<p>Take the most difficult academic schedule available to you at your school. Do not skimp on math and science. This means Math through Calculus, if available and a Lab Science course every year - Bio, Chem and Physics.
Get excellent grades in all your academic courses.
Get excellent SAT’s. Take the PSAT as a Sophomore - it’s a “freebie” and can give you a pretty good indication of where you stand.</p>
<p>After that - enjoy high school!</p>
<p>Please Note: I am in the process of starting a Model UN Club at my school–it’s something that I really really am interested in. </p>
<p>Also, some test scores are back =)</p>
<p>The PLAN Test (it’s a mini-ACT for sophomores)–I scored a 31 (it’s out of 32 not 36) without studying at all. I didn’t study so I could get a nice gauge of what I needed to study, etc.</p>
<p>My PSAT scores are not back yet.</p>
<p>This coming summer I applying to TASS, NSLI-Y (state department sponsored study abroad), and I will look into a Rotary Club study abroad.</p>
<p>Any suggestions?</p>
<p>If those things above don’t work out, my back-up is an internship with a US Senate Campaign in my state. =)</p>
<p>Do those sound good? Or do you have any other suggestions? They would be much appreciated!</p>
<p>Just a note, you should know that you are all extremely helpful here on the parent’s forum. Honestly, I was shocked at how well considered your responses were to my queries!</p>
<p>Also, I was looking at Concordia Language villages if the aforementioned programs don’t work out–I could study Arabic (something I could not do abroad as my parents are not keen on the idea of me going to the Middle East…).</p>
<p>Your grades/transcript are going to come first, excellent ECs only serve as a supplement and further enhance your application. I would suggest a much harder transcript, including a few APs and multiple honors courses. You should also make sure to do well on your SATs if your serious about an Ivy education.</p>
<p>I’m taking every single honors class available to me as a sophomore. Next year I will be taking 3 APs & 1 honors class (we’re limited to a total of 4 AP/Honors courses at my school)–there are only 3 AP classes offered to Juniors. Senior year I will be taking at least 4 APs (I am going to see if I can get an exception made in order for me to take more).</p>
<p>Sweetheart, no matter what you choose to do, just make sure you step back occasionally and enjoy what you have accomplished. Spend some time with your friends, enjoy just hanging out and having fun. Twenty years from now, no matter what college you pick and what college picks you, be able to look back and say, I love my life.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice–I try my best to see things other than the inside of a textbook =)</p>
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<p>Yes, they sound stellar.</p>
<p>You need to spend a little less time on CC if you’re doubting your ECs. Seriously, it amazes me how reading the Chance Me forum can make even the best and the brightest feel bad about themselves.</p>
<p>My only suggestion for your ECs would be to focus. Colleges are not looking for mass quantity, they are looking for quality. They want to see how you’ve grown in a few activities that you are passioniate about; not how well you can bend the clock to squeeze one more onto the list. Most applications don’t have unlimited space for ECs anyway, and you’re going to have to choose the best ones.</p>
<p>collegeshopping is right. Now is the time to start narrowing them down, not adding to the list. Find the ones you are genuinely interested in for one reason or another. ECs are about demonstrating commitment, passion, and growth.</p>
<p>Do what makes you happy. Do what makes you happy the best you can. Take classes that intrigue you. Do the best you can in those classes. Get outside, play a sport, get some fresh air. Every once in a while play Xbox, go to a movie, hang out in the living room with good friends. Enjoy high school.</p>
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<p>That criticism is unwarranted. I think the whole question is contrived. Don’t find ECs to get into college! That’s BS. Find ECs that help you become the person that you want to be. How do you want to contribute? What do you enjoy?</p>
<p>How would you spend your time if you didn’t need ECs for college? Those are the ECs that are worthwhile. </p>
<p>Extracurricular activities are the things we do outside of work/school that make us human and allow us to contribute to the society at large. As adults we may serve on PTO’s and other boards, we play in softball or bowling leagues, we volunteer, we veg on CC, LOL!</p>
<p>What do you want to contribute?</p>
<p>What are you 15? I think it’s fine to keep searching for things that you may like or have a mix of things that make you feel balanced. You don’t have to force a focus if that isn’t the real you.</p>
<p>Well, I think, in all honesty, if I didn’t have to do anything to get into college, I would still be doing the same slew of activities–I love volunteering, it makes me happy and I genuinely like spending time with the people I help. I love mock trial, it’s my favorite activity, and I would still want to start a Model UN–It’s something I have an interest in that I can’t really pursue otherwise. I would still do all of the clubs that I’m in. The only thing I wouldn’t do is try so ridiculously hard in a class like Honors Chemistry, but hey, it’s school, that’s not optional, though if I didn’t have to spend so much time on that, I could spend more time reading and working on history (which I adore).</p>
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<p>There you go! Excellent. Enjoy!</p>
<p>Keep working on the Chemistry too. You are correct, that part is not optional. :-)</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! I’d just like to find a few more things to do, especially in the realm of awards…</p>
<p>There seem to be so many different awards for math/science students, but not a whole lot for humanities students…</p>
<p>bump…</p>
<p>bump…</p>
<p>My honest to goodness advice is for you to simply do what you enjoy and don’t even worry about college. The acceptance rate for top schools will be abysmally low and so there is no guarantee for getting in. But if you spend your years of high school doing what you enjoy then you will have something no college can grant or take away.</p>
<p>Want to know the best way to know when you have a good EC? When you don’t even realize that an activity is an EC.</p>
<p>As an aside what college you go to doesn’t really matter anyway.</p>
<p>Dbate - That’s not really true. If you go to a college where you feel comfortable, challenged, and happy, where you learn about things that fire your passions, that does make a difference. And not every college or university is going to do that for you. </p>
<p>b.madison - I think you already have plenty of great suggestions here. Being a page is a terrific idea, a very unique experience. If you can’t make it into the national program (though there’s no specific reason I see why that would be the case) there are also often page programs at state senates and state houses. State politics can be a great training ground, since that’s where a lot of the politicking that “really matters” can happen. </p>
<p>I think people who are suggesting spending time overseas (even in Canada or Mexico) are smart. If you want to study the world, there’s no reason not to start early. There are many different programs for high school students of all ages that allow you to travel to interesting places and to volunteer and study even just for the summer. I’ve met high schoolers applying to college who went to Mongolia, France, Japan, Ghana, all over to do all kinds of work. If you’re interested in how the world works, nothing will replace seeing it first hand and often it’s a lot easier than you think.</p>