Chances and Advice for Sophomore planning on Northwestern, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon

<p>I'm in my middle of my sophomore year with the following already done</p>

<p>Freshman (Applies to both semesters)
4.0 Unweighted GPA
4.57 WGPA
Classes - no ap's offered, took the top classes offered at my school ranked 297th nationally and 55th in state (CA)
Bio (Honors)
French I
Algebra II (H)
Ancient Civilizations (H)
English I (H)
Orchestra
Baseball</p>

<p>Sophomore - semester hasn't ended yet but this is what I expect for both semesters
4.0 unweighted
4.71 WGPA
Classes - again top classes offered
World History (AP)
French II
Biology (AP)
Pre-Calc (H)
English II (H)
Chemistry (H)
Strength and Cond - I got cut from baseball and we have to take 4 semesters of athletics or PE</p>

<p>Junior - Planned for next year
if all A's achieved as expected
4.0 UGPA
4.83 WGPA
Classes - Top again
US History (AP)
Calc BC (AP)
Comp Sci (AP)
Chem (AP)
Physics (H)
French III</p>

<p>Senior
Planned
4.0 UGPA
5.0 WGPA
Classes - Top
Econ (AP)
US Gov (AP)
Stats (AP)
Physics (AP)
French IV (H)
Literature (AP)</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars</p>

<ul>
<li>Current working as Lead iOS Developer at a medical startup aiming to simplify doctor visits by shortening the time doctors spend at the computer. No-Profit arm that will allow illiterate or speakers of obscure languages to use modern electronic medical records</li>
<li>Eagle Scout</li>
</ul>

<p>Maybes
- Got nominated to go to Hugh O'brien Youth leadership conference and will probably get accepted to go
- Might go to Northwestern College Preparation Program which lets high school students to take Northwestern classes and live on campus for 4-8 weeks</p>

<p>Questions</p>

<ol>
<li>Should I take a full 7 classes Junior and Senior year and lower GPA by taking PE, or take 6 out of 7 available slots for classes those 2 years and have a higher GPA</li>
<li> What extracurriculars show I look into the next few years</li>
<li> What are my chances should I add more ECs</li>
</ol>

<p>I’m a current HS junior (chance me back if you feel like it).</p>

<ol>
<li>You should definitely take a full schedule, because schools like to see that. At my school (idk if things are the same for your school, west coast is weird) class rank is determined by your cumulative GPA, so if you’re taking PE because you have to fulfill your gym credit or whatever, then that’s fine, but don’t just take PE as a schedule filler.</li>
<li>If you’re planning on applying to schools like Carnegie Mellon and MIT, I assume you’re planning to major in CompSci or something. You should look into summer programs like RSI at MIT.</li>
<li>Your academics look pretty good, as long as your stay on track. Ofc, your SAT score can change a lot, so make sure that goes well for you (you’ll probably need at least a 2300 for MIT). You definitely need more extracurriculars, especially during the summers. You should also join some clubs at school, even if they seem only tangential to computers. Look for leadership positions.</li>
</ol>

<p><a href=“Chance me for the UChic, Duke, Stanford, and the Ivies (minus Brown) - #2 by rango141 - Chance Me / Match Me! - College Confidential Forums”>Chance me for the UChic, Duke, Stanford, and the Ivies (minus Brown) - #2 by rango141 - Chance Me / Match Me! - College Confidential Forums;

<p>Thanks. I am planning to major in Comp Sci and maybe double major with Economics if I can. My school does offer AP Psych and AP forensics, though they are very easy classes. Thanks for the tip about RSI. Any other summer programs you recommend or know of? (don’t have to be comp sci related). For leadership positions, being in charge of iOS development at my company seems like it would cover a lot, but do you have any suggestions? For my eagle project, I’ll have to do a project that involves leadership and service so thats good.</p>

<p>No problem. I think you should try to became at least an officer in 2 or 3 clubs at your school, though. RSI is basically the only program I know of that’s that prestigious, but CTY summer programs are decent if you need something to fill your summer. Since you’re a sophomore, this is your last year to actually do CTY (I’m pretty biased for CTY because I went after my freshman year and I thought it was great). Think about starting a club at your school, too.</p>

The thing is that you haven’t taken your ACT or SAT yet. A 4.0 won’t look as impressive in some high schools as in others. Also you’re only a sophomore. Too early to tell