What should I do in the coming years to make my resume/app better?

Applying to College
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<p>Hello! I'm currently a (White Female Texan) Sophomore, and for some reason I suddenly became concerned with what I was going to do for college. Freshman year I wasn't extremely successful (4.1 weighted GPA, which in my uber-competitive school, isn't even top 10%) and finally told myself that my I wasn't going to make it to a good college. This year, however, my first semester was drastically better, with a 4.46 weighted GPA (everything was an A or A+, no A minuses). I'm liking my classes better this year than I did last year, and I think I'm going to be able to continue on this path. Junior/Senior year, I'll be taking 3-4 AP a year, which means my weighted GPA will be very high even if I don't get amazing grades, and typically, I perform as successfully in AP classes as I do in honors. In short, I'm hoping by Senior year, my GPA will be more around 4.3+ which would place me in the top 10%, possibly the top 5%. And this prospect has made me once again optimistic about the possibility of going to an Ivy or other good college.<br>
I got a 1920 on the SAT in 7th grade, so I'm hoping my PSAT scores will be National Merit and my SAT around 2250 or so. I'm planning on taking the Chemistry SATII at the end of this year (I was scared of failing Chemistry, and then I started taking it and got a 97 for the semester!), and I'll have to figure out which other one to take. I might have to relearn some biology and take that one, as I'm hoping to be a doctor and I'm hoping taking Bio and Chem would show some "focus."
My EC's are where I get scared, though. They are completely scattered. When I chose which clubs to join, it had absolutely nothing to do with College Admissions. It had to do with what I wanted to do, and all of my various interests. But now I've read some threads on here, and people call lists like mind "laundry lists." That's not at all what I was intending, I just happen to be interested in a lot of things.. BTW, I'm going to a 9-10 school and then I will go to an 11th-12th school, so some clubs might only exist for 2 years, and I'm merely predicting what clubs I'll be in/not be in starting in 11th grade. </p>

<p>"Definite" Things
Marching Band (9/10) I was in orchestra in middle school and switched to band at the beginning of 9th grade. I don't know if they would want to know that, but that was a big "challenge", learning a new instrument with a group of kids who had been playing for 3 years already, while simultaneously learning to march, etc. </p>

<pre><code> Quiz Bowl (6/7/8/9/10/11/12) I was captain all 3 years in middle school, but we don't really have a team captain in high school, so I can't really get "leadership" on this one, even though this is my favorite activity.

Quiz Bowl Camp (summer after 9/10/11) I'm only throwing this in, because it shows further commitment to my favorite EC.

French Club (9/10/11/12) Applied for president but there were so many applicants, and I didn't get elected. I did serve a leadership position for a few months so she (the club sponsor) could watch us, before she realized she couldn't choose and decided to make the applicants vote for who they wanted to be President/VP, etc, which was probably the dumbest idea I've ever heard. Obviously everyone voted for themselves and then their friends, and I just happened to not know many of the people.

Junior World Affairs Council (10/11/12) Very fun club, I've participated in a few events through it, including the following one.

Academic World Quest (10, 11/12 if I make it...) Several people tried out for only a few slots, and I made it. We have not competed yet and the school we have to compete against locally won the National Competition last year, so I don't anticipate us winning. But starting next year I'll be on the "winning team" (if I can make it at try-outs..), so maybe I'll get to go to Nationals for that.

Student Council (10, possibly 11/12) This is one I don't even know if I should bother putting. I think it's what makes this look like a Laundry List, as I know a lot of people would join Student Council just because it "looks good." I joined because I truly wanted to help out. Since I'm only a "Rep" and not an Officer, I really don't think the admissions people would even care.

NHS (10/11/12- they don't offer it in 9th) I'll amass at least 100 volunteer hours through this, I would imagine, but that really doesn't sound like much at all. I'm hoping to find a long term volunteer project (going to the nursing home twice a week, etc) that I can do for the next 2 and a half years instead of just doing random things here and there, but I really can't find anything. What I really want to do- work at an animal shelter- requires you to be 18. I found a cool opportunity through the local Symphony to help out once a month at a concert, which would be 3.5 hours a month. I love music, so that would be kind of fun, but I still don't feel like it would be "helping" as much as I want to. My next choice is to volunteer in a hospital, since I would like to be a doctor, but I don't know how thrilled I am about emptying bedpans for 8 hours every Saturday, and I've heard that a lot of people do things like that, and it wouldn't be that impressive.

