<p>Okay so I just moved from Jamaica to the US and i currently attended high school X. Even though I have just made my CC account I have been browsing this forum for a long while as an unregistered guest and I am quite familiar with the American education system. My hs only offers two AP classes (AP Bio & AP Psych), and no honors classes (as far as I'm concerned). It's in a bad area and a a lot of the kids who attend my school are dunce, the guidance counselor even told me there are some seniors who are illiterate.</p>
<p>Interesting part!</p>
<p>My hs only awards letter grades to the following subjects.</p>
<p>English (sequence)
Math (sequence)
US History & Global History
Chemistry
AP Bio
AP Psych</p>
<p>Every other class is a pass/fail (including spanish)</p>
<p>So on my transcript you will see a bunch of pass/fail classes -_-</p>
<p>Will colleges see my transcript and think I loaded up on electives and strayed from challenging classes? Also many of the more selective colleges recommend 3+ yrs of the same FL but my hs only offers spanish and the max amount of yrs you can take spanish is 2 yrs :(</p>
<p>I really hope colleges will take the limited curriculum my hs offers into consideration. I am actually a very good student, I was in the top 10% of my class in Jamaica, but I really hope my high school doesn't screw me over.</p>
<p>Also my hs first graduating class was 4 years ago and the graduation rate is at 59% and most of the graduates ended up in Com College :(</p>
<p>Colleges look at you in relation to the high school you attend. Do the best you can in the situation you’re in–maybe try and take a few courses at a community college or online if you’re really worried about it and finances allow, but remember that not (all) admissions officers are evil, soul-sucking robots (since my former math teacher used to be one, I can’t attest to this for all of them) and they can recognise that there’s only so much you can do about where you go to school.</p>
<p>Talk to your GC about what goes on the school profile. I know the parents section was having a big discussion about what needs to go on there…and having only certain classes be letter graded and only a certain limit of APs/honors/language classes is one of them. </p>
<p>Hmm… I think you might be able to spin this to your advantage if you do it right. How about self-studying for AP tests, and taking community college classes. Get involved in volunteering in your community to help make it better. Tutor kids failing classes. Start fund raising to support a local cause. </p>
<p>An attempt to exceed despite your surroundings will be looked upon very favorably in college admissions. It will definitely impress them more than the drove of AP classes taken by suburbanites who occasionally volunteer at the local library or hospital.</p>
<p>I just do not buy the idea that colleges rather judge you relative to what your school offered. I feel that if your school didn’t provide demanding academics or APs/IB it is indeed going to be a drawback. Colleges consider heavily the preparation of an applicant. They do not want to admit students who will flunk within the first semester. Especially the colleges with the hands-off ‘sink-or-swim’ reputation. Yes SAT scores may paint a better picture but that shows more of natural smarts than hard work and top schools generally look for students with the combination of natural smarts and hard work.</p>
<p>I just started school two weeks ago so I haven’t gotten any grades from my new school yet…</p>
<p>However, I plan on self studying the following APs:</p>
<p>U.S History
Calculus AB
Microeconomics
U.S. Politics</p>
<p>and I’m taking AP Bio class. I’m just not sure about the foreign language requirement.</p>
<p>Also my high school has a serious grade inflation problem. They practically hand out As! I guess they do this in an attempt to increase their graduation rate because I find it hard to believe that there are seniors who are illiterate. If they are illiterate then they wouldn’t seniors since you have to pass classes to get promoted to the next grade level. Passing classes require you to read (-_-')</p>
<p>I disagree. I believe that colleges consider the motivation and drive of an applicant than any level of preparation they received in high school. AP and IB courses don’t measure up to the level of even college Freshman survey courses. If anything, I think that those who learned in a sheltered, educationally abundant environment are more likely to suffer in the ‘sink-or-swim’ schools. ‘Hard work’ comes from more than just academics, and in my opinion, the ability to perform well in spite of of your given surrounding is much more admirable. </p>
<p>Grade inflation may be a problem. But if your high school really, really does suck, the colleges probably don’t know about it.</p>
<p>I went to a similarly crummy high school, too, and though many different counselors and college representatives told me that I would have a hard time getting in, I did. To this day I have no idea what the admissions officers thought of my high school record. Just take the most difficult courseload and challenge yourself outside the classroom.</p>
<p>That’s another problem for me Abby. My school doesn’t allow me to pick my courses. The GC picks them for you. They gave me a crappy schedule (dance, visual art, driver ed) and I was like ***! I stormed into the GC office and threw a tantrum just to get AP Bio. I spoke with the GC yesterday about taking the most demanding course load and he said that I my schedule doesn’t meet the “most demanding” criteria. He said I had to take AP Pysch and this dual enrollment class, but it was too late for me to sign up for either -_- Then he told me that the school had like two honors classes and I asked him to put me in them so that I can have a “most demanding” course load and he was like “colleges don’t really pay any attention stuff like that, it’s just a formality really…”</p>
<p>^get your parents involved. I’m pretty sure at most schools, a parent signature to change courses pretty much gets those courses changed. Your GC really needs to understand what a big mistake it is to limit students like this.</p>