<p>AHHHHHHH. It's midterms week and I'm freaking out. </p>
<p>1)My dream is to get into an Ivy, that being Columbia University in New York.
2) I'm a high school freshmen enrolled in 4 Honor Classes and 1 AP (World History).
3) I'm getting 3 B's, 88% in AP WORLDHIS 88% Biology Honors and a whooping awful 85%. Finals is this week, hopefully they'll get up.
4)I'm afraid colleges, AKA Columbia, will see this in my future application and throw out my application.
5) I want to know how to get in to Columbia and do things right. Any advice on how to carry on my sophomore, junior, and senior years? </p>
<p>EC's:
Dedicated Debater, at least this year
Cross Country
Charity Program at school</p>
<p>Yeah, my EC's are looking awful.</p>
<p>I took the SAT's last year for fun, and got
Test: SAT</p>
<p>Grade</p>
<p>8
Month Taken</p>
<p>March 2012
Critical Reading</p>
<p>Score: 510
Percentile: 58.40
Math</p>
<p>Score: 490
Percentile: 43.90
Combined Critical Reading and Math</p>
<p>I’m not a Columbia student, but if you’ll take my word for it, it’s really too early for you to have any indication of getting into college. Enjoy your freshmen year and don’t stress TOO much (this does not mean don’t get A’s, just don’t be stressing this early). Sophomore and junior year grades are really where most of the weighing in goes for your application</p>
<p>As for your SAT, it’s actually not that bad considering your age/grade. You’re currently scoring about the average of every high school student that takes it, which is great for an 8th grader/9th grader. Your SAT score will be much higher once you’ve studied and taken a couple more years of schooling.</p>
<p>Three years is a long time, and in that time you may not even want to go to Columbia.</p>
<ol>
<li>Calm down, you’re a freshman.</li>
<li>Even if you get B’s freshman year, continuing a difficult course load and having an upward trend in the subsequent years is good.</li>
<li>Build your EC’s around an area of interest; being focused in a few activities is better than being in everything.</li>
<li>As Burdened stated, Columbia might not even be your top choice by the time you’re a senior. It wasn’t even on my list until junior year.
5… Calm down, you’re a freshman. There’s a long time to go before you apply for colleges, and in that time, there’s a wealth of knowledge to be gained. You’d be surprised.</li>
</ol>
<p>"I wanted to show them I’m as talented as my cousin " Let me be blunt: that’s a terrible reason to live.</p>
<p>Here’s a common theme among Ivy students: they are their own people who frankly, get to a life trajectory where the actual college they attend is of secondary importance. They are already aiming higher than the name on a diploma. You’ve already developed Ivy fetish w/o regard to what those who actually attend those schools have done.</p>
<p>Cease focusing yourself on some mythical bundle (i.e. Ivy) of colleges which you assume that that will confer something special to you. It won’t.</p>
<p>Be yourself. If you’re creative, academically superior and influential, you might attend an Ivy type school. Perhaps not. And if not, so what? REALLY?</p>
<p>I’m just going to tell you what I say to all freshmen I see on here: go away. I mean it nicely, I promise. CC is a great resource but at your stage in high school, it’s just going to freak you out. All that anyone can tell you at this point is that you need to have a rigorous schedule, do your best in those classes, have good EC’s, and practice for the SAT.
You seem to be worried about your EC’s so here’s a recommendation for that–colleges like to see a “passion” of some sort, something that you’ve been committed to. That could be debate, or you could find something else.
Bottom line is you have to enjoy yourself. Don’t waste your time looking for comfort/bragging on CC, just enjoy high school. there will be a time when this site is helpful, but now is not that time</p>
<p>omygod please live a little. I can guarantee that high school can be an amazing time where you meet great friends. if you spend it stressing you will regret it</p>
<p>Yep, agreed. High school senior- just got into Columbia ED (AHH!). But really, don’t start stressing about college until junior year at the earliest (maybe some people are going to disagree with me about this but really, it’s not productive until junior year). Focus on getting good grades during freshman and sophomore year and try to find out what you like and how you can pursue it. I had no idea what I wanted to study when I was a freshman, but high school really helps you out with that because you can determine things like, “hey, I really HATE history but I’m in love with this statistics class–” or whatever you like. </p>
<p>I agree with what people have been saying about EC’s- don’t just resume-build. Find something (or somethings) you’re truly passionate about and try to go the extra mile with them. Your high school experience will truly be a blast if you discover and pursue things you love AND you do well in them. This will all help your application stand out when you apply as a senior. </p>
<p>Also, to restate- Columbia is not for everybody, neither is any ivy-league school. Don’t just apply to the school because you want to “impress your parents” or prove that you’re as talented as your cousin. Apply to schools that you truly want to go to because they’re the right place for you. </p>