<p>I am a 14-year-old girl, starting high school this year, and I was hoping I could get some advice on what to do in the next 4 years, so that I could be accepted at one of the country's top universities.
I would like to be a doctor, my passion is science, and although I'm not like a crazy genius, do well in them, and find science very interesting.</p>
<p>I speak 2 languages and am learning a 3rd, (almost fluent!) and have been going to a waldorf school from 3rd to 7th grade. I was homeschooled for 8th grade, so I don't have a GPA.</p>
<p>What should I do to get accepted at schools such as Harvard, Duke, John Hopkins, etc.?
Like, EC's, AP classes, etc.</p>
<p>Doctor Moi, I’m not sure if I am happy or sad that you are thinking this far ahead. Schools want to see your course rigour, so take the hardest classes possible, within your abilities of course. Immerse yourself in activities that you love. Having 2 or 3 EC’s that you build leadership in are better than being just a “member” of 6 or8 clubs. Get out in your community, do something meaningful to you. It may be a soup kitchen, a youth group, volunteering at the hospital or mowing lawns for the senior citizens in your area. Get a job, that shows responsibility also. </p>
<p>Foremost, please take time to enjoy yourself during high school, and stay off CC for at least a couple of years! :)</p>
<p>Thanks, but I’m looking for things that will make me stand out in the applications process…
I don’t want to be just another piece of paper, I want to be a human… does that make sense?</p>
<p>Choose activities because you want to do them, not to make your application look good. Admissions staff can tell the difference between activities that speak to your soul, and activities that you choose because you think they will speak to the admissions staff. Pick a few things that you love. The admissions presentater at U of Penn a couple years ago made a great point - ‘When I see a 17 year old with a resume longer than mine, I am concerned.’ Her point was that it shows more positive character if you find just a few activities and really participate in them, instead of joining every club you can just to list them on a resume.
You want to be a happy well-rounded person when you are finished with high school, not an impressive resume!
Good luck, and enjoy the journey through high school.</p>
<p>Go to waldorf high-school if there is one in your city.</p>
<p>It’s really easy to get really high GPAs, good writing, easy foreign exchange connections. Just do some test prep on the side and I assume you do extracurricular stuff so just pursue it further.</p>
<p>The effort it took me as a Waldorf student to get into Ivy and Ivy-caliber schools was a fraction of the work the local public school and prep school kids put into their academics.</p>
<p>Or just don’t go to school and take as many AP tests as you can. It should be easy with all that free time.</p>