<p>do you think I’d have a shot at Johns Hopkins?</p>
<p>Yes and personally, the area is much better. I’ve been to Princeton 3 times… and I don’t really like it because it’s not as diverse as JH. Plus it gets so cold and desolate in the winter… it’s miserable. That’s just my opinion though…</p>
<p>Thanks alot Schetty , actually I live in MD so I’m very familiar with the area of JH… but if you had to pick one thing that I should work on and focus on the most what would that be?</p>
<p>Since you’re a freshman, just keep working hard and maintain what you’re doing. I can’t believe you have so many AP credits for freshman year … wow.</p>
<p>no no no no lol… that’s my plan for the next few years lmao… i’ve already talked with my teachers about most of them and they are totally for me taking them… do I need to take more? that’s just about all I can take at my school…</p>
<p>No… that’s pleanty of AP classes. You should also have time to pursue your interests, that is what will make you unique from other applicants with the exact same scores and GPA as you.</p>
<p>oh ok … so be unique</p>
<p>To be honest, I don’t understand how anyone could chance you now. You’re only a freshman, you have no idea how hard AP tests are, even if you get an A in the class that by no means guarantees you a good score. Have you taken PSAT’s, how do you know what your SAT’s will be? What do you consider to be “slightly above average?” Good grades in middle school are no indication of what you will get in HS. How do you know what clubs you’ll end up sticking with, what community service hours you’ll do? Do you know how you’ll do them? How can you predict what jobs you’ll get in a year or two years?</p>
<p>My point is: it’s certainly nice to think about college, think about the future, but you have a long time until it becomes real, and figuring out all the things you want to do in two or three years won’t get you there any faster. Like others have said. All you can do is do your best now, focus on the tests coming up in a week or two weeks. You mention all the things you’ll do sophomore, junior year, but it seems like you’re not doing much this year (?). I don’t know if this came across as harsh and if so I’m sorry but honestly, it’s just too soon to be worrying about college, and if all you think about for the next 3 years is “will I get into princeton?” then you’re missing out on high school and whatever college you do live up to will never make up for that/ meet the pressures you’re putting on it.</p>
<p>Well actually you have a good point. Why aren’t I doing more in freshmen year? Well part of it is that there really wasn’t as much I could do. I go to a vo-tech high school far away from where I live so staying after school is hard to do for a lower middle class person who’s family can’t always at times even pay a car bill… Also I never thought about cross country untill the coach asked me about it and I seem to like it so I’m going to work on it. I’ll be able to do more in the upcoming years because I’m getting golder so I can get a job and driver’s license. I tried to get into Model United Nations this year but the head of that is also my Gifted & Talented American Government teacher who hates me… I don’t know why, she hates alot of people now matter how nice we are so she sort of slid me the hint I couldn’t join. I was also going to do FBLA this year but couldn’t again for the fact that I couldn’t stay after school all the time. I was also going to do Engineering Club(my teacher wanted me to join because he says “Kevin is an asset to the class” and the assistant says “It’s a wonder we get kids like him anymore”) which is three days every week, a a couple hours after school each day(I know it’s crazy!) but I can’t stay after school that much… not yet anyway… which reminds me I might add Engineering Club to my ECs list but that’s hard to fit in with everything else… Also I’ve done research into this and talked with people. But again it’s just a predicted list… sort of like my list of goals I’m trying to live up to… I want to know what I need to do that’s all…</p>
<p>Just live your life, no need to worry about anything else (college related) except for yourself. Come back to this forum in 2 years.</p>
<p>ok i suppose… i just don’t want to fall into the trap of putting it off forever like so many people do I hear…</p>
<p>I’m basically repeating what nyc2013 said, but think: how can anyone chance you if this is all a projection? So many things could change in the next few years. You might not do all those projected service hours. You might start a club dedicated to furthering the cause of literacy in developing countries. You might decide to forgo the heavy workload of APUSH. A parent could lose a job or be promoted. You may find high school or a heavy AP courseload will make it much more difficult to maintain your GPA than you think. You may realize you can excel on the ACT but not the SAT. You may find a teacher that can be a mentor to you, and will support and advocate for you in ways you couldn’t possibly imagine right now.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to sound condescending, but I think you’re a bit young to worry about this. You’re going to learn a lot more about the college admissions roulette in the next few years. You’ll know that absolutely nobody cares about elementary school. Nobody cares about middle school (no one will know or care about that suspension). To an extent, certain freshman grades are ignored.</p>
