<p>Am I on the right track for IvyLeague/Top20 schools?</p>
<p>Student:</p>
<p>User Name: waitingforivy
Gender: F
College Class Year: 2016
High School: Public
High School Type: sends some grads to top schools</p>
<p>Academics:</p>
<p>GPA - Unweighted: 3.98
GPA - Weighted: NA
Class Rank: top 10%
Class Size: 150</p>
<p>Scores:</p>
<p>SAT II Biology - M: 740
PSAT: 204</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:</p>
<p>Significant Extracurriculars: Literary Magazine, Newspaper, Debate Club, Math Olympiads, Model UN
Leadership positions: Literary Magazine - Editor in Chief
Newspaper- Editor
Athletic Status - list sport and your level: Private Swim Team - 2 years
Volunteer/Service Work: Nursing Home, 2 years
Research, 1 summer, none published
Honors and Awards: Women in Math/Science Society
Principle's Award High Honor Roll
Rotary Youth Leadership Award</p>
<p>Expected Extracurriculars: Newspaper Editor-in-Chief, Debate Club leadership role, 2 more summers research, more volunteering, NHS</p>
<p>Desired College Characteristics:</p>
<p>Location type: Urban, Small City
Size: </p>
<p>Area: East Coast, Midwest
Importance of cost: Secondary</p>
<p>Since you’re a sophomore I’m assuming you’re going to take the PSAT again? Otherwise your ECs and GPA look pretty good. It seems like you’re very involved in Newspaper, if it’s something you’re passionate about you should try and convey that passion in your essays, interviews etc. (it’s one thing to be involved in a million ECs, it’s another thing to truly care).</p>
<p>If you keep working hard and following your interests, you should be good to go. However, when you’re looking at the top schools, it’s really a crapshoot, you never know what’s gonna happen. Don’t worry about it too much, you’re in high school, enjoy it.</p>
<p>I would say you’re on track. Keep taking the most challenging courses, work hard to score well on your SATI and SATII, and maintain involvement in your ECs. Like alemonkoe said, college admissions at the top schools = major crapshoot. Don’t invest so much love for the ivies, you forget how awesome other (non-ivy league) schools are. Also - do you have any hooks? Those might help you even more…</p>
<p>Par down those ECs and start winning awards in whatever is important to you, or make a significant impact in something like Lit Mag. Be impactful.</p>
<p>Keep your grades up. Straight A’s up.</p>
<p>Get a high SAT score, ideally 2300+.</p>
<p>Find two teachers who you think could write recs, and build substantial relationships with them–work on a research paper or start a club with them, or just stay after school to chat every once in a while. You should be more than jut a good student to them.</p>
<p>@alemonkoe - I will be taking the PSAT, and then SAT/ACT again, and am confident that I should do well. </p>
<p>@kiterunner - I don’t think I have any hooks. Does it matter if both of my parents were college educated in a different country, so I’m a first generation american?</p>
<p>@glassesarechic - I thought I already had a short list of ECs. Par it down more? I am starting to focus on making a great impact. I think I should be able to get 2300+ SAT. I have one teacher who will definetly give me a great recommendation (already did for a summer program), and another 1 or 2 who are strong possibilities. Could it be the advisor to the Literary Magazine, even though she was my teacher only as a freshman? There are other possibilities, though.</p>
<p>Since Debate, MUN, and Math Olympiad are competitive events, to be outstanding in them you likely couldn’t be involved in all three. And since I don’t see any awards from these events listed, I assume you don’t have the time to devote to all three (honestly, no one would). Simply holding down a leadership position in a competitive club doesn’t cut it. So, if you particularly enjoy one of these clubs (or have been successful in one and didn’t mention it here), allow yourself the time to get really, really good at it. Drop the rest.</p>
<p>Same with Lit Mag and Newspaper. If Newspaper’s where you want to focus your energies, since you’ll be Editor, do that. Don’t just be another editor snatching up leadership for your resume; do something with the post. If you’re being truly impactful, you won’t have time for lit mag as well. </p>
<p>Your other ECs (volunteering, swimming) don’t strike me as significant at all. Honestly, if helping the needy isn’t your thing, know that arbitrary community service isn’t a big deal on your apps since it’s become so ubiquitous. If you really enjoy it, of course, then continue. </p>
<p>My suggestions are probably a tad radical, especially on CC, where, despite the constant rally of “quality over quantity!” regarding ECs, kids usually have pages and pages of club membership and leadership positions. But colleges aren’t impressed by your diligence and ability to be in twelve places at once. They want to see you make your mark, which, considering the amount of time in a day, can’t be done when you’re pulled in a thousand different directions. Don’t listen to your classmates as they run from football practice to an NHS meeting to tutoring Indonesian orphans to oboe practice. Focus, and flourish.</p>
