I Final Answer to be Honest With Myself

I have very specific and specialized dreams of becoming an artificial intelligence researcher in the future, with interest concentrated in places of progress, where the institution your education is associated with plays a large factor in your success for one reason or another. I am a current high school sophomore and have been actively working towards an undergraduate education at Stanford University, taking everything into account. This goal has helped me concentrate during the period of my schooling years, making good marks in class and making steps with my extracurriculars. It has been a source of motivation for me, but I have to be honest,

I’m not getting there.

Especially during the pandemic, where I lost all momentum I had with upcoming internships, clubs and competitions, and fostered relationships with teachers. My unweighted GPA is one with a history of A-'s with one B, around a 3.7 (4.05 weighted). I have yet to take either the SAT or ACT, and although I am studying and planning to take one or the other towards the end of this year, PSAT scores don’t bode well. My extracurriculars, and how I imagine they will progress through the coming couple of years, may be competitive as a part of a much more competent application, but are not pillars for these sub-par stats to stand on. The only element that I can really see being able to bootstrap are essays and the according supplements, but I have reason to believe those are only impactful if the activities they represent are too.
So I guess my question is, where do I go from here? I hate to be a pessimist, but I am a realist, and if this isn’t in my ball park, do I have any reason to believe a position at somewhere like JPL is?

There is more to life than going to Stanford. If you truly have the drive to become an AI researcher, then it shouldn’t matter which university you go to. Work with what you have, and rise up

-+Even perfect grades and perfect standardized test scores will not guarantee your admission to Stanford (with an under five percent acceptwnce rate) or any other elite college. But the good news is that you can get where you want to go if you excel at many different wonderful colleges. Expand your horizons.

– Your dream job may not be the first job you get out of college regardless of what school you attend. The idea is to keep moving forward towards your long term goals.

You’re only a sophomore. Don’t despair. First of all, you are WAY ahead of the game because you’re motivated, and planning ahead. One thing that you can do (aside from getting good grades) is to prep for the PSAT. Most kids don’t even think of prepping for standardized tests until 11th grade, after the PSAT. If you were to start preparing now, you could make National Merit, which opens all sorts of doors. So it’s time to look up what materials to use and kick it into high gear regarding prepping for the SAT (and PSAT). Another thing is to get involved in coding competitions. If you can win or place highly in a national competition, this would be an impressive credential for an application. No one can do clubs, sports, volunteer work, etc right now, when we’re all safer staying at home. Maybe you could start an online outreach program to teach kids coding over the internet, and recruit your friends to join you in this, or to come up with an algorithm that serves a unique purpose, like helping with contact tracing. The 8th graders who just published an algorithm to analyse for political gerrymandering that can also be used for fairly re-districting are going to get into excellent colleges based upon that work.

All of these posts are extremely informative. It’s better to have a passion for something and focusing on that than being obsessed with doing everything to help boost your college application. If you focus on doing things you love, your future application will gradually be stronger without you even knowing it.

Mantra for the HS student:

Do not think 'Every point I get off of a homework or test is a point away from going to Stanford."
Think: “I need to do my best, and there will be a college that is right for me when I graduate.”

Do not think “If I don’t go to an Ivy League School/Top20, I am doomed forever.”
Think: “No matter where I go, I can bloom where I am planted. I can get involved and shine.”

Do not think: “My life is over…the kid in my math class is taking 20 APs and I am taking 5. I will never succeed.”
Think: “I need to challenge myself, but only to the point where I can still do well.”

So for you I would prioritize the following;

  1. Mental Health…are you losing motivation because of possible depression? Talk to your parents/pediatrician about this.

  2. School work …spend more time on school work and don’t worry about your ECs…nobody else in your class will have much ECs either. Do try to find something you can do instead…maybe tutoring younger students virtually or something.

  3. Your desired major. Let us say you are very good student…one that can get into a good University. If you really continue to grow and excel in AI in college, you can look to a Stanford in graduate school.

  4. Maybe spend some of your extra time doing SAT review. But get some method of accountablility…be it a friend, family member, taking a course.

You will read about many many student on CC who want to go to an Ivy League school…but guess what? Less than 1% do. They all do well anyway.

Your goal isn’t Stanford- your goal is AI. There are thousands of people doing your dream job today who did not go to Stanford.

And by the time you are ready to apply to college- there could be a MORE compelling program at CMU or Rice or UIUC or Georgia Tech or Stony Brook or RPI- not a cakewalk to get admitted to any of these, but statistically easier than Stanford.

Take a deep breath. Keep doing what you are doing, make time for fun, the right college will be there for you when you are ready to apply. Stanford rejects thousands of kids with fantastic GPA’s and SAT scores every single year- you could be a 4.0 1600 scorer with 5’s in a long list of AP’s and STILL get rejected.

It’s going to be fine- you sound terrific.