Interested 10th grade applicant - good chances?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
1

<p>Hello! I have recently become much more active in the college hunt but, although I have always expressed a desire to work at an Ivy League level (more precisely, a Yale level - I'm fascinated with this school!), I am now unfortunately questioning my chances of actually getting in.</p>

<p>I am a sophomore student at a "normal" school (that is, one that is absolutely not recognized nationally and is public in the greatest sense of the word), and would imagine myself currently in the top 10 in a class of around 200.</p>

<p>My freshman schedule was as follows: Honors English 9, Lab Biology, Home Economics, Latin I, French II, Accelerated US History I, and Accelerated Unified Trigonometry something-or-other. It was a "Core Plus" Math course, normally given to sophomore students but, because I was given the opportunity to skip a year of math in 7th grade (one of two in my grade to do so), I will always be a year ahead of the rest of my class.</p>

<p>My sophomore schedule: Latin II, Accelerated Pre Calculus, Physics, French III, Accelerated US History II, Choir, and Honors English 10.</p>

<p>My junior schedule will be as follows, if everything fits as planned: Latin III, AP Calculus, AP Statistics, Lab Chemistry, French IV (which is offered at an Honors level), AP Government, and Honors English 11.</p>

<p>As it stands now (and I'm hoping everything pans out this way), my senior schedule will be: Latin IV, AP French, AP Biology, Modern World History (which is only offered at Advanced and Regular levels - I will be signing up for Advanced), Honors English 12, and I will also have one elective to mess around with. I may consider taking Creative Writing (as I'm planning to take an English/English literature major), but that is open to discussion.</p>

<p>Now, before I mention my GPA and EC's, I have an important question. Because of the fact that I did skip a year of math in 7th grade, there are no math courses open to me in my senior year. I was planning on taking an Independent Study on some aspect of math with the head of the Math Department at my school, but I am curious as to whether this will be a hindrance to me in my college application process or not.</p>

<p>With that said, I'm not sure what my unweighted GPA would be. Does this take into account every quarter of the year, or just the final course grades? If it is the latter, my UW GPA would be 4.0 because I earned all A's for my 9th grade final grades.</p>

<p>I am sure that my weighted GPA, however, is 5.0 (or better because of weighted points - not sure).</p>

<p>Extra Curriculars:
+ Cross-Age Mentor (grades 10, 11, and 12)
[In case you are not familiar with this, this is a program that is designed
to recruit an array of students that are the best "role models" in each
upper grade to go to our middle school and give those students a chance
to learn about the things that they will face as they get older and enter
high school, both good and bad. It also gives them a "safe" peer to
come to if they feel overwhelmed with these changes.]
+ Student Council member (though not one of the 4 officers) [grades 9, 10, 11, and 12]
+ Choir (grade 10)
+ JCL (Latin Club) [grades 9, 10, 11, 12]
+ Team Leader for a "Relay For Life," an event sponsored by the American Cancer Society that is meant to raise money for the fight against cancer. This is my first Relay, but I plan to do this many more times during my high school career.
+ Ladies Basketball Manager (9th grade) [a rather weak EC in comparison to what I have read on the website so far, but an EC I enjoyed nonetheless]
+ Senior Citizen Hospitality (for a while now) [I've collected books and made dishes of cookies and other snacks for my local senior citizen home, where my great-grandmother lived before she moved to a nursing home some years ago and where, truthfully, I have felt a great sense of comfort in being.]</p>

<p>Next year, I'm fairly sure I will be an inductee of the NHS. I also plan to take part in a few of my town's "Community Beautification" projects over the summer, including one called Rob-A-Riverbank, aimed to clean up our local river park so that it is safe for both the wildlife and the people that go there. Next year, I am able to be a member of the Prom Committee, and may also join my church's Youth Group (not sure, but I hear it's a blast).</p>

<p>I think I've covered everything. I didn't intend for this to be as long as it turned out to be, but I wanted to include everything that may be taken into consideration when I apply for colleges my senior year.</p>

<p>I am not presumptuous enough to "know" that I will go to Yale, but I am interested enough that I would really love to know if I stand a chance. Any replies would be appreciated, and constructive criticisms/suggestions to better my EC's/academic transcript are welcomed!</p>

<p>Take care,
Lauren</p>

2

<p>I think it's great that you have goals to work towards, but you're in tenth grade; don't start fixating on schools this early. Find two or three extracurricular areas that you're really passionate about, and pursue them to their fullest. Be a class officer, start a charity or a club, try out for All- State Choir. Also... try to let go of this fascination with Yale, or with any institution for that matter. The highly selective schools (especially HYPS) have so many superbly qualified applicants and only a small number of slots to fill; people are not exaggerating when they say it's a complete crapshoot, and it is an uber- reach for every single applicant. I've seen so many senior friends get excited over these extremely selective schools and be utterly crushed when they are rejected. Don't worry about specific schools right now; you have plenty of time for that. Just concentrate on doing your best in school and really plunge into a couple of extracurriculars that you especially love. And don't forget to have some fun and relax once in a while; junior year can get pretty intense :)</p>

