What is the current standard for good math/science schools? How can I improve to meet it?

Pre-College Topics
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Sophomore in high school, class of 2027.

I currently attend a small but reasonably well ranked/good public high school, that offers some APs and the IB program. I am EXTREMELY nervous about getting into a good college, and how I may compare to other applicants of similar intelligence levels who have achieved more due to better opportunities or being pushed harder by their parents.

In math and science (my areas of interest) so far I have taken Living Environment, Chemistry, Algebra 1 & 2, Geometry (correspondence), and Precalculus. I also took AP Computer Science A last year and received a 5. Grades were A+ except for Algebra and Geometry (A and A-) due to personal issues and difficulties with the correspondence course. My school does not report GPAs out of 4.0, but every unweighted grade I got last year was >=97%.

I am currently taking AP Calculus BC, AP Language and Composition, AP World History, Physics H, and Italian III H, as well as electives (drawing and painting, film photography, electricity, and research). I’m doing well in all of them so far, and I think I’ll end the year with maybe an A and the rest A+. (a little hubristic, but on trend)

In terms of extracurriculars, I am in both the Science Bowl and History Bowl clubs, all though I don’t know if I’ll make either team. (I made Science Bowl last year) I am part of the Italian Honor Society and club, and a volunteer group at the local church. I am currently trying to self-teach Linear Algebra.

I doubt I’ll accomplish anything research wise in school due to the structure of the program, and that’s something I’m very worried about. How important is truly novel research to applications?

In terms of summer programs, I took a computing course run by Johns Hopkins CTY before 9th grade, and a STEM Prep program at Brookhaven National Lab this summer. Despite being run at a national lab, that program didn’t seem very selective, and I don’t think I learned much. However, attendance does mean automatic acceptance into their more prestigious High School Research program after 11th. (I’m nervous about being prepared for that - I don’t have a mentor there or anything, and I don’t have any research ideas)

I struggle with the fact that I am competing with people who started nonprofits in middle school and worked with professors at Columbis over the summer (real friend of a friend). I don’t know what to do to get on that level at this point. Is there anything I can do besides the IB program and trying at research? I struggle with mental health issues, and having too few hours in the day, it feels like all of these things I’m expected to do have chipped away at time to read and draw enough already.

My dad went to Harvard, and every time I hear him talk about it I just feel upset at how different it seems like the standards are nowadays. My parents haven’t been training me since birth, and I’m autistic but not a savant, so it seems like I have no chance to learn the things I want to learn. I don’t even care about jobs that much, I just can’t stand the idea of a life where I don’t get a world-class education in theoretical physics, even if I’m too dumb to do anything with it.

Sorry if this is long or annoying or undirected.

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Everything you are doing is enough. You are enough.

Your post really concerns me, though, as you seem overwhelmed and not very happy.

This to me is your biggest problem right now. You need a break. You need to set realistic expectations for yourself. You are doing everything “right” school-wise, but the reality is that you can do everything right and still not get into a T20 school. What then? You can’t tie your sense of self-worth to your college acceptances, and you can’t spend your high school years trying to impress and please an anonymous admissions officer somewhere. It is not healthy and it is not even a strategy that guarantees success.

Please take a deep breath and take a step back and think about what you really want your life to look like, now and in the future.

Why? What is it that you want here? Do you love physics? Great! Just about every college in the US has a physics department and many have very strong physics departments - and most of those colleges aren’t named Harvard. You can get a world-class education at MANY colleges in the US. Don’t set yourself up for failure and disappointment by counting on a T20 acceptance. You may well be accepted. You may not. And it’s nothing you’ve done wrong - a lot of these acceptances are basically lotteries after a certain point. You may win, you may not. But, again, you can not link your self-worth with acceptance to a T20 college. This rarely ends well.

You are still very early in the process - you have time to begin to change your mindset. Please take some time to do so, even if that process seems scary. You deserve happiness, now and the future.

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Define good college. There’s hundreds.

You are in a class (calc bc) in 10th grade that most never take ever in high school.

I think you can relax.

Enjoy your high school years.

There will be many a fine college for you.

Be the best you - your dad will be proud.

More importantly - you needn’t over stress. Many great colleges for your interest. All will be difficult but sounds like you will be well prepared. Your mental health comes first.

Good luck.

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You are already doing a lot. Relax. This will work out.

For context, I was a math major in university, and have worked in high tech for my entire career. My first full time job was at a nuclear physics research facility (which apparently has some need for people who are good at mathematics).

