<p>Howdy! It's 3 a.m., and I was just thinking about life and such... I was wondering how I look for college. I'm a white male sophomore from a suburb in Central Jersey. I go to our town's public high school, which has 2350 students, decently sized, 98% grad. rate.</p>
<p>Top choices for schools:
Princeton!!!
Harvard
Duke
Stanford
Cornell
Yale
Rutgers (chances for a full ride)
Other full/partial rides?
Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Stats:
Rank: 3/560 (approx. for both)
GPA: 95.36 unweighted, 102.53 weighted
PSAT: 233 (but I was a sophomore, so no merit award >_< )
SAT: to be taken
ACT: will take for the heck of it
SATII's: Chem and Math 2 this June, Bio and U.S. History next June, and maybe Spanish the preceding fall. Some others in between.</p>
<p>Courses:</p>
<p>Freshman:
English 1 H - 97
Algebra 2 H - 93
Biology H - 96
World History H - 97
Spanish 2 CP - 96
Gym - 97
Freshman Band - 100</p>
<p>Sophomore:
English 2 H - 94
Math Analysis H - 94 (trig/pre-calc)
Chemistry H - 95
U.S. 1 H - 94 (part 1 of APUSH)
Spanish 3 CP - 95
Gym - 98
Geophysical Science H - 93 (required course)
Business Law (online, summer '08)
(Note: Grades have 1 pt. margin of error. I did bad this year)</p>
<p>Junior:
AP Eng Lang/Comp
AP Calculus AB
AP Biology
APUSH
Spanish 4 CP
Gym
AP US Government
AP Economics (online, summer '09)
(I won't know it all for certain until Day 1 of Jr. Year)</p>
<p>Senior:
AP Eng Lit
AP Calculus BC
AP Chemistry
Physics H
AP Spanish 5
Gym
Independent Study
(I won't know it all for certain until Day 1 of Sr. Year)</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:
Model Congress/UN - 4 yr. varsity - secretary (10), president (11), mentor (12) - time commitment: 2 hrs/week in school, 10 out (tons of prepping, I manage our forums). We go to 4 conferences a year, we always come in 1st or 2nd, and we get tons of individual awards (I have received some myself.) Additionally, we run several concerts and fundraisers (for ourselves and organizations) throughout the year.
Mock Trial - 1 yr. JV, 2 varsity - understudy (10), attorney or witness (11), attorney (12) - time committment - 4 to 10 hrs/week in school (insane), 4 out. We're county champs two years running! haha
Band - Freshman Band (9), Percussion Ensemble (9), Worship Orchestra (9, 10, 11, 12) - time commitment: Frosh Band was 8 hrs/week all year, Worship Orchestra is about 1 hr/week. I play percussion instruments, mostly timpani.
Science League - Chem Team (10), Bio Team (11), Chem/Physics Team (12) - time commitment: negligible. Just to sharpen my wit... a few local competitions a year.
Volunteering - Summerville Assisted Living (10, 11, 12), Church (9, 10, 11, 12). SAL - 2 hrs./week, church - countless. At SAL, I have fun with old people. At church, I do summer camps, wait at lunches, etc.</p>
<p>Other Stuff:
Essay - will be brilliant
Recommendations - 1) my debate/mock trial/AP Gov teacher, 2) my Bio H/AP Bio teacher, 3) my Spanish 3/AP Spanish teacher
Financial aid - would be fantastic</p>
<p>That's about it. I'm taking the most rigorous course at my school, and I will take all 9 AP tests, plus 2 if i take the Econ courses. I'm one of the top 5 kids in my grade, I think 3rd in the class, and #1 white kid, haha. (They ended class rank, so I have to compare GPA with friends.)</p>
<p>I really changed from freshman year to this year... I've realized how important my future is. I used to run XC, but gave it up for debate. Last summer I worked at a Christian camp for 6 weeks. This summer, I'm working at Dunkin' Donuts while taking an online course for school credit, and doing a crapload of AP summer work. I waste a lot of time on the Internet. Yay!</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I want to major in biology and become a doctor. I don't do clubs with that because I'd rather focus on developing my skills. I sharpen my thoughts and abilities through debate and mock trial. That helps with improvisation, working under heat, problem solving, and memorization. I feel that other clubs (like a bio club, for instance) are fine, but just are too specific and don't give you life skills. I may end up doing EMT once I get a car, though.</p>
<p>So how're things cooking for me? I really want to go to Princeton... it's so close and I love Nassau Street. We send 1 kid to Princeton a year, typically. I think I'm disadvantaged, though, because I'm a Jerseyan WASP. I was just wondering if I stood out or had a chance, since I seem like your typically high school top student. I will apply with confidence, regardless of what I am told. Tips for bettering my application or anything else would be helpful. </p>
<p>Thank you very much! Comments are appreciated!</p>