Hello All,
I am currently a freshman at a public high school in the state of Pennsylvania. Basically, I am planning to apply to PEA sophomore year hoping for an admission into PEA in 11th grade. I just wanted to ask feedback on my current path that I am following and any changes that I could make to improve my chances.
Grades:
This year, I am taking all honors classes and one AP. My GPA as of now is 4.19 weighted (Honors classes have a 4.5 weight and AP classes have 5.0 weight). The one flaw I see in my total application would be that I had gotten 7 total B’s first and second mp. This was primarily because of my extra curricular activities and other commitments. If I can get straight A+'s next two mp this would most likely bring it up to 4.4 or so. Sophomore year, I will be taking 4 AP classes and my projected GPA is 4.78.
EC:
Extra curricular wise, I am very strong. I am on my school’s varsity debate team and I also will be attending the state competition for extemporaneous speaking. I am also on my school’s Science Olympiad team and in 7th and 8th grade I have gone to nationals and in 8th grade I was a national medalist in one event. This year, we are going to UPenn for an invitational. I am also on my school’s FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) team in which recently I won at regionals and I will be attending the state competition. Also, I will be attending the state competition for HOSA (the medical version of FBLA). I am also working with a professor at Lehigh University on a therapeutic drug treatment for breast cancer patients, and I will be continuing this research along with him. I will be using this research to compete at a local science fair competition and hopefully advance to the state and international level in which I can meet many notable scientists that are well known in their field. I am also in my political science club (Model UN) and will be attending two competitions in the spring. Assuming I can reach the national level for all of these competitions or most. I am also in some additional community service clubs. Lastly, I am a Boy Scout and I hold the rank of Star and I have won some awards within that.
Letters of Rec:
Recommendation wise, I will be set up pretty strong as I have established strong connections with teachers in my grade, 11th, and 12th grade. I also will be able to get a recommendation letter from the University of Lehigh. I got a 1440/1520 on my PSAT/NMSQT test as a 9th grader, and as I know that this test is not the one Exeter wants, I am fairly certain I can score above a 95% and possible even a perfect on my SSAT if the proper amount of effort is put into studying. Leadership in my school is difficult to obtain, but I think it will be possible to obtain positions in 10th grade as the school population is very high, and for anyone who has attended this school, they did not receive for example a president or vice-president position till 11th grade. I am also planning on trying out for the track team in the spring. Overall, that is the gist of what my 9th grade year looks like, so I just wanted to receive feedback on my current position and the path I should follow for a successful application.
I realized that 11th grade offers a very few amount of spots, but I wanted to say additionally I will not need financial aid. Also, I see that the school wants individuals that stand out and will bring something to the community and the world, I have some forthcoming plans for the summer that will most likely strengthen my application significantly.