going in the right direction?

fednadal · June 9, 2007, 4:11pm

I just finished my soph year at L’ville Prep in NJ. I know it’s early, but I wanted to get people’s opinions on whether or not I’m heading in the right direction. I’m not too worried about my grades, just my ECs and stuff like that.

TO REPEAT: I AM NOT WORRIED ABOUT MY GRADES. I AM SIMPLY PUTTING THEM HERE TO GIVE PEOPLE A BETTER PICTURE OF MY OVERALL PROFILE. I AM NOT ■■■■■■■■ OR WHATEVER ITS CALLED.

My profile: (Lville runs on a trimester system)

9th Grade

English (required course, i.e. no “honors” level) - A, A-, A

“Cultural Studies” (required course) - A-, A, A

Precalculus for BC (honors level prereq to AP Calc BC) - A, B+, A

Spanish 4, 5, 6 (I’m sure these levels vary from school to school) - A-, A-, A

Honors Chem - A, A-, A

10th Grade

English (required course) - A, A, A+

Honors Euro (same as AP euro, but lville history department has decided to drop the “AP” label) - B+, A, A+

AP Calculus BC - B+, A+, A

AP Chem - A-, A, A

Spanish (took during fall and spring terms, dropped during winter term to fulfill graduation requirement) - A, A

American Studies: Constitution (took during winter to fulfill requirement) - A+

Chamber Music (took as 6th course in spring) - A+

ECs - My main interests are history/writing, chemistry, and music. I’m a little worried that my ec’s aren’t “focused” enough.

Staff writer for school newspaper since 9th grade, hoping to maybe become editor next year

Received grant from school to develop a primary source document reader and curriculum for courses on Middle Eastern politics and the evolution of political thought in that region. The book/curriculum will be used by the history department.

Intern at local paper.

Participating in program with a chem professor at Princeton where I get to work with him for the next year as he “mentors” me on a research project. I’ll do a write up on it and maybe submit it for some competitions.

Vice President of Science Olympiad team next year (junior year). As a little side note, I highly, highly recommend SO to anyone who likes science. It is sooooo much fun. You get to build so much incredibly cool stuff. And eat lots of food. :-P

Eagle Scout

Finished Grade 8 of ABRSM curriculum for piano performance. Pursuing Diploma in Piano Performance from ABRSM. I am by no means exceptional, but I’ll be able to submit a good cd, which I’m planning to do.

I took some SAT IIs in June. I’m thinking between a 780-800 on Math IIC and between a 730-750 on Chem.

Any recommendations as I head into my junior year? Everyone’s saying that next year is going to be really important, so I want to be “prepared.” Really, truthfully, my plan has always been to just to the things that I really love doing, i.e. write for the paper, do SO, play piano, etc., and everything else will fall into place. I do want to go to Yale, but I figure that if I don’t, it’ll be dissappointing, maybe even heartbreaking, but it’s not going to ruin me or keep me chained to a future of abject poverty or anything of the sort.
My brother went through college admissions this year, and he didn’t have the greatest GPA, but he did stuff that he really, truly loved. He’s going to an Ivy next year, and I figure that he did something right.

Am I being too nonchalant? I tend to be a really nervous person, so I’m trying to just “flow” and not be obsessive.

I know I’m still young, and I don’t want to preach, but I just wanted to share one of the greatest things I learned this year. I was struggling in the first few weeks of BC Calc; eventually, my calc teacher pulled me aside and told me, in no uncertain terms, that I need to stop studying for the tests and start studying for myself. He said that if I just genuinely tried to understand the material, grapple with it, and struggle with it until my brain hurt, the results would come. And they did. Everything just becomes so much easier when you start learning for the sake of learning, rather than for the sake of passing tests.

Just thought I’d share that.

fednadal · June 9, 2007, 9:29pm

I thought I’d put the grades in an easier to read format:

9th Grade

Fall (3.9)
English (required course): A
Precalculus for BC: A
Honors Chemistry: A
Spanish 4 (these levels vary from school to school): A-
Cultural Studies (required course, like history): A-

Winter (3.7)
English: A-
Precalculus for BC: B+
Honors Chemistry: A-
Spanish 5: A-
Cultural Studies: A

Spring (4.0)
English: A
Precalculus for BC: A
Honors Chemistry: A
Spanish 6: A
Cultural Studies: A

10th Grade

Fall (3.7)
AP Calc BC: B+
Honors European History (same as AP): B+
AP Chemistry: A-
English: A
Spanish 7: A

Winter (4.1)
AP Calc BC: A+
Honors European History: A
American Studies - Constitution: A+
AP Chem: A
English: A

Spring (4.2)
AP Calc BC: A
AP Chem: A
Honors Euro: A+
English: A+
Spanish 8: A
Chamber Music: A+

mj93 · June 9, 2007, 10:18pm

yup, you’re definitely on the right track.

dis-grace · June 9, 2007, 10:56pm

That last paragraph you wrote makes me think you have some sort of spark that a wonderful college will recognize. The fact that you understand that is, to me, more impressive than all the grades in the world. And I don’t think I’m alone.

Yoshi729 · June 10, 2007, 12:09am

I completely agree with dis-grace, you seem to possess a maturity that will guide you successfully through your applications. You seem to have a strong selection of courses through a series of diverse subjects. I see that you have several devoted ECs and others that are scattered. Perhaps you can try to give it your best for one or two areas and win multiple awards in them or ascertain leadership positions. I think that if you continue on your path now and study for the SATs if necessary you have a decent chance of attracting the attention of an admissions officer. Also if you can give me some context what is Spanish 8, is it an intensive reading course in Spanish equivalent to a level 400 course in college? Are you fluent and able to construct advanced prose?

going in the right direction?

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