I’m currently a freshman at a private, college prep school. My grades are really good, about 100.5 weighted, 98.5 unweighted. My school doesn’t offer any AP classes for freshmen, but I take the most rigorous course load with 5 honors (geometry, bio, history, Spanish 2, and Engish). As a sophomore I’ll be taking ap world, chem h, trig h, Spanish 3h, and english h. Junior year I’ll probably take Spanish 4h, ap chem, calculus h, apush, ap physics, and ap lang. Senior year I’ll probably take ap bio, ap Spanish lang, ap calc ab, ap gov, english h. My school doesn’t rank but if I had to guess I’d say 10/150. I’m good at test-taking so I’d estimate a 34 on ACT or 1450-1470 on SAT. I’m still trying to figure out extracurriculars but here’s what I have so far: MUN (outer committee award at 2nd conference), Scioly (not sure if I like it that much), math team (not sure if I’ll continue, prob will because it’s not too time intensive), soccer team, and I’m pursuing a couple of volunteering programs this summer, (one’s at a hospital and the other is at a refugee center). I want to be involved in something outside of school that I can really dedicate my time to but I cannot figure out what. I really like science, but also enjoy things like polisci and econ. I’ll probably major in bio on a pre-med track, but who knows. I want to explore my academic interests in college, and would love to go to a school like Bowdoin, Colby, or Wesleyan. At the same time, I wouldn’t mind going to large schools like Northeastern, JHU, or USC. What would my chances be like at all of these schools (as long as my grades stay the same)? I’m a white male, lower middle class I’d say. Def applying for financial aid. Are there any schools I should look into? What would you suggest to a freshman in high school? How do I find what I’m passionate for? Thanks
You can’t really chance a freshman, because you haven’t even finished your first year of high school. I suggest that you spend sophomore year getting your leadership positions up. By participating in clubs, you’ll find what your passions are. Also, the classes that you enjoy are a pretty good indicator. Work hard, get leadership, and get the best grades possible. It’s basically all you can do. There’s not a secret code to getting into these schools. If the adcoms want you, then they will take you. If they don’t, they won’t.
Thanks for your reply @ab2002 ! I definitely understand the part about not being able to chance a freshman. I appreciate the advice and am definitely going to work hard throughout high school.