Highscool Sophomore - what should I do to get into a good university such as Duke, Cornell, etc.

Applying to College Admission Stories
1

I’m in the 10th grade and I want to know what all I should do to get into a good school.
9th grade classes:
Foundations of Math 1 ( a requirement at my high school)
Math 1 ( there weren’t any honors courses for this subject)
Honors English 1
Honors PLTW Biomedical Sciences
Honors World History
Health/PE
Spanish 2
Honors Earth and Environmental
I scored all A’s in these classes
10th grade
Honors Math 2
Honors Math 3
Honors Civics and Evonomics
Honors English 2
Honors Biology
AP Human Geography
Yearbook
Honors Spanish 3
I currently have All A’s and I scored a B for biology
My current gpa is a 4.227 but all my classes haven’t been calculated and will be calculated at the end of this year which will become a 4.4
My plans for next year:
AP US History
AP statistics
AP psychology
AP English Lit & Compostion
Honors Pre Calculus
Honors Spanish 4
Yearbook
Honors Chemistry
( if anyone thinks I should take more AP Classes in my junior please comment but I plan on taking more my senior year as well)
My EC’s-
Ambassador of the Leo Club
Interact Club
Varsity Tennis
Youth Catechist at my Church
Internship at Promising Pages (this summer
Started a book drive for children in Africa
Freedom Schools Vounteering ( this summer)
Awards-
Nomination for the National Youth Leadership Forum: Advanced Medicine and Health Care
Selection for the National Acandemy of Future Physicans and Medicak Scientists Award of Excellence

I wrote a lot sorry about that but, is there any advice or something I should over the summer or anything you would want to add that could help me in any way that would be great!! Thank you.

2

There is no “secret ingredient” to getting into good schools.

Achieve success in difficult classes, get good test scores, work hard and get involved outside the classroom, and you’ll have no trouble getting into a good school.

3

I think the first step to getting admitted to an elite school is to check off the following things:
Get a strong SAT/ACT score (1500+ or 34+), get 2 SAT IIs above 700, get a 3.8+ GPA and take the most rigorous course load.
Now, I am not saying this is the magic formula to achieving admission to schools like Duke, Cornell, etc. By having all the things I listed, you’ve cleared the hurdle of “are you qualified”- there’s no doubt in the AO’s mind you are academically capable of attending the school.

The next part, the hard part, is telling stories that make the AO want you to come to the school. Your essays and extracurriculars will make you interesting, and convince the admissions committee that they want you on their campus. As a senior nearly finished with her admissions process, what I’ve learned from being accepted to 6 schools and waitlisted at 2 (no rejections yet) is that your stories should be genuine and reflect your personality. Don’t try to create a perfect image; be yourself and tell the real stories. Don’t let your essays be over-edited; AO’s want to see a 17-18 year old’s writing, not a 45 year old’s.

And finally, realize that with the most elite schools, it’s pretty much a lottery. Don’t get hung up on one school with a sub-10% acceptance rate, because you might be setting yourself up for disappointment. Apply to a broad range of safety, match and reach schools and you will end up at the right place for you.