Hey,
I’m a freshman, and I’m going to apply to NCSSM next year. My problem is whether I should put residential or online as my first choice. I think I might be able to get into online if I mark it as my first choice, but I want to do residential way more. If I prioritize residential, I probably won’t get in, and then I’ll have a lower chance of getting into online.
Here are my classes for this year:
Honors bio-A
Honors math 3 PC-A
Honors English 9-A
Honors world history-A
Drawing and painting-A
Healthful living (gym/health class)-A
Next year, I’m planning on taking:
Honors chemistry
Honors precalc
Honors English 10
Honors civics and economics
Honors Latin 3
Intro to engineering (AP weighted)
Theatre 1 (I may switch this for AP world or honors earth science… Not sure yet. But I’ll probably stick with theatre)
I live in CD 4, so that ought to make my (slim) chances even lower. I have gotten almost perfect scores on all of the SAT review work I’ve been doing, no idea what that means number wise
So what do you think? Should I apply for the program I have a chance of getting into (online) as my first choice, or should I just do it and make residential my first choice because I want to do it so badly?
Thanks
Apply to Residential.
You need some AP Courses on there to increase your chances. You’ll also want an SAT Score of 2200+ if you want a good chance in your district. What are your extracurriculars?
Science Olympiad-7th grade medaled 3rd in district for water quality,. 8th grade medaled 2nd at regionals for disease detectives and 9th at states, 4th at biopsies lab in regionals. 9th grade medaled 1st at regionals in disease detectives, dynamic planet, cell bio. Been doing it since 6th grade, will do it next year.
Jazz band club-play electric bass. Only 9th grade, will do next year
Latin club- only this year but will do next year
Mathcounts-8th grade
Robotics-7th grade, we won either 3rd or 4th but I can’t remember, will check
Technical theatre-costume crew 9th grade. Worked on the little prince and Chicago
Writers association-9th, will do in 10th
That’s about it. I’m going to register for AP world instead of theatre, but I don’t have any other classes I can take as APs.
I could take precalc online over the summer, and then AP AB calculus next year, to get another AP in. The problem is that the AB calculus teacher at my school is terrible, it’s supposed to be even harder than BC calc. I’m taking math 3 with pc(precalc) this year, but my math teacher is taking the class so slowly that we aren’t going to cover any precalculus (he’s also the BC calc teacher).
Your chances seem alright. District 4 is known to be competitive but I know a few people from district 4 who hadn’t taken many APs. Science olympiad is definitely a plus. Remember that they look at your application as a whole - think a little bit about leadership if you can. Other than that, don’t forget to register for the SAT and good luck with your classes.
Try to do more volunteer work! And you can cram another AP into your schedule if you consider fifth bock classes - I took civics as a 5th block and I had room to take APES! & definitely do Residential first if it’s what you really want!