I am currently a freshman enrolled in a very competitive private high school. In fact, it is ranked the 4th best private high school in the state. I did decent the first semester, but this semester I am striving for a 92-93 and above in every class. Next year I plan on taking:
AP Euro
Honors English
Honors Algebra 2
Honors Chemistry
French 2
AP Euro is the only AP offered Sophmore year. My extracurriculars are as follows:
Varsity Track and Field (I am getting better and quite competitive)
JV Debate
Introduction to Art
Overall Service
I plan to get more involved in art and journalism because they are things that interest me very much. I was involved with the Duke Tip program and still do weekend courses they offer such as the one that I will be held at UGA. I plan on just overall getting involved more throughout school and out of school. As it relates to SAT scored, I actually received 1600 in the 7th grade so I think I would do very well when I actually take it. The last time I posted on here I was only interested in the IVY Leagues, but now after much research, I am truly trying to find my fit. I am interested in the following schools because of their specializations, major offerings, and student life. I am interested in going into Law
USC
UCLA
Berkley
Emory
U Penn (Dream School)
John Hopkins
Notre Dame
Stanford (Dream School)
Duke
Vanderbilt
I understand I am young, but help me out here!
Should I get more into art?
Should I cultivate journalism?
Advice in opportunities I should know about?
Programs or Internships that I can apply for?
How should I spend my summers?
What should I start doing now to help me get into schools later?
Just keep doing you and when you’re a senior apply to schools you like that want students with your achievements. They want students who do interesting activities at a high level because they want to, not because a bunch of strangers online gave them an admissions formula for their extracurriculars.
Do what you like to do already. Take leadership. Invest your time. Enter competitions. Become involved in the community. Read. Find new ways to share your writing. Enjoy highschool. Study for the SATs. Get high grades.
If you could get recruited, that would be ideal, obviously.
You’re going at this backwards. You’re planning your activities based on where you want to attend college? You should plan your activities and then see which colleges best fit your desires/interests.
If you’re at such a wonderful school, you’re neglecting the resources you have down the hall. Your counselor offices will be fully equipped to guide you – more than random internet strangers. Good luck.
Don’t dream about any schools yet. Dream about doing as well as you can academically, dream about finding great friends and having fun together, dream about activities you can get involved in and will enjoy, do something constructive during the summer (which can be anything at all). When it comes time for standardizes tests, study for them and do as well as you can. But please please don’t gear your entire life towards getting into college. During your junior year you can see where things stand and start considering specific colleges. And when that time comes, you will also need to discuss and restrictions your parents have in terms of affordability, geography etc.
@T26E4 said: “You’re going at this backwards. You’re planning your activities based on where you want to attend college? You should plan your activities and then see which colleges best fit your desires/interests.”
I couldn’t agree more. You only go around once and doing what you feel passionate about leads to a much more fulfilling life than trying to follow a script to get into a top ranked school.