If this is what it takes to get in, I'm committed, but please critique!

Applying to College
1

<p>I am a incoming Sophomore in High school, I go to private jewish school with subjects in religion and secular studies. Contrary to public opinion my school 'Yeshivah of Flatbush" leaves much to desire and I need something more to push forward my college app. Despite my hectic schedule from 7:05 AM to 5:30 PM, plus the homework and studying, I have devised a plan below for this year alone,for my extra academic stimulations,</p>

<p>Most people tell me I'm crazy, but if this is what it takes to get into Carnegie. M, Stanford, UC Berkeley, CCNY, NYU, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or UPenn, I am willing to do it. I would describe myself of high intelligence, primarily in mathematics, and politics, however I am also a history buff and avid reader of good literature. But at same time you won't faint out of shock when you meet me. I am deaf and thus a year behind in speech learning, which is pretty amazing considering I have won 6 awards in debate and model congress last year, see below my plans and attack/criticize/praise/encourage me, after all you've read through this much just for my sake, so pat yourself on the back, </p>

<p>AP</p>

<p>World History
US History
European
US Government and Politics
Comparitive Government and Politics
Statistics
Psychology
Physics B
Macro-economics,
Micro-economics
Computer Science A
Chemistry
Art History
Calculus BC (and AB if I'm allowed)</p>

<p>SAT 2's</p>

<p>Chemistry
Physics
Math 1
Math 2</p>

<p>US History
World History</p>

<p>Regents
Physics
Chemsitry</p>

<p>Contests,</p>

<p>AMC 10/12
USMAT
AIME
Olympiad (Doubt it)
Physic QuizBowl
F=ma exam
WestingHouse Competition</p>

<p>ExtraCurricular</p>

<p>Boy Scouts
Debate
Mock trial
Moot Court
Model Congress
Model UN
MSG Varsity
Math Team
CollegeBowl (The Challenge)</p>

<p>Personal Quests,</p>

<p>Solve Rubik's Cube faster
Learn Programming - C++, Objective C, Cocoa programming,
Python and MySQL.</p>

2

<p>No offense, but i dont think you’d be able to fit eating, sleeping, showering or basic socializing in there.</p>

<p>Take “Learning C++” for instance. Learning C++ to a respectable level would pretty much lock you in your room for atleast a month.</p>

3

<p>Your academic goals are laudable. Good luck with those. However, here’s my first thought: being a sophomore, you seem a little too focused on getting into a school where everyone has a terrible chance of being admitted. My honest advice for you will be to excel for the sake of excelling: not with an aim towards being admitted to some college (yes, even if the college is Yale). You are being defined by what you are becoming, not by the college that will confer your degree 6 -7 years from now. Please don’t lose sight of that.</p>

4

<p>You’re only a sophomore, but setting high expectations for yourself is never a bad thing. Misspelling the name of the university you’ve devised your “crazy” plan for – that is never a good thing.</p>

5

<p>This is very impressive!
Stay focused, but don’t wear yourself out. It sounds like you have A LOT on your plate. Pursue things that are meaningful to you; that’s the key to wow-ing the admissions team at NYU. Also, you have tremendous interest in NYU, but make sure you visit the campus and info sessions so that you can make an informed decision about your NYU aspirations.</p>

<p>I wish you luck!</p>

<p>P.S. You gotta let me know the secret to solving a Rubik’s cube…i’m terrible at it!</p>

6

<p>No one can tell you what to do. It seems like a good schedule to me. I know everyone says to just have fun and be passionate, and it’s true. Essays are important. Not to mention looking like a robot is bad. Colleges have seen it all, so it’s not like there are certain guaranteed ways to get in.
I would say carry out your plan, but if something comes up, don’t worry about it. Especially the extracurriculars. You don’t want to be spread too thin. The large amount of AP’s will definitely help you. But the countless extra activities and things will only help if you show focus.</p>

<p>P.S.-If possible, a varsity sport will always be a good one to do.</p>

7

<p>wow. see you at yunmun?</p>

8

<p>dude, don’t worry. with all of that stuff, you will get in. just the fact that you are deaf and are able to perform better than a lot of average kids can makes you more than solid candidate. you don’t have to kill yourself doing all of this.</p>

