i’m currently a sophomore and i’m interested in applying to ivy leagues like harvard, etc. i want to major in linguistics and then go to law school.
i want to see if my high school transcript will impress ivy leagues which is:
grades:
9th grade: (9th grade is still ms in my district so we cant take any honors or ap)
advanced english 9
geometry/trig
academic science 9
advanced u.s. history 2
spanish 1
orchestra
10th grade:
honors english 10
algebra 2/trig
honors biology
ap european history
spanish 2
honors spanish 3
latin 1
11th grade:
ap english language
accelerated precalc/trig
honors chemistry
ap us history
ap psychology
honors spanish 4
latin 2
12th grade:
ap english literature
ap calc ab
ap physics c m
ap comparative gov
ap spanish
latin 3
going to self-study ap human geography, ap world history (debating), ap latin
standardized tests:
took psats this year and i got 1230/1520 (going to study a lot more)
sat subject test japanese 730/800 (going to retake)
going to take sat subject test spanish, french, math 2, us history, world history (debating), latin
ecs:
passed jlpt n5 and n4
ive been going to a community service organization since 8th and plan to go there until 12th
volunteered at a history museum
going to spain in 2017 with selected students in my school district
in 7 clubs including student council, key club, asian culture club, national history day, culture shock, world affairs, latin club
Your schedule looks great, you have a lot of ECs already you should be fine if your GPA isn’t low lol. Just keep it up and keep doing what your passionate about, that’s what these colleges really want to see!
Self-studying those AP’s probably isn’t worth your time. Human Geography I especially don’t really see helping you. Unless you are just super passionate about Latin (which you might be, based off of all the Latin classes you have taken and your being in the Latin Club), I would even drop your Latin classes if they are not required and take something different (business?).
There isn’t any need to take so many subject tests. If I remember right, most colleges have actually said that two is the most they will consider. I would advise just sticking with Japanese since you’ve already taken it, and then adding on either an English or Government/US History one, as that can help to show your interest in law.
You look to be going more quantity vs. quality in terms of EC’s. Maybe that isn’t true, but to both me and colleges, it’s hard to see how and student could be in 7 clubs and really have the time to make a big impact on all if them. I would suggest that at the end of the semester/year, you decide which you like the best, and continue only with those. If you want alternative EC’s too, interning in a law or government office could be helpful at making you stand out.
Your classes look mostly fine, and keep studying for those SAT’s! If you can get your score up to around 1500, that definitely shouldn’t hold you back from a more selective school.
Youve got the bones, now you need to plan for the “more.” Go look at Harvard’s what we look for. This is more than collecting clubs. Travel isnt a tip, just working at the museum won’t be as important as what you do, how you challenge yourself, what results. And if that service is through Key, you could do something on your own, as opposed to the random hours of most hs service activities.
They’ll read between the lines, look at your choices to see how you think (or not) and choose to activate. But they can’t guess.