I’m a junior. I feel like my ego is ruining me. I came to the US in 9th grade 2nd semester (skipped a year) and couldn’t take any full year weighted classes. My GPA freshman year was 4.33 (maximum possible). I had a 4.76 sophomore year but my total gpa was 4.444 because of freshman year. Junior year first term I had a 5.023 which is in the top 5 range at our school. But it will average out and go down to 4.6 or something because I couldn’t take any AP classes freshman year (my counselor didn’t let me take AP/IB freshman year. I talked to the physics teacher and took AP Physics 1 sophomore year because my counselor didn’t trust my country’s middle school education. Went from Algebra 1 to Calc AB in a year. Had to go through a lot of BS while choosing classes because of my counselor). Will top colleges dismiss my application because of my low but high gpa? I’m taking the hardest classes possible and doing good but I feel like no one’s noticing it. I had to learn a new language in 6 months and take the hardest possible classes in a different country. My counselor doesn’t care about me at all. My counselor is the counselor for South American students and she speaks Spanish. I’m Asian and I do not speak Spanish. She can barely communicate with me in English so I’m not receiving any proper guidance. I’m in Model UN, NHS, Robotics, Chess Club, and Key Club (might do volleyball later). My parents are earning minimum wage and I have a job during the weekends. I’m not tired or anything I just feel like no one’s appreciating me except my mom. The valedictorian is really dumb and there are way smarter kids that deserve that position. Should I keep getting A pluses to become the valedictorian and say everything in the graduating speech or should I just give up and live life? What should I do?
Thanks for reading.
I am having a hard time working out what your actual question is.
No, you should keep getting A pluses b/c you should do whatever you do as well as you are able to do it.
No, b/c they will look at your unweighted GPA.
Lots of places don’t allow 9th graders to take APs
a) unlikely to be an entirely factual statement
b) dissing other people sounds like sour grapes and is not a good look
So, if you are sooo smart that school work is boring and even with your school activities and a weekend job life is just boring and nobody appreciates you (except mom- yeah moms!)…what are you going to do about it? What do you really, really love? put that extra energy into that. There are more than a few people for whom even the most challenging HS classes aren’t that challenging, or for whom HS clubs aren’t that engaging. The motto of one of the (many) high schools that our lot went to* is “I will find a way or make one”. If the assembly line of HS isn’t providing you with a ready-made way to feel challenged, then step up and make one for yourself.
In the meantime, go read the MIT admission blogs, starting with this one:
https://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/applying_sideways/
*we moved often, usually to different continents, so I have some appreciation of what it does to a teenager to be told to move country
Thank you for your response. I’m not hating on the valedictorian, I just feel like she doesn’t deserve that position because I have seen many students do better than her but they can’t be the valedictorian because they aren’t taking classes to boost their GPA. It’s not like the classes are too easy for me, I do work hard to get good grades. My friends in Asia are working 10x harder than me and most kids at my school (USA) which is why I want to take the hardest classes (to make myself feel better because I think it’s unfair for them to work so hard).
I just feel like I’m getting unnoticed by everyone. My counselor praised this girl for being the Hispanic Student of the Month but didn’t praise me at all (there were two people in the room). People think I’m American because I learned their accent and they can’t tell the difference. One day some girl was praising this exchange student because he was taking Calc AB (as a senior) and speaking English at the same time. I’m also taking Calc AB (as a junior) and learning/speaking English in a different country but no one notices me. The exchange students are somewhat privileged because they could afford to come to the US. I’m priviliged because I can study in the US (which I am 100% grateful for) but I am paying for my backpack, phone, bills etc. which the exchange students aren’t doing. I’m feeling really insecure lately IDK why.
Edit: Freshmen are allowed to take weighted classes. I wasn’t allowed because I studied everything in a different language and my counselor didn’t really trust/guide me. She placed me in algebra 1 and I took the finals (the teacher helped me) and moved to alg 2 honors. My counselor never told me about weighted gpa (a girl I know did)
Stop worrying about everyone else. You will be able to note on your common app that you moved to the US at the start of HS and were initially limited on what courses you could take as a freshmen. You’ve obviously more than caught up.
Colleges don’t care about weighted GPAs.
Being valedictorian doesn’t mean anything. Colleges know that some schools have wonky rules.
