Hi, I’m currently a freshman in high school. Four years will soon fly by and I believe that an overview of how I’d spend my summer over the course of four years is very important. A few programs I have in mind was taking the SAT Prep classe and pre-college courses from university. I have a pretty clear overview, however I am not quite sure how I should organize the programs into the summers. I was thinking about taking SAT prep during the summer between my sophomore and junior year, and pre-college course during my junor and senior summer. I would also be working part time. Please give me some suggestions in how I should plan out my four years of high school and what other things I should incoorperate into my summer schedule. Thank you!
It would help a lot if you can tell us what classes you currently are taking, what kind of student you are grade-wise, what you are interested in studying in the future, what AP classes are offered at your school, what extracurriculars you are doing/will do, and if you are close to a community college or university.
Wow - this is great to read! Congrats OP on planning ahead. Yes, list your coursework (current and planned) as well as EC’s so others can give more specific advice. Don’t forget to work in driving courses and driving test, if relevant. Also, it might be possible to start that summer job as a rising sophomore. In our area they are advertising for 14 - 15 year olds due to the tight labor market.
Good Luck and Good Thinking!
Of course! My school offers multiple AP courses, both online and in class instruction. Here are some AP courses they provide in person:
AP Language and Composition (Junior year)
AP Literature and Composition (Senior year)
AP World History (currently taking)
AP US History I (Sophomore year)
AP US History II (Junior year)
AP Human Geography (Senior year)
AP Calculus(Senior year)
AP Statistics
AP Environmental Science (Sophomore year)
AP Biology (Junior year)
AP Chemistry (Senior year)
I’m currently taking AP World History in my freshman year, and I’d already planed my courses with my counselor and will be taking them throughout my four years of high school.
I’m an all A honors student(which means that all my classes are honors and up, and I have received all A’s during my first semester) and I’m interested in business major.
Here are some ertracurriculars that I’m currently involved:
-Piano
-Band
-Chorus
-Volleyball
-Harvard Model Congress
-Model UN
-Mock Trial
-Debate team
Some universities/colleges near me:
-In Hudson county New Jersey and New York(sorry there’s just too many of them, so I just listed a basic range).
-For pre-college programs, however, I already have some universities in mind such as Stevens Institute of Technology, Colombia University, Harvard Universtiy and Princeton University SIG(both is far from where I live but I was told that if by any chance I got in to the program I will be allowed to go).
For driving courses and test, our school offers a driver’s program to sophomores who wants to take the test, which I’ll be taking next year.
I hope this is detailed enough information, thanks!
OP for most selective uni’s they will want you to take a year of Physics. Can you fit that in? While environmental science sounds like a great class most colleges and universities give more weight to core AP courses such as biology physics and chem. Since you are planning a business major and not STEM it’s great to be taking a lot of science but it doesn’t all need to be AP some of it can be honors.
Also just want to confirm: you are planning four years of Math and Science, correct?
In addition, 3-4 years of a foreign language is typically required. If you are shooting high, then four years is considered ideal.
If you’re going to study business, I would definitely not take AP Human Geography and instead take AP Macroeconomics and/or AP Miceoeconomics. I’m not sure what AP US History II is, never heard of it.
If possible you should fit Physics in there instead of Env Sci, much more useful.
Oh sorry I forgot to list that in my post. I’m currently taking Physics honors for my freshman year. And yes, I’m planning to take four years of both math and science(it’s a requirement for our school) and I’m taking French culture and language I this year and will continue to study the language throughout my four years of high school. Also for AP Macroeconomics and AP Miceoeconomics, I’m not quite sure if our school offers that course in person(possibly online) but I would try to find out more about it!
AP Micro/Macro is debatable for High school. I’d rather take the Econ. courses at college - taught better. Also AP macro curriculum isn’t that good (micro is ok).
OP you are going to get contrasting viewpoints (hey - it’s college confidential!). I’d stick to the core subjects for HS and not branch-off into psychology or econ. etc. Math, natural science, History,. English, F/L . . . those are actually considered to be more rigorous AP courses. Leave the specialty stuff for your college curriculum (unless it’s something like music or art where you might want to nuture a special talent.
Okay, thank you so much! I’ll take that in consideration.