Advice (or body suits) needed

Applying to College
1

<p>I wasn’t sure where to post this; I hope I’ve found the right place. </p>

<p>My first question is about upward trends in GPA. As a freshman, I had a rough year (trouble adjusting) and only managed to get a 4.85 (5.0 scale) first semester (ranked 86 out of 500) and a better 5.42 second semester (which brought my rank to 37 and my overall GPA to 5.18). This year, as a sophomore, I’ve gotten all As; my first semester GPA was 5.53 (bringing my total to 5.26, and I was ranked 18 (I'm extremely ambitious, like most people here). This semester should continue the trend, though not as much, because I have to take health and geometry (which are regular level). Still, would this upward trend be beneficial in the college admissions process? I plan to apply to University of Chicago, Northwestern, or Ivy Leagues. Obviously I haven’t taken the SAT or ACT yet, but on the PSAT I got a 185 selection index; 67 CR (98 percentile), 73 W (99 percentile), and 45 M (53 percentile) (Hmm, I wonder which one needs improvement?). Which leads to my next question…</p>

<p>I have a dilemma regarding my junior year schedule. Currently I'm signed up to take:
Honors English
AP Statistics
Honors Physics
AP US History
Spanish 3 and 4 (block scheduling)
(Band)</p>

<p>Would it be wiser to take honors pre-calculus instead of AP statistics? Math is my only academic “weakness.” As a freshman, I took advanced algebra (not honors) and got Bs (though I had gone to a small private school until 8th grade where the math curriculum was subpar). This year I'm in regular geometry and getting As, and the algebra review is easy. I feel like I’m able to understand algebra so much better this year (though we mostly review algebra 1). Initially I thought AP Stats would be a better class for me because it’s easy, but after learning that colleges like to see pre-calculus, I am reconsidering.
Pros of AP stats:<br>
Easier<br>
Will increase GPA more<br>
Only lasts one semester (block)</p>

<p>Con of AP stats:
Too easy</p>

<p>At my school, Honors and regular pre-calculus are three term blocks (lots of math). Given my relatively rigorous course load, which class (stats or pre-calc) would be better to take? </p>

<p>And about foreign languages: I am very good at Spanish, but I’d rather take AP classes instead, because they’d challenge me more and increase my GPA. The problem is that upper tier colleges like to see at least four years of a foreign language. Would it be better to just take Spanish?</p>

<p>I apologize if this is confusing, but I am in need of advice. Private messages and responses are greatly appreciated.
I feel like I’m stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. Will someone provide me with a SCUBA or a flame-resistant suit?</p>

<p>[My school’s grading scale: A in regular=5.0; A in honors=5.5; A in AP=6]</p>

2

<p>based on your psat math score, I would recommend honors precalc and not AP statistics, which is just about as dull as you can get. Not to mention there is no thinking involved, it's just data entry.</p>

3

<p>So pre-calculus would reinforce concepts that would be on standardized testing? Not to mention, it looks better on applications.</p>

4

<p>If not for standardized tests then at least for your own edification. SAT level math skills are pretty important in the real world, I would imagine.</p>

5

<p>Preclac is the way to calculus, which is crucial for future studies.
UChicago and NW would like to see you taking calc
But it depends. If you are really not a math person, just take AP stat and try to excel in other areas you are good at.</p>

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<p>does your school not offer Alg II? But, as the others have noted, you'll need math in Hyde Park, so the pre-calc sequence is definitely preferable -- AP Stats only requires Algebra I as a prereq.</p>

<p>ps -- practice like crazy for the psat this summer -- raising your M score could get you into NMSF territory, or at least Commended.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the math advice. My school does have algebra II- honors accelerated advanced algebra, it's called. I was in the slower advanced class which, to my dismay, was not honors. It was challenging, though I attribute my mediocre grades more to inexperience with the basics rather than not being able to understand the material. Basically, my algebra class was algebra II, but at a slow level. Average geometry is very easy, and, as I said, algebra review is going very well. Hopefully I'll be able to successfully complete pre-calc. The only problem is that it is only an honors class; it would not raise my GPA as much as AP stats. But I suppose it doesn't matter too much. As long as I'm in the top 5%, right? Hmm.</p>

<p>Thanks also for the PSAT encouragement. Do you think that my CR and W scores are high enough that I should mainly focus on math? (By the way, I hadn't taken geometry when I took the PSAT, so that accounts in some way for the low score.)</p>

<p>Does anyone have anything to add about my foreign language dilemma? And what of upward GPA trends?</p>

8

<p>how is getting a 4.85 'struggling'?</p>

9

<p>4.85 isn't struggling; I would've preferred better, though. Why would I be content with a rank of 86/500 when I know I can be in the top 10? This year and next will be focused on compensating for that first semester of my freshman year. I did get As in all of my honors classes last year, but I took art (huge mistake) and did only okay in algebra. But freshman grades have less weight with colleges, right? (Stanford and Princeton, at least)</p>

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<p>Bump. Could someone answer my question regarding foreign language?</p>

11

<p>definitely take at least three years of foreign language...whether you take year 4 is up to you, but highly selective colleges would rather see Span IV than AP Stats, IMO. Also, don't forget that some colleges have a foreign language requirement which you can pass out of if you take AP Span or score high on the subject test.</p>