Confused about college...

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

Hello. I am a Sophomore in high school. I am confused, and would greatly appreciate anyone who is willing to take time to answer my questions and help me.

I want to go to a good college on the East coast, but I am confused about how to go about doing that. First off are classes. My classes at the moment are:

Art 9-12, Biology, Algebra I, Band HS, Weights and Conditioning, English II, and World History.

I was in pre-algebra Freshman year. I feel more motivated this year because I have realized how close college is. Last year I A’s and some B’s. So far this year, I have straight A’s, and I plan to keep it that way. I feel like school might be to much of a breeze right now. I feel like I could challenge myself more. Math is easy so far, it is covering a lot of what we learned last year and even years before that. Some of it is a bit foggy though, but so far it has been very easy. I like my math teacher this year, and I found my last one… difficult.

I live in a town of 1,400 in Wyoming, so my school is quite small. The Elementary and the JH/High School are in the same building. We don’t have many clubs or extracurricular activities. I think I might want to do basketball and track. I have never done sports before. I also signed up for FBLA again, and I plan to go to state this year. I also plan to join the art club. There is not much more at all though, there is football, but that is not for me. I am also trying out for all-state on my alto saxophone.

I do not even know what “honors” classes are. I know they exist, but I have no clue how to do them, and I really have never heard people talk about them before.

So, I want to have more math this year, but I don’t know how that is possible. For Junior and Senior year, I am going to take foreign language. All we have is Spanish. My mom and I do have plans to move maybe around winter break, so that would open up options. I don’t know how colleges see this, but I study Japanese at home on my own.

I think the only college credit class I have taken was food safety last year, but I want to major in Physics, Astronomy, ETC.

My town has limited volunteer activities. I don’t even know what they are…

Finally, I am confused about ACT. I don’t think my school does SAT. When should I take it? How, and when do I prepare?

My school seems unclear about things. I never hear any announcements, and when they do announce something over the intercom, I can’t even hear it because people are talking and playing in Band. The only way I found out when the FBLA informational meeting was is because I happened to find it on our school website…

So basically, I feel like time is running out, and I am worried that I won’t be able to get into a good college. I am willing to put in a lot of effort to do so though. Is it too late for me to get into a really good university?

Thank you for taking time to read this!

^:)^ ^:)^ ^:)^

2

Welcome to CC! I’m going to answer your questions by topic:

  1. Classes: Have you talked to your guidance counselor about honors classes? They are really the gateway to getting into classes. You seem to be up for a challange so I would talk to them about the possibility of taking a few. One thing that does stand out to me is your math level. In most areas, grade level in 10th is geometry, a level above yours. You say you want to do more math, so I would discuss the option of taking maybe 2 math classes in a year to catch up. I think that would really help you.
  2. Extracurriculars: You have great extracurriculars and your desire to go seek them out says a lot. I say just keep doing what you are doing, although some volunteer work would be great! Ask around at your local library, elementary school, or homeless shelter. They are usually happy to have people lend a hand.
  3. SAT/ACT: Most people take the SAT or the ACT starting their junior year. You will take this at your high school and they should give you more information once you get closer to that time. Again, if you want more information, talk to your guidance counselor. To prep, there is plenty of materials online. Just type in SAT/ACT practice. If you are doing SAT practice, make sure it’s for the new one. Khan Academy is the best by far for SAT. I don’t know much about ACT, but maybe someone else can chime in on some suggestions for materials. Also it’s never really too early to prep for the SAT/ACT. Doing a little bit frequently will save you from having to cram right before it.

If you have anymore questions, please feel free to ask! :slight_smile:

3

Oh, thank you! I am going to try to talk to our guidance counselor tomorrow about maybe doubling up, and have her give me more clarity…

I really appreciate it! Thanks again…

-Azuriah

4

I would really talk to your counselor about your math sequence. It seems like it’s only leading up to you having to take a remedial class freshman year of college. Minimum requirements for college usually include completion of Pre-Calc. Is the highest math at your school only Algebra 2?

5

Hamlon: No, there is pre-calculus, trigonometry, etc., and then there is sometimes a student that gets so high that they have a retired math teacher who comes in to teach them… He is very experienced with math.

6

So the ACT and SAT are both standardized tests used in college admissions. Colleges will take either test. In some states, all students take the ACT (so the state pays for it, and everyone at your school takes it together). If your state does not do that, then you need to sign up online and take the test on a Saturday morning. Usually it is at a local high school or community college or someplace like that. You pick a date & location when you sign up, and pay a fee online. If you can it is best to take it early in spring of your junior year so you have time to test again later if you aren’t happy with your score. You can order test prep books online to study for the test, too. You want to make sure you take the ACT “with writing”, which is what colleges want.

The SAT has s different format, but same idea. Sign up online, test on a Saturday morning, etc. some students do better on the SAT, while some find the ACT easier.

Students who want to apply to the very top schools also take a couple of SAT “Subject Tests”. But most colleges do not require those.

7

You need to see your guidance counselor and see if you can switch into Honors Classes for Math, English, History, and Biology. Indicate you’re not being challenged enough in your current classes. Ask what AP’s your school offers and whether you can take a couple next year if you get a B+ or higher in the respective subjects this year.
You’d need to have a foreign language, too. Since you’ve been teaching yourself Japanese, how about you take it “for real” (for credit) via an online program such as K12? You could try to complete Japanese 1&2 this year (hopefully you’ve already completed part of Japanese 1 on your own), and you could complete Spanish 1 over the summer, starting in Spanish 2 at your school junior year. Indeed, top universities prefer students with Level 3 or 4 in a language. If you start over the summer with a virtual class, you’d be able to complete 3 levels of Spanish. SInce you’d also have 2 levels of Japanese, your missing 4th year would be excused, plus self-teaching Japanese is pretty rare. If you’re very good at them, you could plan on taking the subject tests for Japanese in November Junior Year, and for Spanish perhaps in December Senior year. Don’t take these tests if you feel uncertain about your language skills though. The goal is a 700+ on every subject test.)
http://www.k12.com/courses/high-school-courses/japanese-i-comprehensive-wlg150.overview.html

Top colleges will want you to have one “core” class at Honors or AP level each year, that is: English, Math, Science, Social Science, and Foreign Language. Then you add classes that interest you.
Top colleges on the East Coast and South will be very interested in a candidate from rural Montana. However, you’ll need to have high grades AND course rigor (ie., what I explained above), as much as possible. Your guidance counselor will need to explain what classes are offered and the limits in terms of course offerings.

A GREAT university for Physics is Lawrence University, in Wisconsin.

8

A town of 1,400 in Wyoming may have no honors or AP classes (my town of 20,000 didn’t…). Agree that Japanese online would be a good option. The key if you can’t take honors classes is to try to get enough prep so you can score reasonably well on the ACT or SAT. Those tests generally go through pre-calc, so you want to try to get through that your junior year (which could be a challenge as you are only taking Algebra as a sophomore). You might investigate online math options. There is a LOT of math in being a physics major (one of my kids is one). If you can get through calculus in high school, you will have an easier time in college in that major.

Regarding critical reading scores, those who do best read a lot. You have about a year and a half until you start standardized testing, so start reading as much as you can. Building your vocabulary and a sense of what “sounds right” will take you a long ways in those test sections.

9

Read fiction AND nonfiction plus magazine articles ( the new Yorker, the Atlantic, Mother Jones, the Economist…)