There are a LOT of universities that are very good for math and sciences. Also, if you look at highly ranked graduate programs, you will find students who got their bachelor’s degree from a very wide range of universities. As one example, I got my master’s degree at Stanford, and found that the various students in the same program had come from a huge range of schools. There was only one case that I noticed where more than one student had earned their bachelor’s degree at the same school, it was probably a coincidence, and it was NOT ranked in the top 50 in the US. Both daughters are currently getting some form of doctorate (one DVM, one PhD) at very good universities in the US, and again the other students in the same programs come from a very, very wide range of universities and backgrounds. Many of them attended their local in-state public university for their bachelor’s degree.

Which is a slow way of saying that for a bachelor’s degree you can get a very good education at any of a huge number of schools, including probably at least 200 universities and colleges in the US and just as many outside the US. You do not need to get into Harvard or MIT to do well. For a graduate degree, the details of what you want to study will matter a lot and it is way, way too early to even think about it.

As an undergraduate student I took the classes to be on-track to be either a math major or a physics major for the first two years of university. This included special relativity and quantum physics. I liked physics quite a bit through special relativity. I liked the fact that it relates to the real world. The truth or non-truth of any theory can be tested (and yes special relativity is tested all the time, and it works). I did not like quantum physics as well. If you get into theoretical physics you will eventually get into things that are much more difficult to verify or refute.

Also, most students in the US (and Canada) change their major after they arrive at university.

As such I would encourage you to keep an open mind and consider some other alternate majors at least through your first year or two of university.

You have already done a lot. It sounds like you are solidly on-track to attend a very good university. Just keep up the good work, keep an open mind, find some time to relax and have some fun, and this will work out.

Another thought, if you read the “applying sideways” blog on the MIT admissions web site, as I understand it the recommendation is that you do what is right for you, and whatever you do, do it well. This approach has worked for us. If you are doing what is right for you, and getting good grades, and being responsible, and getting enough sleep, and having some fun, then things will work out.

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I’m not sure what you mean by this?

Are you trying to say that you feel you are behind because your parents don’t ‘push’ you?

You can learn anything you want to. You are studying physics this year, which is great. You are a sophomore, most kids don’t take physics until senior year, less than half of high school students take it at all.

I know it’s hard to believe, but tying the value of your life to a ‘low-to-no chance of admission’ school like the Ivies/T20’s in this admission climate is just bonkers. You are obviously so much smarter than that.

I think you are asking the wrong question - it’s not about what more you can do. Great advice above: slow down, breathe, read and draw, figure out what will make you happier.

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I echo what many posters have already said.

Please address your mental health issues if you aren’t already. That should be your number one focus.

Not important nor attainable for the vast majority of applicants. Think about it…novel research takes years, and years to publication. It is a very small number of HS seniors who have done novel research.

There are many schools where you can get this education, seriously, a few hundred at least.

Stop this now. It will NOT help you in college admissions. It will only serve to take your focus off your current classes, ECs, and day to day life. Generally, stop doing anything that could be contributing to your mental health issues.

This seems like a heavy/over load. Is this the typical number of courses students in your HS take?

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Actual research takes years and years and previous knowledge. No college expects it form HS students - except in very rare cases it’s just a way to signal your parents have an “in” with a college.

You CAN however investigate a focused phenomenon and it’ll be much more relevant to you+unique your college application.
For instance, try to answer the question: is my neighborhood/school neighborhood/ town well adapted to cycling? What should be done to encourage biking to school/in town?
The following year (11th) you use that as a basis to study soft mobility, energy, and the climate crisis, which mixes urban design, physics, and environnemental science. And in 12th grade you focus on one aspect your work in 11th made you interested in.

Perhaps see if you can be admitted to a summer program for high schoolers at Case Western Reserve or URochester (or MITES at Purdue??) It’d take you out of your usual area and show you places of excellence you may not know.

Can you drop a class? 9 classes is one or two too many.

I agree with posters above that you should do what will be good for your mental health. Sleep 9 hours a night, be kind to yourself, find things you enjoy and do them :hugs:

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You scored 5 on APCSA in 9th grade? That’s very very impressive! I teach APCSA so I know what it takes. You are definitely talented.

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The usual standard for preparing for college to study math or science is math through precalculus (calculus if available to you), biology, chemistry, and physics. More advanced courses in these subjects, or elective sciences like computer science, statistics, environmental science, etc. can help you determine which areas of math and science are most interesting to you, and more advanced course work may lead to advanced placement in college.

In addition, be sure to have the usually expected base curriculum like four years of English, three to four years of history and social studies, foreign language to at least level 3 (level 4 is preferred by some colleges), and some kind of arts.

It looks like you have most or all of the above or will have it by high school graduation.

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