French National Honor Society (10/11/12) I don't even know what this is, but I'm in it...
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<p>"Possible" Things
I might be a student columnist for the Dallas Morning News starting next year.<br>
I might do Academic Decathlon.<br>
Some clubs offered at the Senior High that aren't at the school I'm currently at, that I want to do- Environmental Club, HOSA (would be Junior year only, because you have to in a Medical Science class to participate, and I will be next year), and Amnesty International. </p>

<p>Awards- I still have time to get some, but I really don't have any at all yet.. Any possible ones that you can think of would be greatly appreciated:
I could possibly be a National Merit Scholar, but it's unpredictable.
I'm not that great at math so that takes away a large piece of possible awards...
I'm doing Le Grande Concours or whatever the French Competition is called this year (and the coming ones, I guess), hopefully I'll place...
My Quiz Bowl Team has not placed since Middle School, and they don't care about that..
I'm thinking I might enter a few essay contests, and hopefully I'll do well on one/a few of those. </p>

<p>"Running Themes" I was them to see-
Music: I took Piano Lessons for 10 years, and I still love to play piano, I just go to the point where I was as good as my teacher. (I will never be as good as her in Classical Piano, but she could not compose/play by ear for the life of her, which is what I was good at). I compose music, but like I said, I'm not that great at classical things. For this reason, I entered a few "composing" type competitions, but not many literal Piano performance competitions. I was in Orchestra from 6th-8th Grade, Band 9th-10th grade, and starting in a few weeks, I might be a pianist for my church's band. I also play drums and guitar. </p>

<p>World Peace/Animal Rights/Environment/Hippyish things: Yeah, I don't really know if they are going to see the trend, but I'm in clubs like Junior WAC, will be in Environmental Club, Amnesty International, and am Vegetarian (maybe Vegan by that point) , so I guess I could kind of be called a Hippie in how I view the world... But I don't really think they would care about that kind of thing, and like I said, they wouldn't catch onto it probably unless I wrote about it in my essay.. </p>

<p>Quiz Bowl: I love Quiz Bowl, Jeopardy, everything like that. Call me a nerd, but it's really fun, and I'm pretty good at it for whatever reason.. I've been doing Quiz Bowl since 6th grade when they started offering it, and ever since then, I've loved it more and more each year and want to do it all the way until 12th grade.</p>

<p>And lastly, I'm <em>thinking</em> about becoming a Doctor, but I really don't know for sure, I love doing a lot of things..: Medical Science course, HOSA (and all contests that go along with that) , and possibly volunteering at a hospital. </p>

<p>I'm THINKING about:
A few Ivies (Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton are the ones I'm interested in, and I'll probably narrow it a more once I start doing legitimate research)
A few non Ivies that are really good schools (Stanford, Duke, NYU)
And some Publics (Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Colorado, Texas, and A&M, just in case nothing else works out) </p>

<p>Obviously I'm still a Sophomore so I don't have everything planned out, and I really shouldn't. Things are too unpredictable. But I know I want to get out of state and I know I need to have a real goal so I can keep working hard in my studies. </p>

<p>I had one brother (not the brightest) get into a very bad branch of the state college, before dropping down to Community College and eventually settling with Oklahoma University. The other (very very bright but a slacker), did not try in high school and couldn't get into our state school or A&M, but got into Oklahoma University. He is doing very well (he buckled down for college), but I still don't want what happened to him to happen to me (being smart enough for an good college, but not having the grades). </p>

<p>I understand that the Ivies may not be attainable for me based on my Freshman year, my lackluster EC's, and nonexistent awards. But if you guys could give me any advice at all on how to improve my chances in the coming years, that would be greatly appreciated, because I still have hope that it is possible.</p>

<p>BTW- I'm so sorry that this is long. I already got rid of a lot of useless info but it's still <em>massive</em>...</p>

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<p>You seem to care quite a lot which is very important. I’ll tell you now that I did not read this whole thing, but you seem to be on the right track. Passion and interest will get you far, and hard work can only help you.</p>

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<p>There’s a big difference between schools that should qualify as “good” and top-tier, best-of-the-best schools. Going to a high-quality in-state public university is not the end of the world, nor does it mean you’re not at a “good” school. People come out of hundreds of schools in this country doing extremely well.</p>

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<p>You chose correctly, then. You should be picking ECs that you’re interested in and enjoy. A list of ECs becomes a laundry list when applicants are in so many activities that they can’t invest the appropriate amount of time into them and when they don’t really care about those activities.</p>

<p>However, I will suggest that if you find yourself unable to devote yourself fully to any of your activities, you reduce your overall number of commitments, as quality is more important than quantity. Should that become necessary, keep what you most enjoy and cut enough so that you have sufficient time to actually accomplish something with the ECs most important to you. Colleges want to see that you’ve done something significant and somehow made an impact with your involvement in your ECs, not just attended weekly meetings or whatnot.</p>

<p>Disclaimer: I skimmed your post.</p>

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<p>I actually read your whole post. In my opinion, you are in too many clubs. You need to focus on a few and start earning leadership and recognition in those. </p>

