So I just became a freshman about a week ago and just want some advice about some future steps I might take to be more competitive for Ivy leagues/T20. Still undecided about a Major but I’ve been thinking finance due to how it combines skills I personally enjoy especially at the highest level.
Current classes this year at a public high school (Not in period order) :
Honors Pre-Calc (Might take AP test at the end?)
Spanish 1-2 (Chill teacher/non-time consuming class
P.E (2 years of P.E credit required, most likely doing a winter and spring sport)
Seminar English (No extra weight, more work and higher level thinking)
Advanced Bio (no extra weight, Bio is the only science class allowed for freshman)
AP Music theory (Been with this teacher in middle school so familiar with first half coursework)
ECS: Boy scouts: I was planning on dropping this at the end of the year as I’m not that passionate about it. Mainly using it as pipeline to volunteer hours/connections with local organizations
Basketball: Played at a decently competitive level, planning on playing it for the school (not planning on going D1/professional)
Music: I played alto sax and viola for my school in middle school, and I work on the Piano independently (No awards won)
Awards: Nothing, not even middle school honor roll/presidential letter
Clubs at my school don’t until September, so I’m planning on joining Math club, speech and debate, Investment and maybe something else
I also want to start my own club. Since finance is my goal I looked to found something related to that this year, turns out almost every variation of a finance/money club exists (Business, Stock market, digital assets, Investment, Finance) So I was thinking of starting something unique with my friends (Me having the leading role of course) I was thinking of doing something small and easy to start, like Game theory or behavioral economics (something I’m interested in, not application filler). I need 10 signatures to get it approved (Easily get ghost signatures from my friends) and need 4 roles to fill, in this case I was thinking just inviting my 4 most driven friends, and inviting a few more to participate as a bi weekly meeting thing) Something to introduce myself to club planning (The club has to be open to everyone) and basic leadership. This would let me focus on my classes, social life, and the transition in general to high school.
One final note, I took 2 high school math courses in middle school. Integrated math 1 and 2 for 7th and 8th grade respectively (IM3 over the summer). Because I was not very prepared I got one B in the first semester for each of the classes. meaning I now have 2 Bs on my hs transcript messing up a 4.0UW GPA. I can still reach 3.9UW and weighted most likely 4.5 or above (I’m not too paranoid, just a little thing I thought to add)
Now that You’ve seen me rant, do you have any advice about what I should do? (Don’t direct me to the applying sideways article I’ve seen it multiple times already).
You’re in 9th grade. Slow down. You’ll learn a lot over the next few years; get exposed to a lot, etc. It’s nice to have thoughts - but you’re going to learn about math and science and economics and take electives. Many kids, in fact, start undecided or attend schools that don’t allow an early major - i.e. you might not choose one til the end of 2nd year - 6 years from now.
Few Ivies and/or top 20s have a business major. You know how one chooses a school? Step one - budget. Schools you are desribing might be $115K a year by the time you attend. And many don’t have scholarships based on merit, just need. It’s nice to have goals to do your best - but you are way too premature to set up a list that might also set you up for too much HS intensity, too much pressure on yourself. Just be the best you that you can be and that will be good enough.
Here’s my advice - do the two or three things you are passionate about. Don’t do them to look good. What looks good is something you do that you enjoy, where you can build depth, responsibility, and impact. While you may not have a club at school that you like, you don’t need to start one. It doesn’t necessarily look good. So start one if one you want is lacking - but not because a college will be impressed. They may not be - and many fine schools don’t look at ECs. And your HS may have a finance related club already.
Very important lesson here. Your grades, yes they matter, but moreso what you learn matters. Math builds - if you struggled, didn’t master the material prior, then you likely will struggle again in the future - not just at math but classes that use math. Don’t rush ahead. Maybe re-take a class if they’ll allow you. This will bite you for many years if you’re not strong at the basics.
Bottom line - stretch yourself to a level you can maintain without straining yourself. ECs are great but not primary to getting yourself into a great school. There’s test scores, teacher recs, essays and more - but that’s in due time. And money!!! That may be #1 for attending college - have to pay for it.