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<p>I absolutely agree. I'm one of those people who feel better being prepared way ahead of time for important things such as this though, so it's just part of my personality that I'm so excited to start the college worrying process. I do have many other schools that I am interested in (Georgetown is actually probably equal with Yale for me because it's absolutely beautiful there and I have heard such good things from alumni and current students, but I also liked Ithaca College [and also Cornell, if I'm accepted], among others) and am open to any others that cross my path, but I wanted to see where I stood so that I can figure out what I may need to make adjustments to for my junior year. After all, it seems to me that your junior year is most important and, as I said, I feel that you can't be too prepared for shooting for something that you really want :) I really don't want to sound like a geek for being so focused, hehe, but I've known who I was and what I wanted to achieve for a while now and feel that I am capable of getting a headstart on some aspects of the college process.</p>

<p>Thanks for your response! I will take some of your advice regarding extracurriculars...and will definitely take you up on that whole relaxing part! :D</p>

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<p>You sound extremely motivated and ambitious, which is great. This tells me that you will be amazing wherever you go to school, so don't even worry about specific schools until senior year. As for extracurriculars, what I think really helped me was sorting my ECs into "categories." I feel like the admissions committee might look for themes in the application (for instance, a musician athlete or ventroloquist actor, etc). So what I would do is I would choose several themes. For example - the senior citizens thing - if you got even MORE involved with that in the next four years, that would be great (and push the EC to a high level of involvement). One thing you don't want to do is "dabble" in ECs or do too many ECs with little commitment. Stick with the ECs you have now so you have as many years of involvement as possible and get VERY involved in them. When it comes time for the admissions process, you can demonstrate that level of involvement on your app and might even get an outside rec from somebody you've come to know thru an EC. I actually didn't start thinking about college until mid-junior year, and I thought I was nothing outstanding in terms of ECs, but I organized my app in such a way as to highlight good things. No matter what though, don't get so focused on colleges, since you're only a soph and just focus on enjoying life.</p>

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<p>It's great that you're thinking ahead, but I second what ladylaz says.
Your courses look fine. I think if you can take an independent study with a very good teacher, that will not hurt your admissions in any school - as long as you're progressing in math. Under no circumstances would I stop math at the end of junior year.
The main thing missing to me in your post is that I can't tell what interests you. Are you a math/science person? A writer? A wanna-be historian? Well roundedness is fine as long as you also highlight your talent.(s) I notice you're taking French and Latin. Maybe languages are your thing. You need a "thing" that sort of defines you - not totally, but a college should be able to look at your app and know your stengths and hopefully, passions. (I know that "passion' is overused, but whatever you want to call what it is you really love to do.)
Good luck, Lauren. You'll learn a lot if you hang around this board for a couple of years! :)</p>

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<p>I wouldn't stress over this now, if I were you, although Yale did become my dream school when I was where you are now. I can also tell you that my public school has far fewer opportunities than even yours, so I wouldn't worry about attending a HS with no recognition (heck, my HS was in "Academic Emergency" last year). I think it's good that you're already thinking about this, but right now, I would just tell you to (1) just keep doing what you're already doing, (2) don't do things with the mindset that you need to do them to get into Yale, and (3) take a deep breath - it will all work out eventually. For the time being, think of Yale only as an impossible dream (in the best way) - it helped me a lot. ;)</p>

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<p>I've heard mixed suggestions as to whether to load up on ECs or to focus on a small number that you are very involved in, so I'm glad to be able to understand this better because of your answers!</p>

<p>Breaking my ECs into categories is a great idea that I had never thought of before - it seems like that would really help to organize and give some sort of structure to the things that I do. Thank you conwoman! :)</p>

<p>A.S.A.P., I thank you very much for your feedback regarding my situation with math. I know that I don't want to stop math altogether, but I was anxious that an independent study would be seen as sort of "slacking off." Now I feel a bit more comfortable with that, and I'm also glad you brought up the fact that I need to develop a "theme" for my application. I most love to write, so I may take Creative Writing in my senior year, and perhaps join the newspaper and yearbook at my school, and highlight those things on my application when it comes time. I've always wanted to do those things, so I think it would be very fun :)</p>

<p>Vivaldi, I appreciate your response also. I sometimes catch myself getting caught up in weighing some things in my mind based on whether or not they would "look good for college," and I really do try to abandon that thought when I participate in activities. It's hard to do because even my school is pushing the college thing very heavily on us, but I will take your advice and really do what I love. Like conwoman said, I think that, as long as I do what I enjoy, there is always a way to arrange my ECs to work for whichever college I want to attend.</p>

<p>You have no idea how much I appreciate your responses! :) I will absolutely consider all of your recommendations, and I thank you!</p>

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<p>As far as ECs are concerned, I wouldn't try to get involved in too many - I haven't, but have stuck with the few that I'm involved in. Colleges like to see dedication - and, more importantly, passion. Write about why you're passionate about the activities you're in (you might even want to pick just one and write about it). Let your enthusiasm shine through, and you'll be fine. And above all else, enjoy your junior year - don't kill yourself. :)</p>