Hello all,
I’m currently a high school sophomore in New England, graduating in 2019. I’ve always wanted to go to the Ivy League, UChicago, Stanford, etc. I’m not sure I’m up to that caliber, but would like some feedback on which areas I need to improve and how to do so. I would also like some advice on which colleges would be a good fit for me come senior fall.
Objective:
School: fairly competitive suburban public school
GPA: ~4.3/5.0 as of end of sophomore year; will go up to ~4.45 by beginning of senior year
Class Rank: 3-5/400 (estimated)
SAT: taking in August 2017
SAT II: taking Math II, Latin, Chem, English (tentative) by summer 2018
PSAT: 1520 in sophomore fall
AP: none yet (my school only offers one for sophomores, and it didn’t fit with my schedule); estimated 11
Junior Year: Calc BC, US History, Chem, Music Theory; self-study 2 others (most rigorous in grade)
Senior Year: Statistics, Bio, Physics, Latin, English
Major Awards: National Latin Exam; 2 perfect scores and 3 gold medals
Subjective (very weak):
Extracurriculars:
Extracurricular School Orchestra (4 years): President, Concertmaster, coordinated a benefit concert for charity
Latin Club (3 years): will eventually be President during senior year at the latest
Science Team (3 years)
Math Team (4 years)
National Honor Society (2 years)
Tri-M Music Honor Society (2 years)
Prestigious Out-of-school Orchestra (4 years): first stand violin
Volunteering:
~200 hours at Senior Center
~300 hours at Chinese School, head of the music teaching program
100 hours the coming summer at a hospital (fairly serious/prestigious program)
Research/Internship: hopefully some to come in junior year
Personal:
Ethnicity: Asian
Sex: Female
Hooks: none
I realize that I’m all over the place with the things I’m involved in (classic BWRK), but I genuinely enjoy all of it. I want to go into premed and possibly minor in classics. Part of the problem is that I’m several years young for my grade, so I’m too young for some internships/research positions/jobs. My school accepts a dozen or so people into the most selective colleges, with many going to good schools.
Honestly, what do you think are my chances for Ivy Leagues and other top schools? Any feedback and/or advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.
My D has committed to Stanford 2021. Your stats are practically the same with my D in her sophomore year. When the IVY’s and the other schools you listed have many, many awesome applicants to choose from you need to stand out. You need to maintain your excellent gpa and take all the hard courses offered by your HS. You are competing with your classmates and the AO’s try to compare you with others applicants from your school. At time of application, D had stellar grades and top 1% at her very highly ranked and competitive public HS her in Southern California.
The Stanford AO and I spoke at length about why my D stood out to her. It came down to her passion for leaning from her essay. When we introduced ourselves to the AO, she instantly remembered my D and the things she wrote. All the AO’s at the top tier schools know how to pick out the S that write from the heart and have passion in whatever they are interested in. They want kids who will make a difference in the world, be it local, national or worldwide. Don’t write things that you think they would like to read. Write about things that make you unique and why the university must accept you. It is a little early to think about the essays but keep a journal and see where your true passions in life.
Of course score high on the SAT or ACT,and the APs you will be taking. Be the president of the clubs you are members of or be the founding member of a club that is available at other HS but not at yours. Win some competitions that are recognized by your HS in their newsletters because the AO’s do look them up. Keep your social media really clean and delete any negative things you may have wrote.
Good luck but you are well on your way to the top tier schools you want to get into IMO.
@gr8pl8 Thanks for your advice! I’ll keep that in mind.
I also forgot to mention that I performed at Carnegie Hall (I auditioned to be part of the orchestra). It’s a very selective program but didn’t seem all that prestigious, although it was international.
The EC of course help in your application and looks like music is a major part of your life. Make sure that passion for music and how it has helped you to become a better student be a part of your story, but in the end the EC’s are not very significant in acceptance at the top schools. D was president of the band and level 12 pianist and plays the flute exceptionally well. Unfortunately because you are Asian like our family, it is a mostly given you play a musical instrument very well and most applicants are very alike.
Make sure to study for the PSAT in your Junior year to get recognition into the National Merit Scholarship Program. It is nothing special but you do get recognized nationally.