Most importantly, get a friend group and ensure you have balance outside the classroom.
In three years from now, you’ll know where you can attend - based on budget, achievement, and more. And there’s fantastic finance programs all over, and most of them not at top 20s or Ivies.
Ok then! Thanks you for the valuable advice about the college choice as I’m still researching them. Money however will not be a problem for my family (400K a year+) and we already have a college fund set up with more than enough. The school has many finance clubs set up so you are correct about that. I’m also trying to be ambitious freshman year because I feel behind seeing all the high-achievers on this forum, but don’t worry, I’ve heard from many people that Teenage years are the best of your life, so I’ll try to make the most of it. The finance part is pretty much just an idea that I’ve been thinking about, I still have 0 decision in my mind and I’ll have to see where my passion carries me. The math is not much of an issue anymore, I used to have lots of social anxiety especially around people older than me with no familiar faces. The confidence has been something I’ve worked on, so I’m much more comfortable now. The biggest issue is that I really don’t know what I’m very passionate about, I’ll use freshman and sophomore year to figure that out. Also my friend group is ambitious as me, which is great as we drive each other forward. Ivy league is never a guarantee so I’ll make the most of these years and have a backup plan.
College shouldn’t even be a thought.
In my opinion, mistake #1. You are two years away.
First develop a record. You will spend more time doing things that aren’t important to put yourself in a position later that you don’t want to be in.
You are starting 9th grade - you have two years until you even need to think about - what college - and they are all different - from city to rural, large to small, sports life to non sports life (think spectator), Greek to non Greek, etc.
This is not reality - this is .000001 % of students out there. No 9th grader should even know about this forum.
No doubt many have embellished.
The mistake is you even know about this forum as an incoming 9th grader. You need to be the best you that you can be - and not worry about others.
This is great and will help you in life - from public speaking, presenting to interactions and more. Work on person to person relationships vs. screens and other tools - that no matter how smart you are, will likely impact your life not in a positive way.
That’s a strength; not an issue. You are 14. You don’t need to know. You will study new things. You will try new things. And you’ll learn. And what you are passionate about today may be different than in four years. And then in 10 years and 30 years. People evolve. btw - the time to start thinking about college in Junior year - in regards to a major. And guess what, my son started with Astrophysics which became professional pilot which became atmospheric sciences/meteorology and we did college visits and met with professors with that major in mind. And he ended up as a Mechanical Engineer - all in about a year time.
You all put waaaaaay too much pressure on yourselves.
This may be ok but it may not. Not all kids are alike. You already have less than stellar grades in math. That concerns me more about - what aren’t you learning. Is this going to help you. Your friends should be your friends because you enjoy doing things together, not based on going to Harvard. If your friend goes to Harvard and you are headed to Hofstra, are they going to not be your friend?
Ivy League is pretty much a guaranteed to not be where you’re going if you ultimately do what to study finance - as only a few have the major.
Again, slow down.
Excel in 9th grade inside and outside the classroom. Ensure you are taking the right math; not the next math. Enjoy yourself. Explore. Learn.
You are a HS freshman. Your goal this year is to do your personal best.
Is there some reason why you are double accelerated in math?
I don’t see any social studies courses in your list of courses. Perhaps that should be added.
I’m pretty sure there are probably established clubs that would welcome your membership. Perhaps look at those, join, make an impact, and perhaps gain a leadership position by the time you are a senior.
You have never made honor roll but are double accelerated in math? Please explain the rest of your grades.
You are a HS freshman.
Do things you like and want to do. Don’t do things you think might impress an adcom years in the future. These elite colleges are highly competitive, so I would also suggest that IF you feel the need to research colleges now, you should look at the characteristics of colleges, and find some less competitive ones as well.
At this point, you don’t even have grade nine grades. Or standardized test scores (which are required by many of these elite schools). Once you have at least mid grad 11 grades, do a Chance Me/Match Me thread and I’m quite sure folks here will be able to give you suggestions.
In the meantime…please enjoy high school. Do things that are fun. You will never get these years back.
