I am a sophomore in high school. I was wondering if my current courseload and extracurricular activities are competitive enough for me to have a decent chance in getting into an Ivy League school. Am I too well-rounded? I intend on majoring in some sort of biology.
Freshman Year:
Biology
Algebra 1
Geometry
U.S. History
World History
Health
French 1
French 2
Honors English 9
Economics
Government
Current Courseload:
AP Psychology
AP US History
AP Computer Science Principles
AP Macroeconomics
Chemistry
Algebra 2
ENG-101 (duel enrolled)
GPA: 4.0 (unweighted)
Extracurriculars:
Environmental Club
Robotics Club
Girls Who Code Club
French Club (
Mentoring Club
Interact Club
Independent Algae Research
Honors Orchestra
Piano Teacher
Red Cross Volunteer
The term well rounded I think applies more to your ECs than courses. For Ivies, you generally want to take the hardest curriculum available to you. Of course, if you like bio and are interested in the subject, you would definitely want to take AP Bio as well as the Bio SAT subject test. Your EC seem pretty related, which is good. Get leadership and get awards in your extracurriculars so you can stand out as an applicant
Do all of your clubs involve something you love? If so, you’re not ‘too well rounded’. If you’re just doing some clubs to pad your resume, you are wasting your energy and would be better served focusing on excelling in the clubs/activities that really matter to you.
We can’t tell if your schedule is rigorous without knowing what is available at your school. Your guidance counselor can tell you this. It looks very good but without knowing your school’s course offerings we can’t tell.
As a soph, with rigor just begun, no scores, and a bunch of school clubs, no, you’re not competitive, not now. But, you could dig into what Yale likes and wants, the qualities, the nature of “stretch” and having impact, and build your position.
“Am I too well-rounded?” There’s a lot of misunderstanding about this. Depth and breadth tops just doing what you (think you) like, what friends do when the bell rings. Have an informed plan.
Chances are terrible. It’s an ivy league school You’re applying to schools that have an average 7% acceptance rate. After a certain level, it’s impossible to stand out no matter how good your application looks. Everyone else is pretty much the same. At’s all a subjective game of chance based on what mood the admission person is in. It’s a nice surprise if you get into one, but don’t put your hopes and dreams on it.
Independent Algae Research could be an important EC. How serious is this project, and how close to the forefront of science?
Will you be taking AP Biology and also AP Chemistry?
lookingforward and I don’t often agree ( hi there, lookingforward! ) but we both picked up on French 1, French 2, and now no French in your list of courses. Many of the top schools are looking for three or four years of a language (at least, that used to be the case).
This is all just personal advice from all of the research I’ve gathered. I’m glad you’re asking so soon as a Sophomore because by the time I realized how important my ECs and Classes were, it was late junior year - early senior year.
You are going to want to narrow down your club choices to ones that you are actually passionate about/related to your intended major or ones that you are likely to gain board membership, hopefully president or vice-president!
Having clubs shows your school involvement and board membership shows leadership qualities. However, having too many is a red flag according to some college admissions interviews as it has them wondering how one can devote copious time and effort into each of 5 different clubs. However, if you can get board membership on all 5, it would not hurt, but that would be hard.
Your courses are top notch so I wouldn't worry too much as long as you take the most to near-most rigorous courses available as you continue on with straight As.
Narrow down your extracurricular activities to singular or dual focus. You definitely do not want to spread yourself too thin. You need a general theme that your application can revolve around instead of being an applicant who dabbles in a little of everything.
If you are interested in Biology, do more biology related activities, perhaps internships with local Professors, hospital work, more independent or co-mentored research.
That doesn’t mean you can’t do other things, but make sure you have a common theme I would suggest. If you are passionate about something, do it. But as of rn, from your club selection, the only thing I can narrow down rn is that you like science/technology which is somewhat broad. I should be able to tell from your activities about what you love, and you will be able to elaborate further in your essays. Show you are really engaged in those core passions, whether it be community service, biology, technology. I wouldn’t talk too much about French club if that isn’t key to your application.
If you can do so, you’ll be a competitive applicant. But ofc, it’s still somewhat of a reach for anyone unless you’re some kind of genius with insane ECs. But competitive? Yes.
Please take everything I said with a grain of salt because I am by no means an expert, but this is just stuff I researched and came up with.
You’re applying to schools that have an average 7% acceptance rate. After a certain level, it’s impossible to stand out no matter how good your application looks. Everyone else is pretty much the same. At’s all a subjective game of chance based on what mood the admission person is in. It’s a nice surprise if you get into one, but don’t put your hopes and dreams on it.