<p>^ Why do you say that the OP having swimming is insignificant? Doing sports (especially sports as difficult and time-consuming as swimming) shows that you are a hard-worker, and have dedication.</p>
<p>I am actually much more involved in Lit Mag than Newspaper, as I am already editor-in-chief, but will become more involved in Newspaper when the current editor in chief graduatest this year. </p>
<p>Debate Club actually started like 2 weeks ago, so while it looks very promising, I have to see where it will go.</p>
<p>My school’s Model UN is not very competitive, only 1-2 conferences a year. I did win Best Delegate Award in the most recent one. </p>
<p>Math Olympiads I’m not that great at, so I may drop it. I have already stopped Swimming, since I’m not good at that. The Volunteering is related to my research topic, and is therefore something I’m interested in.</p>
<p>Thank you for your advice. It’s so different, and frankly refreshing from everything I’m told. I feel like I won’t be able to keep up with everything I’m expected to do for college, especially during the difficult junior year. I love Model UN and being editor of the Lit Mag, but sometimes (like right now - crunch time for Lit Mag), it gets very busy. I just always see people’s lists, especially on CC, with every club and fundraiser and who knows what else imaginable, especially the ones accepted to top schools.</p>
<p>1) Relax. Everything will work out okay - don’t stress too much in your sophomore year.</p>
<p>2) With that said, as others above have noted, distinguish yourself. Everything on your list is good, but nothing seems to really distinguish you. Pick something and run with it.</p>
<p>I am working on creating a research project I am very interested in. Would that work? I also have plans for the Literary Mag which I will implement next year.</p>
<p>Sit your parents down tonight and have them run the Expected Family Contribution calculators at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and at [College</a> Calculators - savings calculators - college costs, loans](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>Calculate Your Cost – BigFuture | College Board) Do not take this process one step further until you know your EFC, and just exactly how your family plans to meet it. Is it their responsibility? Is it yours? Is it shared? How much money do your parents expect you to pay from summer jobs and/or part-time work during the school year? How much debt are they willing to have you take on for your education? (Run the debt-repayment calculators at those sites as well to see how long it will take you to pay off your student loans).</p>
<p>If you are truly on track for Ivy-level admission, you probably are also on track for merit aid at other institutions. Devote some time to researching those options as well.</p>
<p>Unless she is at the level to be recruited or her team wins significant awards, the OP’s swimming is not a particularly telling EC. Yes, it demonstrates hard work and dedication, but colleges aren’t looking for hard work and dedication. Adcoms at top colleges readily admit that 90% of applicants are capable of the workload; that is not a distinguishing characteristic. The OP is spending, I imagine, 1-2 hours a day to demonstrate to colleges an abstract concept that is likely evident in her GPA and would be made evident if she focused her ECs enough to be truly accomplished. IMO, that is a waste of time.</p>
<p>Imagine what you could do with 5-10 extra hours a week, especially if those were added to an EC you were already involved in. If that time were used by the OP to do extra preparation for MUN or start a math club at the local middle school or work on a portfolio for Scholastics Art and Writing awrds, she could be much more impressive. </p>
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<p>Those are fantastic ideas. I still recommend quitting those clubs you won’t be making much of an impact in. Use that free time to read good books, research further a topic that interested you from class, get a boyfriend, whatever.</p>
<p>“I have already stopped Swimming, since I’m not good at that.”</p>
<p>Although I appreciate your advice and opposing viewpoints, please understand that I have quit the swim team. I have a difficult junior year schedule planned, one that has cause many people to lose hours of sleep, and will need the extra time next year. </p>
<p>@glassesarechic - Could you tell me more about the scholastic writing awards? That sounds interesting, and I’ve never heard about it.</p>
<p>Of course not, unless the free time is more valuable to the OP than the fun (which s/he has decided it is).</p>
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<p>It’s a fantastic program for both art and writing. They have several different categories, from the more popular short fiction, short short fiction, and poetry to humor, journalism, and sci-fi. The due date for entry is around December/January depending upon your region, and regional Gold Key winners go on to the national competition. National Gold and Silver Key winners get to go to Carnegie Hall in June. Definitely apply next year!</p>