<p>Keep in mind, for the common app 2011 we only had ten slots for our ECs. I didn’t even include Key Club or NHS on mine. </p>

<p>Quality over quantity!</p>

<p>Your SAT is good for 7th grade. You have to keep studying, though, if you want to keep doing well. I had a 1900 7th grade score, but just missed the PSAT cut-off. There are no guarantees. </p>

<p>Continue to get your GPA up. You’ll be reviewed in light of the quality of your high school, so it’s important to rank well. </p>

<p>Don’t worry too much about freshman year. I attend a bad system where 9th grade is part of the middle school, and didn’t get to take any AP classes or join any clubs I’d continue once in high school. Regardless, I am still a Coca Cola Semifinalist and I am receiving great merit aid from schools. </p>

<p>Just keep it up.</p>

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<p>Random advice from a HS junior:</p>

<p>-Don’t stress out too much. In the grand scheme of things, your undergrad college isn’t everything.</p>

<p>-Try to develop something unique, and work hard at it. You mentioned liking the world affairs club; maybe try getting leadership in that, and doing volunteering related to it, that kind of stuff. At many of the Ivies, there’ll be tons of kids with solid GPAs involved in a lot of clubs- it helps to have something the others don’t.</p>

<p>Well, those are my two cents. I think you’re doing great!</p>

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<p>Good job! You seem on track.
However, clubs like NHS are becoming less important to colleges. At our school, it’s a joke. So you should put more focus on clubs like quiz bowl.</p>

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<p>A few notes-<br>
“There’s a big difference between schools that should qualify as “good” and top-tier, best-of-the-best schools. Going to a high-quality in-state public university is not the end of the world, nor does it mean you’re not at a “good” school. People come out of hundreds of schools in this country doing extremely well.”</p>

<pre><code>Yes, completely true. When I said “other good school” I meant Stanford, Duke, etc. I’ll apply to the colleges I like and then out of the ones I get accepted to I’ll choose the one I love. If I get accepted to NYU and Cornell, and I decide I like the city better than the rural areas, I’ll chose NYU. Hell, if I get accepted to Harvard and University of Colorado and I fall in love with Colorado, I’ll go there. But I have to get accepted somewhere to make this kind of choice. My goal is to get accepted to the highest number of places, and then figuring out which one I actually want to go to then. Some of the Ivys have crazy appeal to me, but so do some other schools. Academics is a big part of it, and for this reason I’m more likely to choose an Ivy vs a public school but I have by no means completely discounted going to other schools.
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<p>"I actually read your whole post. In my opinion, you are in too many clubs. You need to focus on a few and start earning leadership and recognition in those.
Keep in mind, for the common app 2011 we only had ten slots for our ECs. I didn’t even include Key Club or NHS on mine. " </p>

<p>I don’t know which club I’m most likely to get leadership in, though, and I don’t have one that I like less than the others. However, you bring up a great point in your second paragraph, and I’ve been wondering about the same thing. If I have any clubs that I just do for a year or that I don’t really accomplish much in, I’m just not going to mention it. But seriously, I live in an area where <em>everyone</em> is college crazy, and even some academic type clubs have 60-70 members or more. It’s not easy to just “pick up” a leadership position. </p>

<p>“However, clubs like NHS are becoming less important to colleges. At our school, it’s a joke. So you should put more focus on clubs like quiz bowl.”</p>

<p>NHS was the one club on my list that I didn’t really want to join, but my dad made me. I figured that I can do volunteer work on my own, and that 75% if not more of the people applying to Ivy/other schools are in NHS as well, so admissions people don’t even care about it. It’s truly a joke here too.</p>

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<p>Are you currently taking regular/honors Chem or AP Chem? I generally recommend that Subject tests be take concurrent with corresponding AP courses/tests as then usually no extra preparation is required since the course covers the material and the AP test is more difficult than the Subject test. </p>

<p>I wouldn’t worry about showing focus for premed, there are so many potential premeds entering college, that schools don’t take much notice since most drop out along the way. And premed is just a set of coursework that you need to apply to med school, premeds can major in anything.</p>

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<p>Are you willing and able to pay OOS tuition for these non-TX publics? UMinn has relatively low OOS tuition and some excellent merit aid, but the others will give you essentially no merit and minimal FA.</p>

<p>My final comment is about finances, if you haven’t already, it’s time to sit down with your parents to have a practical talk about college expenses. What can your parents afford to pay, will you qualify for need based FA? It’s a sobering experience to go to the FA & Scholarship forum now after ED or following RD decisions to see how many kids are accepted to schools but then have to face the harsh reality that they can’t afford to attend. Better to plan ahead and have affordability as one of the factors considered when constructing your college list.</p>

