<p>Hello~! I just joined College Confidential to post this. (You all seem very knowledgeable.) Hopefully you guys can help me out!</p>
<p>Here's my question: How do I get into a prestigious uni/Ivy League/Yale University?
I am a freshman in high school and I am willing to do practically anything (I draw the line at killing people and cheating) to get into a great university. I will be taking classes at the local community college (for science and math, mainly) this summer and during my sophomore school year (for history, possibly English, possibly Japanese if they offer it).
I am female and Caucasian. I want to work in criminology, forensics, lab work, etc..</p>
<p>My classes are: Physical Science (I used to be in Biology, and there is a very long story behind this, but I got switched.), Geometry, Japanese I, a general health class, a general history class, and an honors English class.</p>
<p>I am involved in the GSA, and the Feminist Union at my high school. Next year, I am planning to join the writing club (that produces a magazine every month or so), the Biochemistry club, and a sports team.</p>
<p>All advice is appreciated! Suggestions for community service, study tips (I've already taken a look at the SAT and it seems pretty easy - I've already started studying for it but still need some help with ways to memorize stuff easily), college suggestions, etc. are also awesome. Advice for a high school plan is appreciated as well!</p>
<p>(Sports suggestions are also very helpful! I'm not very athletic and more book-wormy so I need some help deciding - my high school has most typical sports.)</p>
<p>Sorry, but if you’re not athletic and are more bookwormy, why are you getting involved with school sports? Just for your resume? Don’t do it. Pursue what you care about, and don’t spend 4 years of high school trying to look impressive. You won’t.</p>
<p>Don’t try to get into Yale for the sake of getting into Yale. Likewise, don’t start activities for the sake of getting into Yale. Do what you love; that’s what makes applications shine.</p>
<p>Hahaha, so young and so naive. Listen kid, the ivy league and prestige are not everything. NEVER think of college as merely a stepping stone toward a world-changing career. Going to an Ivy doesn’t guarantee success. It’s all about your drive to succeed. My dad went to a state school and is now an executive VP at a fortune 500 company. My friend’s dad went to Harvard and works in IT for the same company. This may sound hypocritical simply because I applied to Harvard EA, but the point is the school does in no way make the person. You make the school. It’s not cool when kids say they’ll take whatever it takes to get into HYPS. Don’t formulate your resume simply with the goal of getting into a top college. Do things that interest you.<br>
Activities that represent your personality and interests. Not activities you think stereotypically fit a colleges. Things you have fun with. Top tier colleges select their classes based upon individuals who they know will succeed whether they attend the school or not. They crave students who will glorify the name. Remember, prestige does not come from the school, either. It comes from the strength of the student body. I applied to Harvard EA realizing that although its my dream school, its also just a school. I control my destiny (sorry i feel a tad theatrical tonight). Apply to a school that shall foster your growth, maximize your potential, and allow you to bloom. I may just be a HS senior, but trust me when I say…be yourself. NOT a giant walking, talking resume. Why do you think so many PERFECT candidates get rejected? They have everything on their application check except a soul! They are robots who only look at the one goal: get into HYPS. Look at the bigger picture of life. You’re a person. Not some machine! Perfection is an allusion. A path riddled with disappointment. Aim to better yourself; not perfect yourself. Good luck. Take heed. You have been warned.</p>
<p>“Sorry, but if you’re not athletic and are more bookwormy, why are you getting involved with school sports? Just for your resume? Don’t do it. Pursue what you care about, and don’t spend 4 years of high school trying to look impressive. You won’t.” (Sorry, for some reason it wouldn’t let me quote you normally.)</p>
<p>A large part of it is wanting to be well-rounded but another part of it is that I have always admired athletic people (probably because I’m not very coordinated and tend to run into walls) and I have read many reports/lab tests about how starting sports early helps your health later in life (because you are more inclined to exercise regularly). There has been some history of diabetes/high blood pressure in my family so I’m trying to avoid a similar fate. </p>
<p>Though, trust me, I’m rather concerned about my perfectionism forcing me into trying to make the perfect resume just for the sake of a perfect resume.</p>
<p>P.S. Thinking on it though, do scholastic competitions count as sports? Probably not? If they do, that’d be lovely!</p>
<p>To CantConcentrate, CIEE83, and ram0276: (Sorry, can’t figure out the quoting thing.)</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! I’ll definitely keep that in mind.
