Hey Guys,
So as the title says, I’m graduating early and I just wanted general ideas and tips as to what I should do in order to make myself a better candidate for College.
Thanks in advance.
Get good grades, have a rigorous schedule, be active in meaningful extracurricular activities, with leadership roles if possible, write good essays, have very positive recommendation letters.
I am a non-traditional student & employee. First, have a definite aim. Read newspaper, good inspiring novels, focus towards your career, and daily jogging in the morning. These are some tips to become a good personality.
In another thread you’re wondering if starting an honor society at your school would impress colleges. If you think your record isn’t competitive for colleges you may want to stay in high school and take steps to improve it. Why are you planning to graduate early?
Yeah @austinmshauri you are absolutely right I would stay for 4 years if I could, but because of my visa, I can’t stay in the U.S until I graduate(if I did 4 years).
Please explain how your Visa won’t let you graduate?
If you must graduate to be allowed to stay in the US, or if you must leave the US, I’d say to maximize free classes and tutoring which relate to standardized testing, and take the test there a couple times including subject tests. There are fewer dates abroad and the tests are more expensive.
My Visa won’t because it expires before 2022, so I have to graduate in 2021. So if I go to college, I have to apply as a foreign student and then they’ll give me a student visa.
Can’t you renew our Visa?
Anyway: you’ll graduate with fewer achievements than the most competitive applicants. However if you have a solid core of classes and high test scores your odds are good for your state’s flagship.
As for a scholarship it often depends on a high test score. So maximize opportunities to score as high as you can.
In terms of classes, having math through precalculus honors or calculus is a good idea, as well as the typical requirements: 4 years of history/social science including an AP history (3 years for you so make sure that last class is an AP); all three from Biology, chemistry, physics; English including AP Lang; foreign language (either externally assessed through an SAT Subject or 3 years in school); an art/music credit.
You can but for the type of Visa I have, there is a renewal limit.
Looking at the list of classes above, what have you already completed?
I took Ap World(it is done over two years), Honors Chem, Honors English, Honors Geo, Honors French, DDP(it’s an art/music credit for us), and self-studied AP Comp Sci. Over the summer, I did Algebra 2. This year I am taking AP World, AP Physics 1, IB Math, AP stats, AP Lang, Honors French(this is my third year), and I am self-studying AP Macroeconomics this year. I will most likely do US History over the summer. I am going to do AP Calc Bc, AP Bio, IB Global Politics, and perhaps AP Physics C if I can fit it. I am also going to be taking IB English HL.
im also another early grad (graduating in 2021 as a junior) so i can’t really help too much with what would look good to admissions officers, but i would definitely say that it’s good to prepare early (know what schools you’re gonna apply to, take the sat/act if you haven’t yet). honestly, all the same things matter for an early grad as for a regular grad (good grades, good essays, good extracurriculars, good test scores) so as long as you have those, you’ll probably be fine. also, it might be a little dependent on what your major is (im planning on majoring in film or music so test scores and grades have less weight and extracurriculars mean more so im focusing on those)