If you could have done something different in high school...

Applying to College
1

<p>what would it have been? Something to increase your chances at your dream school or something like that. BESIDES GETTING STRAIGHT A's. </p>

<p>For me, I would have studied the Blue Book more before PSAT so I probably could have gotten at least national merit commended (although i'm happy with my SAT scores now).
I also would have joined Key Club, done SOME more charity work, but mainly I would have tried to apply to summer programs at private universities. Even if they were simple and for fun, every bit of research can help.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, not much can be done in terms of awards. It's not like I could have worked harder to win such and such an award.</p>

2

<p>national merit isn't that big of a deal to be honest. I would say a good percentage of kids applying to ivy league schools receive that reward... it has become simply an award that associates with ivy league...</p>

3

<p>I'm a junior, but I don't really think there's something I could have done differently so far to optimize my chances of getting into Harvard (or what have you). I guess the only thing I regret in the slightest is not applying to the public magnet school.</p>

<p>I do wish I joined stage crew earlier, but for reasons other than college admissions.</p>

4

<p>for any freshman viewing the thread...its been said many a time before and I'll say it again...don't try to be the "ideal" candidate for a HYPS because such a student DOES NOT EXIST. If there were "ideal" students then these institutions would be filled with students that are exaclty alike and NO university wants that to happen. Life is simple. Find out what you like...and then do it the best you can, and in the end it will take you somewhere that will be a perfect fit.</p>

5

<p>i wish i had joined clubs and done more ECs...like in my freshman and sophomore yr..apparently i was a lazy student back then and seemed to only worry about the academic part of highschool despite knowing the importance of ECs and clubs..i procrastinated and now i'm in like 3 clubs and a team for my junior yr...which is surely going to hurt my chances in getting into a college of my dreams.</p>

6

<p>When I was in high school, they had an instructor from the nearby university come and teach the advanced math students for first and second semester calculus. You could pay a 75 dollar fee and be awarded the college credits for these two classes. I was appalled by the idea that they would charge me for this and I declined. I wish I hadn't.</p>

7

<p>I wish I would have never played Football. I got two very serious concussions from it and I missed a total of two months of school because of it.</p>

8

<p>Done more ECs.</p>

9

<p>I would have gone to a different high school.</p>

10

<p>I wouldn't regret doing more EC's... only regret not showing enough passion in one.</p>

11

<p>I regret never studying. I've always been that kid that does well without studying so I never felt the need to study, but at the same time, all of my friends have surpassed me in the rankings because they get even better grades than I have because they study.</p>

<p>I'd also start preparing for the SAT in like, the 9th grade.</p>

12

<p>I sometimes regret getting stuck at the school I'm at, and then I realize that's dumb because I loved my high school experience. Just looking comparing myself to other kids applying to the schools I am makes me sad sometimes because I never knew a lot of the things that were even POSSIBLE for high school kids (AMC/AIME, research, having taken more than 6 AP's in your high school career LOL).</p>

13

<p>Yeah, I wasn't really aware of ALL the opportunities that I had.
Freshmen and sophomore year i was pretty much ignorant about most of the clubs in the school. There are so many other ECs that I wish I would've done but didn't learn about it until it was too late.</p>

<p>And I wish I started taking school, grades, college, SAT prep more seriously freshmen and sophomore year. College seemed so far away then!</p>

14

<p>I would have worked harder to raise my SAT scores, and i would also have done more EC stuff, like volunteering and working and sports!!</p>

15

<p>Started my book earlier, maybe. Otherwise, it's been good.</p>

16

<p>1) go to classes, raise my GPA.
2) Realize that ECs mattered in college admissions. I was just putting my foot into everything that interested me (mock trial, music, math, science, sports, cultural, newspaper, etc) without really committing to anything and avoiding responsibilities when they tried to make me president/leader/etc
3) come up with a coherent theme in my application. my meaningful activity, college essay, and 'intended major' were all over the place</p>

17

<p>1) Take more college classes. Self-study more. Look into summer programs.
2) Have more focus and depth in my ECs and really dedicate myself to them.
3) Write a lot more.
4) Suck up to my teachers more. Ha. Or, be more concerned about being an 'active participant' and 'getting to know my teachers,' if that's too blunt.
5) ...there's probably more, but I've done decently enough.</p>

18

<p>picking just one or two ECs I really care about and focusing on accomplishing something big with them rather than trying to pursue everything i like all at once because that just leads to frustration, getting overwhelmed, and a lack of any outstanding achievement in any one thing. and i wish i hadn't pursued officer positions, but rather, more tangible and meaningful things like raising a lot of money or starting a composting program or something like that.</p>

<p>plus i would have have been less concerned with academics and more on EC stuff. The grade/test score stuff seemed to always work itself out just fine whether or not i freaked out over them. so i wish i hadn't freaked out so much.</p>

<p>I also would have gotten involved with a sport freshman year and stuck with it for all four years. actually i wish i'd started a sport in elementary school and gotten really good at it. a guy at my school's already into yale as a recruited athlete. </p>

<p>And i should have taken certain classes with teachers known for writing good recs junior year rather than trying to get my grad requirements done. that's what senior year is for.</p>

<p>wish i'd been more social too possibly, more like the well-rounded super smart girl rather than the loner nerd...lol. and i kinda wish i'd gotten in the habit of wearing makeup to school. dunno why, there's just something attractive to me about the idea of a person who dresses nice and looks good but also manages to get good grades. it seems more impressive than just shunning the whole social scene in favor of your textbooks. </p>

<p>i guess i wish i hadn't slept in class as much. meaning i wish i had learned how to manage my time better.</p>

<p>Oh and I would have loved to try out for a play. i never did because i always felt i should have been so academic-focused, ugh. i think i could have been a much wholer and better and even more impressive person to colleges had i actually done what i wanted in high school rather than constantly sacrificing it all for studies and to impress my parents:(</p>

<p>and i really really really wish i'd stuck with my attempt to write and publish a novel in 8th grade. my goal had been to get it published by senior year but sadly i stopped writing when i sold my life to APs right from freshman year.</p>

<p>oh right and i wish i'd known about the ap siemens award and about all the crazy science research internships out there BEFORE i started junior year....i could have gotten the siemens award if i'd just taken one more subject on the list. like maybe self-studied stats or something.</p>

<p>and finally, i wish i hadn't blown off sat studying after getting psat scores back last year. and i wish i'd never taken the act, and especially not twice. it became unnecessary after i got my second sat scores back...so it was a total waste of money. and i wish i'd practied the essay more for the second time and reviewed my geometry.</p>

<p>and i REALLY wish i'd listened to all those ppl and started my college apps in the summer. UGHHHH!!!!</p>

<p><em>sigh</em> well we'll see how what i've managed to achieve turns out come april, and if all my regret is necessary or not.</p>

19

<p>Something that I would have done differently in high school would be trying harder in
10th and 11th grade to raise my GPA, Join women's tennis in 9th grade, Join more clubs and programs in campus(getting involved), and starting my community service hours earlier.</p>

20

<p>I would have chose the private school in my town.</p>