Hi, I am a high school sophomore that wants to go to a T20 or Ivy. I got a 3.8 UW and 4.3 W GPA freshman year. I come from an upper-middle-class family, and my dad gets paid around $160K a year, so we’re doing pretty well financially. I’m not sure how much aid I’ll get, but I plan to do ROTC to get money or take on a little debt. I’ll be a varsity captain for two seasons of sports in junior and senior year. I take all honors classes and AP Bio, and I will have a 4.0 UW this year. I’m taking Geometry now, then Algebra 2, and eventually Calculus BC. My school is a little odd with its math sequencing. I may take community college courses if my summer programs don’t work out. I’m applying to about 20 programs since they’re all super competitive.
I work about 6 hours a week as a soccer ref. I also do JROTC and am the head captain of a robotics team that has 8 kids at nationals each year, which is solid for a sophomore. I’m a Boy Scout and will be an Eagle soon. Last year, I helped tutor a kid with limited English skills in Bio. This winter, I’ll be joining a youth philanthropy program that’s pretty selective.
I live in Massachusetts and I’m Latino. My mom has only a high school degree and is a first-generation immigrant. My dad went to William & Mary, which is a good school, but he doesn’t know much about admissions since he only applied to one place. Last summer, I went to an MIT math program for a week that only took in about 10% of kids. I’m working on some CS stuff for fun and trying to find a good project to work on at home.
I want to go to an Ivy or T20, and I’ll basically do anything to get in because I’m an obsessive person. Not in a mentally ill way, but I stick to my goals and think about them a lot. If T20s or Ivies don’t work out, I’ll go to a military academy.
A hook is something a college needs or greatly wants. A colleges needs athletes to fill their teams. A college strongly wants diversity.
The key hooks:
Recruited athlete
Underrepresented minority (although the recent SCOTUS ruling impacts this)
Legacy
Child of major donor, world leader, celebrity
Celebrity in their own right
How each college values hooks will vary by college. And generally, at least for the colleges talked about in A2C, will not make up for a substandard application.
Some high schools may be feeders to certain colleges. And if you attend such a high school, you know it’s a feeder. But usually, those applicants often have one (or more) of the hooks mentioned above.
And please take this in the constructive manner it’s intended - your post was an abomination to read. You’re not texting your friends here. Yes, I know it’s the Internet and we’re not looking for dickensian prose, and you’re not e.e. cummings. Those answering you, however, will generally be college-educated parents with lots of experience. Use paragraphs, capitalization where appropriate, proper spelling, etc. Good luck
It’s great to have a goal, and you seem like a smart and driven kid. But keep in mind that admissions to the Ivies and T20s are very unpredictable - and that (if things don’t work out), there are a lot of other excellent schools where you can also get a great education.
All true, and also, you will want to understand that there is a difference between “military academies” (West Point, Naval Academy, Air Force Academy) and “the military.” Applying to the academies is a difficult, time-consuming process, that takes place at the same time as applying to universities, but requires even more work ahead of time to get the right paperwork and recommendations in order. It’s not something you can do if you don’t get into your preferred schools, and is as competitive or more competitive than many of them. You have to really want to serve your country in that way.
I’m not trying to sound unhelpful, but one thing you can do is use proper punctuation and grammar. You have time now to work on these things. You will have to submit great supplemental essays to top colleges that show why they should want you. Admissions officers need to see good writing and they can tell when students use AI.
As for your title, it seems to me that you are already on the right track. Keep doing what you are doing.
Are you asking which additional schools? If so, it’s a bit too early. You can come back and post a chance me/match me thread in junior year.
If you’re asking for advice on what to focus on to make you a stronger candidate for the T20s: try to be the best student you can be, pursue the activities that you’re passionate about and excel in them. Build strong relationships with your teachers, be curious, and be nice.
I can’t really read your post. But I did read the end, and one of your responses.
A few thoughts:
There are a ton of wonderful colleges outside of the tippy top ones.
Do things you want to do…not things you think might impress some adcoms someplace.
Take a strong courseload, and get the very best grades possible.
You will be taking the PSAT in fall junior year. You might want to prep for that as the score on that test is part of how you possibly qualify for National Merit Scholar status.
You want to prep for both the ACT and SAT. You may find you do better on one than the other.
Start thinking about a variety of colleges you might like, that are affordable, and where you have a better chance of acceptance than just T 20 or Ivy Schools. Choosing a sure thing college for admission, that you like, that is affordable is perhaps the most important college you need to find. Start looking.
Don’t worry about a hook. Most college applicants don’t have one.
You might want to run the Net Price Calculators for a few schools you like. At this point, they are set up for students starting college in fall 2025…and that’s NOT you. But you can get an estimate anyway…a very gross estimate since you are a couple of years out.
Remember…there is a college out there that will welcome you as a student when the time comes.
As an FYI…the military academies are not exactly sure things for admission. I would strongly suggest you start thinking of some other colleges. UMass is a great flagship university, for example.
Let’s be real. You are very unlikely to get into Ivies or T20 schools because their acceptance rates are insanely low. Based on your writing ability, your chances are lower than what you will find online for acceptance rates. Do not expect to get ROTC merit as those are very competitive as well but your JROTC will help a lot.
If you truly are a “go getter” then you will be successful at any college.
Regardless of your thoughts about your parents income, you need to ask them how much they can pay for college. Some of these colleges are 60-80k/yr or more. Do your parents have a college fund for you? You are assuming your parents can basically float almost half their income each year to pay for your schooling.
Google your majors of interest and skip the first 2 pages of which schools are best for that major and start to look into those T50 or so schools. You will find that many kids at other schools are just as ambitious or more than you are.
There are many top 20 schools - far more than 20. There’s many rankings. And then there’s major ranking. For example, if you wanted to be a supply chain major, you’d want ASU or Michigan State etc.
There’s only a fixed amount of Ivys but some are urban, some rural, some large, some not.
Find the right school for you. Not just an athletic league name.
The reality is you can do everything right and statistically it’s less than 10% odds you get in.
You’ve done well - keep it up. The next item will be your SAT. Also make sure you have great rapport with your teachers so you get great LORs.
Goals are nice but here’s another - be the best you that you can be and it will all work out.
I must have read the original post after the OP edited it. I think the writing is fine both grammatically and in its tone.
I am also impressed with the OP’s polite responses to the responsive posts.
@Ben_V , I think you are off to a good start!
Just be aware that top schools reject tons of very strong students because they just don’t have room for everyone who qualifies, so it’s always good to have a mix of reach, matches and sure things — even for the strongest of the strong academically!
