I understand that you didn’t start this thread with the intention of any help in developing a college list, but if you change your mind, I’m sure there’d be a number of people who would be willing to help. If you do want any suggestions, make sure to let people know what you’d be interested in (climate, areas of the country, size, types of extracurriculars, heavy Greek life or not, big athletics or not, urban/suburban/rural, etc). Also, you’d want to indicate your current GPA.
ETA: And your current state. I know you express a desire to go out-of-state, but depending on where you live, the state may have agreements with other states for you to get reduced tuition costs at universities outside of your state.
In case you haven’t seen these, here are two threads that you might want to read.
Yes, definitely Questbridge.
For you, your essays will be very important so get really solid drafts done this summer. Remember you are applying to be a student, not a writer, so make sure you ace this semester and plan a very rigorous course load as a senior. I think goals for your summer writing program should include better developing an authentic voice in your writing and getting a mentor. Work on something that can get published and that you are proud of.
Honestly, getting into an affordable college is your first priority.
I completely agree. I have realized “prestigious” to me is practically any college it all because that education has always seemed very out of reach. It truly is just about perspective.
When it comes to the rigorous coursework senior year, I do have a few questions (if it’s alright I ask). I recently signed up for my courses next year, and obviously, it’s not set in stone, but I do have some doubts.
The real concern to me is that I put AP Physics down. Technically I’m done with my science credits already, I’m in AP Environmental Science now just for something else to do. Should I bother taking a science credit to boost my application if I might struggle and not get a 5 on the exam? I took chemistry in 8th grade, so I know I’m not awful with science (though the two courses are very much not the same), but I’m just a bit concerned. If I didn’t take it, I could free my schedule up to do more writing-related electives. However, I completely agree with and understand the point about my academics being the priority. I am completely proud to be a student first (:
In my opinion, you don’t need to do AP Physics. If you have never taken an AP science, my feeling is that AP Bio is the best one to take (if the teacher is any good), because the knowledge that you gain from it will help you to be able to understand something about human biology and may help you to understand healthcare a bit more.
Physics, along with chemistry and biology, represents a foundational science. I’d recommend you consider it for this reason. Moreover, It is a course that is generally expected for aspirants to top-level colleges. You may not need to take AP physics if an alternative physics class is available.
Your writing style comes across quite nicely – and you clearly are very talented. Developing the spike is not easy. But you’ll essentially have to submit your work to well known writing competitions. You’ve already mentioned Scholastic and Young Arts.
Have you thought about submitting to a literary journal/magazines? There are a few that focus on high school/teen authors. Do you have a journalistic interest? There are some online news outlets that accept freelance work (Huffington Post) comes to mind. Getting a piece published in any of these would be outstanding IMHO.
Other thing you can do is to self-publish. I know that Amazon and a few other vendors offer this. With the widespread popularity of e-books, getting a title out there is much easier now.
Check with your counselor on what constitutes “most rigorous” at your school. Plan to take 4 years of each of the core subjects: English, math, science, history and a foreign language. For science, take bio, chem and physics. At least one year should be AP. My D took molecular biology, honors chem, AP Physics and AP Bio, for instance. It’s OK to take AP physics even if you likely won’t get a 5. You can choose not to submit the score or not take the test at all. Good luck!
I didn’t know that was an option! Fantastic. I appreciate it- I plan to take 4 years of everything, I was just doubting science. Thank you for your help.
Good luck on the ACT; reading and writing skills can always be improved. If you didn’t master grammar in elementary school or if you have not been an avid reader up until this point, you can always make up ground. Reading is a learned skill and informs the quality of your writing. Although most students develop unique writing styles, those styles are heavily influenced by the writing styles that they’ve been exposed to in their formative years. Ideally, you would have been well read in many of the quintessential works of 19th and 20th century literature before high school, but if you are not, now is the time to make up ground.
Here are a few works that I feel are critical for building a highly functional SAT/ACT level vocabulary:
Moby Dick Jane Eyre The Great Gatsby Vanity Fair The Last of the Mohicans Pride and Prejudice
And I can throw in a ton of other works, but these are good starting points because the authors of these masterpieces wrote in high style and frequently employed diction that would be considered sophisticated by 21st century standards.
Additionally, you want to read The New York Times, Scientific American, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, etc. frequently because you need exposure to writing styles that are characteristic of expository and rhetorical prose in addition to perusing the aforementioned masterpieces of narrative fiction.
If you can do all this, you’ll increase your vocabulary tenfold, your writing will improve immensely, your appreciation of literature will skyrocket, and you’ll gradually transform into the student you aspire to become. Good luck!
Thank you! I feel like reading is a strong suit of mine; I study 19 and 20th-century literature in my free time & really love author history with that. I hope that this will help me continuously in the future as it surely has helped me to this point in my life.
I feel where I need to really improve is math, so I have been studying a bit extra in preparation for the ACT. Because I used a waiver, I was also granted access to a free prep course and I have been utilizing that. I am very lucky to have access to that- for free, nonetheless.
have you considered looking into some (youth) literary magazines? there are a lot accepting submissions periodically for poetry, flash fiction, essays/articles – you can also apply to be an editor/social media manager/etc at some. i’m not sure how prestigious editing or getting published at them would be, but it would definitely contribute to your spike.
Update: So, I got my ACT scores back. I have not studied for it before, but I was somehow able to get a 29. I got a perfect score on reading and writing. Of course, as I expected, I didn’t do amazing on the math or science portions.
If I’m able to get my score to 30+, that would be a good asset for my application, right? I mean, obviously, it’s a good score- but should I just keep it and not include it on my college app unless I get a 34-36 or something? It was my first ACT/SAT, so should I take the SAT now, or just work on the ACT? Would one be easier for me? (For reference, I did score higher on the science section than math with no studying.)
29 is a respectable score, especially given your circumstances. But if you’re aiming for T20 schools then you’ll need to be higher. Try to get up to 33, and then you’ll be at the median for nearly all colleges.
ACT is one test that can be studied for. Practice and your scores will improve.
The perfect scores on the reading sections are wonderful! All you need to do to improve your science score is to practice science sections. It’s all about data interpretation, so practice makes perfect. You can find legally released old ACT tests on Reddit, or buy a copy of The Official Guide to the ACT (you can get an older year) in order to get 5 old tests.
The problem is your math score. You should be able to raise that by prepping for it. My son used The Best ACT Math Books Ever 1 and 2. He was able to get his math score up to a 34 using only these. I suggest that you get these, and start working your way through them. Also, ask your math teacher if there is someone at school who could give you free math tutoring.
A high score on the ACT will help you to get in somewhere good. You’re halfway there, with perfect scores on the English sections. You don’t have to get perfect scores on the math and science, but you can certainly raise them, and it will help you.