<p>^</p>
<p>lol That's both really funny and a good idea!</p>
<p>Alright alright, at my high school we had 24 seniors and 0 AP classes. I wrote about growing up in a small community for my essay and how this shaped my values. The only disadvantage to my HS was that I did not find myself adequately prepared for the SAT Subject test. My scores were somewhat low: 730 on Math Lvl 2 and 700 on Physics.<br>
I'll be majoring in engineering at Cornell next year though. So what I'm trying to say is, think of the positive and turn it into an advantage.</p>
<p>You can take AP exams that your school does not typically offer
by talking to your AP co-ordinator (usually someone in guidance)
and letting them know the APs you are interested in.</p>
<p>Something like ART History which requires special equipment may
be turned down by your school but typically they will not have a
problem either co-proctoring an exam (Same time slot as another
exam they are holding for example AP ES and AP Chem are usually at
the same time on the same day every year, etc.) or providing an
exclusive proctor.</p>
<p>In case the AP coordinator at your school turns down your request,
you will be allowed to take the AP at a nearby school and can
make arrangements with them.</p>
<p>Regarding contests, you might want to read this thread</p>
<p>now, on the other side, does a blue ribbon school help you? (my school doesnt have class rank so its not like people are at a disadvantage).</p>
<p>I don't think my school has any kind of AP Coordinator. I'll definitely look in to the situation as soon as possible - I doubt anyone at my school has ever tried to take additional self-studied AP's before. People here aren't big on pushing the boundaries, if you know what I mean.</p>
<p>It's obvious your school has a different culture than what you want. By and large it seems a lot students of stay in state for school (believe me your school is definetly not alone in that regard). That doesn't mean they are "empathetic" it just means they realize unless you are a really outstanding student then it is a far better value to stay instate and get a quality education. It is more than fine that you want to push the boundaries but realize you are going to have to make the effort. With 250 kids and maybe 2-3 go to top schools the guidance department is most likely not going to cator to that group since the other 99% need help getting into colleges also. And again if no one ever takes community college courses I wouldn't expect the guidance department to know a whole lot about that either.</p>
<p>Yeah, I understand that the guidance office caters to the majority of kids, and the majority would prefer to stay in-state. However, I feel like if the guidance counselors made more of an effort to spread information about the nation's best colleges, more kids would be interested.</p>
<p>It's a sticky situation where the kids who aim the highest are lost in the shuffle. My french teacher often goes off on a rant about how "if you can't find a college in Ohio, you're being too picky" and I think this is the attitude many students have in regard to college.</p>
<p>Frankly, though, as long as colleges understand my predicament as a big fish in a small pond, I will be fine with continue to explore opportunities on my own without help from my school.</p>
<p>I feel like you are describing my school. We also only have two AP courses offered and our guidance department is completely incompetant. Luckily I caught on to this in the beginning of my junior year and enrolled myself in college classes for the summer (which i found out on my own that you could do) and self studied for three AP tests. Granted I didn't do great on the tests, but at least I took the initiative. We didn't have a lot of clubs either, so I started a Young Democrats Club. You just have to take the initiative on your own I guess. It's hard, but worth it.</p>
<p>How did you go about starting a club? My friend who has since graduated tried to start a math club but never got "official recognition" thus it wasn't considered an extracurricular or something like that.</p>
<p>How did you get official status, if you did, and how did you spread the word about the club around school? Also, young democrats sounds interesting - what did you do in the club? Unfortunately, my town is full of conservatives, so such a club might be frowned upon, but I know I'd want to be in one anyway.</p>
<p>^</p>
<p>I'm not claire, but in my case, I spoke to my counselor. Since I'm in IB it isn't necessary to get the "official" OK, but she's going to help me do it this fall anyways. I've started 2 IB service/international affairs clubs. The IB community is big but pretty tight so I went on facebook, told my friends to tell their friends, and the IB teachers are spreading the word also.</p>
<p>To be "official," your counselor will need to set you up with the school.</p>
