<p>Also, I am VERY interested in Jazz. I’m am a pretty damn good drummer for my age. I hope to make Berkeley Jazz School and SF Jazz before I apply to college. My brother told me to apply as a music major then switch to my desired major once I get into the college I want. Can you pull this little trick with top colleges? Or can you even pull it with UCs? Also, How much weight will being an accomplished jazz drummer pull when it comes to applying to top colleges? Thanks</p>
<p>bumpbumpbump</p>
<p>Definitely try to center your ECs around a certain area of interest so you’re not just laundrylisting them.</p>
<p>My interests are music, business, economy, and thats pretty much all I can think of. I want to show colleges that I care about the more unfortunate people of the world. Hence I will have lots of hours of comm service, and I will go to India to help a village with project RISHI.</p>
<p>Bumpbumppp</p>
<p>I really think the reason people don’t really want to respond is that you come across as rather apathetic toward the things you’re actually doing.
First of all, you point blank said the only reason you give a crap about high school is to get into college. Big turn-off. For someone applying to MIT/Ivy’s, this is not the right attitude because MIT/Ivy’s are looking for people who are going to contribute to the community or succeed and give them something to talk about after they graduate. If your sole motivation for doing anything in high school is to get into college, are you just going to chill if you do get into MIT/Ivy’s? I think this is what ivyeic was talking about earlier, not the fact that you got 3 B’s because it’s possible to justify your grades in an interview or in the additional info section. Grades can be inflated or deflated, but your attitude is something you’ll carry with you everywhere.
Second of all, you tend to give people mixed feelings when you say (in your first post) that you don’t really like marching band but you do like jazz, and you’re good at drumming. If you like jazz, then do it! Put your heart and soul into it because in 20 years, it’s not going to matter what college you went to if you’re doing a job you don’t actually care about. College isn’t the end-all be-all. It’s supposed to be a stepping stone (albeit an important one) for what you want to do in the future.
Third of all, I’m sure it’s possible to switch majors after being accepted into a school, but what exactly is your desired major? Why aren’t you working more in the area of this desired major (business/economy/science maybe if you’re interested in research)? While being a talented drummer is certainly something interesting, it’s only one aspect of the whole application. It shows dedication and hard work and musical talent. I don’t know if some schools recruit based on instrumental ability like they do athletic ability.</p>
<p>Wow. The organization of that message was actually kind of terrible. But I just hope I got the point across that you can’t just go through high school looking for things to put on your application because I’m fairly certain they can see this in your essays. Find something you love (or at least like) and have fun with it. If you’d rather spend all of your time watching TV instead of working, what kind of shows do you like to watch and why? Bring out your real character. And please learn some manners; don’t “w.e” someone when they’re trying to point something out to help you.</p>
<p>This is kind of random, but do you happen to go to Foothill High in Pleasanton? I’m just wondering because the clubs and the “math teacher” situation seem so familiar.</p>
<p>yes shadowsnuzzy it does!! Your transcript (if you are serious about MIT/Princeton) should be an endless sea of As and 5/4s in APs. You also need to ace college preparatory courses in any universities and colleges near you.
for MIT and the IVYs you have to be first ( or atmost third) in your class, have a 2300+, multiple 780+ in SAT IIs, loads of SIGNIFICANT research and ECs that reflect your choice in major. Moreover, you need many awards and other forms of recognition. </p>
<p>Even these ‘might’ get you in.
Life is tough my friend, very tough.</p>
<p>Thankyou Creampuff and Chelsearox for the imput. </p>
<p>My goal in high school is to get into a good college, because I believe a good college is the start of a very successful life. If I do get into MIT or Harvard or and Ivy League, I WILL work my butt off. My plan is not to just go to a good college and start slacking off, rather get to a good college doing whatever it takes then proving myself there. </p>
<p>I want to major in econ/business but those are VERY competitive majors. I was hoping to apply to the top schools as a music major than switch once/if I got in.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong though, Music is a HUGE part of my life. I plan to continue jazz drumming as long as I can. But ultimately, drumming for the most part won’t put bread on the table. </p>
<p>I also invest in the stock market regularly, I don’t know if colleges care about that but I’ve made a 20% profit so far.</p>
<p>Just become a Seimens/Intel Winner and you can get into any college you want</p>
<p>I think I know what you mean by Alg 2 being the hardest. What your teacher probably meant was that the jump from Alg 1/Geometry was a tougher transition than from Pre-Calc to AP Calc. I took it last yr. not too bad, got 90s both semesters. Could’ve done much better if i had a goal in mind like I do now.</p>
<p>Thank you for your understanding FutureVpFinance. But unfortunately it goes beyond that. He said not only the maturity of the students is a setback, but also the class is LITERALLY in BLACK and WHITE harder than ANY other math class in my high school. Many say its harder than Multi Variable Calc.</p>
<p>bumpbumpbump</p>
<p>bumpbumpbumpmore feedback!</p>
<p>bumpbumpbumpmore feedback!</p>
<p>bumpbumpbump</p>
<p>im sorry your post just comes off as pathetic. do what you love in high school and dont live your life just trying to get into an ivy league school. you will get no fulfillment out of that. and then you say that you are aim to do 200-300 hours of community service as some sort of tool to get you into college. thats pathetic. do it because you care, not for college. seriously buddy you have to get your priorities straight.</p>
<p>I know a lot of nice people. And none of them would do hundreds of hours of community service because “they care.”</p>
<p>Yet there are people with hundreds of hours of service that go to good colleges. Do you think they care? No. And I will be content going to a good college. I still am interested in most of the things I do in highschool. If no one cared about college, everyone would sit on their butt and do nothing for 4 years. Please, wake up to reality. People who succeed at what they enjoy gets them into good colleges, but also with a supplement of other things they don’t enjoy.</p>