<p>I am currently a sophomore at one of PA's most competitive public high schools. I dream of attending Princeton, and wanted some advice on how to be the most competitive applicant I can be by senior year. It would be helpful if I could get some criticism on whether of not my EC's are currently up to par.</p>
<p>Thanks and here are the stats:
-UW GPA- 4.0 taking all honors classes
ECs:
-Forensic Speech and Debate team - national caliber debater (6th in state championship)
-Assistant news editor of student newspaper
-Ski bus
-Owner and writer of successful golf website
-JV lacrosse freshman year
-Golf in both 9th and 10th grade
-Participant in annual Bayer German Culture Bowl (3rd place as freshman)
Volunteering/Work:
-Payment for website
-Altar server at Church
-Salvation Army Christmas work
Awards:
-Student of the year nominee</p>
<p>In my junior year, I will probably pursue an IB diploma. </p>
<p>If I continue withmy current progress, what do you think my chances will be at acceptance into extremely competitive universities?</p>
<p>The mentality you're showing is the exact thing that will prevent you from going to a top school. You're mentality should be: what do I want to do to enrich myself, and push my own skills along. Others would probably say you're too young to worry, but I would say that the focus should be exploring, finding interesting things to do and having fun. Believe me, that last one has helped a lot in getting into colleges. Let me know if you want any specifics.</p>
<p>Your EC's are fine, just have fun in high school. Princeton is the kind of place where you can do everything right at get rejected. That's life, so you may as well enjoy it. Also, it is never healthy to dream of one school from the very beginning without really researching the process. A healthy attitude to take is understanding that you like Princeton, but also understanding that there are at least two dozen other schools where you could have a positively wonderful college experience.</p>
<p>Do IB in 11th and 12th grade along with AP courses, get mostly A's in these courses, score above average on the SAT I and II (or ACT), make sure you participate in unique extracurricular activities (better to have one you are really involved in rather than having several weak ones), and you're a pretty good college applicant. From what I've heard, an outstanding essay and recommendations do not play a big role in college admissions as the high school transcript, standardized test scores, and extracurricular activities do.</p>
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From what I've heard, an outstanding essay and recommendations do not play a big role in college admissions as the high school transcript, standardized test scores, and extracurricular activities do.
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<p>Er...disagree.</p>
<p>While test scores and EC's are important, the recs and essays are growing increasingly more important in competitive college admissions because everyone has similar scores, grades, president of this and that...</p>
<p>OK, I'll rephrase. You can have a stellar essay and recommendations, but if your grades and test scores are low, there is no point. I'm repeating the fact that extracurricular activities are extremely important as I know people with excellent grades, rigorous courses, and very high SAT scores that were not admitted into competitive universities due to the fact that they had very weak and simple extracurricular activities.</p>