I’m currently undecided about what field of careers to go into, and I have no idea what my passions or interests are and I feel I’m running out of time since I want to get into a top elite school such as HYPS and will apply early my senior year so I basically only have the rest of sophomore year and junior year to even build a solid application. I was interested in the medical field so I’m taking AP Biology but so far I’m not enjoying that class (and in my school no one makes above a 3 on the exam) and I can’t really see myself doing that for 12 years or so in med school, Government/Law also seemed interesting to me and I’m taking AP Government right now but the problem is I’m too shy and too introverted to have a political office or to be a lawyer from what I’ve been told. Extracurricular activities are another problem since I know they have to be related to a passion or centered on a career pathway. Anyways I feel lost so I really don’t know if I’m running out of time or not.
You don’t need to know what field you want to study. One advantage to NOT knowing is that you can focus on taking core classes without being prone to distraction by all the tempting electives. That is, take four years each of English, social studies/history, science, math, and a foreign language. A few select colleges require a year of fine arts, but you have to check on the web sites of the colleges that interest you.
Personally I think students should have at least one EC related to their career path and at least one not, but if you don’t know your career path, it’s hardly game over. In that case select ECs (inside and outside of school) that help showcase your positive personality traits. It isn’t so much what you do as what you make of it, your personal growth, and challenging yourself. You never know where your starting point will be, but keep asking yourself what YOU can do to take YOUR personal participation to the next level. It’s okay to hit some dead ends, but keep moving onward. You can get a job, which demonstrates responsibility, thriftiness (if you are saving for college), and possibly leadership (if you are assigned increased responsibilities or otherwise help the company in some way). Any job has the possibility to stand out even at top schools because so few applicants have them these days. You could volunteer (in a introverted capacity such as shelving books at the library or in a very extroverted capacity like being an assistant coach in a youth sports league - or somewhere in between, such as a one-on-one tutoring).
“Running out of time” is what happens when you focus on college acceptances instead of the bigger goal: a happy, healthy, and productive life.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you are too introverted to take Govt or Law.
First of all, you need to gain confidence, which you will over time.
Secondly, you may get involved in govt/poltics/law without being a candidate or a lawyer in a courtroom.
Like @Groundwork2022 says, take 4 years of math, science, english, social studies and up to the 4th level in Foreign language. Try to take the highest level you will be good at.
Do ECs that can prepare you for anything…e.g., Debate will help you learn how to research, put together and argument and speak in front of people This is good in any career.
ECs don’t have to necessarily have to do with your career. Just do a variety and try to show leadership.