I’m not sure if it matters, but I want to do Writing Seminars, and possibly CS as a second major. Also, I went to the Humanities Overnight program at Hopkins and got the chance to talk with an admissions officer about essays so that might be helpful. My biggest concern for my application is that I’m clearly weak in Math and Science. I’m hoping that the rigor of my course load reflects well on me though.
SAT: Composite 1520 (English 790, math 730)
ACT: 34 (Reading 36, English 35, Math 35, Science 31)
CLASSES:
Notes: no honors Spanish or History classes are offered at my school. I’m also at an IB school, and I’m an IB candidate.
In middle school, I took the first two years of Spanish, the first year of History, and Honors Algebra I & Honors Geometry; I got all As.
9th grade–Honors Alg II/Trig (A semester one, B semester two), Spanish III (A), History II (A), Honors English (A), Honors Bio (A), freshman band (A), AP Computer Science (A, but a 3 on the exam), online PE/Health (A)
10th grade–Honors Pre-Calc (B), AP Spanish IV (A, 4 on the exam), AP Gov (A, 5 on the exam), Honors English (A), Honors Chem (A), band (A; there’s no honors or higher than this), Computer Graphics (A), online PE/Health (A)
11th grade–AP BC Calc/HL Math (B), SL Spanish II (A, 6 on the IA), HL History (A, 6 on the IA), HL English (A), SL English (A), HL Computer Science (A), HL Music (A), contract band (A; contract band is band w/ reduced hours, so only meeting about an hr/week), Theory of Knowledge (A), online Earth Science (A)
12th grade (no grades yet obviously)–HL Math, HL History, HL English, HL Computer Science, HL Music, DE Physics (maybe AP, depending on how classes work out), SL Economics, Theory of Knowledge (I’m dropping band, and I’ll have finished Spanish)
ECs:
-Literary Magazine (3 yrs in middle school, 4 in high school; junior editor my junior year, and will be head editor my senior year)
-Mock Trial (4 yrs in high school, 1 as co-captain, 1 as captain [next year]; State Champions 2019 [couldn’t go to Nationals because of IB exams], Regional Champions 2020 [States were cancelled because of corona])
-Quiz Bowl (3 yrs)
-Cappies (4 yrs)
-Cyberpatriots (2 yrs, team leader)
-Writing lab tutor (only senior year because only seniors are tutors)
-Writer’s group (7 yrs)
-Girl Scouts (13 yrs)
-2 yrs of field hockey as goalie, 2 yrs as manager
-I’ve also attended residential writing programs over the summer (UVA’s Young Writers’ Workshop & Iowa’s Summer Writing Residency) and this summer I’m doing IWYS online.
-I’ve won two gold keys for scholastic writing awards (regional), as well as several silvers and honorable mentions. I also submitted to Bennington College awards this past year and am planning to submit to Foyle Poet of the Year, but for the sake of this assume that I’m not recognized by either
-I’m also working on my Girl Scout Gold Award right now, and I already have my Silver Award
RECS:
-Counselor (my mom worked with him closely for my older sisters’ applications, which turned out well, and he definitely knows I’m someone who challenges myself and takes initiative [my course load is completely unique; no one’s ever taken the same collection of classes as me at my school])
-HL Math/AP BC Calc teacher (she actually offered to write me a rec without me asking her, which I think bodes well for it. math grades are my lowest, but I’m hoping this rec could help counterbalance that. she’s an incredible, really caring teacher, so I think she’ll write a good rec. she’s also aware of my struggles with my ADHD and other things, so I think her understanding of that could be helpful.)
-my freshman year English teacher and lit mag sponsor (she was supposed to be my senior English teacher as well, which would’ve worked out perfectly, but she’s switching schools; she knows me very well, and has written me recs for a few programs I’ve applied to–she’s also read a lot of my writing, knows I’m a hardworking, knows I’m passionate, and knows how I interact with other people. she is absolutely the teacher who knows me the best)
I am concerned that using freshman year teacher over a junior teacher might not reflect well on me, so I haven’t made up my mind about using her recommendation. My HL English teacher has agreed to write me a rec, but she doesn’t know me nearly as well and last year she waited until the last minute to write her students’ recs. My HL CS teacher (also my AP CS teacher) also agreed to write me a rec, but if I’m already getting a math recommendation I think it’d be best to get an English teacher’s rec to complement it.