[DEPRESSED SOPHOMORE] HELP...Please give me some advie

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hi everybody! I am a sophomore in one of top-notch independent boarding schools in New England Area. What is special about me is that I came from china(because of different educational system+ there's more chance for me to get in my current school I repeat a year). When I was in China, I ranked at 3/400 in a top school and got a ton of leadership....But now, since I never studied alone abroad before, I had a few chance to be a leader. My GPA is good, though not as gorgeous as I was before because I can't understand english as well as a native speaker did. I kinda felt lost because I don't know how to approach my dream school. Can somebody give me some hints on the priorities of things I should do in 600 days before I apply to college?
Also, I wonder does the sophomore year in China count?(I hope it does)
Here's my current status: </p>

<p>Academics: First honor roll.
Sophomore Class load:
Cal BC
AP Chem
Humanities program(english, history, philosophy, music)
First Year French</p>

<p>Possible Junior Class load:
Linear algebra(totally college level harder than ap...)
AP physic C
AP US history
Piano+music technology</p>

<p>Possible </p>

<p>Leadership:
In China I have a bunch of them: class president, debate team captain(in Chinese though), volunteer team captain...Really enough. But I wonder will it count?
For now, none in this school. I am applying to Chinese Club board member in the coming May but I don't know if I can make it. I am also considering establishing a new club at the beginning of junior year. Hopefully I will be the captain of maths team in my junior year. </p>

<p>Volunteer:
Sophomore year in China:
Shanghai Public Library volunteer
school's library volunteer
Go to special schools for mentally handicapped kids once a week</p>

<p>Sophomore year now:
Teach faculties' kids Chinese every week
Two students' maths tutor
Math center help every Sunday night
Habitat for humanities trip during spring break</p>

<p>EC:
No sports...
Strong in maths but not strong enough to win a national award...
Play piano since 5, but not strong enough to win a national award...
I was a good writer, but in Chinese. I got several articles published when I was in middle school.
(somebody gave me any advice in EC??)</p>

<p>Tests:
I am relatively confident in this field. I haven't started yet, but I think I will have decent scores.</p>

<p>Why I am depressed is that I am not that kind of "school asian". I used to define myself as a leader, but here because I am kinda weird to be an international student so my leadership opportunity is much less.
Also, my school won't assign us a college counselor until the spring of junior year, so do I need to hire a college counselor? And I knew nothing about that...can anybody recommend me some?</p>

<p>My dream school is Stanford(i know for now it seems too much for me). I kinda wanna know am I good enough to get into Berkeley or UCLA? I really have no idea....Can anybody tell me am I good enough for top 10-15?</p>

<p>I am interested in Maths, creative writing and music. I think I will major in either maths or engineering...My ECs are kinda "messy.." can somebody give me a suggestion on that?</p>

2

<p>It’s hard to say because you haven’t taken any tests yet. If your dream school is Stanford and you want to be involved in math, make sure your SAT math section is around a 750 or above. Take the math subject tests. </p>

<p>Your schooling in China will DEFINITELY count. The transcripts should transfer over, so don’t sweat that.</p>

<p>You have a good shot as long as you are well rounded and your math scores are superb. Keep your head up, you have a few years to “fix” anything that breeds fixing! </p>

3

<p>berkeley yes
ucla yes
stanford hard to say</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1631318-what-should-i-do-to-get-into-these-colleges.html#latest”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1631318-what-should-i-do-to-get-into-these-colleges.html#latest&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>Hi! Thanks for your advice. I don’t know how to reply to specific post…</p>

<p>I thought I am going to get 2250+, hopefully 2300+ in SAT. I am going to take 5+ ap tests and 2 SAT subject test. I think I can get 750+</p>

<p>I am kinda worrying about my ECs right now… </p>

5

<p>UCB, UCLA, Stanford : Rejected
Firstly, you should tell us your GPA. We don’t know what a “not gorgeous” is. Even if it is something around 3.8, your ECs are good, but very ordinary. If you can do go your SATs, AP Exams and boost your GPA, I think you have a chance at UCB and UCLA. However, unless you win some national award (or have some other outstanding ECs), Stanford will likely reject you. Good luck! </p>