<p>It’s good to have a goal. But nobody can tell you know if you as an individual can achieve it. And please don’t choose all your ECs, service hours, and work experience only because you’re trying to mold yourself into an ideal Princeton admit. Just have fun! FBLA is loads of fun, if your school’s chapter is large and active.</p>
<p>You shouldn’t be asking for your chances. You should be asking for advice on what you should do, in high school, to challenge yourself intellectually and be competitive. Princeton is a long shot for everyone.</p>
<p>But for me getting into a place like Princeton is my way of having fun that’s all… it shows I can do anything when I apply myself fully… if I had no fun but got into Princeton it’d be worth it and I like the ECs and jobs I picked not just choosing them cuz they’re good for my resume… i actually like them lol</p>
<p>Never focus on one school because if you get rejected when your app screams Princeton, then what happens?</p>
<p>Out of curiosity… why are you so intent on Princeton? What is going to that one school going to do for you?</p>
<p>I really like Princeton’s enviroment, the people, FINANCIAL AID, I have a friend that’s going to either Harvard or Princeton and can’t decide which so I may know someone, the academics, I like their foreign language major options(I’m into languages and culture alot), it’s one of the best but not quite the best so they’re not too stuck up like they’re the best of the best but they still are confident students. I just find the overall aspect to be really nice, I like places where you can go outside and NOT get instantaneously get high off of pot,etc., it’s more of the people than just the academics I suppose is a way of putting it… good grades aren’t anything if you didn’t have to work for them…</p>
<p>then I either try for a transfer in a year or two or graduate school & there’s always other top colleges or ivies… for being one of the first in my family to go to college any notable one will be acceptable for me but I’m just striving for the best… that’s all…</p>
<p>That’s good to know. It’s really not worth spending four years of your youth trying to match up to an ideal instead of enjoying yourself. But I would caution you against fixating on one school. It’s fine to say “I want to go to the best school in the country for architecture/chemical engineering/creative writing”, but saying “I want to go to Princeton” is a bit myopic if you don’t know what you really want from a college. Princeton might not be it in a few years. There are many excellent universities out there that are strong in foreign languages.</p>
<p>I guess if you want advice on what to do in the following years, here’s what I can offer:</p>
<ul>
<li>Plan to take AP Calculus (AB or BC, but BC is generally taken more seriously by colleges). I didn’t notice it on your AP list, but it may allow you to skip some courses in college and possibly save your parents some money.</li>
<li>Study for your PSATs. See if your school allows you to take it sophomore year (just for practice) and make sure to do so. I didn’t and I do regret it, although I’m not sure if it would have improved my PSAT score anyhow.</li>
<li>Aim for 2300+ for your SATs. That’s competitive for nearly any college, even Princeton.</li>
<li>Think hard about your ECs, because they say very little about who you are as a person. There are so many people that join French/Italian/German/Spanish club and are part of the French/Italian/German/Spanish honor society. It’s easier said than done to ‘be unique’…but since you seem to love languages, consider exploring this area more.</li>
<li>Have you considered doing more than one language in high school? If you’re already quite good in Italian you could consider doing another…</li>
<li>Keep in mind you will be asking two teachers (generally from your junior or senior years) for recommendations. Common wisdom is one math/science teacher and one humanities teacher. Excel in those classes so you can feel comfortable approaching a teacher for a recommendation. If you can strike up a personal relationship with those teachers (so they know more about you than just your high grades) it does help.</li>
</ul>
<p>I hope you do figure out some sort of transport system so you can participate in your ECs. Is there anything that doesn’t take place after school?</p>
<p>All good schools will have well developed foreign language programs, especially Ivies. I don’t know if you’ve visited or how much you actually saw when you did but I went to HS near Princeton and I will say this… it is one of the most dangerous possible areas. I go to school in NYC now and stepping off the Princeton campus is more dangerous than anything I could do right now. How much do you know about their language program vs. other programs? I’ve heard that Middlebury is actually the best (or one of the best) college for foreign language studies…</p>
<p>No there isn’t anything that isn’t after school usually. For AP Calculus BC that won’t be an option for me because I’m not ahead in math the highest that I could take in Calculus is Pre Calculus… maybe but doubtfully AP Calculus AB but impossible for AP Calc BC… I could take Pre Calculus though if that would make any difference… I’m going to take AP Statistics though if that counts… I might take French but it’s sort of hard to fit everything in because I go to a prep high school for business * i.t. (computer science) … I was wondering though if I should not take AP Computer Science A though… or does that make a big difference in a good way if I take AP Comp. Sci. A:Java ?</p>