<p>I'm reposting this because there were so many additions I made in the last thread. This one should be mostly complete.</p>
<p>Colleges:
UChicago (first choice, EA)
UC Berkeley
Harvey Mudd
Reed
Duke
Objective:</p>
<p>I am a white male, junior, from North Carolina. I will be applying as a physics major. I go to a public, residential, competitive high school with selective admission for junior and senior year. All classes are at a minimum, honors level. GPA's are not given, nor are class ranks. I had a 4.0 GPA for freshman and sophomore years at my previous high school, and was ranked at 1. </p>
<p>SAT: CR 720 M 750 W 680 = 2150 Total (superscored, going to be improved)</p>
<p>SAT II's:
Not taken yet, probably going to take Math II, Physics, Chemistry.</p>
<p>GPA:
Weighted: 4.8 (but will go up after these next two trimesters)</p>
<p>Junior Schedule (we have a trimester schedule, so I'll just list the class I've taken):
A: Precalculus and Modeling (unfortunately, my school would not allow me to move up to a more advanced class) (year-long)
A-: Physics with Advanced Topics I (one trimester)
A: Physics with Advanced Topics II (one trimester)
B: AP Chemistry I (two trimesters)
A: AP Chemistry II (one trimester)
A: Neuroscience Seminar (doesn't affect GPA)
B+: American Studies (two trimesters)
B+: Hispanic Literature I (college-level) (one trimester)
A-: Hispanic Literature II (one trimester)
A: Hispanic Literature III (one trimester)
B, maybe A: APUSH (one trimester)
A: Classical Piano and Guitar (one trimester-long independent course, all three trimesters)
A: Introduction to the Research Experience in Physics (one trimester)
A: Leadership Seminar (doesn't affect GPA)</p>
<p>Also, during this (third) trimester, I'm "overloading," which means I am taking an extra core class, above the normal five core classes. I don't know how exactly that would figure in on my application, but I just wanted it to be known.</p>
<p>Senior schedule:
AP Biology (year-long)
AP Calc BC with Advanced Topics (year-long)
AP Physics C: Mechanics & E/M (year-long)
Astrophysics (college-level) (one trimester)
Galaxies and Cosmology (college-level) (one trimester)
Modern Physics (college-level) (one trimester)
Western European Cultural Studies (year-long)
Classical Piano and Guitar (one trimester-long independent course, all three trimesters)</p>
<p>Subjective:</p>
<p>ECs:
I have been a member of the Boy Scouts since the first grade, and I have my Eagle Scout award. I was crew leader on a 100 mile backpacking trip through Philmont Scout Camp in New Mexico.
My group, of which I am the team captain, was selected as semifinalists for the NASA BHALF competition. We get to go out to Ohio in May to compete in the finals. Last year, my school won in the finals.
This summer I will be interning with a professor at Duke University and her group, which studies data from the SuperK Neutrino Detector in Japan.
Based on my PSAT score, I should be qualifying for National Merit in September.</p>
<p>Previous School:
Science Academic Team- 2 years (captain as a sophomore- all other captains were seniors)
General Knowledge Academic Team- 2 years
Debate Team- 2 years
Book Club- 2 years
Crosby Scholars (college prep program, since middle school)
Student Government- 1 year</p>
<p>Current School:
Secular Student Alliance (president, founder)
SPECTRUM (Gay-straight alliance, hopefully president next year)
ScienceDays Volunteer (we go out to local elementary schools to teach them random things about science, from fingerprinting to anatomy)</p>
<p>I am a first-generation college student. </p>
<p>Recommendations:
Probably going to ask either American Studies or APUSH teacher and a physics teacher. I've met with my guidance counselor several times so that she actually gets to know me. Also, I'll hopefully be getting an extra recommendation from a teacher at my school who is an alum of UChicago. I did work service for her for one trimester, and she is the sponsor for the SSA I founded.</p>
<p>Any advice on what to improve upon/focus on would be much appreciated!</p>