<p>don’t worry. if anyone is going to get in, it’s you. but you’re only a sophomore still, you have plenty of time</p>

9

<p>Rubik’s Cube is the key. Princeton looks for a sub 14 second solve time or a sub 2 minute blindfold time.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

10

<p>quality not quantity</p>

11

<p>*Berkeley :smiley:
I commented on your MIT post as well.
The best thing you can do is stop worrying about college and start doing what you like. Get off CC and come back when you’re doing Apps. I did the same thing sophomore year, and I was told the same thing, and I believe that it has worked. Make yourself special; don’t be above average in everything; be good at a few things, and work really hard at 'em.
Good Luck kid.</p>

12

<p>See: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/205530-how-get-into-harvard-harvard-student.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/205530-how-get-into-harvard-harvard-student.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

13

<p>You’re trying too hard. Relax. Have fun. If your singular quest is to get into Harvard, you’re going to hate HS. I’m not saying don’t work hard or join clubs that you enjoy (please do), but don’t try to “get into Harvard” otherwise you’ll hate yourself.</p>

14

<p>Good plans are ones that you stick to. If you do well with this, Columbia should at least consider you seriously.</p>

<p>Also, why would you take both Calc AB and Calc BC? Doesn’t Calc BC cover Calc AB and more?</p>

15

<p>So this is your plan?</p>

<p>First of all, CCNY is not Harvard. So the admission bar is very low. If this is your intended plan, and you do well. You will get in anyway. If you are interested in Macaulay Honors, you need to have great SAT and SAT II scores. </p>

<p>However, one thing to take notice is that please have enough time for rest and fun. If these things are your interests for free time, then by all means go ahead.</p>

<p>Moreover, don’t limit yourself to only CCNY. There are other opportunities that you should look at. </p>

<p>

I would strongly advice get done with one language first. Don’t work on multiple languages. </p>

<p>

It is totally unnecessary to do Math 1. Take Math 2 instead. Math 2 will cover Math 1.
You have a lot of SAT 2 here. Pick one history is fine. They are not AP scores so you can’t use them to substitute college credits.</p>

<p>

I seriously think you should limit yourself to no more than 5.
Pick one history or two at max. You can do one per year, as I did in HS.
Economic just pick one. I don’t see the reason to have to.
There is ABSOLUTELY NO POINT to do AB and BC. Take BC exam. AB is covered in BC.</p>

<p>Don’t over do and repeat yourself. </p>

<p>

I see you love math very much. If you are interested in them, go ahead.</p>

<p>As far as your courses and personal quests, please try to take my advice.</p>

<p>If you want to get into CCNY, no, your plan is too much.
If you want to get into IVY, great SAT scores, some ECs, great personal essay, great recommendation will get you in.
The AP list is freakin’ crazy to me. Just take what really interest you. You are better off to spend some free time doing other stuff at home, or at club, and not taking classes.
If that list make you stay from 7:30 to 5:30. Please take my words: DON’T.</p>

16

<p>Most people tell me I’m crazy, but if this is what it takes to get into Harvard, I am willing to do it. I would describe myself of high intelligence, primarily in mathematics, and politics, however I am also a history buff and avid reader of good literature.</p>

<p>^Are you deaf? Like literally?</p>

<p>And stop cross-posting.
You seem like an insecure person.</p>

<p>APs do not make or break an applicant.</p>

17

<p>Boy Scouts (tool)
Debate (okay)
Mock trial (meh)
Moot Court (tool)
Model Congress (tool)
Model UN (tool)
^You know why?? Because you are only doing these activities to get into an university.
You are deaf, and you really wanna do these activities?</p>

<p>MSG Varsity (okay)
Math Team (lol)
CollegeBowl (The Challenge)(■■■■■)</p>

<p>Personal Quests,</p>

<p>Solve Rubik’s Cube faster (cool)
Learn Programming - C++, Objective C, Cocoa programming, (cool)
Python and MySQL. (decent.)</p>

<p>like I said, stop being a tool.
I am sure you will do great.</p>

18

<p>Drop some of those ECs. Focus on just a couple that you are really into; right now it looks like you just compiled a list of clubs.</p>

19

<p>■■■■■. /end thread.</p>

20

<p>I rate this ■■■■■ a 0/10.</p>