I am currently a HS junior and have hopes of attending an Ivy League university (Princeton is my top choice), but I’m worried I’ve already ruined my chances. I have been taking dual enrollment classes (I get college credit recognized by state schools and I get high school credit and on the GPA scale the classes weigh the same as AP courses) since last year and I’ve taken 6 classes so far and am currently taking 4. I have only taken 1 AP class and I had a B average and only got a 2 on the exam. I only decided I wanted to aim for ivies this year and unfortunately am not taking any AP classes right now. I know competitive colleges want students who take the most rigorous course load so I’m worried that since I’m not doing both AP and dual enrollment I won’t have a good chance at getting in. I am also changing schools for my senior year and plan on taking 3-4 IB classes so I think that will hopefully help as well. I know a lot of factors go into admission and I am also doing many different extra curricular activities that cater to my passion of politics/helping people (ex. Debate team, NHS, volunteering). My weighted GPA is a 4.2 and unweighted is 3.9. I’m also in the top 2% of my class so I hope I have somewhat of a chance at getting into my dream schools. Also to be clear: I’m not trying to get college credit for any of the dual enrollment classes I’ve taken, I’m just wondering if they’ll help better my chances at getting into a competitive school (specifically the Ivy League schools). I really appreciate if you’ve taken the time to read this and share any advice or insight you have.
It’s important that you take the most rigorous course load possible and that your guidance counselor indicates accordingly. It’s hard to know how any particular college will view AP vs. dual enrollment, so the best thing to do moving forward would be to do your best to convince the guidance counselor at your senior year school that your course load the past three years has been extremely rigorous.
Thank you very much! I’ll be sure to do that!
Rigor is rigor. College classes may be rigorous, depending on what they are. With no info on this, we have no idea if you’re stretching or taking random classes.
More than that, when one wants a tippy top, they’ve got to be informed what matters. It’s not just "passion " or hours spent volunteering. It’s what you took on, responsibilities, challenges, in and out of the hs. We have no idea what this passion for helping translates to.
Sorry for my vagueness and thank you for your input. I think I’ve taken pretty difficult classes, they’ve been a lot to keep up with and I’ve put a lot of work into getting good grades out of all of them. I understand what you’re saying about rigor and I have a better idea of where I stand now. As for my passion of helping, I’ve been looking into more activities I can do and your input gives me a better understanding of what I should focus on. Thank you again for your help!