Current HS freshman/rising sophomore looking for advice to get on track for t20/top STEM schools

Pre-College Issues High School Life
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I’m currently a freshman/rising sophomore (as the year is essentially over now). My goal is to get into a t20 school, preferably with some sort of scholarship. More specifically, I plan on choosing a major in the STEM field, so getting into somewhere like MIT or Caltech would be great. I feel like I’ve done okay this year, but I feel like I could have done more and didn’t try as hard as I could have. I want to make sure I can get on track to have a decent chance of getting into these schools, which is the purpose of this post.

As a disclaimer I don’t want to come of as sounding like getting into a t20 is an end all be all, especially since I still have so little experience. My mindset is that I want to do everything I can to succeed in high school that will give me options in college, and yes, my goal right now is a t20. Moreover, I want to try as hard as I can (without burning myself out) in high school. Basically, I don’t want it to sound like I’m saying a t20 is my only option, I just don’t want to feel like I missed out on an opportunity because I didn’t work hard enough a few years down the line, whether that be a t20 or not.

Here is what I did this year in terms of classes, ECs, etc.:

PSAT: 1190 (PSAT 8/9)

I did not study at all for this.

GPA: 4.0 unweighted, 4.36 weighted (semester 1)

I feel like I could have done better here because while I took any weighted classes I could they were still relatively easy and a lot of other people were excelling in them. My GPA unweighted on a 100 scale (1st semester) was 96.8. I don't think this is all that bad but I could have gotten it a lot higher if I hadn't slacked off as much.

Classes/Courseload: Honors Biology, Honors English I, Honors World Geography, school required unweighted theology class, Honors Algebra II, Drum Line I (unweighted), Honors Latin I

There was one AP which I could have taken (AP Music Theory) but I did not know this until much later in the year. I could have even taken it since I had a free period. Bummer.

Rank: My school does not provide rank unless you ask, unfortunately I do not know mine, but I’m assuming at least the top ~15-20% of my class.

Awards: I took the National Latin Exam/NLE but I have not received results yet; its possible that I did well enough for some sort of award.

Extracurriculars:

Drum line/band - My school's band program was very problematic and poorly run but I won't go into further detail. We competed in several competitions and placed close to last in all of them. Overall I feel like I got very little out of this experience and the only reason I didn't quit was so I could get a PE credit from taking the class.

Certamen/Latin club - I competed in certamen through NJCL with my school's team. We placed top three in all of our meets which were usually against 3-7 other schools. I was sick for regionals, and of course state was cancelled. The same applies for my subject tests in Latin club. So, nothing really came from this either.

Robotics club - This club was also not very well run. It was very hard to understand what was going on unless you were in the robotics class as few were willing to teach. The majority of the work for the robots was completed through marathons, usually a day or two before competition, none of which I attended. Needless to say I mostly dropped this club after the first semester.

Piano - I take piano lessons outside of school, but I've only been doing it for a few years. I didn't do any competitions this school year but I am on track to compete in at least a few later this year or next year. This also involves taking state-wide theory tests.

Volunteering - I have ~15 hours (I know, its not much) from a volunteering position at my local botanical gardens through the AOS (American Orchid Society) that I started earlier this year which I really enjoy. Otherwise I have another ~20 hours from various positions I only did once or twice.

(Beginning) plans for next year:

Classes: AP Biology, Honors Chemistry, Honors English II, AP World History, Honors OR DC Pre-calculus, a foreign language class (?), 2 undecided class slots (?)

Extracurriculars: I’m going to a different school next year so things will be a bit different.

If possible I want to try and take up orchestra instead of band next year. If that doesn't work out I will probably continue with band (hopefully the program is better).

Latin is not offered at this new school, but I know it is possible to do competitions through NJCL without association with a school. I just have to figure out if this is worth it or not. If anyone knows anything about taking a language that isn't offered at your school and still getting credit for it please let me know!

I want to get into some sort of academic competition(s) next year for sure. The only one I know my school offers for sure is academic UIL, but I've heard science and math olympiad are some of the best. Is there a way to still do these if it isn't offered at my school?

Continue with piano, hopefully start competing

Continue volunteering with the AOS, I'm planning on joining to see if there are any competitions or projects I can do that might make some sort of impact.

I have some other ideas for extracurricular activities but its too early to say whether they will come to fruition or not.

