<p>^ As I mentioned before, I came into high school not knowing a thing about college or about high school. At the beginning of second semester, I had nothing better to do than to reflect upon myself and think of my future, and that is when I began my research. It is too late to beef up my freshman extracurriculars now. Are you saying that, without that extra year, my ECs will look unimpressive and I will be condemned to rejection?</p>
<p>Oh, and I had a long talk with my counselor today. Although she opposes me graduating early, she told me to directly ask my top-choice colleges if I should graduate early or not. And, apparently, my high school is considered an extremely competitive public school (close to 1000 students in freshman class) and it is good that I am in the top 10%. She says I should stay longer because there is more chance of getting National Merit, more internships, and I will have more time to get my rank up to top 10-20. She also spoke of how colleges will admit based on what they need, how Rice rejected our valedictorian and accepted the number 15 or so. And, to my surprise, she said that we send a few students to some places like Cornell and CMU every year, and 1 person to Harvard each year.</p>