<p>I wish I knew the importance of EC's. Junior year and ec's have become my achilles heel. I would have joined 3 clubs/sports and dedicated my time to them. Then I'd volunteer at a hospital for about 200 hours. It won't really affect me anyway due to the fact that I'm applying to mostly public schools that I can get into.</p>
<p>OK13 -- those thoughts about wishing they'd had more fun in high school (or college, or spent more time with their family) are quite common after a person has achieved goals (usually financial) and realize it's hard to snuggle in bed with a wad of $100s.</p>
<p>Hm, depending on who reads this, it may or may not be agreed with [though I think it's actually pretty noncontroversial], but I genuinely think people try too hard to classify what kind of a student or individual someone is based on high school character + performance. I am only two years past being a high schooler, and I find myself in many sense completely changed...and I was a pretty self-reflective, studious fellow for all the four years. To an extent, this "be yourself, and you'll end up where it's best for you" philosophy is OK, but it strikes me as ludicrous when applied to a large degree. Because that assumes a high schooler really has a clear "yourself" -- sometimes, working towards the goal of college is a legitimate way to push oneself to excel + learn what one is really good at and/or enjoys. Or, plain working at grades to do well in school. You may achieve a ton, go to a great school, and then figure out what you really want to do -- college has a wealth of opportunities for you to sample. </p>
<p>Hence, I don't think it's a bad idea having a simple goal like college to work towards. It's a good exercise to start developing the balance between working towards the goal and not "freaking out" about grades and EC's from an early stage. Heavens know that only to an extent can good grades and EC's predict success in our admissions process today anyway, and in some sense, this encourages one to stay with a healthy attitude, rather than overcompete in any one area. Because no guarantees that any standard achievement will gain one a place at a school of choice anyway.</p>
<p>I'll say the same about grad school and college. I want very much to be a math Ph.D. student at a school with some wonderful math researchers. Part of the thing, though, is this ENCOURAGES me to find what about math I like, explore various fields and find what I'm good at.</p>
<p>Yes, and no.</p>
<p>I didn't decide to go to college until well into my junior year of high school. I didn't know anything about the college search or what it took to get into college -- I thought that everyone who wanted to go to Harvard could go as long as they had the money, and I didn't know how the SATs were scored or how to interpret my PSAT scores when I received them back freshman year. Clueless!</p>
<p>But, I got good grades because I was intrinsically motivated to do well. I studied not because I wanted to go to college, but because I liked to get good grades and I liked classes and school. I think that served me much better than studying just to get into college, because that would've been stressful and intrinsic motivation serves you better in college anyway.</p>
<p>I wish that I had been exposed to more colleges younger, or the idea of the college search. And I think that some high school students, especially in disadvantaged high schools or areas, should be more rigorously exposed than others to increase their chances.</p>
<p>However, I'm not into the whole "what colleges want to see" thing. Because I don't want high school freshman to turn into what colleges want to see; I want them to be themselves and then find a school that fits them based on their personal characteristics. Beyond telling them rather generally that colleges like to see good grades (duh!) and an involved student...I'd leave it at that.</p>
<p>Besides, what I wanted at 14 was completely different from what I wanted at 18. When I was in ninth and tenth grades, I assumed that I didn't need or want college because no one in my family had attended college and they all turned out fine. Whenever we had to talk about careers, I always picked one that I liked that didn't need any college education.</p>
<p>DunninLA, I think I would swtich the last two in your list. I think it's better to want to go to school because you're afraid of being destitute than it is because you're afraid of what your parents will say.</p>
<p>I was exoosed to university search since 8th grade, if not 7th.</p>
<p>Knowing about colleges earlier on would have helped me greatly, in terms of motivation. I cruised through freshman and sophomore year. It wasn't really until junior year, when I started researching colleges, that I realized how much harder I had to work. I fell in love with Tufts, and started writing "TUFTS" all over my planner to keep me on track. Sadly, when I finally visited the college, I hated it. Story of my life..</p>
<p>As a freshman I wish I knew that by senior year, the good looking girls would be ugly and the ugly girls would be gorgeous... damn.</p>
<p>This is one reason I'm starting to think about college selection now, as a sophomore. The other main reason is because the snow is horrible and I can't go skiing when I finish my homework.</p>
<p>Anyway, I already screwed up by failing to take AP Chem this year. Regular chemistry is desperately boring, and I won't have the chance to take AP Chem until senior year.</p>
<p>no worries, noimagination</p>
<p>just ace all your classes this year, including reg chem, and give yourself a real challenge next year.</p>
<p>I say they should be exposed around the time they are making their schedule for sophomore year, whenever that may be, so they see what classes and what path they need to put themselves on to end up at a good college they like.</p>
<p>@nooob: this year is no problem (although AP Calc AB is a great challenge). Next year should be much more demanding what with AP Calc BC, AP Physics, AP Lang, and AP Econ.</p>