Hello, I am a first-year Canadian high school student (Grade 10), with hopes to study in the United States for university. At the moment my course selections commence in two weeks time, meaning within this span I must decide if I wish to pursue IB to further my chances of entering the schools I hope to go to. However, the schools I hope to apply to are fairly prestigious and my main fear is the stress and pressure from these schools. I’ve heard on multiple occasions that these schools are known to be stressful and rigorous and personally, I do not know if I both physically and mentally will be able to take that risk.
I’m not worried if I can maintain my grades in high school to be admitted; I am not trying to brag or flaunt anything, it merely isn’t my main priority. Simply, I don’t know how I would feel being side by side so many successful students who are each brilliant in their own right, from extracurriculars to education.
My current collection of universities I wish to apply to are as follows:
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Los Angeles
Stanford
Harvard
Yale
Duke University
Johns Hopkins
University of Chicago
My hope is to major in biology for pre-med or enter political science and take my LSAT.
The fear of immense stress is the major factor preventing me from throwing myself into this. If there is stress I understand that, but many prestigious schools have a record with mental health issues among their students and I am afraid I may be unable to take that pressure. Additionally, if someone can point any key factors as to why I should go to any of these universities, I would greatly appreciate it.