highschool advice??Answered
a lotta yapping in this bear w me plz
im a rising freshman this year and am starting to think about college. my reach school goals are nyu/georgetown/usc/yale/harvard/columbia/uc berkeley for smth along the lines of econ or pol sci for prelaw (still havent decided on a final list, still have quite some time before college apps). my gpa (unweighted) has consistently been a 4.0 (straight As) and I take all IB courses (i go to an all IB class school). by senior year , i will have taken 3 SL and 4 HL (an extra bc im taking two math DP courses bc i finished alg II last yr in grade 8). only standardized test I have taken so far is my very first psat in oct 2024 in grade 8, scored 1280 (620 math and reading each). my ec's are:
(btw i go to a 7-12 school so no new school for hs)
stuco prez 3 yrs
mun 1 yr
speech and debate - last month in june i was nationally ranked third in my category at nats, 2x state runner up, NSDA excellence (162 merit points, don't have that many bc in middle school you get like no points at all)
school newspaper editor, won first place in my category in a statewide journalism contest
michigan youth in govt 1 yr
working at kumon since january (its like a tutoring center)
volunteering at library for around three summers - around 50 hours total so far
nhs 1 year, junior rep of the board this coming school year
first chair violin in school orchestra (been playing for 3 years), led orchestra at a state festival performance (division I ranking), and division one ranking in violin/viola duet from my state org, and participated in district X msboa honors orchestra (nominated by my orchestra teacher)
piano 9 years - multiple division 1 rankings in piano solo (MSBOA and NFMT Federation), piano concerto, and piano theory, did jazz band for six months (quit cuz i lowkey hated it lol)
started a summer program for elementary schoolers to sample piano lessons - saves money on buying a piano/spending lots of money on academy lessons so kids can actually try it out first
started the michigan chapter of a volunteer org where we collect trad indian clothes to ship to india and donate to underprivileged kids - started a club at school (current president) with 12 members, partnered with local indian grocer and an indian restaurant
summer job accompanying a senior choir while their accompanist is out for surgery for 8 weeks
okay again apologies for all of the typing but if anyone can point me in the right direction, what some realistic college goals might be, or just any advice in general, i would greatly appreciate it!!!! tysm in advance :)
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2 answers
Very impressive for a rising freshman- you should be proud of all of your accomplishments so far! As for advice I would say to stay consistent with your extracurriculars and hone in on a few to make the deepest impact. While it's important to be well rounded most schools also want to see a "spike" that somehow connects to what you want to do in your future. For instance, since you're interested in political science and the pre-law track I would recommend interning for local or potentially even state government officials- this would make your application more impressive than it already is! I would also recommend (while this may be a year or two down the road) making sure that you score high on the SAT, this will help your chances of getting into any school! Overall, you're doing fantastic for a freshman. My last piece of advice I would say is to remember to make time for yourself to have fun and enjoy your teenage years (as corny as it sounds)- time truly goes by fast and it's all going to be over before you know it!
You have an amazing head on your shoulders!
Most schools look for tons of extracurricular's, which you seem to have. If you already accomplished this going into your freshman year, this is awesome! From my personal experience, my school has a local college to commute with junior-senior year. I have taken multiple college courses so far, and that's truly what colleges look for as well other than how involved you are. Even if your school doesn't offer a commuting program, you can always look into AP courses, which mean just as much as college classes. My biggest advice to you if you're looking into ivy league schools is to make sure you always stay involved, step out of your comfort zone if you have to and try new things! From what I have read, you should have absolutely no problem getting into these schools. Make sure, always be proactive! It's truly better to get things out of the way than to put it off. That also helps with having time to yourself, because trying your hardest could also be draining and have many side effects to your mental health. Lastly, I would say overall, is continuing to keep your grades up, tryout challenging courses and stay involved!
I wish you all the best of luck in your journey, it all pays off in the end! :)
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Wow! You are already doing amazing is this is what you have as a freshman. Honestly I think this is enough, just keep up with your grades and stay consistent with those extracurriculars. If the extracurriculars become too much and it starts to effect your grades don’t be afraid to lighten your load. That goes for classes too, if one is too hard don’t think of it as a failure, you don’t want to do too much and burn out.