I am only a High school freshman. I have a 3.85 GPA; I am the freshman captain of the swim team. I am in young Republicans, Future Business Leaders of America, and German Club. My classes are all honors, and I could probably get my GPA up. I want to go to either U Penn, Cornell, or Michigan. I want to study business or engineering. What should I do to get into those schools?
<p>You should get involved something that interests you. Participate in competitions relating to business or engineering, but only do these things to make yourself happy- your ultimate goal should not be to get into your dream school. Doing things just to get into UPenn, Cornell, or Michigan will make for an unfulfilling high school experience.</p>
<p>Do I need more Leadership or do I need community service or what would they look for, and the last time I took the SAT , I was in 8th grade and I got a 1350, so what SAT score do I need?</p>
<p>8th grade and a 1350...... damn.
At least I can say im smarter than you until another year or so.......</p>
<p>is the 1350 out of 2400? jk</p>
<p>get your GPA up a bit, classes only get harder from here. capture some awards for FBLA. freshman captain of swim team is good, hopefully youll continue to move up to jv and varsity and keep leadership positions. try to get a leadership position eventually in one of your other clubs. perhaps you dont have a math club or anything, but try to find some math talent searches where you can compete in math competitions. also make sure your sat 1 and sat 2 math scores are in the high 700s, preferably 800. take advanced math courses in the future like calculus. perhaps get a job or something in the future to hint your passion for business.</p>
<p>but yemaya13 gave the best advice of all-- dont overlook those words. high school should be one of the best times of your life and you only get to live it once. do the things you love and cultivate your interests.</p>
<p>Since you're aiming at some very selective colleges, take a look at what Stanford says on its site: <a href="http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/criteria/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.stanford.edu/dept/uga/criteria/index.html</a></p>
<p>note in particular they say * we are interested in students who have made significant contributions to the life of their school or community. We do not favor one type of activity over another; nor is it necessary to participate in a large number of activities. Rather, we look for students who have committed themselves to their chosen activities over a period of time and who have shown energy and enthusiasm in working with others.*</p>
<p>In other words, don't join every club on campus; figure out what you like, then commit yourself to it. Push yourself to excel and win awards, to get leadership positions.</p>
<p>BTW you will also need strong recs, as well as great essays. So take the teachers at your school that have a reputation for being tough but really making students learn (both for your own personal benefit and for those recs), and while you don't want to be a brown-noser you do want to work hard and get noticed.</p>
<p>Here's what you should do: CHILL. Come back to this site in 2 years. Before thinking about college, I think you should be enjoying high school. It's 4 years of your life you're never going to get back.</p>
<p>Your stats sound a lot like mine if not better, and I got into cornell engineering ED. Don't worry about catering to the school and just do and excell at stuff you enjoy, but don't kill yourself because you think what you're doing is good enough. Because colleges will see past your activities to find out who you are as a person.</p>
<p>switch to the Democratic party....Bush is a moron - 1210 SAT's.</p>
<p>Smiles6082:
Smarts aren't easy to judge. According to biographer Thomas C. Reeves (author of the infamous A Question of Character), John F. Kennedy as a kid scored a less-than-brilliant 119 on the Otis Intelligence Test and graduated 65th out of 110 at Choate. And remember Bill Bradley, who everybody considered brainy but boring? His verbal SAT score, according to Slate: just 485. (source: straightdope.com)</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Bush isn't bright.</p>