You are a junior. You need to focus on continuing to get high grades and taking rigorous courses. You need to start preparing for standardized testing.
Run your own race and forget about the things you have no control over.
You obviously is a very smart student, but you sounded very unhappy. (I also don’t really understand the title of your post, you don’t seem to be underachieving nor a brat).
I would try to focus on keeping doing what you have been doing, get on the good side of your college counselor (I bet you both can communicate in English well) and forget about the valedictorian, that honorary title is not that meaningful in the grand scheme of things.
Good luck.
“really dumb” = hating on.
You have done something that is legitimately hard: moving country / language / school system is tough at any age and arguably hardest at your age (maybe also retirement age). Yet your world not only doesn’t seem to be giving you credit for what you have done, it seems to be admiring people who are doing things that look easier to you than what you are doing. That never feels great, and I am sorry that it is where you are.
But.
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focusing on the unfair things in the world makes you bitter, and doesn’t make anything better.
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you have to run your race. Whatever way you got here (and I feel as if there is a story, b/c you moved from another country with 2 parents on minimum wage jobs, which is outside the usual range of expat stories), the fact is you are in this school for nearly 2 more years, and by this time next year you will be submitting college apps.
So, work on your peer & teacher relationships, work on your academics, and work on whatever it is that lights up your world. Learn more about you, so that you can work up a college list that works for you.
And every time you feel sorry for yourself (no matter how reasonable it is to feel that way) go do something for somebody who has a harder path. Thank somebody in a thankless job. Notice somebody who is being overlooked. Do the things you wish other people would do for you. Might be counterintuitive, but I have found that it makes me feel better.
What’s the “everything” you plan to say in your speech should you become valedictorian? How you felt unappreciated in high school? That won’t go over well.
If your goal is to get a good education and get into a school that’s a good fit for you then quit focusing on everyone else. Study, develop outside interests, and figure out how to give back to your community.
lol snap! @momofsenior1
If you judge your worth relative to others, you are setting yourself up for a lot of bad juju! You’ll always be somewhere between obnoxiously arrogant and abjectly worthless depending on the standard you choose.
It sounds hokey, but you really are the best you and you need to be sure you are the best version of that. And you need to believe it. Trust me, you aren’t always going to get positive feedback from others for the hard things you accomplish, but you can always delight in your own achievement. I realize you are venting, but you sound whiny and insecure. If you know your worth, why do you need someone else to validate it?
Keep working hard. Be grateful that you have the ability to excel and the discipline to use it. And figure out what you want to do with that ability.
If you are starting to think about college, look into programs like Questbridge. It sounds like you might be eligible and that it could help you realize your goals. You have a lot going for you. Use it!
“I will find a way or make one”
Dang, @collegemom3717, that is so good. It embodies what top colleges look for, that energy. But also, worthy efforts, not founding the pie club or some nonprofit that already exists in the adult world. Not reinventing the wheel, just to “look good,” in your high school.
OP, you’re too worried about the “So, what’s” and not focusing on the right aspects of your own journey. So what, if another kid gets complimented? Truly being tops is more than stats or some hs title. Getting to val because you feel worthier and want the recognition, instead of some kid you don’t apprecite, is empty.
If you want a top college, learn what matters to them, work on your own self. Eliminate the petty jealousies. Grow, from being so easily offended to a stronger, contributing individual. Have some perspective.
Some might say, develop EQ.
Thanks everyone for the replies. I feel like a spoiled kid when I think about the students from my country that are memorizing tons of books and I’m out here studying APUSH which is basically understanding/reading the book and there isn’t any intense memorization. I feel like the problem is with me since I’m the one bothered by everything else. I feel like I could have done better and people would have noticed/praised me if I did so. I’m not jealous of the valedictorian at all (sorry for writing it in the wrong way). I just feel bad for the ones that aren’t getting the things they deserve when I look at the valedictorian. I want to be the valedictorian/salutatorian because I want to speak for the immigrants that aren’t achieving much because of their language deficiency. I’m fine with it if the school lets me talk during graduation. I don’t want to be the best, I just want to let the highschool kids know that there are students in the world who work their arses to graduate and get a job that pays $2 an hour.