Congrats on your interest in building a strong high school career. It’s great that you’re already planning for your future! Here are my suggestions given what you’ve shared:
Forget about Finance. It is way, way, way, way, way, way, way too early in your life and your education to select that as a career. You may decide in later years (senior year of high school as a possible interest or in college after an internship or some relevant coursework) that you’d like to go into Finance. And that would be great. But age 14 is not the time to narrow your future into such a tiny sliver of all the amazing opportunities you have before you.
Forget about starting a club. It is barely, if at all, helpful to college applications these days since AO’s are well aware of the resume padding it serves. If you really have a passion that is not represented by your school’s clubs, junior year would be the time to start the club as you will have the maturity and capacity for leadership that will make it successful and meaningful. What club to start will be based on a genuine interest by 11th grade, not based on you scrounging around trying figure out what club you could start now.
If you want to be competitive for highly ranked school when it comes time to apply three years from now, these are the three most powerful things you can do right now:
(1) Get the highest grades you can possibly achieve. This needs to be your focus. If you’re not getting an A in a particular class, very early on, go to your teacher for extra help, get a tutor, start a study group with friends, watch videos on the subject, etc. Having a strong GPA will be way more important to admissions than starting an uninspiring club in ninth grade.
(2) As was suggested by another poster, choose 2-3 things you’re genuinely interested in and dive into them deeply. You mentioned interests in basketball, sax, piano, and viola. Wow - awesome! I’m sure you have other interests as well. Go all in! If music is your thing, join a community orchestra/band, start your own jazz band with friends, volunteer as an assistant music teacher for the elementary school after school orchestra, go to summer music camp, eventually become a junior counselor at the summer camp, etc. For basketball, same advice! Get certified as a ref for little kids basketball, go to summer basketball camp for a week, etc. The point is, throw yourself into your passions now and you will end up with an amazing high school career and a lot to talk about when you finally tackle those admissions applications in a few years.
(3) Read. Read. Read. You should be reading Every. Single. Day. A real hard cover book - not online or on a E-reader. Pick any topic - heck, start with a biography of Kobe Bryant. Read at least 30 minutes per day, every day for the next four years. You will not only become an incredibly interesting person, but you will increase your vocabulary, your ability to focus, and your knowledge of the world. This habit will pay incredible dividends when it comes time to take AP English classes, AP History classes, the SAT, and write admissions essays. Plus, it’s fun!
Finally, if you do all these things, you will end up senior year with the strong admissions profile you are seeking without even trying. Because when you do things you are passionate about (including reading, which will no doubt become a passion after you get into the habit), opportunities and awards will just happen. For example, reading 80 books over the next four years will increase your AP English and History exam scores from 4’s to 5’s without any extra exam study simply because you have a huge vocabulary, have excellent reading comprehension and focus, and oh yeah, you ended up getting genuinely interested in WWII and the Civil War and read 5 books about them just for fun in 10th grade. For example, because you were so awesome and dedicated with reffing for little kids basketball, one of organizers asked you to start a team as head coach of the 2nd grade girls team in the underserved town over when you were a junior. Not only would this be a truly valuable activity, but in terms of college admissions, it screams leadership and, oh yeah, you ended up winning your school’s volunteerism award. And because you leaned into viola and joined a super fun community orchestra, you ended up getting invited to play in your city’s university orchestra junior year because they were short on violas. And because of this training, you made it to All-State in viola junior year. Anyway, these are just examples to show you how leaning into genuine passions can end up strengthening your eventual college application far more than starting a fake game theory club in ninth grade.
This classic advice from MIT is really applicable to selective holistic review admissions in general:
It is all worth carefully reading and considering, but I would highlight the part about being nice.
I think you’ll find a lot of the online “advice” is fundamentally about collecting gold stars, things they argue will make you as an individual look more “impressive” to colleges. Very little attention is paid to being a truly good person, the kind who is sincerely valued by others in their school and community.
But that is a mistake, as these colleges are really hoping to see applicants who get recommendations like that, the sort where a teacher or counselor explains how this applicant was so helpful to others and will be very missed when they are gone.
And as MIT suggests, really you should work on being that sort of person because it will be very rewarding for you on its own. But it will also help give you more options for colleges when the time comes.
