<p>@supernova127: If you don’t mind me asking, how did you score so high on the SAT’s? I haven’t formally taken the test since I was 12 through Duke TIP, so I am not sure at this point in time how much I would score, but I definitely don’t think it would be 2300. Did you take a SAT prep course or something? I was thinking about taking one but they are so expensive lol.</p>
<p>Buy the official sat study guide made by college board. Those practice tests are pretty close to the actual SAT. I was pretty good at math and writing without practicing, but reading was pretty tough for me. I just studied vocab and did multiple reading sections in the book.</p>
<p>What amazes me most about NCSSM is the number of students who manage to participate in sports and the arts…or both. There are many competitive athletic teams and it seems that many students are involved in at least one varsity sport. Some play a sport each season. This takes up weekday afternoons with practices and games.
In addition, we have met several students who are very active in music and theater. With orchestra and band, those same students sometimes also squeeze in other electives and private music lessons. Theater students manage to find time to be involved in major productions each trimester. Visual arts students are equally committed. </p>
<p>Somehow, with the workload they have on their shoulders, these kids find time for many other interests. Clubs are numerous and active. Perhaps being involved in things is what keeps some students loving the school and balanced mentally and physically.</p>
<p>One piece of advice we (parents) received again and again was to encourage our kids to get OUT of their dorm room and library…join clubs, play sports, help with the play. Find something, outside of studying and worrying about grades, to help you engage with students with similar interests and relieve stress. The general statement was the students who seemed the most stressed and had the least positive initial experiences were students who did little other than study.</p>
<p>However, given the schedule they have I was left wondering how on earth they make time and have the energy for things beyond class, homework, housekeeping and meetings? I am assuming that they get a lot done in super study???</p>
<p>T</p>
<p>I am amoung the new hopefuls for the class of 2015, hope to see you all junior year, and I hope to make it in. </p>
<p>(ps, how difficult is it to get into ncssm from the ninth district, thanks in advance)</p>
<p>@wemage…District 9 is competitive as it includes many CMS students as well as students from some the the top charter and private schools in the state. Be sure to think about what you can bring to the table to NCSSM, aside from just being a great student (as they have plenty of those applicants). Are you dedicated to martial arts or violin? Are you a strong leader who will start up interesting clubs? Are you a certied climber?<br>
Your package, unless you are simply off the charts brilliant and there is nothing left for you in CMS or your school, needs to have another aspect that helps you stand out.</p>
<p>My understanding is that District 9 and District 4 are the most competitve. That being said, many students get in from both every year…you can too! I also agree that the online program is worth a look. Our daughter really wanted the residential experience and did not want to stay at her home school. But for those mainly seeking solely the academic challenge, the online program might be the better option.</p>
<p>T</p>
<p>I would pick sleep and study any day, but thats probably because I have no life.</p>
<p>@wemage…District 9 is competitive as it includes many CMS students as well as students from some the the top charter and private schools in the state. Be sure to think about what you can bring to the table to NCSSM, aside from just being a great student (as they have plenty of those applicants). Are you dedicated to martial arts or violin? Are you a strong leader who will start up interesting clubs? Are you a certied climber?
Your package, unless you are simply off the charts brilliant and there is nothing left for you in CMS or your school, needs to have another aspect that helps you stand out.</p>
<p>My understanding is that District 9 and District 4 are the most competitve. That being said, many students get in from both every year…you can too! I also agree that the online program is worth a look. Our daughter really wanted the residential experience and did not want to stay at her home school. But for those mainly seeking solely the academic challenge, the online program might be the better option.</p>
<hr>
<p>@taben1112… I have considered the online program but I think that even with its rigor, being able to go to a school would give me more academic oppourtunities (club related) than the online program.</p>
<p>I have participated in several clubs such as Speech and Debate, Science Olympiads, Future Cities (8th grade), Vex Robotics, Boy Scouts, English Tutoring, Science Olypiad Coaching, Rugby, Rowing Crew, Volunteering with a Political Party (I will not name it because I feel ashamed for doing it since their philosiphy was not the same as mine) AHEC (its a healthcare program), I am currently designing a webpage and writing a book, Model UN, I have won a district writing contest, a Violin contest, and participated in JROTC book study (that one was less voluntary because I was never a fan of JROTC) I have medaled in all of the above except english tutoring, science olympiad tutoring, Political volunteering, and rugby (the first 3 because you couldn’t medal in it, the last because it was more of a club than anything.) I have also gotten National Awards in Speech and Debate and Future Cities (2nd and 3rd, respectively). All in all, I feel pretty good about my extra-curriculars, but I got a B in 9th grade gym (stupid finals), so that may hurt my chances. As far as I’m aware, I have about an 1840 on my sat w/o studying, but it has been about 6 months since then so I feel I have around a 2000, which is about 500 points more than my school’s average. I’m in IB so I am taking the most rigorus classes. I am in the top 1%-2% at my school as far as class rank, and I have a slew of awards from my teachers at my middle school. I have done over 100 hours of community service and I will be volunteering at a hospital this school year.</p>
<p>By the way, If you guys can chance me, that would be great.</p>
<p>Also, I was in student council and P-SAB (selected set of students to help give ideas to make the school better, but of course, they never take out advice)</p>
<p>hey, copy and paste the below and fill it out, just to make it easier to understand where we all are</p>
<hr>
<p>Objective:[ul]
[<em>] SAT I (breakdown):
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0):
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable):
[</em>] Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.):
