<p>Seriously, I would have taken all of the honors classes offered at my school if I knew they were really that important. </p>
<p>All my life people said "Just get good grades and you'll get into college". So I did. I didn't even know what an extracurricular was until well into my freshman year. Then no one told me that honors classes were so important until it was too late to sign up for them. Now it's apparently "Too late" and I can't make up for the stupid mistakes I made. I would have aced every class if it was honors, it doesn't matter if its honors or not. It's just not fair that I can't make up for it somehow. My entire life has been decided by some choices I made as a 13 year old. How the hell am I supposed to know this **** when I'm only 13 years old!!!! This is just too unfair.</p>
<p>are you a senior? I feel that way sometimes like everyone knows how to plan their high school years and then I just floated along taking what came my way...there's standardized testing, essays, recommendations, that count as well though. It is unfair, but you can still make up for it in other ways. It's not a requirement to take all the toughest courses - just a bonus if you do and you still stand a chance not taking them.</p>
<p>same here, i didnt do any extracurriculars until my junior year except playing a sport. I only discovered the full depth to the college admissions process only recently</p>
<p>But you should be fine, and your entire life is not decided by not taking some honors classes ur freshman year of high school. </p>
<p>Maybe you wont get into an ivy league school, which can be fine considering how arbitrary their admissions can be. I knew someone that had a 3.5 GPA and 1900 SAT that got into Stanford, and i also knew someone with a 4.00 UW GPA, all AP classes, 2360 SAT that didnt get into Stanford. </p>
<p>Dont worry about it, do your best, and most importantly, dont stress your self out. You will get into college, probably an good college, but those elite ones can be out of reach for everyone</p>
<p>oh but it depends on how many AP classes your school offers.
lol I don't think there is anything unfair here. some people just know how to fool around with college. they know the key while others have to go a circular way</p>
<p>I don't believe colleges really want you to do things "because it's really important" or "to get into college". Some schools are just looking for kids who decided to do certain things just because they wanted to. Granted the process has derailed a bit. And none of it decides "your entire life".</p>
<p>I took only one AP junior year, but taking 5 in class and 1 online now. Our school only offer a few APs and we have to be junior or senior to take most of them. College will see that you make an attempt to challenge yourself rather than slacking off during senior year. Definitely go for as many APs as you can during senior years. I been making As and still making As.</p>
<p>-- I took only one AP junior year, but taking 5 in class and 1 online now. Our school only offer a few APs and we have to be junior or senior to take most of them. College will see that you make an attempt to challenge yourself rather than slacking off during senior year. Definitely go for as many APs as you can during senior years. I been making As and still making As. --</p>
<p>Wow thats exactly what my high school is like! May I ask what your courseload is senior year and what your applying to? Also, how many honors did you take?</p>
<p>Our school only offer dual enrollment and APs, no honors.
First semester- AP Calculus AB, AP Physics Ba online, AP Language, regular Economics and Government( sacrificed this for AP chemistry)
Second- AP Calculus BC, AP Physics Bb online, AP Literature, and AP Chemistry.</p>
<p>Is "more rigorous" okay for most colleges? My counselor says that judging by the courses I've taken she would check the box more rigorous, and when I told her I'd do anything to raise my rigor she said maybe if I took five AP courses next year, which I would gladly do.</p>
<p>This is exactly why many colleges give a boost to first generation kids who don't have parents who have the knowledge to guide them educationally. And shame on the schools which often don't lay it out for kids early. </p>
<p>There's always transferring and grad school and other opportunities that will allow you to catch up.</p>
<p>so you're a junior. you shouldn't have a problem -- just do well this year, get your ECs and SAT I/II's up (you still have control over those) and just ace everything but the course rigor section. Save that for next year when you list your senior year courses</p>
<p>If you're already on CC as a junior, I applaud your efforts. Even though I generally knew to take hard courses and score high on tests, I didn't take the effort to get familiar with college apps/search till this summer, which probably cost me my early admission chance (didn't have the essays ready in time).</p>
<p>Good luck on your studies though! Don't worry too much about it.</p>
<p>i wish id thought about college admissions sooner I wouldve taken more honors courses and taken my sat 2s during freshman and sophomore year and gotten 800s on them</p>
<p>You might be right about honors and AP classes, but I think you are wrong about EC's. Teacherish it sounds, but you don't volunteer in hospital, go to math team, organize the prom to get in the college, you do it because of your own interest in the area... And don't just enrol in all clubs to get more stuff on your app. Select what you are interested in, and participate... I will be applying to top schools, but I have about 5 EC's, not more (partly because I am international student). But I love doing each of them, and didn't ever consider doing them for the sake of college. Colleges are looking for people who are actually interested in doing different stuff, not those who do it for college.</p>