Hi, I’m a junior/rising senior looking into top colleges and major merit scholarships. Some of my colleges of interest are Berkely, UChicago, and Deep Springs. My main areas of interest are political science and education. This is my quick resume:
Academics:
GPA: 4.3
ACT: 34, Writing 30
SAT Subject tests: French 800, US History 750, Spanish 720
12 APs over 4 years (past + future)
EC’s:
-XQ SuperSchool Team Founder/President-- part of a national competition for a $10 million grant to create an innovative “high school of the future.” Coming up with our model for an application was my biggest project in my high school career, and it brought together school board members, educators, local community leaders, nonprofit executives, and social entrepreneurship catalysts. The competition was intended for adults because it’s for a grant, so our team had adult members and a nominal adult leader, but I did the actual directing.
-Local Zoo 450+ hrs volunteering in guest outreach
-Mock Trial
-2016 Presidential Nomination Campaigning-- calling voters, organized 1 barnstorm which 25 ppl attended
-Taekwondo (as a participant and also an assistant instructor) ages 9-15*
-Cross Country/Track up to age 15*
*I stopped at age 16 b/c over the past year I’ve experienced a major ankle/knee injury
Awards:
-1st place winner AFSA National High School Essay Contest
-XQ SuperSchool Competition Semifinalist–> pending Finalist/Not Finalist notification
-Taekwondo black belt
-3rd place in state for the National Spanish Examination Level 1 (9)
-3rd place in state for the National Spanish Examination Level 2 (10)
-2nd place in state for the National Spanish Examination Level 3 (11)
-2nd place in state for Biology I Rally Division II (10)
-1st place in state for Environmental Science Rally Division II (11)
(I’m hesitant to name the state for the above awards b/c of anonymity, but it’s not a big state like California where an award like this would be major, it’s a small state)
Anticipated:
-Continued work with XQ if we move on to finalist, if not then trying to implement aspects of our model (i.e. school-company partnerships to provide students with internships) to already existing schools
-Guest outreach environment conservation paid internship at zoo
The science/environment awards and activities are a bit out-of-place, they’re a sub-interest of mine. I’m going to try to relate them back to my interest in education on my application, since much of the work at the zoo is educating guests. I think my strongest activities are XQ and AFSA, although exactly how strong I’m not sure, hence this discussion post.
My 3 Questions:
- Of the following, which colleges would be reach, target, and safety: Berekely, UChicago, Deep Springs, USC, Johns Hopkins, Duke, WashU, Kenyon?
- In the 6 months or so that I have left to build my application, any suggestions on what to continue doing/stop? What to capitalize on, etc? Suggestions for essay contests or awards to shoot for?
- Anybody wanna get chanced back?
Thanks very much in advance for your help!!!
