<p>Hey, I'm only a freshman, but I've been thinking about colleges and I really want to go to Duke. I've researched it some, and I want to make sure that I do well enough in high school to be accepted by the time I'm a senior. I'm in a lot of honors classes; the highest possible, and I have a 4.7 GPA. My last class rank was #12 in a competitive public high school. I've taken piano for 7 years, I play french horn in concert band and mellophone in marching (although I'm not very good :/), and I'm part of the national forensics league. I'm really just wondering what kind of EC's I should take. Should I try to improve on the french horn? I'm planning on being in Beta Club, maybe the National Honors Society, key club, and YIG, and am wondering if I should try cross country. Any suggestions? Thanks :)</p>
<p>Do what you want to do, and do it well. It becomes really obvious to college adcoms when students take part in ECs just for the pure sake of padding their resumes. Get good grades, get good standardized test scores, and follow your heart. No one can really give you any more advice; there’s no formula to get accepted into a college.</p>
<p>It’s great that you’re focused so young, but don’t burn yourself out with overwork (you’re not exactly going to get a break if you DO get into Duke) and don’t shut off your horizons to everything else. I wanted to go to Harvey Mudd and study engineering during my freshman year, but as time went by, that never really shook out and I found another path that I fell in love with. My point is, don’t zero in on a single school so early that you lose opportunities along the way to the app process.</p>
<p>To answer your question, though, take ECs that correspond with what you want to do (Siemens science competition, a related job or internship, etc.). Don’t know what you want to do? Then re-evaluate your path, because it’s clear that you’re more in love with Duke for the brand name than what is can offer you.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
<p>Thanks! Like you mentioned, I really don’t want to shut out other options and overwork myself for the sake of a good resume, but I’ve kind of always been overly ambitious and sometimes that doesn’t work out for me. Really, thanks for the advice and I’ll try to put my heart into the things I want to do. Also, I would like to go to Duke or maybe Vanderbilt, but do you know of any colleges with really good fine arts programs? I’ve been trying to decide if I should follow that path or a business path…</p>