<p>I’m currently a freshman in high school and I was wondering on how I can ensure my acceptance into Harvard university, or any other Ivy League school in general. I did begin high school a year early, therefore I’m a year ahead in math and science. Although there’s a class which I can take to reach AP Calculus by eleventh grade. My grades are typically very high and I do participate in the AP and Honors programs. After school I’m normally very busy because of family, although I still try to complete charity work and go to after school activities. I also play a few sports for the school and I’m attempting to involve myself in the community and school, more than I already am. I haven’t necessarily excelled in many things, except for academics. So, I was just wondering on how I can increase my rate of acceptance into an Ivy League school and if anyone has schedule considerations, please list them.
PS: Sorry about the poor word usage, I was in a rush. </p>
<p>There’s no “ensure” unless u are a high achiever AND your parent is POTUS or Bill Gates</p>
<p>^I agree with GMTplus7</p>
<p>I’d advise you to do whatever you feel like you need to. Don’t go chasing after having the most AP/IB/Honors classes, or president of every club at your school. Just do what interests you, and try to get good at it. Really focus on what you care about, and not what colleges might care about, because they don’t care. They really don’t. They’re money-making machines and they reject or accept whomever they want.</p>
<p>There’s no secret formula. From what you said, it seems like you’re on the right track, but no one is guaranteed admission to the Ivys, or anywhere for that matter. Good luck! And don’t give up.</p>
<p>EDIT: Try to keep your grades up and enjoy the things you do and everything will fall in place. Hopefully :)</p>
<p>The other “ensure” activity is to win the Nobel Peace Prize at age 17 like Malala Yousafzai </p>
<p>To have a reasonable chance, take the most rigorous schedule offered by your school and keep your GPA above 3.8. Spend a little time every week (at least) preparing for SAT/ACT; there are study guides with practice tests you can use. You’ll want scores of 2250/34 or better.</p>
<p>If you can, get involved in 4-5 extracurricular activities. Have fun. Stay committed. You don’t need to be an officer, but you should demonstrate leadership in some way.</p>
<p>You mentioned family stuff. Admissions committees recognize serious family commitments as a necessary alternative to traditional extracurriculars. If this is your situation, keep your guidance counselor informed: he/she writes a report as part of your applications, and information like that should be on it.</p>
<p>I’ll repeat: you can’t ensure you’ll be admitted. All you can do is lower the chances that the admissions committee won’t glance at your application and say, “Next!”</p>
<p>
Here’s a great article for you to read. Although it’s about MIT, it could be about Harvard or any college: <a href=“Applying Sideways | MIT Admissions”>http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways</a></p>