<p>You seem to be concerned over the lack of AP classes. These really do not factor into admissions -- they only demonstrate whether you took a rigorous class schedule. Since you took the hardest classes available at your school (Honors) then you were not denied admission because of you lack of AP's. I don't think this is an area you need to focus on for you applications for next year.</p>
<p>What part of the application do you think was lacking? You cannot change your GPA, but you could raise your SAT test scores.
your EC's are not out of this world, but I don't know how much they count towards admission for an in-state student at UW.</p>
<p>If you are interested in going to UW, I will be honest -- I don't think a Gap year of working or volunteering will make much of a difference in admissions.
It doesn't seem as if they place as much emphasis on the extra stuff. It seems like the things that are important to them (rigor of curriculum, test scores, grades) are already set in stone.</p>
<p>Have you called the admissions office to find out exactly what areas you were weak in?</p>
<p>My suggestion to you would be to attend another 4-year university/college. There are some other great schools in Washington. After 2 years, transfer if you want to.</p>
<p>The admit rate at UW is 67% for incoming freshmen and 52% for transfer students.</p>
<p>oh...no, that's not the reason why I got rejected from UW though. My GPA + SATs + ECs were fine, it was just that there was this huge, ugly F in my transcript. This most likely led them to assume that I was a slacking student (since they approached my application holistically), but in truth it was due to a series of unfortunate events. By taking this gap year, not only would that F be gone (I'm getting the certificate from the online course that I took next week), raising my GPA from 3.7 to 3.86, but the ugly part of my application would be gone.</p>
<p>And besides, nothing wrong with a gap year of something noteworthy is there? It can only bring positive things, right?</p>
<p>What I want to know is how I should spend my gap year? </p>
<p>Right now I'm debating between...</p>
<p>1) Cityyear
2) Going to Korea to live under my parent's friend's house and teach their kids how to speak English for a year.</p>
<p>But I need an option that will>....</p>
<p>1) Retain my education so I won't forget everything I've learned in HS. (Whether or not it actually will is not the problem, my father refuses to let me just "goof off" during my gap year AKA going around the world and stuff)</p>
<p>2) Be enjoyable and look good on my application.</p>
<p>SChoe101, you really want to do more than just 4 of those things you listed. serious. you have a whole year to spend, and about the only major things you are doing is 2 (ignore my grammar).</p>
<p>just curious, did you explain that F in the previous application?</p>
<p>lol, 2 of those "4" things are the things I'm thinking about doing. The other 2 are purposes I strive to achieve during my gap year ;). </p>
<p>I did explain my F, but it was in such a way that it couldn't be fully explained (text box was limited...). I did petition, but I doubt it'll get accepted and they let me in. </p>
<p>So banedon, what do you suggest I do other than going for cityyear or going to korea? Any suggestions? Just as long as it retains my education and is enjoyable, it'll work.</p>
<p>that information does help -- you will have eliminated what you see as the items of your application that prevented you from being accepted. </p>
<p>You have a total of 14 months of a gap year (June to August) to make plans for. Of that time, only the first 6 months or so will make any difference on your application.</p>
<p>My suggestions would include:</p>
<p>-- studying very hard for the SAT and bringing that up just a bit.
-- spending time in Korea volunteering and teaching English. If you are not completely fluent in Korean, this would be the time to fix that. You might consider taking the SAT II in Korean to demonstrate your competence.
-- taking some basic college classes at the CC to get a feel for a college class. Take ones that you know will transfer (check this out) and they you would like to avoid. If you hate english, this is the time to take that class. smaller classes, easier grading and more help at the CC will give you more confidence and a better grade
--can you take some classes at the UW as a visitor or unclassified student?
--a job that is productive might help you financially, but I don't think it will help with admissions and you need to make sure that you don't mess up your financial aid award.</p>
<p>If you strongly believe that the "F" on your transcript is the only thing that kept you from being admitted AND it was a mistake that you can and are correcting, have you considered writing an appeal? It seems like you have strong grounds for that and you might be admitted this year or at the mid-semester point with a good appea.</p>
<p>yup. I did write an appeal, but chances seem VERY slim that it'll go through. I put a lot of effort into it, but...yeah. If you want, I could give you a copy if you wanted to see it...but I warn you, it's pretty long...3 pages single-spaced, just a hair under their limit :T</p>
<p>Your suggestions are very good. The first one I might do. The second one is a great idea that I have been considering heavily, so I might do that. </p>
<p>The third one and the fourth one I do have concerns over though. What kind of classes am I allowed to take at a CC/UW that can be taken as a postgrad student taking a gap year rather than a 1st year college student? I didn't know such a thing was possible. I will call UW to see if I can take classes there as a visitor or unclassified student hough...</p>
<p>And the job...I'm thinking about this also, whether I should just combine it during my stay in Korea and help out a learning center as a teacher assistant (I know the guy there personally :P) or find a job that my parents will approve of (so long as I depend on them financially, I must obey :(. They won't let me get fast food jobs or any of those "useless" jobs, which I have argued with them over but could not win...so gotta follow their rules). </p>
<p>More tips/suggestions are more than welcome :).</p>
<p>i would suggest what hsmomstef suggested because those are what i did too (not exactly but you get my point). however i think you should also find out what is it that you like, but never had the chance or time to do. for instance, i like producing videos and movies and stuffs. but when i was in school, i couldn't do much. i only established my own club, did it as pastime, etc etc. </p>
<p>but in my gap year, i had the time to produce a full-length 1-hour movie that was entirely done by me (i managed to get many volunteers from my college's video club - that i started). took me 4 months to finish it. that's an example of what i meant by "doing something you like".</p>
<p>I wish I could spend the gap year doing things the way I want to, but my parents are firm in their decision to not let me take a gap year unless I manage to keep HS stuff I've learned fresh in my mind by taking pre-university classes.</p>
<p>The only problem is: Is there even a single CC/college/university in WASHINGTON (besides Eastern) that offers pre-university classes? :(</p>
<p>Well I would agree somewhat with your parents, you don't want to spend the gap year not learning stuff and simply doing community activities, etc. However I dont see why you are restricted to pre-university classes... I think anyone is highly capable of teaching themselves.. we don't always need a teacher to feed us info all the time, go to the library or something, pick a subject and study it I would say, while at the same time, doing the fun activities.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I wish I could spend the gap year doing things the way I want to, but my parents are firm in their decision to not let me take a gap year unless I manage to keep HS stuff I've learned fresh in my mind by taking pre-university classes.