In addition to this great list, I’ll also add to make sure you take 4 years of your core classes - English, math, history, foreign language and science (one class of bio, chem, physics and one of those at the AP level) and whatever else you need to meet your state’s graduation requirement. Don’t sacrifice a core course for an elective.
You’re missing a social science. Ap human geo or world history are typical for driven freshmen.
You’ll need 4 years in each subject category if possible.
Did your teacher encourage you to take AP music theory? Unless you’re enrolled in a conservatory, it’s no cake walk even for 16 year old musicians. Make sure you’re ready for it.
What’s the math progression at your school for kids who start 9th grade in precalc?
Don’t found a finance club. If you want to found a club, found one that fills a need, requires dedication, and doesn’t “sound good” but “does good”.
Does not seem to be a great idea to accelerate math even more to +3 with IM3 in the summer when you were not earning all A grades when you were on the +2 track.
Does your high school have only 6 class periods? If you have an empty 7th period, can you add a history or social studies course?
I agree with reading, I’ve been a huge reader since elementary school, but ereaders are fine. I’m reading my 4th book this month, and I borrowed an actual hard cover book because the waitlist on Libby for a kindle book is too long for book club, I haven’t read an actual book in years because I stubbornly refused to get glasses that I apparently desperately needed, and I miss my kindle!
This is exactly what I was thinking also. As one example…
9th grade is insanely early to be in pre-calculus. Be very, very careful about jumping ahead in math. Math is an area where what you are learning now is based on what you were supposed to be learning last year and the year before, and what you will be learning next year is going to be based on what you are supposed to be learning now. You need to learn each step very well before you move ahead to the next step. You should only jump ahead if you are very, very, very confident that you know all of the required prerequisites very well and can excel. You need to build the solid foundation on which future learning will be based.
I by the way was a math major in university. I did not take calculus until I was a freshman in university. That did not stop me from majoring in math (and eventually getting a master’s degree in a subfield of math). However, I arrived at university very ready to take calculus, and having done very well in ALL of the prerequisites.
Someone I know was very, very good at math, and very, very good at music. They played guitar very well. They played piano very well. They sang and took voice lessons, and wrote music. They took summer classes at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. They played in public and had fans. They had gone on a music tour of Europe. They took AP Music Theory I think as either a junior or senior in high school. It was a VERY tough class. I remember playing intervals for them on the piano (related to ear training). Make sure that you are ready before you take this class.
There is a lot of time and you do not need to be in a rush.
By the way math and music frequently go together as skills. This is a common combination and in my opinion a great combination.
Well that takes away part of what I was going to say.
Do what is right for you. Whatever you do, do it very well. Be careful to pace yourself. Be patient, there is lots of time and you will get there.
This is one issue with jumping ahead in math. Another potential issue is running out of math classes to take in high school. It is better to take math classes when you are solidly ready, and get A’s and A+'s. You might consider getting a tutor if you have any struggles at all in your current math classes. It sounds like you have quite a bit of ability in math, so a tutor is likely to help you pick up things relatively quickly.
And I can assure you that there are some things in math and in other areas that you are not ready to take YET. You will be ready at some point. It just takes some time to get there.
Do not start a club just to start a club. If there is a club that should exist, and for which there is potential interest, but the club does not exist yet, then start a club. If you do start a club, then listen to other people and help them put their good ideas into reality. Leadership at least should be about listening to a very large extent.
Step 1 is budget. Step 2 is fit. There are a LOT of very good universities out there. They are not all the same. The university that is best for one student and the university that it best for a different student are two completely different things. That is one of the problems with university rankings.
I have been very lucky and gotten to meet a number of very intelligent people in my life. At one point I tried to make a list of the 10 smartest and most successful people I had ever met. I ended up with 14 people on the list. They had attended 14 different universities for their bachelor’s degree. Recently I added two more people to the list. Now the 16 of them got their bachelor’s degree at 16 different universities. Why? Because different universities are a good fit for different people. If one person wants to study math, another wants to study medicine, another wants to study music, another is interested in large animal surgery, another wants to go out of the country for a bachelor’s for the experience, another wants to attend a small college, and another is from South Africa and wants to stay near home for a bachelor’s degree, this may lead them all to different schools. Another might need to live at home to save money and happens to live near CCNY, so that is where they went (then they got a fully funded PhD somewhere else that happened to be higher ranked but mostly was a great fit for them).