<p>To reply to a specific post, you can write @user, however it doesn’t make a difference apart from them (user) getting a notification saying they were mentioned in some post. </p>

6

<p>@wannabefeynman</p>

<p>Thank you for your advice! Can I ask you some more questions?
For GPA:Basically, my school has a really different system of GPA…A+(above 97) is a 12, A(above 93) is an 11. Nobody ever get higher than 11.3 in our grade, and I get a 11. But fortunately, 11 counts as a 4.0 out of 4.0 unweighted when we apply for college.</p>

<p>For EC: since I repeat a year, I don’t know if my ninth grade in China counts. I do won national maths awards when I was in middle school, and I got a writing awards in middle school and got 3 of my article published…but it’s all in middle school, some of them were not even in 9th grade…</p>

<p>In my tenth grade, I wrote a play for my class and I was also the director and one of the leading actors (there’re 14 classes in a grade in China, kinda different from here), and it won the championship of contest of my school. Later we are invited to perform for a charity event organized by government of my city, and we got 500 RMB for salary. Later Shanghai Drama College offer me a free admission into the summer camp for young performers but I didn’t go because I just did drama for fun I didn’t wanna go too far.</p>

<p>Does it sound more attractive than just some titles? If so, i kinda know what I should focus right now. I define myself</p>

<p>Now I have two major confusions:
1, sport. I am not athletic at all…I exercise and I know a lot of sports but just for fun, can’t compete with so many athletic recruited students in my school. So is it okay for me to drop sport and do independent project(like piano?)
ur school had limited chance for music student. I love music but I am sure I can’t win a national awards in piano. But I am confident of performing. Will performing for internship or fund-raising count?</p>

<p>2, I define myself as a leader but I don’t quite fit into preppy school’s social life…So actually when I first come here I was a little bit depressed. A lot of international students in my school avoid social life completely and become isolated, and I don’t think it’s good for them, so I decide to try to make a change(it’s not for college application it is because I can’t live in an anti-social way and I know other international students are not happy about that too.) I am considering establishing a club, and also contacting class dean try to change the orientation process of international students.
I know it’s gonna take me huge amounts of time and struggle. I don’t know if I can make a change or not in our community. I don’t know if it “worths” or not speaking of college application…</p>

7

<p>Hi;
You’re welcome.
A 4.0 unweighed GPA is an excellent one. I don’t know how you can how above 4.0 in China though, since you said your GPA is not as good as it was in China. Most universities look at your senior year and somewhat your junior year. Certain universities do look at your freshman and sophomore year, but it is not significant. But whatever national awards you won, in whatever grade, should count. If your middle school awards are significant (such as MATHCOUNTS), I’m sure most universities at least consider them. Definitely mention the awards you got for your play and your attendance at the charity event. </p>

<p>An important thing to note it to do extracurricular activities which you enjoy, rather then what will get you into a good universities. Do what you like. Unless you become a professional athlete, it won’t matter much whether you play piano or sports. If you perform at some event, definitely include it. However, don’t do it just because it will look good on your application. Do what you like. That is what universities, especially the more selective ones, will appreciate you for. If you want to establish a club, then by all means do it. As for including it on your application, include everything that you are even thinking about including. Unless it’s negative, it can’t harm you at all. And establishing a club shows leadership and interest, qualities universities look for. Good luck!</p>

8

<p>@wannabefeynman
Hi! Basically we don’t have GPA system but we have rank. I mean, my grade is not the top 3 in my current school but I was the top three in my old school.
Since I came to the states earlier than most of my classmates did, I used certain amount of time in self-exploration.
Thanks for your advice! </p>

9

<p>Hi;
if you have a perfect GPA your rank shouldn’t harm you. </p>