<p>Hi, I am a 9th grader. I would like to attend one of the Ivy League colleges in the future. But when I started to think about, it the semester has already started. It's true that I didn't think about it. Currently, I am taking only one Honors class (Secondary Math 1H). Others are: Language Arts 9, Geography for Life, French 1, and Earth Science. Those classes are easy to me and all are A. I talked with my counselor if there is any way to change my classes to Honors or AP. It was too late.. She told me that I can start taking those next year. Is there still any chance that I could be one of the good candidates? ( I know that I should have taken the most challenging classes.) I am so disappointed about my current classes and worried if I made a huge mistake not choosing right type classes for this year.
Also, my intended major is Graphic/Digital Design. What would be helpful to be a good candidate in this area?
PS. I am an athlete and I would like to compete for one of the schools.
Please advice. Thank you. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Relax. Don’t worry about things you cannot change. Do very well in your classes and pick an appropriately rigorous schedule next year. </p></li>
<li><p>Selecting a major is silly in the 9th grade. If it’s your interest, fine, but know that most students change their minds more than once before they formally announce a major (and sometimes even afterward).</p></li>
<li><p>You say that you’re interested in the Ivies. There are very different schools within the Ivies. There are very elite schools that are not Ivies. Many kids who have the chops to attend Ivy-caliber schools find themselves happier elsewhere. Do not rush things, and figure out what you want. If it’s because you want to be in the Ivy League for sports (you mentioned you’re an athlete), okay, but even there you should have some idea why and which Ivy. Dartmouth is different to Yale which is different to Cornell, etc. Many fine non-Ivy schools have good teams. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Why didn’t your GC place you in honors classes in the first place?</p>
<p>What is Secondary Math 1H? Algebra? It is good to at least finish Calculus in the 12th grade.
You may need to take a math class over the summer or double up on math to do that.</p>
<p>@bopper: Yes, I know… The counselor really didn’t push/recommend about the Honors classes. The grades were all A for those subjects at 8th grade… I wish I was more up to date about the possible classes I could take. Secondary Math 1 & 2 is the new version of Algebra 1 & 2 - I don’t know very detail but this is a new way. Anyway, thank you for your comments.</p>
<p>@IxnayBob: Thank you for your comments. Yes, I’ll do the best deciding the classes next year. To be honest, I am very interested in Yale, Cornell, and Brown, which have Gymnastics Team. Regarding the major, you are right… I should have lots of time to rethink and decide. I appreciate all your feedback. Thank you. </p>
<p>Why do you want to go to an Ivy League school? There are plenty of good schools with better reputations for graphic design. Do not limit yourself simply for ego reasons.</p>
<p>@raprapra, all sports have a high attrition rate during high school due to injury, new interests, body changes, etc. I don’t have any citations, but I would think that gymnastics has among the highest rates. </p>
<p>It is good that you care about your college future, but you’re a long ways off. Do well in your classes, maybe talk to the teachers in a few classes that you wish you had signed up for (my son did that, got the textbooks from the teacher, mostly taught himself but the teacher offered to help if he got stuck), look and see if Khan Academy has anything for you, etc. </p>
<p>Mostly, enjoy high school and good luck. </p>
<p>I think it is great that you are thinking so far ahead! Look at what really makes you excited about Graphic/Digital Design and pursue it full-tilt! You may find yourself changing interests- pursue whatever you are CURRENTLY interested in full-tilt. Try to get outside acknowledgement and judgement of the quality of your pursuits- take projects to a logical conclusion and display, even if you have to approach a Bank to display in their lobby- it is better if you present whatever you do in a juried/judged environment. The larger the pool of applicants, the better: International competitions are better than national are better than state are better than regional are better than a school-wide competition. Pursue, vigorously, what gives you joy, and get something proving you did it (and, preferably, were judged on it). As far as classes, map out a 4-year plan. Generally there are no AP classes offered Freshman year. If there are, and you would like to take the AP test, approach the teacher and study from that textbook (self-study) alongside your regular class to prepare for the test. Use your summers wisely to further explore your interests in a “provable/judgable” way.</p>
<p>Two general concepts- be very involved in pushing your interests, and try to take each project to a “judgable” conclusion; Make a plan for your four years of high school.</p>
<p>When the time comes, you will have a clearer sense of your mission, and of what schools may be a good fit, because you did this work ahead of time. Schools who can afford to be choosy seem to like students who have pursued their passions to a great depth. You will be well-positioned for wherever you life takes you.</p>
<p>@IxnayBob, we checked Khan Academy’s website. It seems they offer core classes but maybe no Honors classes. Talking to teachers is a very good idea. Thank you so much.</p>
<p>Khan Academy doesn’t offer ‘classes’ as such. They offer the material. How you use it and what you do with it is entirely up to you. Some of the material on there is college level in many respects. Some of the math, physics, and chemistry on there is very equivalent to what would be contained in honors sections of those courses. </p>
<p>MIT Open Course Ware is another good option if you’d like to get more rigorous treatment of a wide range of subjects. </p>
<p>@ItsJustSchool, your feedback is wonderful. I really appreciated.</p>
<p>I take classes at school until 5th period because of gymnastics practice which means that I take only core subjects at school. So, I am taking a few classes during the summer & the semester (for electives, computer tech, PE). I would like to plan to take a few Graphic, Digital, Design related classes at nearby Tech school during my Junior/Senior year - as long as the schedule meet with the gymnastics practice. By the time, I hope I can see more what I really want to pursue.</p>
