Hello all,
I am gonna be a sophomore this year and I wanna shoot for something big. In 9th grade I took these classes:
IH Humanties (AP Human Geo + English)
IH Algebra 2
IH Biology
Orchestra
PE
IH Spanish 2
(IH means international honors which is pre-IB, they’re weighted the same as honors courses but AP/IB classes still have the highest value)
This year I’m gonna take:
IH Pre-Calc
IH Chemistry
IH Humanities 2 (AP World Hist + English)
IH Spanish 3
Either orchestra or SRD (honors scientific research and design – requires me to do science fair)
AP Euro
Btw, AP Euro is the only other AP sophomores are allowed to take other than Humanities (which is required in 9th and 10th grade for the IB program, and the Social Studies and English count as two separate grades). All the real IB stuff starts in 11th grade.
My first question is: Should I drop orchestra to do SRD which gives a higher GPA value, or should I continue orchestra. I’ve read a lot that taking the higher value class is more worth it than music because, unless I apply it a lot outside of school, just taking a music class doesn’t really show commitment. I am taking private violin lessons outside of school but that probably doesn’t show a lot either. My private teacher usually has 1-2 recitals per year, but that’s it.
My second thought: I want to shoot for something really big and since I’m in the IB program, I thought I would try for Oxford or Cambridge. I’ve heard one of the biggest things those colleges look for is a passion for the subject you’re applying for and that you’ve done something big with your passion. I really love computer science and I want to be able to create something cool that other people will use. I started teaching myself Ruby but I didn’t go too far and moved onto Swift. I’ve learned a lot about the language and I can make basic apps like To-Do Lists. I am going to work harder with Swift and will hopefully make a useful app or cool game that will be good enough to get into the app store throughout the rest of high school (hopefully soon!). Is that the kind of thing those world-class colleges are looking for? What more can I do to really showcase myself?
I also have a passion for astronomy/astrophysics, but I don’t know how I can do anything with that passion as there aren’t many activities available in my area that pertain to those subjects. I feel I can do more with Swift.
I am trying to take the highest level courses that I can take and I want to be able to do the most I can to get into Cambridge or Oxford for CS. All advice is appreciated!
P.S. As far as extra activities I did during the summer, I am volunteering at a hospital to get an experience and to get hours.