Depending on how things play out in the next few months I am planning on trying to get some sort of summer job

A few questions:

When should I start looking for and applying to internships/research positions?

Are there any classes that I should try to take over the summer to get ahead?

Are there any classes I should take during the school year online/outside of school and can they still contribute to my GPA?

Is there anything in particular I should look into doing/applying to/signing up for this summer?

That’s about it. Overall, I want to know how I am doing and what I should improve on. Please let me know if there are any classes or activities that I should look into, or things that I should not be doing, as well as any other advice or thoughts on what I’ve done so far and my plans into the future. I know its still early to think about all this but I have a lot of time on my hands now so I figured it wouldn’t be a bad time to continue researching and planning ahead.

Tysm if you read this far.

Have a nice day!

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If you want credit for anything at your school from outside your school you will need to speak to your school. They are the only ones that can give you this information. Usually your guidance counselor can give you info. There may be info you can find on the school website or in the program of studies.

Not all schools give credit from outside places. Some schools only give for specific classes or just from specific places. Even with credit you would need to ask your own school how it helps with gpa or if it does. Typically you need to get approval before you start a class.

Many schools are affiliated with a college for dual enrollment classes. Sometimes you pay and sometimes they are free. At our local public high school classes and books are free but you need to have permission from the high school to sign up. Also consider transportation. Some students take all their classes at the college for junior and senior year some take 1 a semester starting sophomore year. We also have a virtual high school option.

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Do you want to go to MIT or do you want merit scholarship? You have a better chance of getting academic scholarships at schools where you’ll be in the TOP percent of students (and of course at schools that actually offer merit scholarships).

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Hello, I am a current freshman at MIT! As mentioned above, MIT does not offer any merit-based scholarships; financial aid is awarded only by need and your family’s income level, which is something to consider down the line.

To answer some of your questions: I can tell you that I did not do any internships and did not have any experience in research before entering MIT. I did do a summer program, and I do recommend you look into some cool summer programs in your field of interest! It may be harder to get an internship or do research as a high school student, but you may be able to find something over the summer. I do not recommend doing research during the school year if you haven’t taken any AP classes yet since it can be time-consuming. A lot of internships and summer programs have application deadlines that are very early (sometimes the winter before), so you should start looking into summer programs the fall or winter before the summer you plan to do them. Please note that you do have a better chance being accepted to programs and internships as an upperclassman though. I personally did a program called COSMOS in California.

Some people at my school would take classes at a local community college to raise their GPA, but I do not think it’s necessary to overload on classes to raise your GPA as long as you are taking a rigorous course load at your high school (APs, honors, etc.). Again, I definitely think you shouldn’t commit to too much before experiencing an AP course. I can’t tell you exactly how to get into MIT, but one piece of advice is to find something you like and are passionate about and to stick with it for a long time. I think finding a few things and immersing yourself in them completely is a lot better and more worthwhile than just lightly dabbling in many activities.

Feel free to ask more specific questions about MIT if you’re interested! :slight_smile:

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Thanks! This is great info! Can I ask what other extracurriculars you did and how you think they might have impacted your application?

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OP - You are on the right track. For any T20 engineering school try to reach calculus by senior year, and have a year of bio, chem, and physics under your belt, and take AP Physics and/or AP chem if you can. If you have to pick one, take AP physics. It will help you more in college.

Do not skimp on your foreign language. Many students try to drop language to open up spots for more STEM courses. You’ll be unnecessarily hindering yourself. Most competitive schools want 3 - 4 years of foreign language. Same goes for history courses.

My D never took a summer course or had an internship. She had a job at a sub shop, did summer engineering programs (not classes), trained with her sports team, went on church trips, etc… usual kid stuff. (She’s not at MIT or Cal but at Purdue which is T10 for engineering).

My best advice there is to do the stuff you love, not what you think will be most impressive to an ad com and keep doing your best with your academics. You’ll have lots of choices when the time comes, even if you need to hunt for merit awards outside the T20.

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Right now I’m on track to take calc as a junior. I usually hear its not at all necessary to take pre-calc over the summer, however I keep going back to the idea because it could open up more competitions that require knowing some calc (USAPHO, USNCO, math competitions, etc.) and other higher math classes sooner. I can always take dual enrollment stuff the summer before senior year though, I guess. Another thing I could do is take AP stats next year and double up on math (I could also do it junior year instead) to leave senior year completely open to DE. Then again, I’m not sure if that’s really necessary either.

