Current HS Freshman looking for advice to get into T20 school (polisci/humanities)

Pre-College Issues
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Hey!

I’m currently a freshman in high school and I want to get into a T20 school. My dream would be to go to Columbia or Yale. I plan on majoring in either political science or journalism. I don’t want to come across as pretentious, that I couldn’t go to a less competitive school, however I want to aim high so that even if I don’t get into an Ivy school, I’ll still be attending a great university!
The school year is almost done, and I think I’ve done pretty well academically, however I could have worked harder on my extracurriculars.

Here are the specifics from this year:
GPA:
4.0 unweighted, 5.1 weighted
Classes
Intro to Government Administration, Honors English 1, Intro to Journalism, Honors Art, Dance, Honors Geometry, Honors Biology, AP Human Geography (AP Spanish Language outside of school)
Rank
44/589 (top 7%)
Awards
Best position paper at a Model UN competition, highest score at a state art competition (VASE)
Extracurriculars
National Art Honors Society, Manager of Model UN club at my school, preparing for German proficiency test

Plans for next year:
Classes
Political science, AP World History, AP Seminar, Honors Art 2, AP European History, Honors Algebra 2, Honors Chemistry, Honors English 2
(AP Spanish Literature & German 2 outside of school)
Extracurriculars
This is where I’m really confused. I don’t know what extracurriculars I should participate in.
My parents have suggested that I take part in national writing and art competitions, but I’m not sure if that is enough. I want to do something relating to my local government but idk what.

Okay thats all! Thank you so much if you read all that!
Overall, I’m looking for suggestions on what more I could be doing outside of school, and some feedback on how I’m doing so far.

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You’re off to a great start. In general, take the most rigorous classes offered at your high school, while also trying to take classes with the best teachers. In other words, if the teacher for an AP that you might otherwise not have considered, is reputed to be fantastic, consider taking it. If the teacher for an AP is reputed to be horrible, think twice before you take that one. Maybe take a college class in that instead, during high school.

For ECs - figure out what you absolutely LOVE doing, and take that as far as you can, outside of school if necessary. For example, if you love politics, get working on a local campaign now, and go as far as you can with it. If you love journalism, get involved now with your local news organization (often done online or via social media) and try to start writing in-depth reporting about issues relevant to your community.

You want to accomplish something in your EC field of interest that is greater than becoming the editor of the school newspaper, or the head of student council (although certainly, you could do those too if you like). You want to accomplish something that few others will have done, such as having founded a city or state wide organization that registers all high school seniors to vote, and really gets out the vote, so that you can apply saying “I founded Iowa New Voices, an organization that single-handedly doubled voting registration and actual voting participation by 18 year olds in our state. I conceived the idea, I recruited my fellow students to help, I led them to do it, we accomplished something that makes a difference, and the organization that I founded three years ago is on a solid footing to be handed over to new leadership and persist after I have gone on to college.”

Think outside the high school box. Awards at model UN are nice, and if that is your true passion, take it as far as you can, and write about how you see your future in international public policy or diplomacy. But you don’t have to limit yourself to the traditional routes - you can go straight to real world stuff in politics and journalism, if you like, especially nowadays with local journalism being wide open online, what with the death of most local newspapers.

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Keep up the great academics, take rigorous classes (but not to the point you can’t succeed).

Your ECs should be things of passion (maybe it’s walking dogs, helpinig refugees, refereeing soccer games, etc.) or sports or work, etc.

You just need 2-3. You don’t need to cure cancer. You do want to get tenure and items you can quantify - I walked 3 dogs a week every week of the year and helped get 10 adopted.

Keep being you - and have an open mind - because rule #1 of college - don’t fall in love with ANY schools.

Keep being you and over the next few years you’ll learn about which colleges are right for you…you really don’t know yet.

Good luck.

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Thank you so much!

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Thank you!!

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I know it’s easy to say, but try not to live life during high school with admissions in mind, at least not yet. Follow your genuine interests and things will work out! Eventually you want to find a school that fits you and not fit yourself to a school. Financial aid is a good reason to aim for some Ivies, for sure. How much do you know about these schools, or about other schools you might like? For instance, Tufts and Gerogetown might be good for your interests. Enjoy these years if you can!

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You’re done very well academically but realistically, anyone who apply to Ivy League and T20 (or even T30-50) have similar pedigree as yours. The essays and ECs are going to be the deciding factors and these are outside of your control.

You’ll get similar suggestions in this forum and I’ll reiterate some of the talking points:

  1. Continue taking rigorous classes especially the ones that interest you and fit with your future major.
  2. However, do not close the door on other things. Keep an open mind because you might change your major in the future. I actually asked my son to take accounting classes (despite him wanting to go STEM route) so he can get some exposure.
  3. It is ok to have a dream school, but my advice is: your dream schools are the one who will admit you. Find schools that you think you’ll be happy at but also force you to get out of your comfort zone.
  4. Don’t treat your EC as ticking the box. Find things that you like or enjoy. Even if that’s not related to Journalism/PolSci. Sometimes people think that you have to raise tens of thousands dollars and found non-profit (sadly, some students ended up doing that - founding non profit for the sake of ticking the box and their non-profits actually don’t work well). That’s not true. For some AOs, consistent ECs show that you don’t only tick the box, but you also show that you’re doing things because you’re passionate of certain activities.
  5. You might want to find ECs that make you a well-rounded person. For example, if you’re great at Math, probably you won’t need Math Team, Math Olympics and all math-related ECs. My student’s group who are excellent in STEM actually participate in debate and speech team.

I suggest reading the blog Applying Sideways Blog here

One final advice: what a great university for you will not be the ranking. But what you will do there. I wish you all the best. I’ll be interested in checking this forum 3 years for now and see how you end up.

