What to do to get into a top-notch school?

Applying to College
1

<p>I’m in the beginning of my sophomore year, and here’s what I’ve achieved so far:</p>

<p>-AMC10: 126
-AIME: 5
-4th degree black belt taekwondo (i’m aware of the business-like nature of taekwondo, but i have still poured over a decade of effort into this so I’m going to count it as an achievement)
-level 10 certificate of merit in piano from music teacher’s association of california
-60 service hours at soup-kitchen type place
-PSAT 227
-SAT math II 800</p>

<p>What i’m fairly confident I will achieve this school year given no preparation from this point forward:</p>

<p>-usamo qualification (i’ve been practicing a lot)
-maybe an officer position in social innovations club (makes websites and apps for regional non-profits)
-SAT 2200
-SAT physics 800
-PSAT 230ish
-maybe something from the national science olympiad</p>

<p>what i want to achieve:</p>

<p>write a research paper in electricity/magnetism area of physics
usapho semifinals
usaco silver</p>

<p>My question is, given my remaining time before college apps, what are your recommendations for how I should be spending my time? are my goals possible to reach? My top school choices are MIT caltech, but I know given my current stats those are a bit out of range…</p>

<p>also, ive finished calc AB (5 on AP test), planning on getting 5’s on calc BC and physics C</p>

2

<p>I think the research paper idea is overkill. Martial arts is good since that’s a point of interest you can talk about in an essay or something. But I mean, overall, just take it easier. If you devote every waking hour to your college application, you’ve basically wasted the last few years of your youth. Enjoy life.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the advice. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve reached the same sort of decision myself. </p>