<p>hey all,</p>
<p>I'm currently a sophomore at a small public high school, and I'd really like to get into a top-tier ivy league school (preferably harvard), but I'm kinda worried that my ethnicity will really drag me down (asian). I'm just going to post some of my extracurriculars and my academic record. If you guys have any advice, it would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>so far:
freshman year all 100s
sophomore year first semester (nothing lower than 95)
practice SAT scores verbal 750, math 700, grammar 730</p>
<p>i also fence competitively (i'm 7th in the point standings as of now), and compete internationally in world cups
i play violin and piano
i don't have any community service hours, though i plan to get some in this summer</p>
<p>Well if you're afraid your ethnicity will drag you down, there's nothing CC can do to fix that. Just work your hardest and do the things you love as best as you can. Nothing harder or simpler than that.</p>
<p>If you're a soph., I really wouldn't be worrying about colleges now. It's not worth spending 2 years of your life planning for only 4 years. Don't worry about getting into an Ivy. There are other competitive schools that are just as good. Do the extracurriculars you love. If you're truly qualified, they'll speak for themselves.</p>
<p>If you're worried about race, I guess my advice would be to avoid the archetypal mold. Participate in something quirky; an extracurricular that really sets you apart. Make this a main focus of your application. And don't do community service for the sake of it looking good on an application. They can tell.</p>