High School Course Advice

Pre-College Issues High School Life
41

Thank you for all the information. Here is my update:

Some good news, I am able to take Honors PreCalc and French 3 during summer classes. I am super worried about my non-UC approved science courses-- there is nothing I can do.

Could someone inform me of some similar, elite schools in California? This isn’t a priority as I am sure I can find it out, but it would be appreciated. California has always been my destination, but by eliminating UC schools, I am limited in options.

Here is my updated planner. Please let me know if any adjustments should be made! Thank you.

(Grade 9 and 10 listed above)

Grade 11:
AP Psych
AP Language and Composition
Honors Algebra 2
Chemistry
AP Computer Science Principles
French

Summer:
French 2
Honors PreCalc

Grade 12:
AP Physics
American History
AP Literature and Composition
AP Calc (don’t know which yet)
French 3
AP Computer Science

**Nothing Summer 2020 as I want time off before college:)

42

The foreign language minimum requirement for admissions is actually only 2 years of a language for UCs. To graduate from a UC though, you must have a minimum of 3 years. Having said that, AOs for UCs almost always want to see a minimum of 3 years.

43

@ProfessorPlum168

Thank you. I plan to take 3 years of language now, which seems great if I want to become admitted into a UC school. The only issue with this is the fact that my science courses are not UC approved. I think I will have to replan my college list, correct?

44

Out of curiosity since you are Canadian, are you a native French speaker? If so you could try and take the SAT Subject test for French, in which a qualifying score would satisfy your foreign language requirement for a lot of schools.

I haven’t followed the whole thread thoroughly, why would your science classes not be approved? I’m assuming you will/have take(n) Biology, Chemistry, Physics?

45

UC foreign language graduation requirements vary by campus and division (and some majors require more than their campus or division requirements).

46

@ProfessorPlum168 Unfortunately I am not a native French speaker (FYI those people are typically only found in one province/state:) ). I appreciate the attempt though!

My science classes are not UC-Approved in my schooling. I just finished 10th grade where I finished Biology. I plan to take chemistry this fall and AP Physics in grade 12.

You appear to be somewhat connected to CalTech. This school might become a target for me if my non-approved science classes prevent me from UC campuses. It’s my understanding that CalTech is a very elite school, do you think someone with my school record has a chance at this college? I’ll remind you of my statistics below.

Major: CS
Minor: Business
GPA: 4.0 (currently graduated grade 10)
ECs: I plan to learn “Swift” as a coding language and use it to develop a mobile app for my school (which is online). I also have a business which I predict will have 10,000+ annual revenue without parental help.

Classes:

Grade 9: (complete)
Simple pass or fail in science, social studies, ela, math, health.

Grade 10: (complete)
Geometry, World History, World Literature, Biology, Computer Science A, Entrepreneurship, Business

Grade 11:
AP Language and Composition
Honors Algebra 2
AP Psych
French 1
AP CS Principles

Summer:
Honors Pre-Calc
French 2

Grade 12:
AP Literature and Composition
American History
AP Calculus
(maybe AP Stats too as I love stats. It wouldn’t replace Calculus)
AP Physics
Art Class
AP Computer Science

Background:
In short, I struggled with various issues throughout the beginning of my high school career. It took me three years to finish grade 9 pass or fail and only finished one grade 10 class. I came to the realization that change had to happen, so I signed up with an elite private online accredited school and started my classes. They gave me recommendations on classes, and since I didn’t know my potential or anything of value, I took some of the easiest classes. Fast forward a year and I am graduated with a 4.0 GPA and plan to take a lot of harder classes. I’ve shown great interest in both CS and business as I’m taking all the courses I can in the subjects and show my love outside of the classroom.

47

@ucbalumnus the 2 years minimum is a UC-wide requirement since I saw it on the main UC page.

48

@FakeName1332 no not associated to CalTech whatsoever though I am quite familiar with the campus and program. My kid is about to attend Cal (UC-Berkeley) and fly the coop in 2 weeks.

Very few people have a chance at CalTech. Especially for Engineering, CS and Math. I personally know not one but 3 people in the last 2 years who got accepted to Stanford or MIT but didn’t get into CalTech. People with near perfect scores and perfect GPA. The ones I know who got in are majors like Geology and Economics.

49

@ProfessorPlum168

Congratulations to you and your kid on UCB! Thank you for the information on CalTech. I’ll have low expectations for this school!

50

To Clarify, I will have low expectations regarding my acceptance.