HS Freshman; thinking too much about SAT's and Ivies -- HELP!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Brown University
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<p>Hi guys; I’m new to this forum, so I don’t really know the ropes that well…Buw what I do know is that I’ve been thinking about about colleges lately, namely the prestigious Ivies (Yes, sadly I’ve espoused to the nation’s meritocracy, blah, blah, whatever)…I’m looking to do pre-med, specifically a neuroscience program at either Georgetown, Brandeis (Hopefully Matches), NYU or Stony Brook (Safeties), and finally Brown, Columbia, Yale or Dartmouth(All reaches). Btw, if anyone can recommend another school with a great neurology program, I’d be thrilled. I’m a pretty good student, not so involved as most of the Ivy league alumni or those who got accepted, but I’m getting there (still a freshie in HS). In my school the honors program (which are the most rigorous courses available) is exclusive, meaning all or none. You have to have a 3.7 GPA or higher, and basically 92’s and higher in every single subject, with the exception of 3 which are at the principal’s discretion to choose. It’s a Jewish prep school in brooklyn (hosting an amalgam of literary subjects and sciences, along with Hebrew and Judaism-related subjects). This is my courseload for the first semester, which accentuates my bad performance (I was distracted by some other business the first half, so it’s not as competitive)…I think I’m in the top 18%, not really sure, but I’m getting back to my usual performance this upcoming half. Every single course I will list will change on my transcript to honors classes, since I am switching back in a week (when we return from intersession): </p>

<p>Bible: 92
Living Environment Biology: 88
English/ Literature: 95
Social Studies: 95
Jewish law(Basic): 90
Hebrew Language: 93
Spanish :94
Jewish Prophets: 93
Int. Algebra: (final grade isn’t out since I missed the final, so my teacher approximated a 91 average): 91
Jewish Oral Law (Advanced Level): 92</p>

<p>Again, this is not my best efforts in play. Hopefully I will bring everything back up to 99’s…
Please give me your feedback!</p>

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<p>Relax. Seriously. Relax.</p>

<p>And if you’re serious about getting everything to 99’s, you need a serious intervention regarding this perfectionism. It’s not healthy. </p>

<p>I think all the older kids on this forum will agree that the level of worrying you’re at is not beneficial. Sure, you need to care. But not this much, yet.</p>

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<p>Freshman year is not the year to worry. I mean just do your best to get good grades but try to enjoy freshman year and sophomore year too. The earliest you should start thinking about how this translates into the application process is Junior year. I took blow-off classes Freshman year, and got straight B’s in English until Junior year and I got in. Don’t worry about it.</p>

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<p>yeah dont stress out too much. i took bs classes like unweighted astronomy and marine science bc they were fun. sure ivies are looking for rigor but 1 or 2 easy classes your freshman and sophmore year arent going to hurt. you really need to relax.
good luck with everything though. im sure you will end up somewhere great.</p>

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<p>I won’t tell you to take it easy because if you’re anything like I was early in my high school days, I know you wouldn’t listen. ‘Forgetting’ about college-related things will not help, but diverting it would. At the start of my college search, I had a very misguided Ivy-or-nothing attitude (which was abetted by the fact that I’m international, where the Ivies have disproportionate prestige). As my high school days passed, I began to discover other schools in the US which appealed to me and more importantly, I discovered the world of college academics. High school proper became a means to an end, but a desire for knowledge was ingrained into me. I advise you to consider doing the same. Neuroscience, for example, is an incredibly interesting subject, and if you want to pursue it in college, this part of your high school life is far better spent gaining experience and exposure to what lies ahead.</p>