Im a freshman in high school aspiring to attend an Ivy League school.
Is it important for me to have a mentor?
Thank you and please comment!
You are what? 14?
Remember when you were 10? are your ambitions now the same as they were then? Now try and imagine 18 year old you. You will change at least as much between 14 & 18 as you did from 10 to 14- and there would be something very wrong if you didn’t.
You are clearly smart and ambitious. You want to aim for the top? great. but…be smart about it. Deciding - at 14- that there are only 8 schools worth shooting for is not smart. Deciding- at any age- that what will make you a success is a prestigious label (on your diploma, your clothes, your car, etc) is not smart.
Here is some smart advice from MIT- not, you will note a member of the Ivy League, and yet by any standard a tippy-top college:
https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways/
Read it, believe it, live it. Hand on heart there is no better way to use your high school experience.
Thank you very much
You are welcome 
but…your next post suggests that you haven’t read the link: “Find what you love, and do it”. If you know what that is- do it. If you are still sorting out what that is, try things you think you are interested in and follow through until you realize that it is really not you.
“There is nothing, literally nothing, that in and of itself will get you in”
You can’t build a ‘perfect’ application, b/c there is no such thing. Your best application will be the one that is truest to what you are really interested in. There really isn’t a rule book. I have seen people with ah-mazing ECs get into Harvard - and also be turned down.
You have a number of posts showing you are dreaming about Ivy League schools. Why? You come off as prestige hunting.
Have you done your research? Do you understand that the Ivy League is a sports league and while all of the schools are excellent academically they have very different attributes? For example a person who loves the core curriculum at Columbia may not like Brown with no required courses, a person who loves the urban environment of Penn may not like the rural environment of Dartmouth, etc.
Please stop targeting any school or group of school as a freshman. It is just too early. Focus on being the best “you” that you can be. Focus on doing well in HS. Focus on activities you love and can make a contribution to. Focus on friends and family. Focus on learning and growing in your HS years. IMO these things will be more valuable in the long run.
Is it important for a freshman or sophomore in high school who has Ivy League aspirations to have a mentor ? No, although it could be helpful.
Better to pursue your own interests rather than what another thinks that you should pursue.
Important to understand the importance of standardized tests such as the PSAT since it is a qualifying test for National Merit Scholar.
Mentors are very important in the business world after one has completed college or for interns who have completed at least 2 years of college.
Read the article, thank you. Its very helpful and certainly takes a load off my back.
Are you an underrepresented minority who might be first generation to college and possibly living in difficult socio-economic circumstances? Have you had a poor upbringing, struggled with school, suffered tragedy in your life, endured medical issues or anything else that might make it difficult for you to succeed in getting into college and/or life in general? If you answered any of those questions negatively, you probably don’t need a mentor. And a mentor in what, in particular?