<p>Actually, though I can sympathize with such situations, I must admit that the idea that people coming from less reputable, more grade-lenient schools that are overall much easier than mine (probably one of the harder schools in which to achieve high grades) is downright despicable. There are far too many 4.00 GPAs floating around on CC and, assuming they aren't all lying, I can only conclude that some high schools sink so low as to purposely ease their own grading systems so as to offer their students a better chance at admission. These are the schools, then, that adcomms must be (and often are) wary of. The lack of equal opportunity education in this country is indeed a most regrettable circumstance; however, I don't believe that students who have demonstrated true academic merit should be slighted by the feeble attempt of colleges in this country to diversify the demographics of their student bodies.</p>
<p>I'm going to see what I can do this fall to start some kind of politics or language club - the only foreseeable problem is getting that crucial counselor approval. Students never take much initiative to create new opportunities at my school - I think the guidance office is going to grow to hate me as I continue to bombard them with special requests, lol ;)</p>
<p>Also, to the above poster, who are you to say that because someone attends an average public school, they have not demonstrated "true academic merit"? My parents can't really afford to send me to some super-competitive private school, so I'm trying to make the best of what I've got. Plus, I don't think my school is lenient with grades - we use a 93-100 A scale, and plenty of good students can't maintain a 4.0. I understand your point, but I hope colleges don't discriminate against those who attend average or below-average schools, because adcoms should really be focused on the aspects a student CAN control, not circumstances beyond their control.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Actually, though I can sympathize with such situations, I must admit that the idea that people coming from less reputable, more grade-lenient schools that are overall much easier than mine (probably one of the harder schools in which to achieve high grades) is downright despicable. There are far too many 4.00 GPAs floating around on CC and, assuming they aren't all lying, I can only conclude that some high schools sink so low as to purposely ease their own grading systems so as to offer their students a better chance at admission. These are the schools, then, that adcomms must (and often are) wary of. The lack of equal opportunity education in this country is indeed a most regrettable circumstance; however, I don't believe that students who have demonstrated true academic merit should be slighted by the feeble attempt of colleges in this country to diversify the demographics of their student bodies.
[/quote]
Forgive me, but I don't think admission officers (especially in top colleges) are stupid enough to not count the rigor of a school when compared with the applicant pool as a whole. It's just unsound that an adcom will be like, "OH, this guy from a top school, only top 5%!!! REJECT and this guy valedictorian and from crappy school, ADMIT!!"</p>
<p>That's probably why top colleges reject a fairly good number of valedictorians, too. That's also why it is very rare for a crappy/regular public high school to send like one or two students to ivys, while many good public/private high schools always have many...</p>
<p>A bad high school really isn't an "advantage", unless you make the most out of it. Most of those schools rarely, if ever, send 1 person to ivys and the like.</p>
<p>Kids at my school don't even bother to apply to OOS schools, let alone ivies - they're content with mediocrity. It's kind of depressing. :p</p>
<p>I feel like you're describing my high school exactly. We have only 1 AP available. Stupidly, I didn't even consider any Ivies (I live in Canada) until the end of junior year, so I completely missed my chance to self-study for AP exams. Granted, I did found the Human Rights Action club in my school and volunteer in the community, but as for "most rigorous courses available", no. I don't really think I have a viable shot at Top 20 colleges at this late point...</p>
<p>I know this doesn't answer your question at all, but maybe others can help me with my question as well as yours??</p>
<p>It's nice to hear from others in similar situations - I'm going to try and make the most of what my school has to offer. See if I can start a club, enter some contests, that kind of thing.</p>
<p>Hopefully more people will be able to help us out. :)</p>
<p>but its not too late to self study for aps ur senior year is it?</p>
<p>For me, it's not too late, but I'm not sure about Ava.k's situation...</p>
<p>that sucks....im about to be a senior lol</p>
<p>I'm a rising junior who wasn't even thinking about college until I stumbled upon CC, so I owe this website (and the people on it) a lot. :D</p>