<p>I am going to be a freshman next year at a Science,Technology, Engineering, and Math school. I really want to go to either Stanford or MIT for computer science. The school is new and i will be 1 of only 90 kids in the first graduating class. I feel like i have a good shot at being valedictorian because there are only 90 kids and i have never gotten a B in my life. The only thing i am worried about is there will be no sports, clubs or ap classes at this school. I play tennis, golf, and soccer, I have been taking piano since second grade, I am very close to my eagle scout, and i plan to be in an elected student body position all 4 years (hopefully president). I will be taking pre calc as a freshmen but once again they dontoffer ap classes at my school. Do you think i am on the righte track to getting into Stanford or MIT and if not what can I do to help myself get there?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your responses!</p>
<p>Personally I think this is sort of absurd (no offense). You are not even a freshman, it is likely that your college dreams will change as you learn there is more then a school with a name everybody knows (in 8th grade I wanted to go to Harvard, now I want to go to Swarthmore). Second I think you are being a bit arrogant. You have no idea the academic abilities of your classmates or how you will do in high school (high school is harder then middle school, I know many straight-A students in middle school who struggled freshman year due to the transition and ended up with like a 3.0). I also think you should not assume that you will have an elected student body position all four years or even at all. Many small schools only have positions for seniors, so it might not be an option. My school has no sports and I am doing fine, you can join sports that are not affiliated with a school (at a local community center or organization depending on what sport). You can find activities outside of school and should regardless, so no clubs is also fine. As for AP’s, they are over-rated and you can self-study for them to demonstrate academic ability to schools.</p>
<p>Yikes, you are way too young to know where you want to go to college, and waaay too young to declare a major. You will not be penalized for your school not having AP classes, clubs, or sports. You will, however, have to look outside of school for extracurricular opportunities.</p>
<p>I know several kids who are going to this school that have a middle school GPA of less than 2.0 and that was in “regular classes” while I got a 4.0 in “challenge” classes. Oh and there will only be freshmen at the school next year and i know they get to be elected…I wouldnt be going to this school if i wasnt fairly positive i want to be an engineer. im not being arogant im just stating the best case scenario.</p>
<p>Until last year I thought I wanted to be an engineer too, then I took some engineering classes and found that it wasn’t for me. Do you have engineering experience?</p>
<p>I agree with all of the above. My school has a 10th grade of 39 kids. High school is really competitive, especially in schools like the one which you will attend. Our principal gave us a lecture on the first day that it’s not possible for EVERYONE to be as successful there as they were in middle school, especially at competitive, small schools. As much as my classmates and I didn’t want to believe it, her warning words rang true throughout the year.</p>
<p>You can’t assume that everyone will be lower than you. You can’t assume your interests will remain the same. You can’t really assume anything about high school. I think the fact that there are only 90 students means that it will be even harder to be valedictorian. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t that create a scenario in which you would have a very competitive environment? Was there an application process to get accepted to your school? That would signify a competitive environment as well.</p>
<p>You have to see how things play out before you worry about your chances at Stanford and MIT. Not to say that you won’t do well in school, but you have to keep a realistic and humbled outlook. Don’t think you’ll be the best or the worst. Nothing is concrete. You’ll have a better sense of where you stand academically for colleges after you finish freshman year, you take standardized tests, and you see your class rank. For now, I’d briefly peruse college application processes just to get your feet wet, but I’d focus all of your energy on the adjustment into high school. It’s nothing like you’ve experienced before, so I’d take everything one step at a time.</p>
<p>Good luck for freshman year!</p>
<p>Just don’t count anyone out yet. In middle school I graduated with a cumulative 3.66. Now entering my sophomore year I’m tied for #1 in my class. Mostly everyone in my class has done much better in High School than middle school. No one in our Middle School graduated with a 4.0. Most “smart” kids are capable of realizing that Middle School is useless and that as long you keep good enough grades to be placed in upper classes your freshman year, you’re fine. So expect your “underachieving” classmates to step up the game. Not trying to discourage you, but expect some competition especially from a small school.</p>
<p>Are you going to a private school that’s math and science oriented?</p>
<p>Once again this is just my best case scenario, it was a lottery to get into this school and there was no form of academic testing involved. They didn’t even look at yur middle school grades. I am not taking any of this lightly either, i was taught that you can only do something if you tell yourself that you can.</p>