Hi! This is actually my first post. I am a freshman who goes to a VERY small private school (for students with ADHD and dyslexia called Marburn academy), around 280 students. My school offers no AP classes or foreign language classes, and I was wondering if I could still get into the ivy leagues. I take college classes through a dual credit program in Ohio called Colleg Credit Plus. I’ll list my stats below:
GPA: 4.0 unweighted (my school does not weight)
Classes: Most challenging courseload offered: algebra 2, English 9, physical science, music composition, world history, task 9 (this college prep class)
ACT: 32 (I took the test in December and I am a freshman, so I’m assuming I’ll improve 2-3 points in the coming years.)
Extracurriculars: Treasurer of key club (moving up in leadership positions, probably going to be president by senior year), varsity basketball, student ambassadors program (leadership program at my school where we give tours and host events + other stuff), member of my public library’s teen advisory board, math club, going to summer@brown this summer
My GPA at my dual credit program through Franklin University is a 4.0, I have taken psych 101 and web development, and I am taking communications 150 and English 110. My plan is to take 16 college courses by the end of high school.
Of course you can. As long you have rigor in your schedule, don’t sweat it. What would be even better would be for you to try to petition to get AP classes offered in your school, although that would be unlikely. In the end, try to show colleges that you take the hardest courses offered.
In terms of the question you asked, the best person to address that would be your guidance counselor who will have a sense of where the top students from your HS tend to end up. Many colleges recommend/require 2 - 4 years of foreign language from HS so you can ask your guidance counselor how your school addresses that. It is not necessary to take AP classes (especially since you have dual enrollment classes) as long as your guidance counselor checks the box on the college recommendation saying you have taken the most rigorous schedule available at your HS .
Also understand that acceptance to these elite colleges, most of which have acceptance rates under 10% are based on more than academics – you will also need strong ECs, excellent recommendations, a compelling essay etc. And even then, there are many more qualified candidates than there are spots available. These elite colleges must be considered reaches.
BUT you are a freshman in HS. It is really great that you are taking school seriously and know that college will be on your horizon. But is way too early to think about specific colleges or group of colleges (especially the hyper-competitive ones).
Please recognize that HS should be an experience in and of itself – a time of learning and growth and not just a 4 year college application prep experience. I would highly recommend that you get off of CC (except for the HS Life page) until your junior year.
For now you should focus on:
–Working hard, learning, and doing as well as you can in the most challenging curriculum you can manage.
–When the time comes study for standardized tests.
–Continue your involvement in activities you care about and work towards making meaningful contributions to those activities.
–Enjoying spending time with your family and friends.
When the time comes (junior year) asses your academic stats (including GPA, standardized tests, course rigor) as well as your financial needs and apply to a wide range of reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (you will have to run a net price calculator for each school you consider) and that you would be happy to attend. You need to expand your horizons and recognize that there are many wonderful schools out there where you can have a great 4 year experience and get where you want to go in life.
As an aside, lumping “Ivy League Colleges” together indicates that you have probably not done your research yet (understandable as you are a freshman), The Ivy League is a sports league. While all of the schools are academically excellent, they are very different and it is unlikely that a person would love all of them. For example someone who wants the open curriculum of Brown would probably not be happy with the huge core curriculum at Columbia – someone who enjoys the rural location of Dartmouth may not be so happy at the very urban Penn etc.
I know someone who went to a smaller high school than you. Like your school, the school offers no AP classes. In recent years, some of the better students from the school have gone on to Williams College, Wellesley College, Dartmouth College, and a very good small university in Canada. At least some of them (the ones that I have heard about) have found themselves well prepared for college and have been doing very well in university.
University admissions wants to see that you have done well with the opportunities that you have.
To me it sounds like you are doing very well where you are. Keep an open mind when applying to schools, pay attention to what you want in a college or university, and you should continue to do well.
short answer: yes.
slightly longer answer: Ivy Leagues (and other colleges) receive a school profile when you apply. This tells them what types of courses your school offers as well as demographics of the school. If they see that the reason you don’t have APs on your transcript is because they weren’t available to you they won’t discriminate, especially since you’re taking CCP courses.