I’m a rising junior asian male (16) at an extremely competitive feeder school in NYC, born outside the US but immigrated when I was young.
Currently, my grades aren’t great compared to the rest of my school, having a 93.62 avg (our school doesn’t give scores on a 4.0 scale). This was mostly attributed to my horrible freshman year (~88 avg, 1 AP) where I got a 65 and an 85 in AP Bio (4 on AP exam) and two 85s in English as I struggled heavily in remote learning. During my sophomore year (~98 avg, no APs) I did better but did not challenge myself, mostly because APs are extremely competitive in my school and I didn’t even qualify to take any APs because of my low freshman year grades. However, junior year I will be taking APush and APcs and expect to do well as I am strong in those areas.
I will be taking the SAT twice in the next two months (once digitally), I expect to do well after lots of prep despite a 1390 on the PSAT. I will also take the ACT later in the school year.
Currently, I have not had many extracurriculars and no awards, I am a writer for the school paper and have a position in Key Club and tutoring (~150 hours of community service + expected 300 more hours over the next two years), as well as being in multiple clubs (pen pal, economics), also on a varsity sport (city runner-up).
I’m not sure what to do as my application is not very good due to the competitiveness of my school. I have been in a lab over the summer and plan on applying for the Regeneron STS despite my 65 in AP Bio (I did receive two 100s in Honors Chemistry and Cancer Research soph year). I swear I’m not actually bad at science, and I actually love biology, I was just a terrible online student.
I would like to ask a few questions:
What can I do within the next two years in order to build upon my current application?
How can I find someone to write a good letter of recommendation for me as we typically only have teachers for one year (so no teacher will have me for multiple years, meaning they won’t be able to write a comprehensive letter for my growth over time)?
Will my 10-point improvement from freshman to sophomore year matter to colleges and make up for my poor GPA, considering I can maintain a 98 for the rest of high school?
If you have time or interest in ECs…note the interest part…great. If not keep doing what you’re doing. There’s lots of great colleges out there for u…stop comparing to your classmates. There’s only one you. Be the best you that you can. But test or no test, ECs or no ECs, you’ll have a spot at many a fine school.
Continue to do the best you can in your classes. An upward trend is definitely a positive. Many students struggled with on line classes so I think ad coms will give more emphasis on your sophomore and junior year grades. And some schools, don’t consider grades from 9th grade.
Most students only have teachers for one year so that isn’t an issue. Work on making sure your teachers this year know you well and then ask two for recommendations early next spring.
There will be plenty of schools that will be happy to have you.
Stop stressing and enjoy school. A 93 average is great; and an 88 is not in any universe bad either. There are tons and tons of colleges out there, and one is right for you. And I agree, do ECs if you can, but I would focus your intent/purpose for ECs on finding something you love spending your time on and hopefully doing that thing with other like minded peers, not as a way to improve your college application. I’m not saying, go slack off. I’m saying - just do your best, but have fun and if that fun leads to some ECs great, if not, fine. The rest will fall into place.
I’ll also add, I’ve heard two admissions officers say something to the likes of - your activities and ECs don’t have to be president of some club. It can be whatever hobbies you spend your time on outside of curricular endeavors- whether that’s coding or painting or playing tennis or golf; writing, reading, taking care of siblings even is considered an activity, I was told. So I find it hard to believe when kids say they have no activities/ ECs.
One issue is that at a competitive “feeder” high school there are likely to be at least some students (perhaps many?) who have an “Ivy league or equivalent or you are wasting your life” sort of attitude. Ignore them. They are wrong.
On the other end, if you were studying in a very highly ranked graduate program, you would discover that a very large number of the students there attended a relatively average public university for their bachelor’s. Similarly, for the large majority of good careers, regardless of where you attend university you will work with coworkers who attended any one of several hundred different very good colleges and universities.
In other words, do not get too hung up on looking for a prestigious college or university. Instead, look for one that is a good match for you, that is affordable, and that has a good program in your major.
I agree with others that your sophomore and junior years of high school are going to matter a lot more than your freshman year of high school.
For ECs, participate in the activities that are interesting to you and that make sense to you. If you do what you want to do, you are likely to do it well. If you get into a leadership position, remember that “leadership” means making the activity better for everyone who participates. It specifically does not mean getting your way. The best leaders frequently “lead” by listening. As one example, in high school I became the president of the chess club because no one else wanted to do it. However, I had one really big advantage: I had absolutely no idea whatsoever what I should do as president of the chess club. This means that I had to ask others, and then I had to listen to what they suggested. Of course this turned out to be exactly the right thing to do.
This is good. Hopefully this is also interesting to you.
A lot of people are terrible online students. Now that classes are back in person, you should do well.
I think that you should keep doing what makes sense for you, keep ahead in your class work, and keep an open mind when it comes time to apply to universities.
@ucla_cs_god this student is a New York State resident. The ICs don’t provide a Penny of aid for out of state students (a teeny amount of merit might be available…but only to top OOS applicants). This student would be full pay at the UCs at over $50,000 a year.
