Help!!!! Sophomore, General questions

Applying to College
1

Hi! I am currently a sophomore in high school. I have been reading forums for a while and I am starting to just get nervous in general. So many other kids on this website seem to be taking 10-15 AP courses with an infinite list of honors and awards.

I feel that I am doing almost everything I can at my school, but it is no where near good enough to get accepted to any sort of selective colleges, which is what I want more than anything.

Freshman year, no one was aloud to take any AP courses.

Sophomore year, only APUSH was open, but I was petrified to take the course because of the teacher, (I had him the previous year and his class brought down my whole GPA)

Junior year, I am taking AP Euro, there are no other AP courses open except AP Bio, but I thought it might be better to take Honors Physics. Also, my school offers a course I can get 3 college credits for, so I am taking that

Senior year I am hoping to take AP English, AP Calc, AP Bio, and an AP history course.

I am worried about my schedule not being considered strong enough. My freshman year GPA was also pretty low (87), and this year my GPA is a 92. Although I have not been loading up AP courses, I am taking all the honors courses that I can, (Math, History, Chem)

Do colleges understand that not all students are able to take a high amount of AP courses??? Is this going to hurt my chances during college admissions???

What else can I do to be a stronger candidate?? I participate in sports all year, but I am not involved in anything to do with arts such as the musical or band or anything. I also have required community service, but I plan to try and do extra over the summer. I also am not sure how to receive awards since my school doesn’t really offer any except honor roll, which I receive every semester.

2

Colleges will expect you to take a challenging curriculum in the context of your high school. If you weren’t allowed to take APs freshman year, colleges won’t view this negatively. Not taking APUSH may hurt a bit, but it’s good that you’re taking as many honors courses as you can. If your schedule is as rigorous/more rigorous in comparison with your peers, then you’ll be fine.

As far as ECs/awards go, just do what you’re passionate about and hopefully you’ll end up earning some honors/awards. I’m not involved in much either, but this past January I played a concert in my local symphony’s concert hall with a few other members of my orchestra. That opportunity came about as a result of me pursuing my passion. Continue with your sports and maybe join a few clubs that interest you. If you’re truly passionate about these things, leadership roles and honors should come to you.

Hope that helped!

3

Truly, the most useful thing you can do, is talk with your parents about how they expect you to pay for your education. Encourage them to run the Net Price Calculators at the websites of several colleges and universities so they can find out what those places are likely to expect them to pay. When you know more about the money issues, you will know how hard you are going to look for affordable options.

4

@happymomof1‌ Hahahahahaha not really answering his question but alright…
Anyway, I understand why you’re worried, but universities tupically try to understand that not all high schools offer the same amount of AP classes (Mine offered 2-3, available only to Juniors and Seniors). Not taking an AP class when available however can be detrimental to your chances at competitive schools, especially if they see that other applicants from your school took those classes.

5

Yeah, @gdlt234 I know. But I see way too many second semester seniors here who worried about the APs and never bothered to find out about the money issues until they have their unaffordable financial aid offers in their hands. You are absolutely correct that each student is evaluated in the context of their high school, so having access to few AP courses is really no big deal.