Considering that I’m not very… good at making friends or behaving well in social situations (I can never seem to catch social ques) (I usually end up blurting out whatever comes to mind - usually something very embarrassing for the other person, babbling, and/or accidentally glaring - I don’t even know how I do that but apparently I do) do you have any club/competition suggestions? (I do better in competitive atmospheres but cannot talk in front of others for the life of me - debate team is out, sadly…)</p>
<p>It’s ultimately pointless to pursue what “you think” you should pursue in high school for the sake of your resume. Do what you do, because you love to do it. @ram0276 said it well-- “Don’t formulate your resume simply with the goal of getting into a top college. Do things that interest you.” </p>
<p>When admissions counselors and other faculty members select the class for the upcoming year, they look at the resume holistically and ask questions such as, “Did they make a difference in their community?” and “Did they grow through a program or merely pad their resume with unrelated and unnecessary extracurriculars?” Don’t choose to participate in things that you aren’t sincerely interested in; you’ll be wasting your time in the long run. Imagine yourself four years from now, at the school of your choice, pursuing the same, insipid activities you once did in high school, because it’s what you’re familiar with. You’ll be bored and regret the decision in retrospect, I am sure. Make the right decision while you’re ahead, and choose to do things you are genuinely interested in.</p>
<p>The same things go with doing things out of the ordinary… You can perform common tasks superbly or horribly-- same concept goes along with the out of the ordinary activities. If you really delve into your activities (out of the ordinary or common) and prove to the admissions committee that you are a dedicated, sincere individual, (with lack of a less cliched phrase) nothing can bring you down.</p>
<p>If you truly want to be a well-rounded person, figuring out how to communicate would be a good start (and is probably one of the most important skills you can learn in high school).</p>
<p>Do what you love. I did quite a few activities that I didn’t fully love along with extra curriculars I was interested in, especially at the beginning of high school, later shifting to things I found out I had a true passion for like vocal music (even if I entered the game late). Being passionate about something makes honesty about that passion complete and clear to admissions and in your interviews and they’ll want someone they know loves something they are good at and will contribute to their school over someone who’s filling up a resume. So explore, have fun, and when you find activities you love become heavily involved and a leader in them and your application will stand out and you won’t regret the decisions you made- you especially don’t want to be a senior, get rejected from Yale and the other ivys and say, I literally wasted 4 years doing things I didn’t want for a goal I didn’t achieve. If you do things you loved and still get rejected, you didn’t waste those 4 years, you owned them, and you’ll already know what you want to participate in and explore heading into whatever college you go to.</p>
<p>“You especially don’t want to be a senior, get rejected from Yale and the other ivys and say, I literally wasted 4 years doing things I didn’t want for a goal I didn’t achieve. If you do things you loved and still get rejected, you didn’t waste those 4 years, you owned them, and you’ll already know what you want to participate in and explore heading into whatever college you go to.”</p>
<p>Preach it, @Cedardog! An acquaintance of mine who is applying to Stanford said that same phrase, emphasizing how much time he wasted in high school if he didn’t make it in, and I nearly emitted an explicative. It was the most irksome thing… Seriously, if you weren’t actually interested in it, WHY DID YOU EVEN DO IT!? /rant</p>
<p>Everyone’s right. Make sure you do what you love doing, because ultimately that’s what’s going to bring you to your fullest potential. You’ll find that following your passions will help you do everything a college looks for. Before you know it you’ll be taking leadership roles and giving back to the community. Trust me. High school will be so much better if you just do what you love.</p>
<p>If you want to try sport or two, who’s stopping you? Many people find a passion late in high school and that’s perfectly fine. Explore!</p>
<p>There is one thing you HAVE to do in high school if you want to get into a college like an ivy league. You need to focus on school. Make sure your course load each year is rigorous. You don’t need to take all AP classes, but don’t go too easy on yourself. You need to challenge yourself and show adcoms you’re not only intellectually curious but also academically successful. I don’t feel very eloquent right now… What I’m trying to say is don’t forget about your academics. You need a good GPA and a decent standardized test score.</p>
<p>Other than that, you sound like you’re on the right track.</p>
<p>A bit peripheral, but if you are looking to get into a sport that will get you into a lifelong habit of exercising, you should consider tennis – people play it into their 80’s with widely varying abilities, it can be great exercise, and it’s an easy way to meet people. In general, though, my point was the same as that of the other posters. Ivies are really hard to get into, and I suspect you don’t even know if there’s one that would be a good fit for you. Admissions officers aren’t looking for the kid with the polished resume – they’re looking for the kid who demonstrates both academic excellence and passion. And among kids who have that – a lot don’t get in. So set a goal that’s more about you than what a committee of strangers may think. Find out what you care about and do that. No matter where you go to college, you’ll have that for the rest of your life.</p>