@euphority are you a U.S. citizen or permanent resident?
Look at the SUNY schools. They are reasonably priced for instate students.
What can your parents afford in terms of annual college costs? Important question. Find out.
Stuy has very good school guidance counselors. Make an appointment and have a conversation with yours about colleges.
Since the original poster doesn’t mention any financial need, I assumed that they were full-pay. If they are full pay, with the strong sophomore and junior grades, the student would be competitive for UCs, and they would be cheaper than similarly ranked privates assuiming no merit.
I don’t see what’s wrong with your EC’s! If you can move into a leadership position or two by senior year, that would be a plus, but if that doesn’t happen, it’s not the end of the world.
Taking AP Bio in 9th grade is pretty ambitious (even if it’s normal at your school), and I’m sure remote learning was not a help. I’m betting that colleges will be seeing a lot of applications, in your year, where students had a tough time adjusting to high school under pandemic conditions. A rocky 9th grade year is definitely better than struggling any other year; an upward trend will make you a solid candidate for many good schools.
You don’t have to do anything heroic to change the trajectory you are on; just do the best you can this year and keep moving forward. In terms of making your path to college as healthy as possible, a good goal for this year would be to identify “safety” schools - where both acceptance and affordability are assured or highly likely - that you could be happy to attend. There are many great options in the NY public university system. There may be good OOS public and private options as well; that will depend on your financial resources and/or financial aid eligibility. But, there are many fine colleges that would be happy to accept a student with your record. If you can develop a true fondness for one or two schools you know you can get into, then you won’t be living in terror of having no good option. Once that’s accomplished and your junior year grades are on the books, you can consider what lower-odds schools you might want to add to your list.
In the meantime, try to enjoy high school and resist the urge to compare yourself too much with your highly-competitive peer group. You’re laying a good foundation; focus on bringing your own aspirations into focus, and you’ll be fine!
Canadian universities also do not consider freshman grades, fwiw. But this is just one factor among many; no need to avoid schools that consider all high school grades. There will be schools that are out of reach, but that’s true for the overwhelming majority of applicants!
MANY students learned during the pandemic that they’re not good at online learning. My D24 (11th grader now) also got not-great grades in 9th grade (which was primarily online). What’s great, though, is that you’ve shown an improvement. In your college application essays, you can mention what you learned about the whole online learning experience.
I know it’s hard when you’re at a really competitive high school, but the other advice about trying not to listen too much to everybody else at school acting like “If you don’t go to a Top 25 school, then you might as well not even try” is good advice.
Why? Because they are pretty much wrong.
There’s a great podcast that you could listen to for some perspective…it’s called “Your College Bound Kid.” So it’s primarily aimed at parents of high schoolers, but all of the info they talk about in the podcast is helpful to students as well.
You need to find out how much per year your family can afford to pay. Make an appointment with one of your school’s guidance counselors.
Unless I’m missing something, OP isn’t asking for school names and hasn’t even hinted at what type of school they may be looking for. They simply asked:
How can they improve their current status…
How can he find a teacher for a recommendation.
Will the 10 point grade increase be helpful.
So unless i’m missing something -throwing out UCs or SUNYs is premature. I really think they just want to ensure they will be on a path for college - and they will.
OP - keep being the best you. If you have time and interest for ECs, go for them. If not, you’ll be ok. Yes, improving grades is a great thing - but you’ll be fine either way at this point.
As for letters, find 11th grade preferably or 10th alternatively - that you connected with. Most people only have a teacher for one year. Get to know this best you can…
You’re in a fine situation - and when the time comes, depending on your interests, there will be lots of colleges for you. Don’t worry…just focus on school.
Sorry for the late response, I am a permanent resident and probably cannot afford 50k, although I would consider taking a big loan to go to a better college if I do get accepted.
I have already talked to my guidance counselors, and over the summer I have begun to really focus on college apps.
Well…would your parents co-sign this big loan, or take it themselves? For freshman year, you can only get $5500 in Direct Loans. Anything over that amount would need to be cosigned or taken out by your parents.
You have many SUNY schools to look at. And these will be more affordable as an instate student.
Your upward grade trend, and the rest of your application…you will find colleges who will be happy to have you as an admitted student.
You ddin’t ask for schools - but if you put out what you’re looking for - size, environment (urban, rural) and most importantly budget - + subject interested in, you’ll get lots of ideas that meet budget.
Not sure how permanent resident works with need aid, etc.
But at this point, you seemed concerned that anyone would want u - and I ensure you, tons will - and some will be affordable…so don’t worry.
You’re a year away - what I would want to know is - as a permanent resident, what are you entitled to - grant wise? Will schools reward you with need or merit aid similar to that of domestic students?
Perhaps the answer is simple, perhaps it isn’t.
But you have tons of time b4 you need to even be putting a schedule together - so keep focused on school. If you find a club you’d love to join, get in and get involved - but do it because you want, not for college.
Permanent resident green card holders are eligible for the same need based aid consideration as citizens. They can get the Direct Loan and Pell Grants. They are considered “eligible non-citizens”.