I begin my Junior year in 2 days, at a rural high school in small town Alabama. The most rigorous curriculum offered is anything but. For example, only 1 AP course was offered this coming year, and that is in history. Their is honors english, science, and advanced chem this year, but not much else. The clubs are also generic., nothing i was interested in , so i have decided to start my own if i stay at this school,to make up for lack of such.
the first club will involve finance, a passion of mine. Ive been a keen observer of the markets and political spectrum since 7th grade, and finally began investing last year. -- the club will meet 2-4 times a month, and we will discuss market basics, and of course progress into advanced topics surrounding investing. The club is sponsored by our finance teacher as well. Members will have simulated stock accounts, where they can practice investing, because the best way to learn in this field is experience. I believe everyone should have money in the market, no matter if you are a pro investor or a retail clerk, and the club will give students a jump on intelligent investing without a broker.
The second club will evolve around science, - from astronomy to evolution. ( a touchy subject in the south might I add)
Meet 1-2 times a month, to discuss various topics of science, and maybe conduct an experiment here or there .
So now i present you with my two options:
Option number 1: stay at this school, and start these clubs, maintaining a 4.2 and 34 ACT
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Option number 2: ditch the clubs and transfer for more AP/rigorous curriculum.
Note** I think Columbia will understand my rural situation, and admire the fact that i took it upon myself to better our school.This is just my opinion, i really don’t know what will be best.
Share your thoughts.
I’m not an expert but as far as I know, the universities (esp. Ivy leagues) care more about how you challenged yourself in your own environment, and you get evaluated with your circumstances. So like, they won’t judge your application for being in a bad school if that’s all you have.
But, say you get in. Then, it becomes a totally different problem. Many students probably have taken the most rigorous courses such as full APs/Honors or IB. That gives them much advantage when compared to students like yourself (no offense but your situation isn’t good tbh) because they already have completed many courses, and in programs like IB some course material overlaps with freshman curriculum.
If possible, I’d recommend changing schools. I also feel like they’ll like it more since you still chose to challenge yourself for the last year of the high school. And trust me, in the beginning, those students with privileged education ARE in huge advantage.
Also, it’s a misconception that your marks will drop significantly if you move to more difficult course level (at least it didn’t for me).
Small personal opinion, hope that helps.
I would stick it out, transferring to another school is going to make you look like thousands of other candidates, right now you’ve got a pretty good story. I had a lot of the same worries, coming from a rural school in Indiana, with not many APs and few interesting clubs. Just try to be involved in everything you can and create opportunities where they are lacking. I was able to reach out to our local university and get them to help with the debate and ethics bowl teams I started, as well as acquire grants for a robotics club I founded.
I’m not sure how applicable those options are for your situation, but I think they really helped out my application and I ended up getting accepted to Columbia. I’d try to look into raising some money through local or state organizations for your clubs, and reach out to anyone who might be able to help out, especially if you have a university nearby, professors are usually willing to come in and talk. You really just have to show that you can make the most of your situation.
Also just a quick note on Columbia, they put a lot of focus on their core curriculum, and a significant part of the application is what you’ve read over the last year, so try to show them that even though your high school isn’t the best, you’ve tried to challenge yourself and learn some things on your own. They have a really small percentage of rural students and I’ve heard they’re trying to bring that number up, so you just might have an advantage staying where you are.
Anyways that’s just a few quick thoughts, let me know if you have any questions about applying to Ivies from a small town school.