Obviously, I should preface this by saying I have no disillusions about what my chances of getting into a school like Harvard are, but I still want to apply for a lot of top universities, and any advice is helpful.
Although this is looking considerably in advance, it’s never bad to be too prepared. I’m a sophomore student in high school, and so far I have a 4.67 weighted GPA (not something I’m worried about keeping), and I’m projected to take considerably more AP classes than my peers.
My classes freshman year were:
• Honors English 9
• AP World History (got a 5 on AP test)
• Mandatory PE/Health class
• Honors Algebra 2
• Honors Biology
• Mandarin Chinese 1
Then, in sophomore year, I switched schools halfway through the year, so a lot of my credits are weird:
• Honors English 10 (.5 credits)
• Mandatory Public Speaking class (.5 credits)
• AP US Government and Politics
• Mandatory Physical Education class (.5 credits)
• IB Pre-Calculus (.5 credits)
• Regular Pre-Calculus— no Honors option available (.5 credits)
• Chinese 2
• Honors Chemistry
• Theatre (.5 credits)
• Orchestra (.5 credits)
Projected Junior year classes:
• AP Language and Composition
• AP US History
• AP Psychology
• AP Calculus AB
• AP Environmental Science
• Chinese 3
• Orchestra (tentative, see below)
Projected Senior Year classes:
• AP Literature
• AP Calculus BC
• AP Biology
• AP Music Theory
• AP Economics if my school will let me take it online, otherwise Creative Writing/ Regular Economics
• Mandatory Fitness class
• A Child Development class for Mandatory CTE credit
• Chinese 4
How are my credits looking, and is there any advice on changes I could make to better my chances junior and senior year?
My extracurriculars are the part I’m worried about, and I know they are a big factor in top university admissions, so they are the part I need the most advice on.
So far, I have:
• Freshman year, an after school orchestra that took 1-3 hours per night
• Cello lessons, 1 hour per week plus at least 1/2 hour a night practice in freshman year*
• Math Club (no leadership)
• a philanthropic Women’s Empowerment Club 1st semester of sophomore year
• School Newspaper sophomore year, and I’m going to continue in it until senior year, hoping to be made a section editor
• participation in a state Chinese Speech competition (results not back yet, but I think I have a decent chance of winning an award), and several other essay contests I haven’t heard back from yet
• I will likely continue to do speech and essay contests until senior year
- I had to stop taking cello lessons because my family could not afford them, which leads me to my questions about possible extracurriculars.
Which one of these paths would be the best option?
- Getting a job to pay for cello lessons (by the way, I’m not interested in pursuing a career in music, it’s just something I’m passionate about) and taking cello lessons.
- Same clubs, but instead of getting a job to pay for cello lessons/ taking cello lessons, starting a non-profit promoting literacy in minority communities within my hometown w/ a family friend, and volunteering at a respite center for disabled children.
In addition to either of those options, I would also continue doing school newspaper, as well as the following:
• Sexuality and Gender Equality Club (good chance of leadership position by senior year)
• Chinese Club
• National Honors Society (is this worth it if I don’t run for a leadership position???)
• Speech and Debate Club
• if I don’t do NHS, Latinos Unidos Club
My questions here would be a.) does this seem like a club overload/ unrealistic? and b.) is NHS really worth it if I don’t run for leadership?
Finally, for the other factors:
I have been doing SAT practice on Khan Academy (getting a tutor is unrealistic for my family), and got a 1350 on the PSAT freshman year. I was unable to take the PSAT sophomore year.
I also will probably be able to write a good college essay, as writing is one of my strong points, and I will likely be able to get good recommendations. I am already planning to go on college visits to the UW Madison campus, Harvard campus, Boston University, and University of Chicago campus. Finally, I don’t know how much affirmative action factors into the admissions process, but once we get all the paperwork filed, I should qualify for Native American citizenship.
I know that went on long, but I was trying to give the most comprehensive view in order to figure out what my chances actually are at selective universities.
Thank you!!!