Sophomore wants to know how to get into IVY

Applying to College
1

<p>Hey all, </p>

<p>I'm currently a sophomore and I just wanted to know what my chances would be of getting into any of the following colleges...</p>

<p>Harvard, Yale, Cornell, UPenn, Columbia, MIT, Caltech, Dartmouth, Brown, Princeton, Stanford, and NYU. </p>

<p>Also, if you could give me some feedback as to what my strong/weak points are, I would greatly appreciate it.</p>

<p>My Stats </p>

<p>PSAT (10th Grade, October 2008): 179 - 72 math, 53 reading, 54 writing
SAT (10th Grade, March 2009): 2050 - 790 math, 580 reading, 680 writing
Sophomore Schedule: AP World History, AP Calculus AB, Honors Chemistry, Honors Spanish, Honors English, Honors Sports Medicine, Honors Health.
Junior Schedule: AP Physics B, AP US History, AP English Lang, AP Calculus BC, AP Spanish, and Student Government.
Senior Schedule: AP Biology, AP American Government, AP English Lit, AP Chemistry, Multivariable Calculus at College, and AP Psychology. </p>

<p>I'm in varsity tennis, jv wrestling, future business leaders of america club, newspaper club (staff writer position), math team, business honor society, science olympiad, academic team, instar (independent science technology and research), and I volunteer at a nearby hospital. </p>

<p>Very competitive public high school that has grades 10-12.
GPA is 98% from freshman year and first half of sophomore year. </p>

<p>I'm planning to go to college and major in science so what colleges would be a good fit for me? I will definitely be taking the PSAT and SAT again in junior year so don't worry they will definitely improve. </p>

<p>All comments are appreciated, thanks.</p>

2

<p>First of all, whoa. Take a step back. Some may disagree with me on this, but sophomore year’s still a bit early to be so college-conscious. Enjoy high school while you can. You’ll regret it later if you don’t.</p>

<p>I have to say I’m impressed by all you’ve accomplished. You’re extremely involved in extracurriculars, but honestly how do you juggle it all? And what’s your passion? I see a wide variety of ECs, but to be frank, it simply seems like you do all this to impress colleges. Colleges are looking for passion, so don’t be afraid to drop some ECs to become more involved in the few you truly enjoy.</p>

<p>Also, research your schools. I see you’ve listed the nation’s most prestigious schools… but can you name three specific reasons for wanting to apply to each? I would try to get past the prestige factor, and figure out what YOU’RE looking for in a college. Harvard is different from Yale, as Cornell is different from Columbia. Narrow your lists down, and have some safeties (NYU is not a safety). You’ll be saving a lot more money and time by doing so.</p>

<p>Again, don’t forget to have fun. When I first read the post, I wondered what time you had left after all the schoolwork and ECs. Enjoy the high school years, they’ll be one of the best times of your life.</p>

3

<p>Take advantage of your last peaceful moments of high school… Also, try researching more colleges. I think it’s absurd to apply to the Ivy League/top 10 schools just for the name.</p>

4

<p>Your chances for acceptance are either 100% or 0% ;)</p>

<p>lol but seriously enjoy high school a little and pursue what you love, the rest will fall in place in time.</p>

5

<p>I agree with be_somebody that you seem to be involved in these ECs just to put on your college apps. It looks like a laundry list, and how can you possibly devote any time to ECs if you are doing so many at once? Also try to get more leadership positions.</p>

<p>I also agree with driscol that there are so many colleges out there other than Ivy Leagues. Don’t give into the hype, because you might end up finding a non-Ivy school that you absolutely love. </p>

<p>Your courseload seems almost a little too rigorous and I wonder if you’re just taking all these APs for colleges. It’s great if you can handle it, but if you can’t you need to ease up.</p>

6

<p>First of all, why does everyone capitalize IVY? Is it to further differentiate Ivies from sleazy plebeian institutions like NYU and Georgetown? o.O</p>

<p>Second, OP, I hope you have a life. If not, I suggest you get one, or you will have nothing to write your essays about, and you will be rejected.</p>

7

<p>

Thanks for your post! I needed a chuckle today.</p>

8

<p>Yeah, you’re achievements are solid and you are a very well-rounded student. But I also got the impression that you were in some of those clubs just for college apps (which may or may not be true), which is supported by the fact that you are a sophomore asking a chance me question. </p>

<p>Now, if you are actually interested in all those extracurriculars, you have to find a way to let colleges know that. In your main essay, maybe write about how everyone says that you don’t have any passions because you are so well-rounded, but you are passionate in all your fields and you think it is important to be well-rounded human beings in this inter-disciplanary world. That the reason you do so many business and science clubs is because you realize that if you have some new technology, you will need a solid business plan to fully implement it. That you write for the newspaper in order to learn the life-skill of conveying your opinions to an ignorant audience. </p>

<p>If you don’t actually think like this, don’t try and fake it in your essays. Rather, maybe leave a few ECs off your application (which I think you will have to do for space issues) and keep the ones you participate the most in and have the most achievements in, which should be the science ones and the varsity athletics (assuming your school has good teams which require a lot of effort).</p>

<p>As far as applications go, applying to all the ivies is fine. Just make sure you have some (one or two) sure-fire safety schools and many match schools. A guy I know got rejected from all the ivies he applied to (six), got into three state schools (good publics, but not the best), and got waitlisted at the one other school (CMU) that he applied to. So, as you can tell, he took an all or nothing approach and will probably attend a state school as a result. Nothing wrong with that, but it is just that he has worked for, and deserved, to get into some top private schools, but now he’ll be attending a public school that he is (dare I say overqualifed?) for and that people who don’t try at my HS can easily get into.</p>

9

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<p>Waat!? You’re a sophomore … you’re late … you should have totally found out last year so that you could set up a perfect HS career and dominate the world. (jk) :slight_smile: </p>

<p>IMO, you seem like a student who’s very hard working and has a lot of initiative. That’s very admirable, and you also seem highly involved in what your HS offers. The problem is … there’s no perfect formula that tells you how you can get into those schools (I know … that’s a disappointment, I was too when I learned that :)). My advice at this point is to keep working hard as you have been, do what you love, and enjoy HS while it lasts — and most importantly, be yourself. If you actually love what you do, your time will pass by very very quickly. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

10

<p>Hey Prashant! You sound like an unbelievable child. It is clearly obvious that the good lord Jesus Christ blesses you with his care. God Bless!</p>