<p>I'm currently a rising senior and for the most part I've been having a great summer so far, yet in the back of my mind I keep reflecting on my high school years and thinking about college. At times I wish I knew a bit more about the importance of factors such as the ACT or SAT and extra curricular activities when I started high school. As a freshmen and sophomore I found myself lacking involvement in activities or studying for the PSAT. No one really informed me about our pre-college preparation and it wasn't until junior year when I actual understood what I needed to do. In both my sophomore and junior year I scored extremely low on the PSAT, ACT and SAT, now I'm looking back from a disappointed perspective. As I read through certain parts of the CC forum such as the "chance" threads, many students seemed as if they had a well developed plan once they entered high school or they were well informed about certains things at an early stage. I find many students having a rigor of AP courses which my school doesn't offer and some have even taken the ACT or SAT as early as freshmen year. Overall, I'm very pleased with my GPA (3.8) and the few activities I've been involved in, but I feel like I should've done more. I understand that you can't go back and you learn from your mistakes, but I constantly beat myself up mentally and I know its not healthy. My mom fears that I do it too much and says that I should be proud of myself. I don't want to seem as if I'm trying to compare myself to other students, but its hard not too. For the rest of my summer I plan on doing as much prep as I can to boost my ACT score, continue my college search and begin my essays. I want to make my business to stay ahead and just finish my senior year worry-free. Am I stressing too much or is anyone else feeling this way?</p>
<p>I felt that way last year. I also wish I was informed what I had to do to get into a good college. Heck, I didn’t even know what college was my freshman year. It wasn’t until the end of my sophomore year/beginning of junior year where I knew what I had to do, however, it was too late. My freshman grades were p1ss poor, mainly due to the fact I was in the mindset that doing bad was ‘cool.’ My counselor effed up my classes so I was taking a math and science class a freshman should take my sophomore year (and I had bad grades). Junior year I stepped it up and took AP english and APUSH (got college credit from AP english so that helps a little). Was a beast in my sport and was getting recruited by top 50s and when I got my letters back…Rejection. From all but two schools, one I received partial loans and another I received nothing but could compete in my sport.
I am off to a JC and will continue to compete in my sport and I get to skip freshman english due to my ap scores. My suggestion, if you think you won’t get in anywhere is take AP literature and get a 3 or higher. If you have to attend a JC then at least you will be able to knock out freshman english. That is my advice to you. I hope the college application process treats you well, it sure as heck didn’t for me.</p>
<p>/endrant</p>
<p>Thanks EndPhase, I’m sorry to hear that the college application process didn’t treat you so well. I’m personally not too worried about it, because I’m a great essay writer and I have a 94 average, my only concern is boosting my ACT score as one of my admission factors. I’m just glad to hear from someone who shares the thoughts as I do about high school.</p>
<p>I am in a far worse position than you are in. Just play your cards right from this point on. Who know? You might just get a royal flush. Just remember that and persevere. I am already finished with one essay and should get started on a different prompt. Take advantage of your summer. Pursue something that tugs at your heart. May be it is a girl (assuming you are a straight male…), an adventure, or just seek to gain some knowledge of the world. The last one certainly tugged at my heart. So far, this summer, I studied physics, calculus, nuclear fusion, and some other cool stuff. I had plans to study for the SAT, but I find that ridiculous. I mean come on, you can’t “study” to get only one question wrong instead of five. Thankfully my ACT was forgiving; I got a 32. Cheer up, worrying about college just tripped me up Junior year. I was staring at the sky while I was tripping over obstacles right under my feet.</p>
<p>Thanks david, like most comments I receive on CC, it’s greatly appreciated. I really like your analogy about the cards too and I do plan on taking advantage of my summer.</p>
<p>P.S. I am indeed a straight male lol</p>
<p>I feel the same way, another rising senior. I did absolutely nothing in freshman year (extracurricular wise) but focus on my grades. While this is good in one way, I also have weak extracurriculars until 11th grade where I found better ones. Other than, just feeling stressed for the ACT and writing the essays in general. I am so looking forward to the freedom of next summer.</p>
<p>I feel the same way. I’m going to be a senior next year and unfortunately I didn’t fully understand the importance of GPA my freshman and sophomore years, hence why I slacked off those years. I truly wish someone would have told me how much these things factor into college admissions before I started high school.</p>
<p>I have a very high average as well but it’s the stupid standardized tests that annoy me quite so much. They suck. lol. Good luck though.</p>
<p>Hey!
Another rising senior here :)</p>
<p>I feel good about going into my senior year. I’m ready for it, I just wish that I could have done a bit better with my grades.</p>
<p>I wish that I had been told about how important the PSAT is and stuff like that.
The school system has failed at us, even for those of us who go to top or competitive highschools.</p>
<p>Definitely, I didn’t understand how important my GPA was and I knew little to nothing about college application. Now I’m about to be a senior and It’s killing me. I finally know better, but I wish I tried harder in the GPA department. Now all that’s left is to get the highest score possible on SAT I, take a bunch of college online classes to boost my GPA this summer, and hope for the best.</p>
<p>First semester senior year is going to suck. I’m taking 5 APs, an intense anatomy class, an online class, the ACT, and a subject test.</p>
<p>Hopefully it all pays off though :)</p>