Before I start, my goal is to get into MIT, UPenn, Stanford, Prinecton, or CMU. I just finished my freshman year of highschool.
My weighted gpa is a 100.0000 and my unweighted is a 97.1265. Here are my class final averages.
H English:97
H Bio: 98
H Alg 2: 96
H WH: 94
French 2: 99
Dig Art: 98
CAD: 99
As for my extracurriculars, I am on my schools tennis and swim team. I have had a succesful buisness that had previously done more than 5K+ in sales. I am really into graphic design and I have learned a lot on my own in the past 3 years. I will be going to a startup accelerator program at MIT this summer.
However, you need to understand that there are a LOT of VERY good universities in the US (and more elsewhere), and while the schools on your list are excellent, there is no need to go to one of these top universities in order to be very successful. You also should understand that there is a long way to go between now and when you apply to universities.
Have some fun. Continue to keep ahead in your classes. Take only the APs that you want to take (when you get to this point, possibly in your last 2 years of high school), do activities that you want to do, don’t let all of this stress you out, and you should do very well.
Since you have a 99 in French 2, I will finish with: Bonne chance et bien vivre!
You’re doing great! Good job, and excellent idea to be thinking of how to plan the next couple of years to maximize your chances of getting into your dream colleges. It is always nice to have a goal to work toward. Below are some suggestions:
start narrowing down your focus to the one or two things that you excel at most and are most interested in, so that you have a clear theme to your activities
start competing in your main area of interest, especially beyond your school so you can hopefully win one or more national or international awards
choose a long-term volunteer activity you can do that is directly related to your main area of interest
choose a club to get involved in and lead, or start your own club to lead, that is directly related to your main area of interest
go ahead and take a practice SAT at least once a year and see what you need to work on (your school might offer the PSAT, but if not, you can take a practice test online or in a book)
continue doing innovative things like you already did with the business, and try to make them relate to your main area of interest
be sure to stick with some things long-term and not just bounce from one activity to another
My daughter got into an Ivy and had several big scholarship offers elsewhere (one of which she took). Here is the basic structure of what she had to offer:
national merit finalist
national AP scholar
top 5% graduating class with straight As
one international award
two national awards
state and local awards
over 250 volunteer hours at one place
research experience in a national government lab
founder/president of a school club
Note that ALL of her activities and awards related to her top two academic interests which overlapped. Another student from her school who got into Stanford, Columbia and many other top universities had several international awards that related to her main academic interest, and was nationally ranked in her sport that she planned to play in college.
That’s what I mean by focus, and tying things into your main area of interest. It isn’t clear to me what your primary interest is right now, and maybe you are not sure yet. Here are some examples for ideas.
If you are interested in studying business in college, then it might look like this:
start another business like you did before, only this time keep it going throughout high school
lead a business club at your school, and if there isn’t one you like, start one and be president of it
compete in stock market games and business plan competitions nationally
volunteer to handle marketing or fundraising for a non-profit organization or do crowdfunding for a startup
If you are interested in studying science, then it might look like this:
compete in science fairs, science Olympiads and math team
lead a science club
volunteer at a science museum (or hospital if you want to be a doctor)
gain research experience in a university or government lab
If you want to study computer science, then it might look like this:
compete in hackathons, robotics fairs and science fairs (in computer science category)
volunteer to teach computer skills to adults or children
lead a computer science club at school
program a useful app for a business
You get the idea. Think in terms of having a theme to tie your activities together, and finding ways to possibly stand out nationally and internationally, in addition to aiming for the top 5% of your class at school with GPA and the top 5% nationally with standardized test score (SAT/ACT). If sports are part of your game plan – i.e., if you are nationally ranked or can be, and want to play on a university team – then make that part of your strategy. Otherwise, keep it in perspective and make sacrifices if needed while you hit these other targets.
Try to hit 4:30 in the 500 yd. free if possible. That will really catch the attention of coaches. Or become an individual state champ in one of your sports.