It sounds like you might also want to budget for graduate school, such as a master’s degree.
You have plenty of time, and yes right now this is a strength not a weakness.
One daughter knew for sure what she wanted to do. It was music. Then she went on a music tour of Europe and discovered that you get tired of singing the same songs over and over again and travel is no fun. Then she wanted to be a cook in a restaurant, so she got a job in a restaurant. Then she wanted to do something else. She eventually for sure figured out what she wanted to do AFTER getting her bachelor’s degree. Fortunately she had already suspected what she wanted to do and had completed the undergraduate classes that she needed to take and was able to apply directly to the appropriate graduate programs (she is a veterinarian now).
My other daughter came to me when she was half way through high school and was concerned that she had no idea what she wanted to do with her life, whereas her friends did know. I pointed out that yes her friends did know what they wanted to do, but in six months they will have changed their mind, and then they will get to university with another idea, and then they will change their minds again.
Most of us go through this. We get exposed to a bit of this and a bit of that, we try a few things, and eventually we figure it out. At the time that I got my bachelor’s degree I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life (having a bachelor’s degree in math gives some flexibility since there are so many things in a high tech world that depend upon math one way or another). I eventually figured it out, but not until quite a few years after getting my bachelor’s degree. Also I ended up doing something that did not even exist at the time that I graduated university, so I could not possibly have known what I was going to do. This is part of living in a high tech world, where so much of what is normal today did not exist 20 years ago.
What is going to exist 20 years from now, and what will you be an expert on at the time? None of us know. None of us can know right now.
But that is okay. You have a lot of time to figure this out.
@The_Blade as others have noted (including me), as a starting grade nine student, you really don’t have enough information about yourself, your high school record, etc to be making college a focus right now.
Here are the things I would suggest:
It’s fine to read College Confidential. This is one of many online sources where you can get some information for the future. There is nothing wrong with looking for information about specific colleges, or getting ideas. But focusing on certain college types at this point is premature.
We have a section on this forum for High School students. And you are there! Ask questions…
Your main goal now is to do your personal best in high school. In addition, you want to do activities that you enjoy.
Keep an open mind about your post high school future at this point. So much can change between now and when you apply to colleges three years or more from now. Your interests could change, you might want a different type of college experience than you seem to want now. So…just keep an open mind.
There are thousands of colleges in this country, and you will better be able to hone in on your desires in a couple of years. Really…there is no rush to do this now. The top twenty and other elite colleges might be where you want to apply when the time comes…but they might not be. So much can change for you between now and when you actually are ready to apply to college.
Enjoy your high school years…and especially these early years. Have a nice social life in addition to your academics and extra curricular activities.
You are welcome to ask questions of the hive here…maybe things about specific colleges…just to get some ideas. There are a lot of people here who have personal knowledge of many colleges either because they went there, their kids went or are going there, or they live nearby. Or they know about colleges related to their professions.
College Confidential is one of many sources to gain info. Welcome to this forum. I will be happy to hear about your journey…but please don’t think it is essential to make decisions now as a grade 9 student.
@The_Blade Welcome to CC! You are posting in the high school /pre college section which is the right place to be. There is nothing wrong with thinking ahead about your HS course sequence, but we here would encourage you to do so with your eye on what you like to study once you have incorporated the sequence of required courses and, as other have noted, the base courses and sequence that especially the very competitive schools will want to see at a minimum (sine you mentioned those). But it is still early in the process for you, and so much can and will change.
We also do not know where you live, whether you attend a public or private school, or , when the time comes to discuss it, what your parents input re:budget might be. So for now, check out the clubs you mentioned and see which resonate with you. If you really enjoy some in particular, stick with them. Colleges like to see commitment, leadership, etc. They have lots of clubs on college campuses and want to see leadership in HS so as to hope for leadership in college.
Welcome to HS. enjoy and explore all it has to offer.
