/. they don't tell us! lol. GPA is 3.9ish-4.0 unweighted. They don't tell us that, either, but my guidance counselor wrote it down on an application for something this past year.
Most important EC's: Lacrosse, Newspaper, Yearbook (Asst.Business Manager), Key Club, French Club, and chorus. I'm joining SADD this year and volunteering at the library and maybe the animal shelter. :)
Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT: I'm going to get a SAT prep book for the PSATs very soon, and study a little every night. For the SATs, I might take a night class my school offers, but most likely I will just do lots of practice!</p>

17

<p>My original plans before early entrance took me in:</p>

<p>Screen name: MaxPlanck00
Gender: male
Location: Redmond,WA
Preferred geographic location for college: Not in Southeast, or any hot, humid region
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): Academically focused almost to an extreme, no affirmative action or arbitrary admissions because that would spell certain rejection for me (knocks out MIT), research opportunities (knocks out UChicago, which was not on a list of schools with excellent research opps)
Possible academic interests/majors: Astrophysics (I'm really into animal intelligence and also the study of video games, maybe even more so than astrophysics, but academia is really biased on both fields and does not offer much coursework in either so I'm thinking about my long-standing interest in astronomy)
Schools you're interested in right now: Caltech, UWashington. Yeah, I narrowed my list to 2.
Junior Year Courseload: IB Math HL, IB Physics HL, IB Biology HL, IB English HL, IB History HL, IB Computer Science SL, French 300
Rank/GPA: 3.95. However, I lost a lot of interest in both English and French so I predicted B's in them for my junior year, a major contributing factor to my accepting an offer of early entrance.
Most important EC's: Math, science competitions (I was counting on studying A LOT for the AIME). Otherwise, ECs don't come easy as I'm very unidirectional
Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT: Math: not making stupid mistakes, otherwise perfect is easy. Writing is easy to study with enough effort, but Critical Reading is a huge concern because of an added fiction section (many Aspies find fiction very difficult).</p>

18

<p>I'm really excited about junior year! Definitely not looking forward to all the homework.. but I'm looking forward to all the exciting extracurricular opportunities.</p>

<p>Screen name: AIM- x ethique
Gender: female
Location: DC metro area
Preferred geographic location for college: in or near a big city (philly, chicago, boston, etc.)
Any specific things looking for in a college:
- medium to large
- urban (or near urban) setting
- study abroad program
- research opportunities
- located in big city with internship opportunities
- good IR/econ/gov program
- flexible curriculum
- diverse student body (ethnically and characteristically)</p>

<p>Possible academic interests/majors: international relations (human rights or global development, more specifically)
Schools you're interested in right now: harvard, stanford, uchicago, tufts, columbia, johns hopkins
Junior Year Courseload:
- IB Physics I
- IB Math HL (Calc)
- IB English I
- IB History of the Americas
- IB French I
- IB World Religions SL
- IB Theory of Knowledge</p>

<p>Rank/GPA: school does not rank, ~3.93 UW
Most important EC's:
- Amnesty International (President and Regional Coordinator)
- Model United Nations (Under-Secretary-General, various national and regional awards)
- International Council of Robinson- coalition of student leaders promoting global awareness throughout the school (founder)
- STAND coalition: Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (co-founder of chapter, Director of Outreach)
- Darfur exhibition specialist at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum
- Intern for Democratic campaign (state legislature)
- member of Youth Advisory Council for a non-profit that combats teen violence
- IB Student Advisory Board (1 of 12 juniors appointed)
- ESL tutor for the Center for Multicultural Human Services (CMHS)</p>

<p>Minor clubs: NHS, French Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Speech & Debate, Young Democrats</p>

<p>Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT: Not taking a course (too pricey), but I've taken the new SAT twice, so I know what my strengths and weaknesses are. For all those nervous about the essay: don't be. The prompts are so open-ended that you can really go any way with your writing, as long as your essay is strong, focused, and well-organized. I was really anxious about it and got an 800 writing. I'm definitely more nervous about the PSAT, since you can only take it once, but I'm taking the October SAT in preparation for it.</p>

19

<p>Gender: Female
Location: Arizona
Preferred Geographic Location for College: Big city (Boston, NYC, Chicago) or small town, but nothing in between. Somwhere not Arizona or west of the Mississippi
Any Specific Things Looking for in a College: Top Math/science depts, Research, Good Professors willing to work one-on-one with students, Friendly, together feel within community
Possible Academic Interests/Majors: Math, Bio something
Schools you're interested in right now: Harvard, MIT, Univ. of Chicago, Princeton (hah, I must be crazy....)
Junior Year Courseload:
multivariable calc/diff. eq
AP Chemistry
AP Stats
Hnrs. French 7-8 (highest french offered)
AP English
AP U.S. History
Linear Algebra (fall semester) at Arizona State Univ.
Abstract Algebra (spring semester) " "
Rank/GPA: 4.0 I moved from AR sophomore year and credits won't transfer, so bad rank (47/653) last year
Most Important ECs: I'm least well-rounded person ever, but hopefully will manage
Volunteering at mom's clinic or hospital
Math Club
Comm. Service Club
Research projects
Tennis
Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT: I just started studying for Oct. SAT...I could be studying right now, but CC is way more interesting
Self-Study I guess, absolutely no classes
Hopefully will get 720+ on CR, probable 800 math, maybe 750+ writing.....I hope, I hope, I hope...</p>

20

<p>Screen name:
Gender:Female
Location:California
Preferred geographic location for college: East or northwest, last option west
Any specific things looking for in a college (large, small, urban, etc.): Urban, possibly a liberal arts
Possible academic interests/majors: Economics or law or business
Schools you're interested in right now:UC berkely, Wellesley, Vassar, Columbia, NYU, USF, UCLA, Colgate
Junior Year Courseload:
English III H, AP Calculus AB, AP Art History, AP US HIStory, Morality, Chemistry, French III, i have the most difficult schedule in my grade,
maybe take more classes in community college during next summer :)
Rank/GPA: 3.8 8/83 uw,
Most important EC's:Key Club President, NHS Board MEmber, Athletic Association Lettermen/women, Job, and tutoring at local school and hospital, track
Study Plans for PSAT/SAT/ACT:Self Studying, i did so bad on the last one :(</p>