I'm freaking out!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
1

<p>I am currently a sophmore at Wayne Hills High School in Wayne, NJ and I desperately want to get into an Ivy League school, in particular, Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. I've known I wanted these schools since fourth grade and am going to be devastated if I don't get in. </p>

<p>The Ivies usually take maybe around 10 kids from my school. (mostly Cornell though)</p>

<p>My grades are decent (A's mostly, 2-3 B's in honors/AP classes) and I take AP classes for every period that I get to choose. So far, I am in AP US History (a two-year course at my school) and AP Chemistry. (My school doesn't allow me to take any more) but I plan to take a total of 12 AP classes altogether. </p>

<p>I'm definitely in the top 5%, definitely top 10 people, maybe top 5. </p>

<p>I just took the PSAT for the first time on which a got a 198 (yes, I know it is terrible) but I plan to study a lot and get a tutor for the SAT and my retake of the PSAT junior year. </p>

<p>I'm on ski team at my school and in some clubs, including video club.</p>

<p>I'm an active member of my school's quiz bowl team.</p>

<p>This summer, I went to Spain on a foreign exchange program to study Spanish and I really want to go on a volunteer program this year or next year (I haven't been able to find one that lets 15 year olds go, if you know one, please suggest it).</p>

<p>I participate in math league and science league.</p>

<p>I know I need more leadership and community service but I can't figure out what to do for that. Any suggestions? on this or anything else? </p>

<p>Also, do I have ANY chance of getting into the schools I want to go to?</p>

2

<p>You’re in the 10th grade. You haven’t done anything to take yourself out of contention yet–you need to maintain a high class rank–but nobody can tell you whether you can or can’t get into HYP.</p>

<p>The most important thing you need to do is widen your search. America is a huge country, and it was way more than eight first-rate colleges.</p>

3

<p>^Solid Advice.</p>

4

<p>Do your best to keep your GPA as high as possible. A couple B’s won’t kill you, but many will definitely hurt your chances. Try to read as much as you can. Reading is freaking amazing. Read fiction, non fiction, magazines whatever. Not only will reading expose you to lots of cool subjects that you might want to pursue as extracurriculars, but you will effortlessly make huge gains in your CR and WR scores on the SAT. I would suggest that you not worry about the SAT at all at least until next summer, and instead spend your time reading widely.</p>

5

<p>Agree with above. Read…</p>

<p>Else, relax - do what you love and do it well… Then you stand a chance at these places. Also widen the college search though.</p>