Am I the only one who doesn't feel up to par?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Compared to a lot of CC students up here, I feel like I've been lagging behind. Everyday I see posts referring to 2200+ SAT scores, 3.9 UW GPAs, 15+ AP, DE, and honors courses, 800+ volunteer hours, and an insane amount of ECs and sports. The most discouraging thing though is how they actually call into question their chances of being accepted in to college when most of the time they're amply qualified for most Honors programs within several universities. If these students are actually questioning their stats, then I can only imagine what MY meager stats will look like stacked up to theirs (not to mention the stats that these CC high achievers think will one up them) Here are my stats so far (I'm a sophomore by the way):</p>

<p>GPA: 3.9, so far #1 in my class of let's say near 100 (a lot can happen in two years though)</p>

<p>SAT: N/A</p>

<p>ACT: N/A</p>

<p>Number of APs: none so far</p>

<p>Number of Honors: Two- Honors Eng. 10 and 11</p>

<p>ECs- Drama, JROTC, Academic Challenge/Scholastic Bowl, PTSA</p>

<p>Sports- Volleyball and Track</p>

<p>Leadership- Cadet Cpt, S-4, SGA, plan on running for PTSA office. </p>

<p>Clubs/Societies: National Beta club, STEM</p>

<p>Awards: various in school academic achievement awards, Distinguished Honor Cadet 3rd place 2011 JCLC Mountain (go Delta! ;D), Miss JROTC 2011 and 2012, Superior Cadet 2012</p>

<p>Volunteering- No hours to speak of. I've volunteered for Ukrop's 10k this past year as a service learning project for JROTC and I've sang in choir performances for seniors (although much of that was in middle school)</p>

<p>That's all I can list off the top of my head, but it's still small compared to some of the stuff I see up here. I think my junior year schedule will improve it by some because I'm signed up for one AP (Calculus AB, which is iffy given that this year my teacher decided to focus on her other two classes instead of teaching trig. School budget cut = severe shortage in teachers) and for college level english which I qualify for through PSAT.</p>

<p>Anyway. . .</p>

<p>So clearly, I'm not exactly top knotch overachiever material although I do my best with what I can in my school and community. My top choice is VT (Virginia Tech) and my goals include getting into Honors (housing would be nice too) and to do multiple Majors/minors out of the following fields:</p>

<p>Biology/molecular Biology- possible major
Biochemistry- possible major
Theatre- minor
Classical Language- minor
English/creative writing- minor</p>

<p>Of course I probably won't do them all (unless I find a way possible but without the help of a ton of DE and AP credits, it isn't looking too good) but I want to do as many as possible. </p>

<p>Now my question is does anyone else feel the same? Having big dreams, coming from a not so impressive place, wanting more? If so, I think we all need a little reassurance. So if you feel like you're in that spot now, go ahead and vent it out here or message me. It's nice to know you're not alone. And if you were in this situation before, give some advice, words of encouragement, or tell your own success story! :) Thanks!</p>

2

<p>My god why are so many kids so insecure? I swear I see at least 3 of these per day. </p>

<p>I’m not trying to be mean but have some confidence in yourself.</p>

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</p>

<p>Last time I checked, being #1 in your class wasn’t a “meager stat”.</p>

<p>Not to mention you haven’t even taken a standardized test, so I don’t know how you even compare yourself to them.</p>

3

<p>Wow, we are a lot alike.

  • Our GPA’s are similar, we both do Drama and JROTC and we our Majors/Minors are very alike. I was in S-5 and S-6 at my school, and next year I want to do S-2.
    And I just made a post like this last night ^-^ I’m in the same predicament. I don’t want to take 5-6 APs a year like some kids, I just want to get into a good school, and have fun my highschool years. I get A LOT of crap about not dropping JROTC , Drama and Colorguard for AP’s or extra maths or something. I’m from a small suburb community around Kissimmee, which is a suburb of Orlando. I’ll be a sophomore in August. (:</p>
4

<p>It’s a VERY small school with not very many competitive students. I do have confidence that I can get into a college but maybe not to get into the Honors. And actually I do get comments like this often, but it’s like being good on a local level when you’re competing on a statewide, sometimes even national, level. </p>

<p>I really do appreciate you not being mean/over critical though.</p>

5

<p>I don’t.
There will never be a person on here that will make me feel any less. I could care less that a person just got a perfect SAT score the second time. I could care less that the got accepted to three of the top Ivies. Why? Because I don’t want that for my life. I don’t want to be going to the top medical school. I want to stay near my family and go to a college based on how comfortable I feel at the school and not based in its prestige. I don’t to take 11 AP classes next year because that’s a lot of work. I’m a lazy kid. I may not be considered smart for taking 11 AP classes but I’m being smart because I know I can’t handle them. I’m living for me and I don’t care what others may look in in and judge. You need find out what you want for your life an what you are capable of. That is what I’ve done and I’m happy.</p>

6

<p>@NobodyButHector-</p>

<p>Im in color guard too!! :)) Hopefully I’ll be leading it next year :smiley: and it’s not that I don’t want to take them, I simply can’t because my school doesn’t offer them.</p>

7

<p>@Niquii77</p>

<p>Don’t get me wrong. If I do what everyone else wants me to do, I’d be all about Ivy and pre-med but I don’t want that. I want VT because I love the sense of community and devotion. I want Honors because I want to surround myself with people who care just as much as I do about school. And I want to be good because I need scholarships because I can’t afford to pay for the education I want. Call me a perfectionist living in an imperfect (a.k.a real) world.</p>

8

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<h1>1 is #1. Regardless of where you go to school, being valedictorian is very impressive. I’m sure your school has at least a few kids who are competitive.</h1>

<p>You’re what? A rising sophomore or junior? If sophomore, you have PLENTY of time to take APs. Most kids who get into good schools, despite what you see here, don’t take APs freshman year and only take one or two sophomore year. Even if you’re a rising junior you still have enough time to take a few. Take 2-3 each year which will put you at like 5 or 6 total, which is fine for anything outside of the ivy league schools.</p>

<p>It looks like you have a good amount of EC’s/awards already, just keep doing those and go for some more leadership positions and you’ll be fine.</p>

9

<p>ok, well thanks again for not being snide or criticizing :)</p>

10

<p>I’m pretty sure I’m #1 in my school or at least the top 2-3, but when I come here I feel like I’m failing all my classes <3</p>

11

<p>More JROTC people, hells yeah.</p>

<p>I feel the same way that you do sometimes (though your GPA is better than mine), and though I have confidence in myself it does suck to read threads that have kids with 2350’s asking if they should re-take or stressing over whether they’ll get into an Ivy. Truthfully, it’s sometimes completely random, so it’s not something worth stressing out over (or at least, that approach is working for me as a rising senior). I just work as hard as I can while still enjoying high school and having a (small) social life.</p>

<p>But yeah, JROTC! /brofist</p>

12

<p>Lol, I’m pretty sure most kids feel like underachievers when on CC. I have pretty good stats and all but I come on here and there are so many kids who work harder, play more sports, play more instruments, have better GPAs, whatev. Personally, I use CC as entertainment (: And I know you’re saying that #1 in your school doesn’t mean much. Colleges, however, will take it as a huge positive if you make the most of what your school offers. And that’s what the #1 shows, so it’s definitely a big deal.
Oh, and junior year is probably the most important year (from what I hear) so you have lots of time to improve your weak areas!</p>