<p>Warning: lengthy post. </p>
<p>Freshman year:
- was not informed of good guidance about college so I didn't care; result: took all general classes, passed with all A's and two B's
- did not join any clubs + sports because one) they didn't have my favorite sports in school NOR outside of school and two) didn't know of the any other clubs</p>
<p>sophomore year:
- mixture of enriched/general/one honors class; result: some b's/a's
- STILL no EC's. </p>
<p>I'm an incoming junior and I've only started to realize the importance of college and I want to really go to UC's but it's too late in the year to join clubs and stuff so my plan is </p>
<p>1.) take two AP classes junior year at local community college (classes: 3 honors, two enriched), three APs senior year (rest honors); graduate min of 5 AP classes
2.) join two clubs (which both I just discovered): Art Club and Peer Mediation for the rest of high school (two years both) </p>
<p>Worries: </p>
<h1>1- Do taking classes at local community colleges count as an AP class? I also want to take AB Calculus AP at my school senior year, however it's a prerequisite to take Pre-Calculus. Problem is that I already signed up for Algebra II for junior year. Can I take both Pre-Calculus and AB Calculus AP at the same time?</h1>
<h1>2- My friend says there's literally no positions- not even a president- of Art Club since there's been a substitute teacher for the past year (still continuing). What if there is no officer positions in Peer mediation? Then how am I suppose to show leadership positions?</h1>
<h1>3- Will it hurt me that I started participating in school activities in my junior year for only two years?</h1>
<h1>4- Since i live in RI, we are required to take the NECAP testing. I don't know much about it, but I want to know how colleges (especially UC's) view about it.</h1>
<p>Sorry for the extremely long post and thank you for taking your time to answer and read through it!</p>
<p>Lengthy post? Pfah, you did not see my version of the “Here’s all the information about me, now help me out!” thread. That was quite a bit longer than yours.</p>
<h1>1) AP is a specific program overseen by the College Board. AP classes are college-level classes in high school that are specifically in preparation for the corresponding AP test in May. Therefore, classes that are actually at a college will not fall under the AP category, BUT you may be able to convince your colleges of choice that taking actual college courses demonstrates your ability to work at the college level, which is what AP is all about anyway. Oh, and taking the AP tests would help too even if they’re not specifically AP tests.</h1>
<p>I think a prereq is a prereq, and taking concurrently wouldn’t be allowed. But you’d have to ask your school for specific details. Can’t help you here.</p>
<h1>2) Yes, leadership positions are important. It is each student’s responsibility to seek his/her own positions - they don’t just come magically. If your clubs don’t have them… try finding others?</h1>
<h1>3) I think colleges realize that people (especially teenagers) aren’t perfect and may have lacked the ability to plan ahead. Really show dedication to those clubs and you can do all right. Don’t forget that ECs are only one part of the giant admissions jigsaw puzzle. Even though it is true that only having been in ECs for two years might make you seem less favorable, don’t think that your chances are crushed!</h1>
<h1>4) My goodness, I had to look up NECAP to know what it was. Because of that, it probably holds little importance. Colleges look at SATs and ACTs, not something like this. This sounds like the WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) where I go to school. They just use it to see if students are learning, colleges don’t really care.</h1>
<p>Anyone who lives in the NE region and has better knowledge might be able to correct me if I’m wrong, but this is my impression.</p>
<p>Hope this helped!</p>
<p>^ Thanks you gave me hope! 
In the end, I just hope colleges see that I’m an actual Asian girl who is NOT all about science/math and is actually a normal teenager(-ish). And hopefully colleges DON’T care about NECAP – and your WASL – too since I’m probably going to bomb it/receive an average score since all my friends, including some in all Honors classes, says the NECAP testing is way harder than the SAT :X</p>
<p>(Aack, typo’d on my answer to #1 and just noticed, but can’t edit my post anymore. Bleah…)</p>
<p>Yeah no problem! :)</p>
<p>I’m Asian too if you didn’t know. And let me tell you, if you want to emphasize that you are not the normal stereotypical math/science Asian, you can write about it in your essay, if you feel that it has shaped your identity and life.</p>
<p>And from what I hear, I suppose NECAP is kind of in a different vein than WASL… in my school the WASL’s seen as a joke and ridiculously easy to pass… we’re not a particularly elite school, so the test isn’t really that hard. (Nevertheless, there are some people who do not receive a passing score) If you say the NECAP is harder than the SAT… wow. That’s really gotta be something. I would ask your guidance counselor to see if colleges will care about NECAP, because I am only guessing that they do not.</p>
<p>^ </p>
<p>Ooh! Another essay idea! Thanks haha. (Hi5 to being Asian YEAH! lmao) Although I do find it so, um.. COMMON that writing about being Asian-Americans is so common when you’re… ASIAN lol XD (Especially since tons of other Asian-Americans write the same topic too!)</p>
<p>Ah, yeah. My guidance counselor. She’s nice and all but I’m still waiting for her to call me down. I scheduled on her clipboard (arrange a meeting) like 5/6 and still waiting…</p>
<p>Oh, one more question for you! (Sorry I keep pounding you with questions T_T!) – what if you submit a college applciation in which you showed absolutely NO leadership positions on? How will colleges view you then?</p>
<ol>
<li>AP classes are one type of advanced class, and taking classes at the community college will not be considered “AP” but will carry as much weight since this is a different type of advanced class. It may also look even better because you went out of your way to take these classes. </li>
</ol>
<p>I do not think it would be a good idea to take precalc and calc at the same time. Precalc shows you the concepts and helps you understand certain things more graphically and in different ways. calculus allows you to take simpler (in my view, although using more advanced math) ways to solve the problems. You need to have a basis first though before you can solve them. Maybe you can take either algebra II or precalc over the summer (AII this summer, precalc next summer) to advance yourself so that you can take calc your senior year. </p>
<ol>
<li>My main clubs that i participated in in high school did not have leadership positions. I liked this about the clubs since we were pretty much all equal. Some did, but i never ran for a position. And yes having leadership position helps you in college admissions, but it is not everything. If you are passionate about the club, it shouldn’t matter that there are no positions. do what you like. You won’t have fun being in charge of something you don’t care about, and maybe you will even be able to write an essay about this club and how everyone contributed and made it equal as a college essay. </li>
<li>To be honest, it may hurt you a little, but if you can show that you are passionate about these clubs now then you should be ok. But don’t go from 0 clubs tot 10 clubs or they will know that you are only joining for college admissions. </li>
<li>I have no idea what that is. sorry</li>
</ol>
<p>Maybe you could do something really cool over the summer either this year or next year. That would probably help a lot (though i didn’t do this. i just went to camp every summer.)
Have fun in high school and do what you like to do</p>