<p>@apandia Well, I try to reply 
And whoops, my mistake. Yeah, everyone keeps telling me to build relationships with teachers, counselors, etc. so that I can have good, detailed, not-washed-out recommendations. Thanks! </p>
<p>@AmaranthineD Really? My science teacher said that it was seventh grade and up⊠but thanks, thatâs something Iâll ask around about. Yeah, I have to become a leader and stuff⊠but Iâm really worried because my dad has a couple of resumes from students who were rejected from almost every ivy league, but they had created their own charities, published papers, varsity athletics, etc. I just never know if itâs enough. Thanks!</p>
<p>@angelacaoâ No, itâs definitely HS up. If you look on the apps, there isnât even any place to indicate 7th and 8th grade, just 9/10/11/12.<br>
Itâs not about being enough. Itâs about 1.) Discovering yourself and what you like and donât like. It doesnât have to be anything big like âI have a passion to save the world through medicine or engineeringâ. It can be anything from baking to cheerleading to mixing electronic music. 2.) Developing yourself into an interesting person. âInterestingâ can be well rounded or âangularâ, award-winning or not. 3.) Winning the lottery aka actually getting in when 60-70% of the applicants do everything perfectly and still get rejected.</p>
<p>TL;DR for âunhookedâ applicants, college admissions from this end really looks a lottery, as a lot of the decision factors are things we donât know about and have no control over. So the best thing to do is not stress about a particular college, apply to a range of colleges you love and could be happy at, and focus on having the best and most fulfilling four years of your life right <em>now</em>.</p>
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Thereâs probably some leeway here if you accomplished something really really marvelous and relevant before high school, though. It would just have to be indicated somewhere else.</p>