<p>Well I was just wondering if I actually have a chance of getting into any Ivy League in general. As a career, I want to be a neurologist/neurosurgeon, and I think getting into an Ivy League would help me to learn to my full potential. I'm going into 9th grade next year, and I want to have a fresh outlook. So, I'm just going to list a few of my achievements (I hate to brag, but I'm to curious) and I just want you guys to respond and say if I have a chance:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I skipped 8th grade.</p></li>
<li><p>I know 4 languages (French, English, Turkish, and Spanish).</p></li>
<li><p>I made a website about the human body systems specifically for 6/7th graders, and it is used at my school to teach them.</p></li>
<li><p>I play 3 instruments (piano,flute, and clarinet). I have won numerous awards for piano, and even got invited and played at the State Honors Recital.</p></li>
<li><p>I have over 85+ hours of community and service over a 2 year program.</p></li>
<li><p>All my classes are MYP.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Well your definitley on the right track. You seem like a very bright motivated student. Continue to do well, and you will do stellar things in life.</p>
<p>Well the classes you take in High School will definitley help. Take the most challenging courses your school offers, but don’t bite off more than what you can chew. Try to get an summer internship at a local lab. Start visiting campuses, and see which one you like. Continue to work on you human body website, because it sounds really interesting! Also instead of joining a variety of clubs and community service work on a few and dedicate yourself to it.</p>
<p>There’s no way to do so. There are no guarantees.</p>
<p>BUT I will guarantee you this: if you continue on to high school only with the mission to get into an Ivy League school YOUR LIFE WILL BE MISERABLE. And you will likely burn out and do badly. So go and enjoy life. Come back in 3 years after you finish Junior year and have grades and test scores. Until then, stay away from this website or you will just get more obsessed.</p>
<p>Having applied and been accepted to a number of the Ivies (Yale, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania), I believe that I can comment on some of the general things that they look for in an applicant. While your high school record, more specifically your grades, is tremendously important to the application process, one of the most overlooked pieces of applying is the personal essay. This is your chance to sway those admissions officers in your favor. Not only will they be looking to see the facility and clarity with which you communicate, they will also be looking to find out more about you as a person. This is your chance to shine. In the essay you are not restricted by your stats and numbers. You have free range to craft a thoughtful and unique story that will resonate with the admissions officer. You want to give them something to remember you by if they decide to vouch for you in their regional committee. I seriously doubt that at that stage they’ll be discussing who got an A+ in physics or who did 85 hours of community service as opposed to 90. They’ll be talking about who had the most compelling story about why they want to be accepted. This is not meant to negate the importance of other parts of the application. I wish only to express to you the power of the essay and its potential to win over admissions officers. Maintain excellence in your academics and pursue meaningful extra-curricular activities. Remember that it is depth that counts, not breadth. To be honest, I don’t think that anything really guarantees acceptance to an Ivy League school. There are, however, things that you can do that will set you apart from others as you move forward in the application process that will increase your chances of being accepted. Following these suggestions would only help. (And as a side note: There is nothing wrong with being goal-oriented. If going to an Ivy League is what you want to do, do all that you can to prepare for that. Don’t let born2dance94 discourage you. I knew since the seventh grade that I wanted to go to Yale. In the years leading up to my senior year, I prepared for it. As a result, I’ll be attending Yale in the fall. Your high school years should be devoted to preparing for your entry into college. If you are dedicated and conscientious, you will not burn out. I attended, arguably, one of the most elite, challenging and competitive high schools in the nation. I had to balance applying to college with a difficult and unforgiving course load. I managed to get through it all though. There is nothing wrong with being ambitious.)</p>
<p>That is great that you want to go to an IVY league school, and that is definitely something you should strive to achieve, but you should also know that to become an amazing neurosurgeon its not always where you went for undergraduate school but how you did in undergraduate school. Therefore while I am sure you are extremely intelligent, also consider going to a top tier school, where you have more opportunities to let your intelligence shine. After all, when hiring, hospitals are going to care more about where you went to medical school rather than undergraduate school, so its better to put yourself in a position where you can get into a better med school. Just some food for thought. </p>
<p>I find it odd that students who have yet to truly enter the application process or be accepted to an institution, feel that they are qualified to offer others suggestions. Be careful who you take advice from. You should pay more attention to people who have successfully completed the process. High school kids are not above using cutthroat or underhanded tactics to narrow the competition. I get tired of hearing people take emphasis off of the importance of where you go for your undergraduate years. The bottom line is that you want the best education possible from beginning to end. If you feel that the Ivies are the way to go, pursue that. Why not start out at the best?</p>
<p>You have all the time in the world. Just take all the hardest courses in high school, start building up your extracurriculars early, do meaningful activities during summer, and push through these next four years. </p>
<p>Lol I’m not saying this to lower competition. The kid is 3 years younger than me and I’ve got a 4.84 GPA and a 2330 SAT. I don’t need to discourage anyone on purpose, much less someone not even in my grade.</p>
<p>But going to a competitive high school, I’ve seen the kids (including friends of mine) that only want to get into a certain prestigious school and only think about that. They’ve all burned out (one pretty darn badly in particular) and for those who are seniors, they didn’t even make it into the schools while other kids from our school did.</p>
<p>Burning out means that everything gets to be too much and too stressful. It takes such a toll that the person starts to do badly.</p>
<p>And as I said, I do have experience. I have many friends who got into Ivy League schools or Duke or Stanford and didn’t start focusing on it until Junior year started. And other friends obsessed with getting into certain Ivies that took on too much and started getting worse grades.</p>
Yeah I’ll probably do that right after I feed all the homeless people in the world</p>