Hi everyone! I am currently a sophomore in high school, and as this year is coming to an end, I would like to get a good idea of where I stand. What can I do to get more competitive for HYPS, and what colleges would my stats right now be competitive for? I am interested in biology and I also wanted to know about more opportunities for me in the Bay Area for this.
GPA: 3.92 (unweighted- my school doesn’t do weighted GPAs or ranks)
SAT: 2400 (going to have to take the new SAT)
SAT II: Biology (800), Chemistry (800)
AP: Biology (5) My school doesn’t allow you to take APs until your junior year so this was studied at ATDP
Extracurriculars: JV Badminton, History Club (Treasurer), Relay for Life (Team Captain), Color guard (Captain), Science Bowl
Job/Work Experience: none
Volunteer/Community service: Founded a local seed lending library, volunteer work at community camps for youth over winter, spring, and summer break
Summer Activities: ATDP, volunteering
Awards: 2 time state finalist for National History Day, NMS (I qualified this year but it doesn’t count since I am still a sophomore)
State (if domestic applicant): CA
School Type: Public (competitive, top 100 in US)
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: 150k
I took a molecular biology class at a community college. I am currently studying for the USABO, and I have been accepted for a summer internship in lab research.
Next year I will be applying to TASP and RSI…what can I do to be more competitive for these?
Why are you going to have to take the new SAT?
Geographically/demographically, you are applying from a very competitive applicant pool so it will take a lot to stand out. Academically, you’ll probably hit the threshold but one critique is that there really doesn’t seem to be much direction with you extracurricular activities. This might be fine for non-HYPS, but top schools would like to see you hone in on one or two activities and really run wild (if you’re really passionate about something, it will show, which is what they like to see). As of now, the seed library is probably the activity that stands out the most: it’s unique and shows initiative. This is definitely a step in the right direction, and the kind of initiative colleges like to see. If you can figure out a way to evolve this or address another need you perceive in your community, that would be the best.
Besides that, leadership is probably the most important extracurricular req. so hopefully you can work into those roles as you approach junior/senior year. Make sure you are making an impact in your role (e.g. going above and beyond to organize fundraising for your relay team will appear more impressive than just doing standard things) and rack up achievements/mile stones on the way - these will legitimize your efforts.
@dblazer I am also in the process of starting a community garden. I also forgot to mention that I am part of the neuroscience club, however we only meet at lunch 2x a month so I don’t know if it is relevant. The club does go to the Brain Bee competition at Stanford so I will probably go to that next year (I couldn’t go this year). My main interests are science and dance. I have been dancing since I was 5, but I never joined the competition team since there is such a heavy time commitment, so I am not sure how to show my passion to the admissions committee. I also really love science, but the more well-known clubs (scibowl, scioly) are super competitive and hard to get into- I luckily got into Science Bowl this year, but I might not be able to get in next year. I am extremely interested in National History Day and I spend >5 hours a week working on my project every year (this is my 3rd year competing). I guess NHD seems unrelated to my other activities…
If you’re considering TASP your resume plays almost no role in your selection into the program. The only things that matter, in order of importance, are (1) essays, (2) interview, (3) teacher recommendation, (4) transcript, and (5) writing sample. But anyway, you have a pretty solid resume, and I’d definitely listen to dblazer. Try to find stuff you wouldn’t mind somehow factoring into a college essay; that’s a good rule of thumb for whether or not you should do an extracurricular or not. As a sophomore you already have a leadership position on the History club, which is quite impressive. I’d suggest pursuing your history interests further; you can consider MIT inspire for research projects or the davidson scholarship, etc. I think that way you can streamline your resume and make it more impressive to colleges.