I’m a junior in high school (second semester currently) and time is coming to start thinking about colleges and applications. As I look back on it I’m starting to realize that my grades are really not great, especially with C’s both semesters in honors chemistry and two grade dips from A’s to B’s second semester of sophomore year. Sophomore year was the year my grades lowered a lot but I have improved them quite a bit junior year. I’ve only taken one AP class and three honors courses because my school has extremely difficult classes to the point where most students don’t take more than 3 AP’s max. Will this still seriously hurt my application?
I’ve also come to realize that I haven’t really done any great extracurriculars. I’m the PR officer for a couple clubs and I used to swim varsity outside of school but I stopped that because I didn’t enjoy it at all. I’m in also in a Red Cross committee as I’m interested in going the pre-med route and in journalism. Is it too late to start anything new now and what sorts of things can I do second semester and summertime to beef up my application?
Most colleges are going to look at your GPA and test scores first, so I would concentrate on these two areas. Work hard to get your grades up next semester and look into some test prep before attempting the SAT and/or ACT. I would also consider taking either one of these tests before the end of your Junior year. This will give you the summer to focus on weak areas and allows enough time to retake in the Fall before applications are due. Also this summer you can look into beefing up your volunteer or EC’s. EC’s are important but unless you plan to apply to the many of the elite schools which want something special, I would just continue with your current EC. Quality not Quantity is important.
You should get familiar with the Common Data Set filings. These reports, published my most colleges, have a section where they explain what factors matter in admission and how much wait each is given. You should take a look at the ones for some schools that you are considering.
What I expect you’ll find matches what @Gumbymom has said. The most weight is given to grades and scores. Often class rank is important too. At most colleges except the most elite (meaning we’re talking thousands of colleges) ECs are given minimal or no weight. Which means what you’re doing now is more than sufficient for the caliber of school that is realistic for someone with a good but not amazing GPA and not too many honors or AP classes.
Rather than focusing your efforts on ECs, I suggest instead doubling down on school. This is the time to learn and practice the skills you’ll need to do well in college. Ironically, for all the hours you’ve spent in school so far, I’ll bet this is something that was never explicitly taught. Ask most kids about distributed practice, self testing, elaboration and you’re likely to get a quizzical look yet these are proven strategies for studying effectively (and re-reading, the one most kids use before tests, is both inefficient and leads to false confidence due to the “familiarity” effect). There is a recent book out that you should read to understand how to learn effectively, titled “Make it Stick”.
It’s never too late to start and extracurricular, so I think you still have time to think of something you have a passion for and stick with it. For me, I just recently became involved with my extracurriculars through a school club. Maybe there are some interesting clubs at your school that you could join?
Thanks everyone! @mikemac the book advice is very concrete so it’s something I will actually read so thanks for that recommendation! As far as I know, our school does not really have a system of class rank or even valedictorian and I believe it’s actually on the top 10 schools in California, if that means anything. Do any of you know if and how colleges take school difficulty into consideration? @Gumbymom I’ve already taken the SAT and scored a 2210 (is this enough?) and plan to take a couple of subject tests and the AP Biology exam this May. @L3tan3 Yeah I’ve joined a few but don’t really know where I’m going with those clubs
@rdeng2614 800 writing, 710 math, and 700 critical reading. I’ve taken it twice so my first one was 800 writing, 640 math, 710 critical reading so with the super score I would have a 2220.
I’ve also asked about volunteering in a hospital and I applied but I was put on the wait list because it required 3 teacher rec letters and an application and all my teachers gave my my recs on the last day, as it was college application season