can i do it?Answered
Ik this is really far fetched and all, but i have 3 more years, so maybe i can do it? I really want to get into a good college like NYU, UCLA or dukes, or even one of the ivy leagues like Cornell. I have average grades, like I haven't focused a lot on school till now due to personal reasons but im working on upping my grades(trying) this year, so my grades wont be to hard. but how much do you recommend me studying a day? totally off topic but anyways i'm in 10th grade so what exactly should I be doing to get into a college like those? My school doesn't have any clubs or whats so ever and there an no internships or shadowing opportunity nearby. I was planning on doing summer course abroad maybe? Im part of my school basketball team. But i don't know where to start and i want to major in either medicine or communication; journalism or psych. what should i be doing?
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2 answers
Yeah, you absolutely can. It's not easy for anyone to do by any means, and I'm not sure where your grades are right now, but ideally you should aim for a GPA by the end of high school that's around a 3.6~3.7 or above (that's about 2/3rds As, 1/3rd Bs, or an A- average). That will be above the academic threshold for almost any school (yes, even Ivies—their threshold is lower than people often think), and that's the point when the rest of your application really becomes meaningful.
As for what you should be doing outside of that—do things related to what you're interested in studying. Summer courses (either online or in person) are a good idea, and in future years in-person summer programs might be a possibility again. If you're interested in communications or journalism, consider starting a news blog or something similar to get yourself practicing and writing. Beyond that, look for local newspapers that might be able to use a volunteer or intern (though, again, that's probably a task for a post-pandemic world). For psych or medicine—again, in a post-pandemic world—look for volunteer work at hospitals or clinics, or even try shadowing doctors (usually this involves reaching out to ones you might know, either in your community or through family/friends, and asking them for the opportunity).
What schools like the ones you're talking about really look for is students who have demonstrated a clear interest or passion for something. As long as your grades and coursework hit a kind of minimum mark, they don't actually mean as much as a lot of people tend to think that they do. (And contrary to popular belief, for out-of-state students, big public schools like UCLA, Berkeley, UMich, Georgia Tech, aren't really any easier to get into than private schools like Duke, Cornell, etc.).
If you find good extra circular activities and can up your grades by end of junior year you should be able to explain it to the admissions office and that should help. I doubt you can get into an Ivy school but top 50 schools and most of the schools in the AAU (American association of universities). And high-level state schools like Nebraska-Lincoln, Houston, San Diego State, and schools that are in a power five conference should be target schools.
After covid you could volunteer in a nursing home for medicine
For communication/journalism, most schools have a forensics also called speech team but blogging is also an option and its free on google sites.
For psych an AP course if you school offers it? but beyond that I don't know
Hope this helps!
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so no chance? like what can i do if i really wanna get it