Help optimize a rising juniors path🙏
Title. I've doom scrolled this subreddit and so many others regarding college admissions and I'm experiencing the universal feeling of being lost and behind when compared to those kids who started in middle school. I could go on and on about how it feels like I need USAMO, USAPho, published research, ISEF, MITES, and all these awards for even a chance at MIT.
I've read the rants of others in the same boat as me, and I've seen all the responses where people warn against just "checking boxes" and advise to just "do it for the love of the game" and hope that your passion carries you far enough.
I know I'm still fully discovering my passions (arnt we all) but I've experienced enough to grasp that I truly love the hands-on, semi-chaotic, nature of robotics and that MIT is the dream.
My issue is that I recognize I'm running out of time before admissions, and I need to optimize my game-plan before senior year rolls around.
I'm lacking in competitive awards, so I'm putting a lot of effort towards my FTC team. However I feel like I need a math award to show proficiency (due to my school lacking any AP/IB physics). Should I grind for either F=ma or the amc12? Do both? try out both, see which one i'm better at, then focus on that one?
I also wonder what I can 'double dip' on. For example, would I be able to apply to mit THINK with an idea for a project, then develop that project for regen ISEF, all while detailing my journey in a MITES application?
Overall, I feel very overwhelmed, behind, and lost. I wish there was just a structured plan I could definitively grind for but I know admissions doesn't work like that. I don't know how to balance doing too much and being mid at everything, vs putting all my eggs in one basket and it not working out. I've heard about 'Applying Sideways' but I just don't want to miss an opportunity which is available to me due to a lack of guidance.