"I want to be the valedictorian/salutatorian because I want to speak for the immigrants that aren’t achieving much because of their language deficiency… I just want to let the highschool kids know that there are students in the world who work their arses to graduate and get a job that pays $2 an hour. "
That’s a very worthy goal. I mean that honestly. However, communicating that is not the the point or purpose of a graduation speech, which is to kindle fond memories while at the same time giving the graduates some uplifting marching orders towards their futures - and, of course, showing copious appreciation to parents, faculty and staff. It isn’t your soapbox. Not the time to be political.
However, if that is your cause, go do your part to do something about it. Now. Then you’ll be taking the first steps towards “running your own race”. The instructions to “run your own race” is quite possibly the most excellent advice these boards have to offer high schoolers with aspirations of attending college.
I deserve an award because today I drove well and didn’t cause an accident. Yay me, I did what I was supposed to do!
Why should anyone but your family appreciate the hard work you do? Yep, you sound like a brat, especially when you say the Val is dumb (well, she’s the Val and you…are not) and that you’re going to become the Val so you can give a speech.
I have news for you. You don’t work hard to get thanks from other students, guidance counselors, teachers or us strangers on CC. You work hard because it’s the right thing to do.
Should you give up and live life? No, you should just live life. Your life, not the Val’s life or any of the jerks who don’t appreciate your magnificence.
By the way, my D was an excellent student for her entire school career, but she didn’t get an award when she graduated. Guess who did? Some athletes, a kid doing fashion classes, a girl who worked in the toddler program, a kid who was a good artist, a kid who had learning disabilities but managed to graduate, a couple of kids who got NMS status, the Val, the Sal, and a bunch of other kids. Why not my D? Maybe she did what she was supposed to do, which was be a good student. Maybe graduating and going to college was the reward.
Sheesh.
These posts aren’t being written by someone who learned English 2.5 years ago. Grammar is too perfect, and so are the word choices.
Arses? Really, a new English speaker is going to use that word?
This may be the crux of the matter. You are working hard, doing well, you are an immigrant with poor parents, but you feel that, since you speak without an accent, that everyone may be assuming that you are “just another overachieving middle class Asian”.
You may very well be right. You also may be correct in that you are, if not unappreciated, at very least, underappreciated. Unfortunately, this is true of many people. It is possible that this may change, or not. It also may not even be true. Teens especially will not always tell their peers what they think of them, even if it’s pretty positive ( or especially if it’s pretty positive).
For all you know, when you are mentioned, other students comment on how quickly you learned to speak English, or on how hard you are working and how well you are doing, despite having to work during weekends. My kid was shocked when she learned, during her senior year, that many of the younger students looked up to her. She did not receive very much recognition for any of the many things she did until the Spring semester of her Junior year, yet she was consistently mentioned during her Senior year as being one of the leaders in her class since her Sophomore year.
In any case, the appreciation you get or don’t get in high school doesn’t really affect the rest of your life. You will get into college based on your achievements, not on how your achievements are perceived by your peers at high school, or even your teachers. Once you are in college, you will not remember the awards you got or didn’t get, you will remember the activities in which you participated, your relationships, both good and bad, and that’s about it.
In the meantime, focus on doing your best. It doesn’t matter who else is proud of you - make sure that you are proud of your accomplishments at high school.
As for the Valedictorian - it’s not as simple as “taking classes to boost her GPA”. It is taking a heavier load of much more difficult courses, and being able to maintain an A average despite doing so, AND likely participating in a long list of ECs, and more than likely being a leader in one or more. So don’t begrudge them their achievements.
PS. If you cannot communicate with your GC, or you don’t get along with her, request a new one ASAP.
Look into Questbridge, you may qualify. Also, cut yourself a break. Do well, and pat yourself on the back for your hard work!
I’ll second that suggestion.
What country are you from originally? Colleges may take your background into consideration if you’re from a low income area.
Before you take the stage to lecture your classmates and their families you may want to do a little research. There are immigrants who do well despite the challenges they face. And there are plenty of low income students who were born and raised in the US who face challenges because of the limitations poverty places on people. If you want to be an advocate, go do something to create awareness and drive change now. Waiting until high school graduation will be too little, too late for college apps.
@twoinanddone I’ve been watching Britain’s Got Talent for a while 
@MWolf thanks for the reply! I know that the valedictorian is taking hard classes but I feel like they aren’t challenging enough to make her represent the best student, they’re just highly weighted (AP CALC BC has the same weight as Comp Sci 2 even though we basically do nothing in Comp Sci 2)