I’m a high school sophomore currently and I’ve recently been starting to feel anxious that I haven’t been doing much for
college apps that are coming up in senior year.
I know colleges look at what you’ve done all four years of high school, and I feel like I need to make up a little for my freshman year, when I was just getting used to high school and didn’t accomplish much. I’ve been active in violin in orchestra, making the top orchestra in my school freshman year and getting invited to go to an international conference in Chicago with them. I also made a nationally well-known youth symphony orchestra in my city, and I made region last year and this year, but not all state. This year I joined DECA as a competitive member and our school’s UIL math team. I volunteer weekly at an elementary math club and volunteer at events hosted by my school. As for tests and such, I took the PSAT sophomore year as a practice, and I am planning to take the SAT math subject test this school year around April or May. I am in the IB (International Baccalaureate) program and am pursuing the diploma.
My grades are essentially all As but they’re mostly low As in the 90-95 range, and I’m ranked 23rd in my class as of now (which is not where I want to be). I haven’t done many summer activities in high school yet and I would like to attend a summer camp that will best be fitted to my interests (which are chemistry/biology and writing).
My goals for education after high school are some of the top universities, such as the Ivy Leagues. I know they like to see strong focus in one extracurricular subject, but I’m not sure I have the preparation or the time to prepare to compete or get into programs that focus on the sciences, and I’m trying my best to do something impressive using my writing skills (such as entering national competitions and hopefully starting a blog or something in the future).
I feel very nervous, considering other people in my grade are getting higher grades and accomplishing far more extracurricular achievements than me. Of course, schoolwork is getting harder and I’m finding it more difficult to keep my grades up and manage my time.
Does anyone have any tips or ideas that will help me make a more stable and impressive college application?