HS Junior for T20s – PoliSci/IntRel Major hopfeul

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

hey! I am a highschool junior at a mid-sized public school. I am interested in politics and international relations and would love some input on parts of my application that need improvement. Some of the schools I plan on applying to:

Harvard, Yale, Duke, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, UVA, and Cornell. (I also have tons of safeties but no point in listing)

Here is my course list and grades for first 2 years and 1 semester of hs:

Freshman:
AP Human: 95
Journalism: 100
Debate 1: 100
Football: 100
H Algebra 2: 97
H Bio: 98
H English 1: 99
H Spanish 2: 100

Sophomore:
AP Art History: 99
AP World: 97
Debate 2: 100
H Chem: 99
H English 2: 100
H PreCalc: 99
H Physics: 98
H Spanish 3: 100

Junior(only sem 1):
H Comsci: 100
AP Psych: 98
AP Calc BC: 99
AP Bio: 100
AP Lang: 99
APUSH: 97
AP Spanish 4: 96
Debate 3: 100

My rank is 5/400+

SAT is 1540

AP Scores are three 5s so far.

I listed my ECs and awards below but one note, my fourth activity is listed as NSLI/Kissinger. These are both pretty prestigious summer programs that I have applied for(semifinalist for NSLI). These are not guaranteed and if i get into neither I will be at Boys State most likely. If that also falls through I will throw in Class VP or NHS VP. Sorry for the rant, but didn’t want to give myself false confidence.

  1. Captain, Debate Team: Research and debate monthly topics on political and social issues; top point earner in school, x3 State qualifier, x2 NSDA National Qualifier
  2. Sole Author, Independent Research Project & Paper: Attended (t20 uni) class; completed Harvard, Stanford, and Berkley courses; joined Stanford and MIT seminars; published paper on nuclear politics(I will also be getting a LOR from my (t20 uni) prof/mentor who is Harvard alum – not for yale cuz they don’t accept extras)
  3. Published Author, “A book title I don’t want to disclose”: self-published a full-length(>100 pages) non-fiction novel; 4.7 stars on Amazon; 100+ copies sold
  4. NSLI/Kissinger/Boys State/Class VP/ NHS VP(read my note @ top of this list if this doesn’t make sense)
  5. Sole Coordinator, Service Project: Wrote emails and conducted social media campaign to raise $4,500+ for local school for homeless children; led team of 40; featured on local news/media
  6. Writing Intern, (int non profit) (5% hiring rate): Published 12 pieces on global poverty reduction efforts; met with politicians to push poverty reduction policies; raised $500 and mobilized 20+ people
  7. Journalist, (national student-run publication): Published 25+ articles on domestic and international political and social issues; 4 featured stories; 10k+ monthly reads
  8. National Director of Curriculum, (something I won’t disclose but essentially we hold civic engagement workshops across the country and I primarily direct our efforts to write curriculum for states/districts that have a civic learning requirement): updated existing curriculum from elem/MS level to HS; create 3 workshops/lesson plans a month; lead team of 12
  9. Instructor, (also can’t put name of org):
    Studen-run 501©(3) that has raised $132,000; led debate classes to raise money; offered scholarships to low income children; recognized by congress
  10. Captain, Varsity Lacrosse Team: Chosen for All-State Team; x4 Varsity starter; x3 Captain; Defensive MVP; led “Try It” days for youth players; paid job as a private coach

Ok almost there, here are awards:

  1. Community Hero Award - city-wide award for my service project
  2. Top 8 at TOC(int debate tourney)
  3. Ranked as high as my event’s top debater in the my class

4/5) idrk for 4/5 yet. I applied to some programs and essay contests but if all of those fail I will put PSAT Semifinalist(this is a guess but I have a 1510 so assuming semi) and just some school student of the year awards or smth

2

First: congratulations on all of your accomplishments. You’ve done extremely well, and nobody can ever take that from you. No matter where you end up, you can feel proud of yourself.

Next, while you are competitive for any college in the USA, unless you are hooked, all of the colleges on your list are reaches, since they can only accept a small proportion of the highly competitive students who apply.

If you are a Virginia resident, though, it becomes a match.

Otherwise, you could be accepted to one, to a few, or to none of the colleges on that list. I expect that you will get at least one admission, most likely UVA or Georgetown, but I could be wrong.

I do not see why you are applying to JHU. Considering your interests, Columbia would be a far better choice, as would Northwestern, Brown, UChicago, and Dartmouth. I also think that both UNC and Michigan are better choices that UVA, unless, as I wrote, you are a VA resident. Emory is possibly a better choice than Cornell.