I am a freshman who has skipped 2 years and became a senior, what must I do to get into a top university?

Question

I by the end of my senior year, I will have 3 honor courses, 5 out of my school鈥檚 8 AP classes, hopefully a 4.0 UW GPA and a 4.32 W GPA. I have a block schedule where I earn 4 credits per semester and require 28 to graduate. I also have a 35 on the ACT and am planning to take the SAT. I鈥檝e placed at state in SciOly and Chess. I will have 150 hours of volunteer work by the time of admissions. I鈥檓 worried that i won鈥檛 have most of my EC鈥檚 by the time I鈥檓 applying. I would only have 1.5 years of highschool at the time, so I鈥檓 wondering if that will make a difference on how colleges view me. I currently want to apply to Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, and Cornell. I am also applying to UT Austin for a target school. Do I have a realistic goal of being able to attend one of the schools?

Answer

Wow, I have never heard of someone skipping years in high school like that! Good for you! First of all, I would definitely suggest that you write about your unique situation in the additional information section, that way colleges understand your situation better. I know that most schools have your counselor submit a school report that would probably include a description of your situation as well. If you have both of those explanation, I think that those school will definitely take that into account when going over your application.

Although, if you don't have any impressive EC's (a leadership position, an internship of some sort, or a impactful passion project), I would almost suggest that if possible, you continue in high school for at least one more year. That way you could get some more EC's, more rigorous classes, and be able to get more of the true high school experience. I think that your academics seem really good and on par for the schools you're shooting for but, even taking your situation into account, I think that you would still need good EC's, even if just one or two.

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