I am a freshman(9th grader), and I just moved to the US from Taiwan this year. I really want to go to an Ivy League school in the future. I have all As for now( worrying about future English classes).
I want to be a doctor and I am interested in biology. I will be participating in USABO all four years of high school and hopefully can make semifinal. I am also taking edx online biology courses offered from elite schools like Harvard, Berkeley…, I am also in biology club and math club(will be president of biology club in 2 years).
I am also the founder of our school’s mental math club and ELD club( a club that helps out other new immigrants…).
I am planning on doing research internship and lab internship, but because of my English skills, I will do it like 2 years later.
I need some advice about what I should do or what I can do to help my chances at being admitted to those elite schools.
Please give me some advice( competitions I should participate in, or internships? Awards?)
As a freshman, how do you know an ivy is a good fit?
They have good medical schools and I watched some videos about those schools and they seem to be the colleges that I would definately want to attend in the future
It is way too early to think about specific colleges (especially the hyper-competitive ones). You don’t even have one full year’s GPA and you have no standardized testing. You also need to recognize that HS should be an experience in and of itself – a time of learning and growth and not just a 4 year college application prep experience.
It is good to take school seriously and know that college will be on your horizon, but it is too early to start planning for specific colleges. I would highly recommend that you get off of CC until your junior year.
For now you should focus on:
–Working hard, learning, and doing as well as you can in the most challenging curriculum you can manage.
–Improving your English skills if necessary
–When the time comes study for standardized tests.
–Continue your involvement in activities you care about and work towards making meaningful contributions to those activities.
–Enjoying spending time with your family and friends.
When the time comes asses your academic stats (including GPA, standardized tests, course rigor) as well as your financial needs and apply to a wide range of reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (you will have to run a net price calculator for each school you consider) and that you would be happy to attend. You need to expand your horizons and recognize that there are many wonderful schools out there where you can have a great 4 year experience and get to med school or wherever you decide you want to go in life.
“They have good medical schools”
There are a very large number of very good universities in the US, hundreds of them, and most of them have very good premed programs. To go to a very good medical school you need to first go to a good university (for example, something in the top 200 universities in the US might be a reasonable choice) and do very well with high grades as an undergraduate student in university. First though, you have a new country to get used to and a high school to attend.
“I need some advice about what I should do”
You mentioned that you are not sure about your English skills, although your post seems well written. I think that one thing for you to do in the short term is to try to work hard on improving your English skills. Of course just attending high school will help a lot. When you are not studying, if you watch TV or watch movies you might for example want to do this in English. This is likely to improve quickly but the earlier that it does the easier it will be to maintain good grades in high school.
You should participate in ECs that are interesting to you. Keep ahead in your classes and always pay attention.
You have plenty of time before you need to think about which universities are a good fit for you, and even more time before you have to think about medical school.
Thank you guys for all the advices! I will enjoy my high school life and improve my English skills! Hope to catch up with others ASAP