Hello! I’m a current high school senior. My first advice would be: don’t be stressed out about college! Yes, be concerned, vigilant, and hard working, but don’t worry yourself into a hole! I know from first hand experience that it is really hard to not stress, and that sometimes you get so stressed that stressing seems like the only option. But please try to take some breaths and clear your head. Remember, being stressed out doesn’t get you into college- your hard work and determination does! Sorry for being cheesy! But it’s true. Also, your extracurriculars are plenty. Just make sure you stick with them, and try to attain a leadership role in some of the clubs, or win awards, if there are any. Don’t worry too much about that, though. When I was a sophomore, I was super stressed as well. I thought that I wouldn’t get into any good colleges because I had a single B in my transcript, and I thought that it would screw up my GPA, but that isn’t true at all. Now, I look back, and the one thing that I wish I had done as a sophomore was honestly just relax, and build up some self confidence. I wish I had been content with where I was, and what I was doing. I wish I took opportunities that I was too scared to take, and just enjoyed my year more. I’m not gonna lie and say that everything was easy and I just stressed too much- things were tough. Classes kicked my butt. Standardized tests stressed me out to the max. But I wish I thought more objectively, logically, and calmly about my grades, scores, and stage of life. I saved more time and effort and energy to spend on improving myself and my grades from spending less time stressing. Also, please don’t think that UMich is a total reach! I think it’s awesome that you know exactly what school you want to go to, and what you want to major in! I didn’t know until right before I applied to college in August 2017, haha. Just don’t be so dead set on your school that you correlate the acceptance with your self worth, because I’ve seen the aftermath of that. Please know that your hard work will pay off, and be content with the results of your work. If you’ve given your all for something, then you should rest easy knowing that you did your absolute best. You’re probably going to take the SAT or ACT soon, and my advice on that is the same. Be very dedicated and work hard, but don’t go overkill on a quest to achieve The Perfect Score, because it’s not necessary to get into UMich. If you do all that you can, things will work out in the end. Something you should do before studying for the SAT/ACT though, is look up the average SAT/ACT of the schools you are interested in, and then make that score your goal, or even shoot a little above it. Make sure you know what those colleges require for acceptance. If you get one bad score, or one bad grade, it really isn’t the end of the world. That’s something I wish I knew before. Also, make sure you take care of yourself. Be mentally and physically healthy at all times! Don’t stay up late, and make sure you always eat right. Honestly, I neglected my health in sophomore and junior year A LOT and it was detrimental. If your brain, body, and heart aren’t healthy, then you won’t be able to function properly and do all the things you want to, like ace your classes, and get into UMich. In addition, keep an open mind! You never know. You might stumble upon another university or another major that you adore. Also, since you’re on College Confidential, I gotta warn you; it can be easy to get caught up by the college mania here. A lot of people are also really stressed about getting into The Perfect College, and it can be infectious. It can also be toxic. Be aware of what information you consume off the internet. Take all advice with a grain of salt. (Even mine.) All in all, keep your head up, stress low, and get 8 hours of sleep. It’s really not overrated. I wish you the best of luck!