Chances of Getting into Ivy Leagues?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>I am currently in 10th grade.</p>

<p>I did the college search thing and 75% of my results were Ivy Leagues. My mom went to Dartmouth. I love the idea of going to an Ivy League, Yale particularly stands out to me. However, I'm not sure if I have any chance, whatsoever, of getting in. </p>

<p>My freshman year I went to a private school in Hawaii. I got all As except for the rare A- which made my GPA 3.9. I took the only honors class offered and there were no AP classes offered.
I took Hula, Geometry, Spanish II, Honors Biology, PE, Classical Mythology/Research and Writing, and World History.
I had an extreme amount of extra curriculars including Island School Singers, Mock Trial, Scrooge the Musical, The Miser (a play), Bully Survivor (a play that went around to schools helping children), Kauai Sings (concerts that donates money to causes), ballet, pre pointe, voice lessons, gymnastics, acting classes, a professional production of South Pacific, and more I'm forgetting some.</p>

<p>This year I had to move to California for my acting career. It's been so crazy I've had to be homeschooled. At first I was staying with friends in Cali and then my mom came and we stayed in hotels, and my whole family finally came and got a house. That was all during the school year.
I am not using an online curriculum.
For math I am using Teaching Textbooks Algebra II. For Social Studies I am using iTunesUniversity and using the lectures from the Yale American Revolution. I am also doing a project about my ancestors role in the war. For science I am taking Environmental Science and have been very involved with Foundations and doing events for them and such. For English I have been reading great plays by Shakespeare and other great writers. I have also been working on my vocab and writing. For Spanish I have been using Duolingo (with the hope to finish the entire thing) I am also going to take the CHSPE test which is an academic test that allows you to be Legal 18 (for performing I can work longer) but it also is a standardized academic test. I might take the AP Environmental Test if I can.
My extracurriculars is Singing, Voice, Acting, High School Musical On Stage, work with is IS Foundation, Lego Friends Live and The Witchettes (both professional shows at Legoland), being the princess at Legoland, my band, and I will start taking more soon.</p>

<p>Do I have any chance of getting in? I haven't really taken any AP classes yet unless I am able to take the test this year. I'm really nervous for the SATs next year because I'm truly awful at standardized tests. I'm nervous that this years homeschooling thing is going to hurt my chances. For junior year I'm planning on finding another private school. </p>

<p>If you don't think I have any chance of getting in could you give me some advice?</p>

<p>Thank you so much!!!!</p>

2

<p>Hey, I was deferred at Yale this year (still have my fingers crossed)… so I guess I was ‘strong’ enough not to be rejected at least in the first round. My advice to you would be to read “How to be a High School Superstar” (I found a pirated copy online) since it would help you to see how you should try to become really good in a specific thing. About your extracurriculars, you should try to follow the “quality not quantity” rule. I told my sophomore sister the same thing: try to focus your extracurriculars more and show that you are the best high school student in your selected film by being a part of projects/ winning competitions/ getting important roles/ interning, etc. Since your homeschooled you really should show your intellectual curiosity… apart from cramming in AP tests, try to find courses related to your extracurriculars. For example, if you are interested in the world of film, you might what to take a film class (I took one on Coursera for free) or try if you take a screen/play writing class in a local community college. Use your homeschooling to your advantage. You have the possibility of designing your dream curriculum. Consider taking AP literature, AP environmental and perhaps two more APs (this depends on you) to show that you can handle doing the same work as your friends do in a normal high school setting, but focus more on your interests. Also, remember that some colleges want their students to take specific courses for x years. Look those up too. :slight_smile: </p>

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<p>You don’t have enough data points for any college search engine to be meaningful right now. First you should read the chances post about Ivy’s at the top. Your chances won’t likely be any better than the 5 to 12% admit rates, except where you are a legacy you usually get some kind of small bump if you are otherwise qualified, I don’t know how strong it is for Dartmouth.</p>

<p>Have your mother properly document your homeschooling so that you can present yourself appropriately when you apply to colleges. Visit the homeschool forum, or have mom do it.</p>

<p>The SAT-preparation subforum has some excellent study guides posted by xiggi and silverturtle. Buy the Blue Book. Khan Academy online has a tutorial for it, but get the right edition.</p>

<p>tl;dr but I don’t see any of the usual lab sciences in there. Make sure you meet the minimum requirements. If you are a CA resident now you will want to meet the UC requirements which are strict. If you meet those you will meet any college’s requirements, afaik. They are called the a to g requirements. Competitive schools usually expect you to exceed requirements when possible.</p>

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<p>About the extra curriculars, most of the things I’m doing I get paid because I’m a professional actress/singer/dancer and I get lead roles so it’s not really just quantity I’m just busy. I’ve also been auditioning for Fox, ABC, Disney, and Nickalodean so hopefully I will be able to do some of those things. As for more than one I’ve also done a lot of charity work plus mock trial and rock climbing and horseback riding which I didn’t include but I’ve been taking my whole life.</p>

<p>This is the only year I’m planning on homeschooling and it is fully documented.</p>