[/ul]Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
[</em>] Job/Work Experience:
[<em>] Volunteer/Community service:
[</em>] Summer Activities:
[<em>] Essays:
[</em>] Teacher Recommendation:
[li] Counselor Rec:</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Other[ul]
[<em>] School Type:
[</em>] Ethnicity:
[<em>] Gender:
[</em>] Income Bracket:
[li] Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.):</p>[/li]
<p>[/ul]Reflection[ul]
[<em>] Strengths:
[</em>] Weaknesses:</p>
<p>[/ul]General Comments:</p>
<p>I just wanted to say that everyone should go and look at the new Congressional Districts maps for 2012. Make sure you click the “2012 Districts” button. Here is the link:</p>
<p>[North</a> Carolina’s Members of Congress & Congressional District Map - GovTrack.us](<a href=“http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/NC]North”>North Carolina Senators, Representatives, and Congressional District Maps - GovTrack.us)</p>
<p>(I posted it on the other thread but here it is for those of you who have not seen it.)</p>
<p>I’m applying next year, but I’d like to know how competitive cd 5 is. No one seems to know haha</p>
<p>Does anyone know if there are any “perks” for getting admitted to NCSSM anymore? It used to be you got one or more years “free” of NC public college tuition. I heard that ended a few years ago. Is there guaranteed admission to NC public college—or is everyone on their own. A neighbor told me that several kids at NCSSM did not get into UNC-Ch this year. I can’t verify this statement, but I wanted to throw it out there. Anyone have any facts?</p>
<p>Bumping this up b/c I have to have 15 posts to respond to a message.—So you will see couple bumps as I fill my quota.</p>
<p>Perks? </p>
<p>Being admitted.</p>
<p>Getting access to the myriad of oppurtunities that are offered. </p>
<p>Gaining a sense of autonomy.</p>
<p>Challenge.</p>
<p>More class choices.</p>
<p>Hey! I’ll be applying to NCSSM this year as well! I believe that I have a decent chance of getting in, but I think that my extracurriculars/awards section is a bit lacking. Does anyone have any ideas of independent things I can do? I’m already doing every club I can possibly do at school; so it would have to be something I could do on my own. Oh, and the application is up on the website now, so everyone should create an account and take a look at it (I already have mine halfway done and its only been out for a day ^.^’)</p>
<p>(<em>Bumpity Bump</em>)</p>
<p>Skrunch: The biggest perk my daughter has found is being surrounded by bright, motivated, interesting, talented, diverse students 24/7. The student body is even better than she anticipated…on many levels. Other perks have included interesting course selections, strong extracurr. opportunities and the NCSSM name recognition. It is amazing how jaws drop when one states that they attend NCSSM. Whether this will transfer to opportunities for college or post graduation, who knows?</p>
<p>Biggest ‘hit’ has been dealing with the lack or privacy and difficulty finding quiet study space as LutherS warns of. The actual amount of work and rigour can be brutal, but she finds it worth it and the teachers and other students supportive. Being away from home has been great for independence and growth, but challenging. We are close enough that she can come home some weekends if she really needs to. If you are not in that situation, really think about whether you want to ‘board’ vs. perhaps doing the online program.</p>
<p>My daughter is a current student from district 9. After the initial adjustment which included bouts of severe homesickness and questioning if NCSSM was the right choice. She is really starting to find her stride. The classes are definitely more challenging than your typical AP classes, and she has to study for the first time in her life; but she is also more excited about her classes than she has been in years. NCSSM was really the best choice for her as she topped out on all of her previous schools’ science and math classes.
That being said, scrunch, I would not recommend attending NCSSM if your main purpose for doing so would be admission to a specific university. It is true that some students do not get admitted to Chapel Hill, or Duke or a myriad of other schools. The colleges can’t take everyone from NCSSM who applies; however, we heard from an MIT admissions counselor during a recent college fair. He told us that the national average for acceptance into MIT is 8% of applicants, whereas the NCSSM MIT admissions rate is 14%. Not everyone will get their number one choice; but, with hard work and a challenging course load, they can increase their chances.
In addition, even though NCSSM students are no longer given a free ride to state public universities, many of those schools still offer credit for NCSSM courses. A large number of students enter college with the equivalent of 1 to 2 years of matriculation completed and enter university as second semester sophomores or juniors.</p>
<p>I heard some people saying that this one kid left after his junior year from NCSSM because he thought it was really hard. I think that this is just not right because there was probably a motivated person wanting to go there that could not go.</p>
<p>Unimom: One thing we have found is that the articulation agreement is VERY limitted and includes only a handful of schools. UNC Chapel Hill and Duke, for instance, have no articulation agreement with NCSSM. I don’t think Davidson does either. So the question that comes up is: Why are top schools in the state not accepting some NCSSM courses? Hmmm…
I would agree, therefore, that it is not the school to go to if you are trying for a specific school. In fact, some have told us that had they stayed at their homeschool where they were top in their class, they may have ended up with more college options and scholarships than they did at NCSSM.
Our child is very happy there and the environment was one of the main reasons she wanted to attend.
Evaluate EVERYTHING (environment, academics, scholarships, boarding environment, etc.) befor you make the choice. It is not for everyone…but most seem quite happy!
T</p>
<p>Hello! I am a current 10th grader in CD 9, and I was wondering if anyone could give me a honest opinion of my chances of getting into NCSSM?</p>
<p>This year, I am taking the following classes:
Honors Civics and Economics
Honors English II
AP Chemistry(Year Round)
AP Statistics(Year Round)
French II
Honors Physics</p>
<p>Freshman Year I took:
Honors World History
AP Calc BC(AP test score of a 5)
Honors Computer Programming
Honors English I
French I</p>
<p>I have also taken Cal III over the summer at UNC Charlotte, and I also took the APES test and passed with a 3. I have gotten a more than one “B” in high school. I am the vice president of my school’s Mu Alpha Theta club, and i volunteer at my local library two hours a week.</p>
<p>Thank You!</p>