hey! I am a highschool junior at a sized compettieve public school. I am interested in politics and international relations and would love some input on parts of my application that need improvement. Some of the schools I plan on applying to:
Harvard, Yale, Duke, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, UVA, and Cornell. (I also have tons of safeties but no point in listing)
Here is my course list and grades for first 2 years and 1 semester of hs:
Freshman:
AP Human: 95
Journalism: 100
Debate 1: 100
Football: 100
H Algebra 2: 97
H Bio: 98
H English 1: 99
H Spanish 2: 100
Sophomore:
AP Art History: 99
AP World: 97
Debate 2: 100
H Chem: 99
H English 2: 100
H PreCalc: 99
H Physics: 98
H Spanish 3: 100
Junior(only sem 1):
H Comsci: 100
AP Psych: 98
AP Calc BC: 99
AP Bio: 100
AP Lang: 99
APUSH: 97
AP Spanish 4: 96
Debate 3: 100
My rank is 5/400+
SAT is 1540
AP Scores are three 5s so far.
Extracurriculars/Activities
List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.
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Published Author, “A book title I don’t want to disclose”: self-published a full-length(>100 pages) non-fiction novel; 4.7 stars on Amazon; 100+ copies sold(note this is projected but im sure i can get a 100 friends anf family members to buy a copy lmao)
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Captain, Debate Team: Research and debate monthly topics on political and social issues; top point earner in school, x3 State qualifier, x3 NSDA National Qualifier
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Sole Author, Independent Research Project & Paper: Attended (t20 uni) class; completed Harvard, Stanford, and Berkley courses; joined Stanford and MIT seminars; published paper on nuclear politics
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NSLI-Y Scholar(10-15% acceptance rate) (projected, im semifinalist right now) – 7-week language and cultural immersion in Taiwan; studied Chinse language and culture; fully paid for
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Writing Intern, (int non profit) (5% hiring rate): Published 12 pieces on global poverty reduction efforts; met with politicians to push poverty reduction policies; raised $500 and mobilized 20+ people
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National Director of Curriculum, (something I won’t disclose but essentially we hold civic engagement workshops across the country and I primarily direct our efforts to write curriculum for states/districts that have a civic learning requirement): updated existing curriculum from elem/MS level to HS; create 3 workshops/lesson plans a month; developed long-term curriculum format
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Policy Analyst Intern (nat org can’t disclose) (7% hiring rate) – worked on team of 3 to analyze (x econ/social/political issue) and publish research
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Journalist, (national student-run publication): Published 25+ articles on domestic and international political and social issues; 4 featured stories; 10k+ monthly site visits
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Sole Coordinator, Service Project: Wrote emails and conducted social media campaign to raise $4,500+ for local school for homeless children; led team of 40; featured on local news/media
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Captain, Varsity Lacrosse Team: x4 Varsity starter; x3 Captain; Defensive MVP; led “Try It” days for youth players; paid job as a private coach
May include in additional info: Class VP, paid and volunteer tutor and debate coach, superintendent student advisor, debate instructor at a non-profit that raised >100k
Awards/Honors
List all awards and honors submitted on your application.
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Top 8 at TOC – PFS division (international, debate)
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NSDA Academic All-American(national, debate)
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THSLL All-State (state, lacrosse)
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National Merit Semifinalist (j a guess, got a 1490 so hopefully)
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Top 51 at NSDA Nationals (national, debate)
Letters of Recommendation
9/10 AP Lang Teacher – had for two years, he routinely calls me best student in his classes this year(idk about like all time), very personal relationships(i spend like half the day w him sometimes and hes stayed after like 3 hours w me to talk about college, career hopes, personal relationships, etc. on multiple occasions, writes great letters and limits to like 5-10 kids’
7/10 Debate Coach/Teacher – will have for 4 years, traveled across country together, calls me “best speaker to come thru program”, not as personal relatiosnhip tho
?/10 Conselour – we get a new senior year conselour at my school so we don’t really have a relationship but the conselour supposedly writes fantastic rec letters
9/10 Mentor/Prof at T20 – let me come to their graduate level class, says i “hold own against graduate students”, recommended me for a program that they were supposed to forward to their top undergrad students, referred me to T5 prof who said they spoke well about me to them
7.5/10 Prof at T5 – attended their undergraduate seminar class, i did well in class