I’m in a bit of a difficult position because the school I am going to doesn’t offer the language I took this year. I am wondering if there is anyway I can take it online and still get credit.

Thanks for the great info!

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Of course! I didn’t do too many things since I really focused on studying for classes, but my most important extracurricular activities were probably being in Key Club and NHS (both service-based organizations), competing in Academic Decathlon (in the Regional level only), and being a mentor for incoming high school freshman. Being in service organizations was important because I really want to do meaningful work in the future that helps other people and I think the time I spent volunteering really demonstrated that. Being in Academic Decathlon really showed my love for learning! I remember talking to my MIT alumni interviewer about all the cool things I got to learn outside of class for Acadec! And finally, I was a mentor for incoming freshman; I helped organize my school’s annual freshman orientation and advised them when choosing classes. This was personally very meaningful because I got to be a leader and mentor and showed my desire to help and teach others.

However, I also mentioned on my application some personal activities I enjoyed. For example, I love self-learning foreign languages, and I also have a creative writing portfolio which I talked about in my application. Don’t be afraid to also pursue hobbies you genuinely enjoy, such as music, art, etc., these can also be a critical component of your application!

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Since you specifically said top STEM schools such as MIT, then one of the biggest extracurriculars has to be STEM olympiads. This includes USACO, USAPHO, USAMO, etc.
People generally start with math competitions, and then branch off into the other olympiads as math really helps in those other olympiads. If you manage to get into further levels in those olympiads, they can be a big boost especially at STEM schools.
If you have any questions on how to prepare for these, I’m willing to help :slight_smile:

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I have actually been looking into those for the past few days prior to this reply and decided the other day that I was going to commit to USNCO. Right now, I’m trying to create some sort of plan on where I am going to get my resources, how I am going to study it, etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

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Oof. I wish you asked about one of the olympiads I listed, since those are the ones I am actively preparing for lol. I personally don’t have any knowledge of chem beyond AP so, sorry no first-hand experience. But I do know some people doing USNCO, and general advice is to get AP chem down first, obviously. Most people I heard highly recommend Atkins next. This has majority of what you need for first few rounds. Next, more advanced is the Klein’s organic chem. Then just do a ton of past questions, which I’m sure is on their website. That should be a really good starting point, good luck!

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Possible academic progression:

  • AP Biology, Honors Chemistry => AP Chemistry => AP Physics 1 [OR: Ap Biology, Honors Physics -> Honors Chemistry, AP Physics 1-> AP Chemistry or AP Physics C? / because AP Physics C and Ap Chem are among the hardest APs, you can't take one of those + another science AP at the same time]
  • Honors English II => AP English LAnguage => Honors English IV AP World History => APUSH => choice of AP or honors social science courses
  • Honors OR DC Pre-calculus => Calculus AB or BC => whatever's next in the sequence or discrete math/linear algebra
  • a foreign language class : Take levels 1-3 of a romance language. French or Italian might be the easiest for someone who took Latin but Spanish would be ok. Try to continue Latin through Dual Enrollment (take a placement test to see which class would be best for you, then keep going).
  • 2 undecided class slots => you should take one art or music class (to cover your bases since some state universities require art, for instace in California); something you find fun and interesting, whatever it is; a CS class; senior year, take Culinary Arts as it'll serve you when you get to college and it'll help you stand out a bit. :) Make sure you take at least 5 academic classes a year and 6 overall.

Do things you enjoy and try to excell in them. Competitive AND non competitive. Have a positive impact on your school, your neighborhood, you community.

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Do you have any advice on how to prepare for USACO with no prior coding experience?

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First, get a language and stick with it. I don’t know what grade you are in, but if you don’t have much more time in high school, but generally people go to USACO after doing AP CS which is java based. If you want to get to USACO gold, java is perfectly fine, and is what I did anyway. Any further beyond plat and above probably C++ is the better option because of syntax and speed.

After learning the AP CS equivalent for which language you choose, you should do past USACO bronze problems which is generally enough to make it to silver div.

For usaco silver, you start to need basic algorithms - bfs, dfs, prefix sums, sliding window, basic greedy problems. Then again, do past silver problems. This should be a good starting point.