Hi, I am a ninth grade (freshmen) student at a public HS in NJ. My dream is to attend Princeton University. Currently I am maintaining all As in all Honors level classes. I need some help/tips on how to make my high school resume pop out to Princeton admissions officers. I already know that good grades and the typical extra curriculars wont cut it. Any tips will be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
Read “How To Be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport. There is no one path. Be genuine and deeply involved in your activities. Try to be truly interested in your studies, and an easy person to get along with. Good grades and test scores, too. And think hard about your academic goals and what kind of environment you will fit in – don’t fixate on one school. No freshman knows themselves well enough yet to have any idea what school will be the best fit, honestly. And don’t fixate on prestige.
When the acceptance rate is 7.4% and more likely to decrease than increase, I would advise lowering expectations. You will likely be denied admission!
That said, decide soon what career you would be interested in pursuing (Or general field; Engineering, Medicine, Communications, et cetera) or at least an interest, and try getting involved. Dedicate yourself to a few particular extracurriculars(Not a large list however otherwise depth is questioned) that can display your time commitment, leadership, critical thinking, et cetera. Or create a club. Keep up grades. Take rigorous courses.
That advice applies to every college you will apply to. And more importantly, have you asked your parents regarding the financial situation?
OP: building on the previous post … IMO, all top 15-20 schools (and quite possibly ones lower ranked than that, depending upon the field) open relatively similar types of employment and graduate school opportunities. More important than where you go to school is how well you do there. So, don’t set yourself with `Princeton or bust’ kind of mentality. The good news is that any good high school student who has put in the effort will find a good school to attend.
I may not be qualified as having a “professional” opinion, but I (am actually in the same boat as you) think that you should just find one thing you love, and explore it, that way, you’ll know how to “define” yourself. You’re not one of thousands of applicants who do a bit of everything, the adcoms will remember you as “that science genius” or “strong writer” for example, just find something you love, I guess.