<p>Yea, I thought I would do all this science research crap my sophomore year while being swim team captain, band president, and NHS president by my senior year. Didn't work out that way. I quit band after my junior year, joined SGA, still became swim team captain and NHS president, and I haven't done any science research whatsoever. Swimming killed any chances of it really.</p>
<p>This is not how your senior year will turn out, I'm afraid to say. I was seriously motivated my sophomore year also, determined to go to Yale with outside scholarship money. So far I have $1,000 and I've applied to at least ten, and I never found the time, mentor, or material to get going with any science research. And right now, instead of studying for AP Economics or AP Psych, I'm sitting here giving a stressed-out sophomore advice. </p>
<p>I guess I burnt out, from combining band, SGA, FCA, NHS, and swimming year-round with a hard courseload. I still have just as much, if not more, going on this year, with my hardest schedule ever, but I really have a tough time pushing myself to do anything anymore. Even before the admissions deadline passed, I would always turn in stuff at the last second (midnight submitted to turnitin.com was frequent) and I have done an abysmal job of leading FCA (I'm captain of it). I still got some stuff done such as getting much better at swimming and raising $5,000 for autism with NHS, but it isn't what I envisioned my sophomore year. I constantly sidetrack myself at home, put stuff off until later, and even when I tried deleting computer programs and unplugging my XBOX 360 (which I did not smash :P) and stop hanging out with friends as much as I used to, I simply realized that I could hardly push myself to the limit I thought I would be able to. I would come home from swimming, try to start on my homework, only to keep putting it off and finally going to bed late without doing anything. And SAT score predictions are always hasty for anyone. I scored 690 CR, 770 M, and 660 W on my second try, and I killed myself studying for CR and W for my third time. Instead of those two going up, they went down for a combined 110 points while my M score went up to 800. </p>
<p>I'm not saying you won't be able to do what all you want to do, but you seriously need to realize that this is only your sophomore year. It can be anxious waiting for the college admissions process, but you just need to focus on what is going on in your life right now rather than obsessing with what is coming later. Get involved with all the stuff you want to be in, but try not to burn out. Just don't try to tell us that these are your actual creds.</p>
<p>Oh, and btw I still applied to Princeton and hope to get in.</p>