<p>I'm a rising senior. I'm a pretty good student. However, my first semester junior year grades do not reflect that. I went from a 4.0 to 4 B's. I'm taking 3 AP's and 1 Hon course. I'm expecting 2 B's this semester.</p>
<p>Should I raise them more by taking a course or two at a community college over the summer?</p>
<p>Or should I try to find an internship? (This is what I initially intended to do but I couldn't find any so far. I took Bio AP as a sophomore and got a 5 and a 790 so I hoped that would compensate for my grades. Does anyone have any idea where I can look?)</p>
<p>Or should I just find a good place to do community service over the summer such as a hospital? </p>
<p>I'm aiming to attend a college like UCLA.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>I have a d who is a rising senior also. She is trying to do some community service. Also, if its affordable take a comunity college course, maybe ? Some of them are online courses, so the scheduling is convenient. But those grades may not be added to your HS transcript, so check on that.</p>
<p>The only kids I know with internships are the ones with well-connected parents. I think Adcoms are kind of on to that.</p>
<p>Do you have an idea about what you to do in life or major in at college? It’s always good to look at where you want to go before you plan how to get there. If you don’t know what you want yet thats just fine, because it will most likely change many times, but getting into a good school is about defining yourself and presenting who you are. </p>
<p>How are your SAT I / ACT scores? It’s sad how much they matter but they do and so unless your 700’s + across the board - spend some time every day studying for them (wish I understood this before my S was a Sr.) - Just do it, even if it’s a silly waste of time. Many admits and $ is based on the scores.</p>
<p>Try to find a unique skill that you can learn that will help your community. If there is a non-profit service coordinator in your town, get to know them and see what they think the community needs. Our local always needs people who are willing to learn how to write grant proposals (a very useful skill) and then help lots of different NPO’s write grant requests.</p>