Please give me advice?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Hi! I'm currently a high school freshman in a high school that is not the best high school. To give a little description about my school, it only has 1 honors class and limited AP classes (calc AB, bio, physics, art history, music theory, psychology, euro history, u.s history, lang and comp, lit and comp). Also, there aren't that many academics clubs. My goal as a young child was to get into a school like Caltech or MIT, and I realize with the competitions these days how hard it is to get into those schools. So I have been wondering, is there anything you can suggest me to do in high school that will tremendously help me reach my goals?</p>

<p>My current profile:
-4.0 GPA #1 in class rank
-800 in SAT II Korean
-Classes: Adv. bio, adv. english 9, algebra 2, athletics (tennis), leadership, spanish 1.
-planning to selfstudy and take APHG test (any advice? i'm really inconsistent with my studying because i don't have time..)</p>

<p>Activites:
-Monthly volunteer at the local youth court (it's like a place where kids who are supposed to go to Juvenile hall get a second chance and you act like a prosecutor or lawyer for them).
-our school Community service club treasurer.
-freshman vice president in asb.</p>

<p>Plans for next year:
-create a math/science club (any advice?)
-take ap euro, ap physics, leadership, spanish 2, athletics (tennis), adv. english 10, precal/trig.</p>

<p>I been also told that our school is going to host the IB program in my junior year, so my class will be the first to take the program. I'm honestly scared because our teachers aren't that great and I realize the IB is a very intense program. Should I take it?</p>

<p>If you can suggest me ANYTHING, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!</p>

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<p>wow.
Why do you even ask?
You’re golden.</p>

<p>being the first IB program in a school is horrible. I know for a fact because I am one.
The teachers will have no idea what to do. So some will make it so hard that a whole class fails (not like a B, but like a C, or even… a D <em>shivers</em>)
and some teachers will have no idea what they should do, so they’ll make it so easy that A’s will fall upon you in the blink of an eye.</p>

<p>So do IB but be warned, it will make you crazy. I’ve already seen more mental breakdowns in one class, than on a soap opera. No joke.
But if you do what you need to do the break downs will be less violent. </p>

<hr>

<p>also just make sure that there are one or two things you love to do. Colleges like to know that you were serious about at least one thing. If you like around this site a LOT of people lack that, they just have tons of random EC’s, while others have a good range of EC’s but more in writing, math, science, health, sports. Showing that you care about something goes a long way. ^__^</p>

<p>Keep working your butt off. High school will only get harder.</p>

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<p>Your high school have way more APs than mine did :)! </p>

<p>“So do IB but be warned, it will make you crazy. I’ve already seen more mental breakdowns in one class, than on a soap opera. No joke.”</p>

<p>Goodness! Sounds intimidating.</p>

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<p>You could always take classes at your local JC if you don’t feel like you’re being challenged. It looks good on transcripts if you already show the ability to handle college courses, even though the JC may not be as challenging as the schools you apply to. Also, you can use the credits for HS and/or college and that can get you ahead.</p>

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<p>Honestly, my home school offers fewer APs than yours. Not to mention, you’re a freshman, class rank might change, but I do have some pointers:</p>

<p>-SELF STUDY APs = Good. I’d recommend doing it over the summer and then sprucing up in March/April. Take an easy one first to get a feel for it, like HG or ES.</p>

<p>-For science teams, maybe create a Science Olympiad or JETS team</p>

<p>-One of my schools has an ongoing algal biodiesel project for the students to do hands-on work, you’d need to get funding, but maybe come up with an original idea based on a real-life problem and create a club about that</p>

<p>-I don’t think math teams matter that much, but maybe see if your school can participate in the Moody Mega Math Challenge, which is a lot of fun, or some of the Harvard tournaments (I can’t really suggest any others, because I don’t know what my home school offers). I don’t know if the M^3 challenge means much to schools, but it’s wonderful for math students to do a practical application, and teams CAN win scholarships
(Please note these ares junior/senior teams at my school, although select freshmen/sophomores participate in mini-practice competitions)</p>

<p>-Keep up the grades and GPA</p>

<p>-Find a passion! Eventually you’re going to have to write college essays and if you have a passion it’ll 1) give you something to write about, and 2) will shine through in your essay and show dedication.</p>

<p>-Never let your school limit you. My home school is like yours, except probably slightly worse. Therefore, I became part of a program at a nearby magnet school with a math/science emphasis. I’m not saying to do this, I’m just saying that anything is possible. I’m now going to be taking the AP Bio test at the end of this year, through self-study and my honors bio class.</p>

<p>Good luck! I hope this was somewhat helpful. If not, I apologize for the time it took for you to skim this post. Please note, I’m only a sophomore, and so some of my advice is based on what my sister (a Cornell student now) has told me.</p>