I am a sophomore aspiring to go to a university such as Stanford, Cornell, Cal-tech, etc. I want to be a computer engineer. What should I do in high school to get to these type of schools. I am in rocketry club in which I could possibly be the team captain by 11th or 12th grade. I am applying for a research internship at a nearby university and I am currently building an app to help people suffering from mental illnesses because I have many friends and family who suffer from this problem. I did join some programs and clubs in 9th grade but stopped because I did not have that passion anymore and vowed to only participate in activities that I truly cared about. What else should I do to increase my chances at top universities? What are my chances.
Thanks.
“What else should I do to increase my chances at top universities?”
It sounds like you are already doing very well. I would mention three things:
- Participate in ECs that you care about and have a passion for. It sounds like you are already doing this. To me the app that you are building does count as a rather cool EC.
- Keep your grades up. You didn't mention this at all but from your note I am just guessing that you might be doing well here also.
- Understand that for computer engineering you don't have to go to a "big name" school. The computer / high tech industry cares a lot about what you are capable of doing, and understands that there are a lot of universities which are very good in this area. I see U.Mass graduates and MIT graduates and UNH graduates and IIT (India) graduates and Stanford Graduates working side by side all the time, and no one pays attention to where people got their degree.
Of course at some point you will want to do some SAT or ACT preparation before taking the test.
Best wishes and I expect that you will do well.