Please excuse my poor grammar and writing, I’m on mobile. I am currently a freshman in high school. I am aiming to go to an Ivy League (Princeton/Harvard), UChicago, or Vanderbilt. I am taking Pre-IB and Pre-AP classes right now because my school does not offer IB/AP until 11th grade. My current extracurriculars are tennis, debate team, math team, robotics team, advanced math classes, taekwondo (black belt), piano, and essay/life coaching classes (both of which are taught by a current yale student). I am planning on starting a coding class/camp at my local library with three of my friends. We have been working on it for about 6 months now. We were going to start it during the summer this year, but we ended up deciding to start the camp next year. I am an Asian male and I am not sure which of my extracurriculars, if any, are stereotypically Asian. Am I taking too many extracurriculars? Should I focus on just one extracurricular and just quit the rest? Do I really have to win state/national/international level awards to even have a chance at Ivy Leagues? Do I have to have a 4.0 GPA and near-perfect standardized test scores in order to have a chance at Ivy Leagues? What should I do from this year to senior year to boost my application and chances at prestigious colleges? Any help is appreciated!
I know someone with perfect SAT scores and an amazing record of ECs who was rejected at several Ivys.
The message is to cast a wide net. Safety, match, reach. Be your best you and see where the chips fall.
Thank you
I think it’s too early to decide on specific colleges. You should undertake academic and extracurricular activities because they truly interest you, not because you think they’ll make you look good. You should try to do well in school, learn for the sake of learning, contribute to class discussions, and collaborate with others in class. If you do that, you will serve yourself well in the long term, and your grades will reflect your effort. You can explore a number of extracurriculars early in high school, but I think that you are participating in so many activities that it is difficult to dive deep and be a leader in any one of them. Choose two or three that most interest you and try to excel and be a team player. Reflect on what you like about the ECs and how you can contribute in a meaningful way. You might try to find academic and extracurricular niches that interest you.