<p>I don't want to post too much revealing information, so I'll keep some of my extra-curricular awards somewhat vague. My dream school is Princeton, but I realize that it's a bit idealistic to have an ivy as a dream school. Thus, I do have a good amount of safeties that I'll apply to as well. </p>
<p>SAT: 2260 (740 CR/800 W/720 M) [single sitting]
I'm absolutely going to retake this before regular decision, as I took two practice tests recently and scored in the 2300+ range.
SAT II: taking Bio M and World History in October
Ethnicity: Hispanic (Spain)
My GPA is 3.9 unweighted, or something like 4.85 or 4.87 weighted on a 5.0 scale. I'm not sure about my class rank, but it's at least in the top 6-7% at a competitive public magnet.
State: Iowa</p>
<p>I'm in a low-income, single parent household; this probably isn't really a benefit, but it does show that I'm a little socioeconomically disadvantaged. </p>
<p>I've also worked jobs every summer (I sanded tables as a woodworker for my uncle, and tutored at a learning center.) </p>
<p>I'm a full IB candidate, and we aren't allowed to take more than three HLs at my school.
HL Biology
HL Philosophy
HL Economics
SL Spanish/Spanish 5 (my school doesn't offer HL Spanish)
SL Math
SL English
Theory of Knowledge
Study Hall (this is a required class at my high school for some reason, and many clubs meet during this period)</p>
<p>ECs: </p>
<p>Future Business Leaders of America (Secretary)
- I got top 10 in an event at nationals
- helped lead a March of Dimes walk for our school chapter, received some other various state-level awards, voting delegate, etc. </p>
<p>Entrepreneurship Club (Co-Founder)
- won a product idea pitching game</p>
<p>Started my own web hosting business. I'm not going to impart the name of it, but it's just a small business I made for the experience - not for profit per-say. Although I did put a lot of time into it, it only generates maybe ninety bucks annually. But I'm definitely still putting it on my apps, since I did countless hours of work on the site and made it, in my opinion, a lot more innovative than a lot of other web hosting sites.</p>
<p>Marketing Club (School Store Manager)
- won a state award, helped a lot with actually creating and setting up our school store and getting people interested in it</p>
<p>Taught myself American Sign Language in order to speak to my deaf friend, and am a very arduous supporter/volunteer at our local deaf center. (will probably expand on this in my essays, and one of the employees at the center will likely write me a great rec.) </p>
<p>Varsity Cross Country (ran since 11th grade last year, varsity letters both years)
Varsity Track & Field (distance co-captain, ran since 10th grade, varsity letter last year and [almost definitely] this year)
I just got medals at a few local races, and from when I ran some various 5K and half-marathon races. I was thinking about starting a club for runners in the winter, starting in November, for those who still want to be in shape during the cold, off-season months.</p>
<p>I'm a first degree black belt in Taekwondo, and have been doing it since I was about seven or eight. But I quit the summer before 9th grade since I was simply no longer interested in it, as it became more of a chore than something I enjoyed doing. (So I probably will NOT mention this, since I feel like it might negatively signal that I'm a "quitter.") </p>
<p>School Magazine Team (Reporter, Head of Social Media Relations)
- our magazine has received lots of national recognition and I helped on an issue that received a national journalism award, won a couple things at local contests</p>
<p>Medical Club (Historian, basically I take pictures and create a scrapbook for the year)
- state champion in a certain event, couldn't afford to go to the national competition</p>
<p>Varsity Debate (don't have much time for this anymore, but I was really involved sophomore and freshman year)
- only won local and district awards, some 600 points</p>
<p>Environmental Club Project Leader
- increased membership by 20%, started a community service project where we adopt different streets around our school and clean them up)</p>
<p>NOTE: I changed the name of some of these clubs in order to ensure anonymity. But I will say that it's somewhat obvious to someone who's involved in the clubs.</p>
<p>I tried to expand on these activities in the post and show that this isn't a superficial "laundry list" of activities, but that I am actually very involved. I'm most interested in business, which I hope colleges will be able to discern. I've also volunteered at many places as well as events, accruing about 150 volunteer hours (so nothing too notable here). I'm aware that being Hispanic might nudge me in the right direction, but I know that the benefits of being an underrepresented minority are grossly exaggerated based on what I've read. </p>
<p>So am I competitive for the top universities? I'm vying for Princeton, but I know that there are a lot of other great schools across the country. So I'm applying to a good mix of schools - not just the coveted ivies.</p>
Also, no point putting varsity debate on app since you’ve only done it for first two years of high school.</p>