<p>Why I started to dreaming to go to one of the Ivy schools is: I just started preparing college recruiting process for my gymnastics. Recent years, some colleges recruits 8th graders who are already Elite or strong L10 gymnasts. 8th grades! I am going to be L10 this season. My family is not rich… and I know the scholarships are the only way for me to attend a school in other states which I really would like to do. Ivy league schools look at the candidates’ academics more (correct me, if I’m wrong) and the process of selecting the future students makes much more sense to me. I am thinking if I build great academic records, I might be able to have a good chance with the help of my gymnastics career. (Yes, I would like to compete for college. But I’m not the one who is fine anywhere.) I know Ivies don’t offer any scholarships, but they offer financial aid (I’ll worry about it later!).</p>
<p>Look at the summer as an opportunity to “step up.” A typical “advanced” freshman load in many schools would include Biology, Geometry or Algebra 2, Human Geography (AP), English (preferably Honors), PE, French 1. By taking a course or two at your local community college (ask your school guidance counselor about “dual enrollment.” Often these courses may be taken for free with the school’s permission) either out-of-season in the evenings, or over the summer; you can catch up to this track. Geometry is not often offered in Community College, but Algebra 2 (or Alg 2 + Trig) is, and they are not sequential- you can take Algebra 2 with no knowledge of Geometry. Biology is often offered. If/when you take biology, study for and take the SAT II subject test when you finish it.</p>
<p>Math courses usually go Geometry (9), Alg 2 + Trig (10), Math Analysis/pre-calc (11), Calculus (12). By moving Calculus up to Junior year by taking a CC course, you can take calc-based science (e.g. physics) if that interests you.</p>
<p>Social Studies usually is Geography (9), Euro History (10), US History (11), varies Econ, US Govt, etc. (12)</p>
<p>English goes from Honors to AP in 11th & 12th grades.</p>
<p>Science usually includes Chem, Bio, and Physics, then others such as Environmental Science, Physiology, etc.</p>
<p>So that’s pretty much the 4-year plan you would like to have. Continue French each year, do one of each of the above 4 subjects, do your sports, and take basically 1 elective per term. Use Community College to get you on this path if you are not already on it.</p>
<p>I appreciate all the comments you all gave me. </p>
<p>But I am still looking for a way/options (if there is) I can try to recover from the mistake: the classes I’m taking this year. I can’t change them.</p>
<p>Secondary Math 1H,
Language Arts 9,
Geography for Life,
French 1,
Earth Science.</p>
<p>Is there any way to catch up to others who are taking Honors/AP classes this year - in the long run (by 12th grade)? Please, please advice. Than you.</p>
<p>@ItsJustSchool, thank you, thank you very much for such concrete advice! </p>
<p>My school offers Secondary Math 1 and 2. I have to figure out if Algebra 2 replaces Secondary Math 2. </p>
<p>I would love to take classes during summer as you suggested - but gymnastics practice is important, too, during the summer. I hope the schedule is manageable. </p>
<p>Thank you again for your comments.</p>
<p>@raprapra, It may be tight, but my DS managed an evening class at a community college in the summer plus two-a-days. And there are more and more online CC courses. It will take planning and coordination. And discipline, which you must already have to be competing at such a high level.</p>
<p>KKmama is correct. The best programs for graphic design are NOT the Ivies. They are art schools (RISD, SCAD, etc.). I hire graphic designers all the time and most of them only have associates’ degrees from community colleges or private “media institute”-type places. </p>
<p>@ItsJustSchool, Yes, I’ll start looking around and study what I can do. One question: if I take Math during the summer, for example, and get 1 (or 0.5) credit, the total credits would be more than the required amount by the time of high school graduation. The more is okay? I know this might be a very silly question. </p>
<p>PS What’s DS stands for?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Yes, you may have as many credits as you can gather. In the world of discussion boards, S is “son.” Relatives, for some arcane social cultural reason, are always referred to as “Dear”. So you have DS, DD, DW, DH for son, daughter, wife, husband.</p>
<p>@ItsJustSchool, I see. Thank you so much for everything! </p>
@ItsJustSchool, Hi! It’s been a while but I would like to write here again. I am trying to register classes for 10th grade.
As I mentioned before, I would like to take as many Honors & AP classes possible during the next three years. Since I missed to take Biology in 9th grade, I wanted to take both Biology and Chemistry in 10th grade so that I could take AP Biology in 11th grade and AP Chemistry in 12th grade. But the school informed that they dropped AP Biology this year… it means there would be a possibility that no AP Biology the following year. We can’t do anything about it, but how the colleges look at this kind of thing? I would have one less AP class than I wanted to plan. The school also dropped Physics Honor class this year.
I have all As so far except one, Art 2, which I had to take through online school. I got B- and B+, and total of 0.5 credit. The teacher had a problem to receive my attachment which were the pictures of my drawings etc. She wasn’t available to contact after the course was done - no email address etc. I honestly don’t know why…(I thought I did fine at the final exams) but my grades in both terms were so low. I was shocked. Will the transcript show all the classes I took? If I take more Fine Arts classes and if it exceeds the requirement credits, can the school remove the Art 2 record? Will the GPA the colleges look at include ALL the subjects and classes? Or do they look at only Core classes sometimes?
I really want to be ready to apply some of the prestigious schools, having Honors & AP classes and good GPA.
Please give me advice. Thank you.