<p>Hello,</p>
<p>Once summer is over I'll be a junior in high school and I'm posting this thread because I'm not very confident in my prospects for college. </p>
<p>I live in NYC with a low income family. Both of my parents were born in Brazil and came here decades ago. I go to a prestigious high school in lower Manhattan. My grades are decent, I've maintained a 3.6 average throughout my high school career thus far. I took AP world history in sophomore year and will take APUSH and AP Biology this coming year. </p>
<p>I will be taking the SAT this year, and if the PSAT is a good indicator of the score I will get on it, I feel I'll do just fine with some studying.(197 on the PSAT). I plan to take the SAT IIs on American History and Biology. </p>
<p>What really worries me are my extracurriculars. I did not participate in anything over freshman year. I was in Science Olympiad for Biology during Sophomore year for a few months, but became bored of it. This year I'll be trying out for a soccer team, which I have a good chance of getting into. I plan on joining clubs come junior year. The only thing that I've got going for me regarding ECs is that I've helped my father with his business over all these years. He works as an artist and sells his work on the street, not in some high end gallery. A lot of the time I offer help in the form of manual labor (carrying canvases, helping him stretch canvases, sawing and preparing wood, making coasters etc). He also sells his work, phones that he repairs, and other items on eBay, which my mom and I help with since his English isn't so great. Last summer was especially difficult considering my baby sister was born, and my father was severely stressing over money. I didn't have much time for my self that summer. At some point this year I plan on getting a job to support my family, if it doesn't affect my grades too much.</p>
<p>If this is considered an EC how can I prove I've actually done all that work to college. Won't they just think he's helping me?Furthermore, considering my low income background, I'm not sure how to get scholarships and if I should be applying for them now.</p>
<p>Also, I see surgery as a potential career goal in my future. If anyone has any undergrad college recommendations I should consider or tips in general, it'd be greatly appreciated. </p>
<p>Thanks for reading.</p>