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<p>Finishing AP Chem before taking SAT II would be a good idea. After H Chem, I got 740; after AP Chem, I got 790. Compared to the guys in my AP Chem class, yes it was terrible, but for me, I felt it was good enough :)</p>

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<p>^740 is actually very good following H Chem, many that take it then get in the 600’s, including one of my kids ;).</p>

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<p>well, what i meant to say is that H Chem doesn’t cover everything. A lot of Organic chem gets skipped over, which will be taught in detail in AP Chem.
SAT tests almost everything, so it’s best to understand OChem before taking the test.</p>

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<p>“Are you currently taking regular/honors Chem or AP Chem? I generally recommend that Subject tests be take concurrent with corresponding AP courses/tests as then usually no extra preparation is required since the course covers the material and the AP test is more difficult than the Subject test.
I wouldn’t worry about showing focus for premed, there are so many potential premeds entering college, that schools don’t take much notice since most drop out along the way. And premed is just a set of coursework that you need to apply to med school, premeds can major in anything.”
It’s honors- I don’t intend to take AP Chem even though I would love to, because we can only take it as a 2 hour course (same with AP Bio) Junior or Senior year, and while I would’ve had room for it this year, I don’t anticipate having space for that in the future. It’s really too bad, because I would really enjoy to take that course. Regardless, I won’t take the Bio subject test after hearing that, because I wasn’t the greatest at it at an honors level (I mean, I got an A, and I was okay at it, but I didn’t try as hard as I should have and really don’t remember a lot of the stuff). Chemistry I still might try, because I really think I’m good at it, and know I could read up on any gaps. Our teacher might offer some tutoring sessions for kids who want to take it to fill in some of those gaps for us. (she did last year). About not needing to show focus, I know you can major in anything (and I’m thinking about majoring in something in the realm of Humanities), but I thought I read somewhere that it either helps for getting into college, or Med School to have the Bio and Chem subject tests. Maybe I’m not remembering right, though. </p>

<p>"Are you willing and able to pay OOS tuition for these non-TX publics? UMinn has relatively low OOS tuition and some excellent merit aid, but the others will give you essentially no merit and minimal FA.</p>

<p>My final comment is about finances, if you haven’t already, it’s time to sit down with your parents to have a practical talk about college expenses. What can your parents afford to pay, will you qualify for need based FA? It’s a sobering experience to go to the FA & Scholarship forum now after ED or following RD decisions to see how many kids are accepted to schools but then have to face the harsh reality that they can’t afford to attend. Better to plan ahead and have affordability as one of the factors considered when constructing your college list." </p>

<p>Financially my family is doing comfortably- not amazing, but we can pay it. We’ll apply for FA but if we don’t get any/much, it’s not the end of the world. If the situation plummets, I’ll go to UT for 4 year college and then (hopefully) branch out for Grad School. </p>

<p>Anyway, thanks for the responses.</p>

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<p>Ivies aren’t the end-all be-all. </p>

<p>Consider UT Dallas and the Eugene McDermott program. I’m applying, and it looks really incredible.</p>

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<p>But even if I do something like that, I need good grades, EC’s, and test scores, which is the purpose of the thread. I will most certainly apply to more than just Ivy’s and as long as I get into a school where I will be successful and enjoy myself, I will be happy. Obviously I would be happy if that happens to be an Ivy, but I’m good with whatever. </p>

<p>That does look nice, though. I’m trying to get out of Dallas (I’m in a suburb) and Texas in general, so I probably won’t do that. If I have to stay in Texas I pray it’s Austin, though, because that has a nice college town feel.</p>

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<p>UTD is in Richardson, TX (though for all I know, that could be too close to Dallas…)</p>

<p>But seriously, McDermott seems to favor Texans. Depending on what you want to go into, UTD could be a good fit.</p>

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<p>"UTD is in Richardson, TX (though for all I know, that could be too close to Dallas…)
But seriously, McDermott seems to favor Texans. Depending on what you want to go into, UTD could be a good fit. "</p>

<p>Yeah, I live 10 minutes away from UTD- if I did that I would still be living with my parents which is not something I want to do :P. </p>

<p>Really though, that looks absolutely amazing. I’m definitely applying when the time comes, though I doubt I’ll get accepted. It says it wants people in the top 5% (and top 2% at another place) of their class and I really can’t guarantee that that is going to happen. I mean, I’m pretty sure I’ll be solidly top 10%, but I go to pretty much the most competitive school that I’ve ever heard of and you need around a 4.2 to even be in top 10% because kids literally take PE, speech, health, etc, online or during the summer so it doesn’t count on their GPA. It’s not fair at all, because those things cost and therefore a lot of people (including myself) don’t get to do it.</p>