That is good advice and what Yale says as well.</p>
<p>Each school has a very individual curriculum to offer and a unique way of grading. With this in mind, Yale’s admissions staff does its best to tailor its evaluation based on your particular circumstances so that fairness is maintained in comparing applicants from diverse educational backgrounds. Since each high school has different ways of measuring student grades, Yale does not have an average GPA calculated for accepted students. The admissions committee does not prefer weighted or unweighted GPAs, instead they prefer to see that students have challenged themselves with the strongest curriculum possible at their high school.</p>
<p>While there is no hard and fast rule, it is safe to say that performance in school is more important than testing. A very strong performance in a demanding college preparatory program may compensate for modest standardized test scores, but it is unlikely that high standardized test scores will persuade the admissions committee to disregard an undistinguished secondary-school record.</p>
<p>If you know what you want to study (criminology), it makes more sense that you would find the best schools with that program and work towards that goal. It may be a state school somewhere, but end up being a great fit if the topic is what you really want. Don’t limit yourself to Ivies in your search, because you may well overlook a very good school that would fit you better.</p>
<p>See what volunteer or intern work you can do over the summer to get you experience in that field. This may help you confirm what you like and why, or steer you into areas you prefer. It may also get you some insight into which college programs would suit you.</p>
<p>Although everyone’s advice has been pretty much spot-on, I think you need to ask yourself another question.</p>
<p>What do you want from a college? </p>
<p>The Ivy League is an athletic conference that eight colleges belong to and compete in. If you look a bit deeper, you will find that no two Ivy League schools are the same. For example, at Columbia, all students regardless of major, must take the same basic set of core-courses during their freshman and sophomore years: Contemporary Civilization, Literature Humanities, University Writing, Art Humanities, Music Humanities and Frontiers of Science. It’s very much like high school – you must take those courses in order to graduate! On the other hand, Brown, has absolutely no core-requirements whatsoever. If you love Brown, you will hate Columbia, and vice versa. If you love Brown, you will probably not like Yale, as they have distributional requirements which must be met in order to graduate. If you love Dartmouth for it’s rural location, or Princeton for it’s suburban environment, you will probably hate Columbia, UPenn, Yale, Harvard and Brown because they are in center of major metropolitan cities. </p>
<p>I would suggest that before you ask another question on CC, that you do your due diligence. Google each Ivy League school. What is their curriculum? Do they offer a major in what you are interested in? What professors do you want to study with? When you can say “I want to go to Yale because ______________,” then ask “What do I have to do to get in?” But not before – that’s putting the proverbial cart before the horse.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone who replied to this! It’s all been very helpful.
I have done a lot of research into most of the Ivy Leagues and quite a few of the other top schools worldwide and nationally (excluding Harvard - I have done research for it but not as extensively - it doesn’t interest me as much as others) and taken a number of “college personality” tests in which Yale has always come up in at least the top 3. I’ve been trying to look into criminology schools or unis with the best courses for it and all that comes up is accounting and online schools. If anyone has suggestions that would be appreciated!
I probably wouldn’t like any suburb-y places because I prefer urban but rural is ok as long is it has a good public transportation system in place. If you look up criminology colleges or something like that you might come up with the Florida Institute of Technology but any place with Florida-esque weather or a very warm summer (which for me like a high 70 degrees) is really not preferable - I enjoy New York weather more.
(Regarding the what curriculum/majors thing – Yale has some very nice biology/chemistry programs and I’ve heard that research is basically always funded.)</p>
<p>P.S. Sorry if parts of this don’t make sense. I’m using my phone who loves to make things difficult.</p>
<p>I’m going to say something – and please don’t take this the wrong way: There was a survey done recently by The American Academy Of Pediatrics asking pediatricians “What do your patients want to be when they grow up?” The number one answer was Criminologist. The take away from the article was two-fold: (1) Kids are watching too many TV shows such as CSI, Dexter, Law & Order, Blue Bloods, Elementary etc and (2) If everyone who wants to go into Criminology does, it will soon become an overcrowded field, if it has not already.</p>
<p>That said, you will NOT find Criminology as a major at any of the Ivies, little Ivies or top 100 colleges – they just don’t offer it. Colleges leave Criminology to the technology schools, such as John Jay College of Criminal Justice. So, my recommendation is that you either focus on Biology or Chemistry and see where those fields take you at schools such as Yale. Or, apply directly to the Criminology schools. Best of luck to you!</p>
<p>There’s a big difference between criminology, which is related to behavioral disciplines (eg. sociology & law) and forensic science, which is science based.</p>