Currently, I am in the 8th grade and I am planning on applying to MassAcademy.
Since I am not in High School yet–there are no Honors options for me at the moment but here are some the the EC’s and awards I got so far…
-Currently enrolled in Honors Algebra and Geometry 1
EC’s, Awards, and Others
-Student exhibitor at MassCUE
-Johns Hopkins CTY (SAT High Honors)
-Science Achievement Award (Awarded for top 2% in school- out of 1000 students)
-Vice President and Active member of Speech and Debate Team
-Played the piano for 6 years and currently self teaching
-Participating in School’s Select Choir (top 15% of boys)
-Participate in Science Fair Club
-Active volunteer and service member for a group
-Participate and play tennis and basketball (Won Town Park and Rec Championship in 2016)
-Active actor in school Theatre (have done Damn Yankees and Stuart Little)
-Submit poems to competitions
-Won 1st Place in High School Mardi Gras for Speech and Debate
-Part of the Current Events Team
-Earned a Patch for MOEMS Competition
-Participate in a Music Group
-Sing songs and play piano at a local senior center
-Strong passion for Neuroscience and Biology (have done previous research)
I know a few kids that have gone to Mass Academy. Mass Academy has their own admission test, which they weight heavily. They also look at PSAT scores, teacher recommendations, and class standing. I don’t think they look too closely at ECs.
Do as well as you can on the PSATs and Mass Academy’s admission test. I believe that is the first cut off they do. The kids I know that went played a few sports and maybe did another activity, but weren’t heavy into ECs or community service. Remember, you will have 2 years of high school under your belt when you apply, and that is a whole different world. Take the highest level math and science classes you can and make sure you have good connections with the people that will be writing your recommendations.
as someone with much experience with mass academy(family members, etc), i have some advice. first of all, your extra curriculars from middle school typically don’t matter as much. on your application, they’re looking for things you’ve done throughout high school so far. the most important thing(heard from teachers who make admission decisions there themselves)are your teacher recs. then come your personal essay and grades. then they look at extracurriculars, test scores(admission diagnostic test), and the PSAT. i know people who have not taken the PSAT and gotten in. it’s important that you stay involved, it’s getting a lot more competitive and they want well rounded people, but they don’t want someone who just slaps an excessive amount of extracurriculars down to look good, so if you don’t enjoy it, don’t do it. try to join the math team and do any science programs your school has and focus on making yourself stand out! remember, there are hundreds of kids that can get good grades and look good… but what makes YOU stand out? anyway, you still have some time but good luck! wish you the best