[/quote]
i got a teacher from a local college to give me one-to-one classes. paid him of course.</p>
<p>you had him cover all of the basic HS stuff with you one on one? Supposedly, my dad wants me in top shape in all core classes....and how much did you pay him?</p>
<p>
[quote]
However I dont see why you are restricted to pre-university classes... I think anyone is highly capable of teaching themselves.. we don't always need a teacher to feed us info all the time, go to the library or something, pick a subject and study it I would say, while at the same time, doing the fun activities.
[/quote]
true, but SChoe is an asian <em>ahem</em> so the restriction does not necessarliy comes from himself. ;)</p>
<p>schoe, i had the teacher go through the basics of maths and economics with me for a fee of (converted currency) US$40 a class. my parents were okay as long as i didn't lost touch with academics during this one year, so everyday i just took out an a-levels textbook and spend a few hours going through them. </p>
<p>OK, so after a bit of discussion with my mom, the gap year is to be planned like this, but some questions for the CCers:</p>
<p>1) I must have a job of some sort, but it can't be something like a grocery/fast food job, and must be something that'll look good on an app. Intership works too. </p>
<p>***Q: What kind of job/internship can I actually do that'll look good on my application and also get paid?</p>
<p>2) I must also attend the learning center that I previously attended to sharpen my SATs. </p>
<p>***Q: What I want to know is whether I can take the SATs once more?</p>
<p>3) I must be taking pre-university classes to keep what I've learned in HS fresh. </p>
<p>***Q: banedon17, I like your idea. I think I'm just going to buy some textbooks and go over them with a teacher. What kind of textbooks should I be aiming for?</p>
<p>4) I must do something during my gap year that I can reflect upon in my application so the colleges know I made good use of it.</p>
<p>***Q: What in the world am I left with to do while covering the first three above? </p>
<p>I can't seem to find the "answer". Anyone have something they want to suggest, because I just can't find a schedule of a gap year that'll actually cover all 4 of these. </p>
<p>I know I should be doing this by myself, and I really am trying to come up with a schedule and everything by myself, but I figured a little bit of suggestion from the CC community couldn't hurt :).</p>
<p>1) i took internship at a real estate agency. sold a few properties while i was there.</p>
<p>2) you can take as many times as you want, although don't exceed 6. i took 4.</p>
<p>3) what subjects are you looking to improve? for me, i self-study my maths since im strong in maths. but i take calsses for economics and physics.</p>
<p>4) there're LOTS and LOTS of things you can do. when i started my gap year, i had "a few" thigns planned out. but as the weeks went by, i discovered new things about myself and my likes. for instance, i never know i like building websites. and i never knew i could make money online. i also never knew much about Outward BOund school.</p>
<p>"1) I must have a job of some sort, but it can't be something like a grocery/fast food job, and must be something that'll look good on an app."</p>
<p>Any kind of job during a gap year can look good. Indeed, working in fast food, grocery store, etc. can look very good. Doing things like that shows you're willing to work hard. You also can learn a lot about business, human nature as well as a variety of other things depending on how curious and insightful you are. For colleges to appreciate what you learned, your essays/interviews would need to reflect the learning. It also would help if whatever job you have is linked ot your interests/career goals.</p>
<p>Obviously, if you're interested in a business career, any job could be linked to that. However, working in fast food could also be linked to an interest in health, nutrition, medicine, as well as a variety of other fields. </p>
<p>The point is that you shouldn't just choose something to do at random for your gap year. You should pursue your own interests, whether those interests are academic, vocational or extracurricular.</p>
<p>Go abroad and do somethign worthy like helping out in Africa or teaching English in Germany. The college will be impressed by your independence and will probably see you as ading more to the Uni's community.</p>
<p>I've posted elsewhere about using a gap year to get involved with the Hurricane Katrina recovery. There are still enormous social and environmental problems here. It may be possible for you to be an Americorps volunteer. You would get a stipend for living expenses and upon completion of your year, a sum to use for tuition or student loan repayment. </p>
<p>Alternately, you could come down and volunteer with some other organization, and work a part-time job while you do; jobs are plentiful and pay pretty well, and there are openings in just about every field. It will be an experience of a lifetime for you, and should be pretty impressive to admissions officers. </p>
<p>Good luck with your gap year, whatever you decide to do with it.</p>