<p>I am currently a junior at a competitive, rigorous high school. I am shooting for the Ivy Leagues+UChicago, Stanford, and WashU. I realized at the beginning of this year that I have been been prepping for college apps all wrong; I am the dreaded "well-rounded" student. I play music, write articles for the newspaper, participate in science fair, etc. I was venting about this to a friend, who pointed out, "What about your languages?"
Indeed, my languages. I am studying French, Chinese, Portuguese, and will begin Hebrew this summer. The only one I have a background in is Portuguese (my mother's first language.) I plan on taking the SAT II for French and Chinese (yes, I know these are difficult, especially the Chinese one for nonnative speakers like myself, but I am hopefully prepared.)
If I am currently attending a well-regarded math and science high school, am taking university level biology, chemistry, and calculus courses, and am learning four languages, how will that look on an application? Could I be considered "angular" with the languages? I am planning on marketing myself as having two "passions," biology and languages (esp. Chinese.) and saying I want to double major in microbology and Asian studies. </p>
<p>Your approach is very good. Would you consider going to an intensive language camp for Chinese to increase your angle, rather than Hebrew (unless you intend on going on Taglit later on)? Middlebury’s intensive language can be one and there are scholarships for Arabic. Can you get a certificate for your proficiency in Portuguese (Brazilian or Portuguese cultural center, for instance? Indicating a level of achievement?) Have you studied abroad (esp. Rotary exchange program, but anything where you attend actual high school classes with local students, rather than seeng the sights, would enhance your application).
However, remember that the colleges you’re aiming for are crapshoots. It’s easy to have “Dream schools”. It’s much harder to find schools that you like and where you have a good probability of getting in + getting sufficient financial aid. Therefore you need to develop your college list from the bottom up, starting with two safeties.
If languages are your thing, I would recommend Middlebury, and look into the Critical Language Flagships (no career problems for those who graduate from these flagships…)
Macalester or Dickinson may be other good choices, and all are good for science. Be aware that there’s currently a glut of biology majors so career prospects aren’t very good - see if you can find bioinformatics concentrations.</p>