Current junior looking for suggestions to improve resume

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>My apologies for the long post.</p>

<p>I'm a junior, age 15, at a public charter high school of about 400. It's on a college campus (not all that prestigious--it's a Cal State Univ, not a UC--but then again, this is central California).</p>

<p>I've thought about going into EE or CompE, maybe ChemE or even economics or finance. I think I might stay in-state, perhaps at one of the better UCs or a decent private school (I don't know that I have the resume to get into anything good, though). USC has sent me something about their early entrance program, which I'll apply for (at my mom's request) and almost certainly get rejected from. I've only recently started researching colleges, so I don't have a list.</p>

<p>Notes: No honors courses offered. No APs offered until the junior year. Unfortunately, AP Euro, Physics, and Chemistry are not offered at all. All courses year-long unless noted.</p>

<p>9th: 4.0 (no weighting) in English, Algebra II, Physics, Latin I (req'd 2 yrs), Music I (req'd 4 years; theory, composition, analysis, ear training)
PSAT 208 (CR 63, Math 65, Writing 80)
No history course offered, although Latin technically includes ancient history.</p>

<p>10th 4.0 (unweighted), 4.16 (weighted) in English, Precalc/Trig, Chem, Latin II, Music II, and college courses W. Civ. 1/2 (semester each, req'd).
PSAT 204 (no idea how I plummeted in writing, but everything else is still bad: CR 67, math 70, writing 67)
Rank: tied for 1st or 2nd out of maybe 90-95 people</p>

<p>11th: will take AP Eng/Comp, AP US History, AP Calc BC, AP Music Theory (Music III), Bio 10/Zoo 10 (college intro courses, semester each), Latin 131T (upper-division, indefinite length because "topics" course, mainly taking in order to have 3 years in the same language)
PSAT/SAT: I'm studying this time around, and I am confident that I will do better
SAT2: Math 2C and 2 others (TBD, one will be a science)</p>

<p>Summer 2007: perhaps some city college courses in areas like chem or physics, since I haven't had as much education in those fields as I would like</p>

<p>12th: will take AP Gov't and Econ, AP Lit, Music IV, Math 77 (Calc III, semester), Math 81 (introductory differential equations, semester), Latin 131T (or perhaps a more useful language), intro Geology (college, semester, req'd)</p>

<p>Extracurricular:
Freshman band (percussion, 9th)
Wind ensemble (highest of 3 bands, percussion, 10th- )
Orchestra (percussion, 10th only unless the director tells me to return)
National Latin Exam: perfect score for levels I and II (no idea if I take it with the college course)
Academic Decathlon (10th- , likely "team 1" member 11th-12th)
Math team (I don't know its affiliation, but it might incorporate the AMC exams; likely 11th- )
100 hours community service this past summer (working with low-performing elementary school kids in summer school); I'd like to volunteer as a tutor for struggling older kids during the school year if I find time
Solo piano (2001- ; no noteworthy ability, but I'm not heading into music, either)</p>

<p>No legacies that I know of.</p>

<p>I appreciate any advice on improving my resume. Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Honestly, my advice is just to not. worry. about. it. Do what you love in high school. Four years shouldn't be spent worrying about the future--do extracurriculars that you are interested in, take classes that you are interested in. Follow your passion and your dreams. </p>

<p>It sounds cheesy, but colleges WILL be able to sense your passion, and that counts more than a padded resume. And it will make for a more enjoyable 4 years as well.</p>

3

<p>let some leadership positions will highly help you.</p>

<p>Also, if you can, do really well on your science fair project, go to regional, go to state. This can also help you get an internship from a very good college. My friend got one to MIT.</p>

4

<p>mirity: I've tried not to worry about it for most of high school, and my parents (thankfully) haven't pushed me into all sorts of different activities my whole life against my will (although I probably should have done more to investigate my interests). I just became concerned about my standing after lurking on this forum a bit.</p>

<p>123orange: I considered running for a leadership position when elections were held last semester, but I figured that I'd find something else to do with my time. For whatever reason, we have no science fair program at my school, and it's probably too late to start one this year. I'll consider it, though.</p>

<p>Thank you for the replies.</p>

5

<p>Bump, sorry (is 3 hours long enough?). Any other input? I especially appreciate any advice on ECs, in particular those that might allow me to explore and narrow down my interests (or discover related fields that might fit better). I apologize for not having a list of colleges--it'll depend upon, among other things, how I do on the SAT and SAT2s I take over the next few months. I may also look into taking either AP Physics C or Chemistry this year even though they're not offered as classes, if that's advisable. If it's too late to make meaningful changes and I'm already screwed, please let me know as well.</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

6

<p>I think you are being too hard on yourself. You are only entering junior year, so you have plently of time to study for SATs, get some volunteer service or a job, enhance your musical skills, etc. As someone above has already stated, just follow your passions. Don't try to do anything only because it will look good on your resume if you don't get any satisfaction from it. High school is a time to explore your interests, so test out a few clubs or classes, or start a club in something you already know interests you.</p>