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You’re getting good advice…keep up the strong academics and show commitment to a couple activities you truly enjoy. I’m going to throw out a couple soft skills that will be a help in college but also build your confidence and success in high school.

  • Take advantage of any extra facetime with your teachers… office hours, test prep, etc. This will help with your academics but also build relationships with adults, who could become mentors or recommenders. Do this now so that by the time you are a junior and asking for LORs for college apps, you’re already comfortable establishing these relationships.

  • Work on self-advocacy… with teachers, club sponsors, etc. Depending on your family dynamic, this may mean having a conversation with your parents and asking them to take a background advisory role and allowing you to advocate for yourself. It is good practice to work on this in high school, when your parents can easily step in if needed… rather than try to figure this out for the first time in college when they are not around.

Enjoy high school! Enjoy your friends!

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You have a couple of top colleges in mind. I would strongly urge you to also consider looking at the characteristics you want in a college, and find a balanced list of other colleges that are less competitive. Really…every single applicant needs a balanced list of colleges to apply to.

Once you have mid 11th grade grades, and maybe an SAT or ACT score, you will be in a much better place in terms of school searches.

You don’t mention budget in your post…but please do ask your parents what they think they can contribute towards college annually.

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For other ideas:

Little Ivies - Wikipedia

Colleges That Change Lives – Changing Lives. One Student At A Time. (ctcl.org)

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Neither one of the schools you mentioned has a journalism major.

If you want to be a journalist, don’t major in it. Just go to a school with a daily, independent, student-run newspaper. Join on your first day. Work your way up to a top editor position. Get summer internships in journalism.

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Adding to @brantly advice.

I don’t see your HS student newspaper on your list of ECs. Frankly, I find this odd for someone who is considering a journalism major. We know several prominent journalists. ALL did something in high school…editor of the student newspaper, broadcaster on the school radio station….something.

I’m really not sure why you have Yale and Columbia as your reach schools.

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note OP is a Freshman…it’s early. And not all journalists did journalistic things.

I’m sure OPs list will develop over time - and perhaps they’ll be involved with writing and/or broadcasting in some fashion.

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You’re off to a great start! Consider LACs - small liberal arts colleges do a fantastic job of teaching students how to write & often have very strong poli sci / English departments. You’ll find that people who are in your field will recognize the names of those strong LACs- don’t worry as much about prestige, but about getting the best education you possibly can, and that might be in a smaller class setting. I have a kid your age, and a senior (who was just admitted to an Ivy), and I’ve signed my younger child up for an ACT prep class next month. Yes, freshman year is early to start thinking about test scores, but by the time you’re applying, test optional may not be as prevalent as it is now. Getting your best possible scores comes down to test prep and practice, and if you’re able to score well, that will significantly increase your chances of admission at top schools. Also, volunteer, tutor, etc.- it shows you’re engaged in your community. Get really involved in activities you’re passionate about, let that guide your ECs.

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My original post wasn’t very clear, but what I want to do career-wise is to write about political issues (foreign correspondent is my “dream job”), so the main major I want to peruse is political science/ international relations, but I want to keep my writing strong and show it off as a major skill of mine.

The reason I’m not in my school newspaper is because it isn’t open for freshman to write in. Do you know if there are any student-run newspapers that I could write for?

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Do you know of any specific student-run newspapers that I could join? I really appreciate the advice!

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Do you think that tutoring is the best way to prepare for the SAT and ACT? Or is self-studying also a viable option?I’ve heard mixed opinions from people around me. Thank you!!

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That’s really an individual question. There are books. There are in person classes you can pay for. There’s online tools. Each learns differently - but you’re a long way from that time wise.

If you don’t have a school paper, you might try yearbook or if there’s a small local newspaper, you can ask about interning or covering sports games, etc. Yes, you want to do politics but many start doing sports or weather, etc. or even writing obituary notices. The point is to get experience - if you can. If you can’t at this age, it’s not life or death.

I went to Syracuse, the mecca of journalism. Few will have prior experience. If you get it, great…if not, you’ll be ok. It’s a tough field and few make it (I didn’t), but why not you?

Learning to read, write, analyze is the most important thing.

Journalism today is different - it’s fractured (you have blogs, podcasts, contractor roles like at Forbes), it’s adversarial (if they don’t like your “facts”, you are liberal and woke), and it’s an entirely different game. Heck, just the other day I was reading the Fox News/Dominion texts where the “commentators” were trying to get journalists fired for accurate reporting…it’s unfortunately now a part of the profession that prides itself on objectivity.

If you want to do radio/tv, you have an iphone - and that allows you to practice practice practice.

But - you are years away from this point - but when the time comes you’ll likely be interested in the schools like Northwestern, Indiana, Syracuse - or even schools you just mentioned…or LACs or many more.

For now, focus on school and extra curriculars that you have a passion for - journalism, political, or otherwise. Play a sport, join the band, get a job, intern at a local paper or radio station…basically, be a kid.

Good luck.

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My kids did so much better with tutors vs. classes and self studying.

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Regarding test prep, you are currently a freshman. IMO, if you want to start any test prep now I suggest free resources such as Kahn Academy and the free tests available for download from College Board. This will give you a baseline and an idea of the topics covered… some of which you’ve most likely not covered in class yet. Depending on how you feel about the material you can make the determination of ACT vs SAT and tutor or no tutor in a year or so.

In our case, my D self-studied then met with a tutor 2-3 times to better understand strategy. Do what works best for you and your family… it can be a mix of free and paid resources, or one or the other.

ETA: You may be interested in some summer writing workshops. I believe most in-person programs are for 16 yrs and up, but there may be local or online available for you this summer.