<p>Any suggestion?</p>
<p>Go to the best high school available to you. Take the most rigorous curriculum that you can manage, and make the effort to succeed in these classes. If your school does not offer enough challenging courses, take some online or at a CC or self study. Put a lot of energy into a couple of ECs, and read a lot.</p>
<p>Yep.</p>
<p>Plus: Befriend your teachers and your counselor; at least be on good terms with them. Let them see your best side. This will help when it comes time to ask for letters of recommendation! </p>
<p>And do ECs because you love to do them; don't worry about doing things just because they look good on your application.</p>
<p>"And do ECs because you love to do them; don't worry about doing things just because they look good on your application."</p>
<p>Follow this advice, and your chances of getting into tier one colleges (think HYPSM) falls significantly.</p>
<p>^What's that supposed to mean? ECs are for your enjoyment, not so you look good. A good college adcom can tell if you really enjoyed something as opposed to you wanting to accumulate a laundry list of stuff.</p>
<p>Take a gap year.</p>
<p>Find someone or an instructor who really loves learning. Then imitate. That'll carry you throughout life -- "good" school or not.</p>
<p>"Imitation is suicide"</p>
<p>Ahhh... I see. I guess "emulate" or "incorporate" would be a better verb.</p>
<p>Jrock-- I'm taking a gap year! :D But I kept it a secret from the colleges I was applying to in case they didn't like that and it would affect my chances. Lucky for me, Stanford is perfectly 100% okay with admitted students deferring matriculation for a year. :D</p>
<p>
[quote]
"And do ECs because you love to do them; don't worry about doing things just because they look good on your application."</p>
<p>Follow this advice, and your chances of getting into tier one colleges (think HYPSM) falls significantly.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Umm... see, I'm giving advice that I personally followed to get into Stanford, which I believe is what the S in HYPSM stands for. So unless you're omniscient in the field of college admissions (and you're not; nobody is; personal experience is second best), you should at least qualify your statements. Please. :)</p>
<p>Maybe I should elaborate on my original piece of advice. I'm talking about resume padding: doing most of your ECs just (key word: just) because they look good on your application. I mean, doing things that you don't enjoy or care about--doing them solely because they're prestigious or because you've heard that adcoms are impressed by them. If your lights are really turned on by an activity, adcoms will be able to tell. But if you're doing something just for your application, then it's unlikely that your lights will be turned on by it. And adcoms will be able to tell that, too.</p>
<p>
[quote]
But I kept it a secret from the colleges I was applying to in case they didn't like that and it would affect my chances. Lucky for me, Stanford is perfectly 100% okay with admitted students deferring matriculation for a year.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Actually the most selective schools, like HYPMS, are generally okay with taking a gap year. Through the stuff I've been receiving from MIT, I think they actually encourage it if you have a viable proposal. But anyways, back to the topic.</p>
<p>Yes, please do the ECs that interest you and that you care about. Never go for the ones that look "prestigious" but you hate doing them. Adcoms can clearly tell who really cares about their activities and who are just trying to churn out a laundry list of activities to put on their transcript. A lot of this shines out through the short answers and the essays that are on your application. </p>
<p>Also, get involved in your community. Take a leadership position in something that you care about. Don't just sit on the sidelines and watch passively. If you care enough about something to be spending a lot of your time doing it, then go for an active role. Not only would it be rewarding to you (I learned so many things about bargaining, negotiating, and just interacting with different organizations through my years in Student Gov), but it would make a mark on your community. (Not to mention your application, but that should never be the focus of your ECs...you would be sad if you put that as the center).</p>
<p>Otherwise, work hard and get good scores. Write some good essays. I think you'll be alright then.</p>
<p>Be prepared!</p>
<p>Yes, challenge yourself, push yourself, stretch your brain.</p>
<p>Learn to speak and write english better. I looked at some of your posts and you seem to have problems with plurals, use of articles, etc. You won't do well on AP tests, write good admission essays, etc. without being able to use the language correctly. As a bright student aiming for the top schools, you should be able to improve your skills without inordinate difficulty and it will greatly enhance your candidacy.</p>
<p>Listen to Anniushka - my D's at Harvard after following that same advice.</p>