<p>I go to a very small private catholic traditional school in the Philippines. I'm a US citizen. My school doesn't offer AP or IB courses. How can I increase my chances of getting into UCLA? My parents can't afford to send me to an International school here. I'm considering self-studying for the AP exams.</p>
<p>Self-study is always an option if you are willing to put forth the extra effort. Are there any colleges nearby where you can possibly take classes? If so, make sure you check with the schools you are interested in to see if they accept the credits at that college. </p>
<p>Remember, though, that when colleges look at your transcript they look to see that you took the most rigorous courses that YOUR high school offered. Your counselor should list the highest classes available at your school, and what you took. As long as you take the highest classes, you’ve fulfilled that requirement.</p>
<p>Of course, in regards to increasing your chances, do look at self-study, dual enrollment,etc. Also make sure you do a meaningful and significant extracurricular activity(s). Be willing to be assertive and look for opportunities, not the other way around.</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Go to your school’s guidance counselor and ask for help. What did previous students of your school do to get admitted to US colleges? Where locally can you take the AP exams? You may consider attending a school that gets students admitted every year to US universities.</p>
<p>@ wutheringgc
Thanks so much! Your advice really helped and I will consider being more active in school :)</p>
<p>@ Batllo
I found a school that could have me take the AP exams, thanks. As much as I would love to attend an IB diploma school, but my parents can’t afford to send me to a 20k a year school. They’re already saving up for my college. I’m just trying to increase my chances from here.</p>
<p>You are evaluated in the context of your environment.</p>
<p>That said, self-studying for APs is a great way to demonstrate your ability to excel despite your limited environment.</p>
<p>The high school that I work at is not focused on academics (no AP courses, possibly the lowest SAT avg in the state, less than 1/2 of graduates going to 4-yr schools, top two students this year going to UT Austin and UDub, last years top student went to USC but is really struggling). </p>
<p>If a student here ends up with a 4.0 and test scores on par with the rest of the HYPSM bunch, would that student REALLY be a viable candidate for admissions? The colleges get the school profile from the counselors, so it’s not like we can hide the train wreck that is our school. Would top colleges still be willing to take a chance on someone from a school like this? Or, is it all talk? </p>
<p>I’ve had some ivy recruiters speak to my classes, but I don’t know if what they say is legit - especially when they say “taking the toughest of what you’re offered” (which includes no AP) will be evaluated on par with the guy across the street at the other school taking a bunch of APs. It just doesn’t seem to make any sense (other than it allows for diverse backgrounds). </p>
<p>Our counselor works hard and does a good job with the students we have. I would like to push some students toward the Ivies, but worry about our school being a drag on their application and thus a waste of time and money for them.</p>
<p>Is it all just lip service from these top schools? Are my students doomed to community college?</p>
<p>I don’t really know about the Ivies, but I know someone who attended a high school focused on the arts (which doesn’t have an AP math/science curriculum) who is now attending MIT.</p>
<p>I would imagine that admissions would take the students’ individual backgrounds into consideration, since some students really have the capability to succeed in top schools but very limited resources in high school. (Yes, without adequate high school preparation, the first year of college may be more of a struggle, but many colleges have support systems to help students deal with difficult academic transitions.) I think that it wouldn’t hurt for motivated students to apply because you’ll never know if you stand a chance otherwise.</p>
<p>@mauicougar: If there are ivy recruiters speaking at your school, that means they must really, really want to admit students from your school or geographic area. Admission officers have very busy lives and would not waste time speaking at a certain school unless they want the kind of diversity that students at your school may bring to the campus.</p>
<p>I think coming from an underrepresented school is an advantage if you have grades and standardized test scores on par with applicants from more competitive, better equiped high schools. </p>
<p>The QuestBridge non-profit program phrases this much better than I possibly can, so perhaps you can seek out information on their website:</p>
<p>[QuestBridge</a> College Prep Scholarship - Overview](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/cps/info.php]QuestBridge”>http://www.questbridge.org/cps/info.php)</p>
<p>(By the way, I am a high school senior, and when I was applying to colleges last year, I only took one AP class, which was APUSH, since that was the only one our school offered to juniors. I got into most of my reach schools just fine, including both Harvard and MIT, so it was definitely not a problem.)</p>
<p>xrCalico23: my school is a branch of a well-respected, very large private school (kind of like how UT has its flagship in Austin and then a bunch of smaller, less recognized campuses). My school rides the tailcoats of the main campus. I’d guess that 95% of my students wouldn’t even be accepted at the main campus. But, we have the same name as the main campus and, thus, the ivy recruiters come here. (there is also a very elite private school that is in about 5 minutes away, so the recruiters come to visit that school, and since they’re already nearby, they swing through our campus as well). I will say that we can offer a ton of diversity, though (100% underrepresented minority enrollment). :)</p>
<p>^Haha, good luck to your students! It’s great that there’re teachers like you who care enough to seek out information for their students :). Maybe you can post this in the Parent Forum - a lot of very knowledgeable parents and counselors post there so you may able to get a lot of good advice from them.</p>