I’m a junior in high school right now and I’m not taking any AP classes. This is because freshman year I was in another country and was set to take the IB (international baccalaureate) where freshman year everyone took like basic classes to help them know which classes to choose. I took integrated math and science, then your other basic classes. Unfortunately, I moved AGAIN to another country and there was no AP classes available to take only honors classes. In this school, you had to take an entry test to let them know which classes I was able to take. Sadly, sophomore year I took your standard classes again. This time the standard classes were biology, world hist., then your other standard classes. In my current high school, biology should’ve been taken freshman year but instead I took it sophomore year. I didn’t take any honors classes at all 
. Btw, my GPAs are VERY AVERAGE and not competitive at all which is making me worry. Freshman year: 3.4 and sophomore year 3.5.
This year I am taking 2 honors classes, English and History, a fine art, integrated math 3 with precal (this is like a accelerated class but is not weighted), spanish 3-4 (I had to take another language jnr. year cuz freshman year i took chinese and sophomore year i took spanish because chinese was not an option and in order to graduate from my current hs, I’d have to take the same language for two years…) , and general chemistry medical. So basically I’m only taking two weighted classes and the rest are basically classes I should’ve taken in sophomore year but I didn’t.
Also many people might be wondering, “why didn’t she take any AP classes during junior year then?”. Well, when i was choosing my classes, my counselor was telling me she wouldn’t recommend taking AP classes since I didn’t really have a ‘foundation’ to take them. Since in my underclassmen years I didn’t take any advanced or honors classes. She told me I would be likely to fail or do bad. So, I didn’t take any and instead recommended me to take honors classes and an accelerated math to be able to take AP during senior year. She also recommended me to take some college classes during summer.
These are my questions:
- If I do take college classes during the summer, will they benefit me getting into a 4 year university???
- If I take AP classes during my senior year, will colleges see that and will it affect them being able to accept me??
- If this second semester I get a good gpa will it help overall or not really?
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME!! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT! ANYTHING WILL HELP!! PLEASE ASAP!!
- From what I've learned from this site and from guidance sources, college classes will benefit you as it shows you can handle college coursework... depending on the course, obviously. Take courses related to your spike.
- Most colleges don't focus on your senior year but if you take the opportunity to describe your situation and how you' advanced academically, they'll definitely take that into consideration. But beware of senioritis. It is real. If you take a bunch of APs after doing relatively easy work, there is a HUGE possibility that you'll fail them all.
- An upwards trend is always great. Showing that you've grown will help in college admissions... so get great grades next semester. take a couple classes over the summer, and rock senior year without killing yourself. You should boost gpa but also focus on some extracurriculars.
In college apps, play up your story about moving! Good luck from a sophomore with too many senior friends!
Pre IB are typically considered Honors (there’s no standard ->IB path).
Your 9th grade classes should be recorded as such.
The problem school is 10th grade - I suppose there was no other choice or they weren’t used to your previous school system and fumbled your placements.
You must mostly apply to holistic, private schools that take personal circumstances and 12th grade into account.
If you tell us what state you’re in and what your EFC is, we can help you.
Yes you can take dual enrollment classes during the semester, quarter or summer.
What are your strongest subjects?
Do NOT overload. Your goal is to keep your grades at 3.5 and show your ability to handle fast paced classes.
Does your local community college offer two summer sessions? You could take one class each session - typically it’d mean you can’t do anything else though (2h30 class/day= 6h homework with every day.)
Hi!! Thank you so much for replying!! So I got my report card and I saw my current school didn’t consider the pre ib classes to be honors… Should I notify my counselor to change it??
I’m in california and im sorry but I dont know what my efc is… sadly
So, I believe my strongest subjects would be science, mainly chemistry and biology but I think that’s because I only took the standard classes. As well as math. I want to be somewhere in the medical field, either a nurse or a pharmacist. Reading things online and researching the colleges, it seems being in a nursing program during college is competitive though which is making me worry about everything right now.
Thanks for the advice for not overloading my work though. Next year I’m planning to take around 2 or 3 AP classes. Do you think that’s good enough or should I take less or more?
I know my local community college offers a program for high school students during the summer. Which, hopefully I could try taking during the summer.
ALSO I totally forgot to mention but I have community service hours from freshman year, about 25-30 hours just by taking care of orphan kids. Sophomore year I completed about 20 hours of service picking up trash, playing volleyball and the proceeds going to cancer research, and by volunteering at 5k’s. This year first semester, I earned about 32 hours tutoring students.
Will the services boost my chances of getting into a UC school??
My very first choice is UCSD but at this point, I feel like they really won’t accept me or even look at my application…
Please respond!! Thank you so much for your work! I really appreciate it!!! <33333
For the UC’s, they have their own weighting system based on the UC approved Honors, AP/IB or DE courses taken 10-11th grades only. Pre-IB classes would not be weighted if UCSD is your target. You can check which courses at your HS will be UC weighted on this link. Weighted UC classes would have a yellow star next to the course:
https://hs-articulation.ucop.edu/agcourselist
That said if you want increase your HS course rigor, then taking community college courses will be weighted by the UC’s but be careful since any a-g courses that are UC transferable will be on your college record. You want to take classes where you have the best chance of getting an A.
UC’s tend to be very GPA focused so anything you can do to boost your GPA would be worth the effort. Community service/EC’s are important and will help distinguish you from the many other competitive applicants but GPA, Test scores, HS course rigor and your personal insight essays are considered Very Important in the UC application review.
Some UCSD statistical data from 2018:
2018 UC capped weighted GPA averages:
UCSD: 4.16
2018 Data:
25th - 75th percentiles for SAT:
UCSD: 1300-1520
25th - 75th percentiles for ACT
UCSD: 28-34
- SAN DIEGO
- Very important: Academic GPA, Application essay, Rigor of secondary school record, Standardized test scores
- Important: Character/personal qualities, Extracurricular activities, First generation college student, State residency, Talent/ability, Volunteer work, Work experience
- Note: High school course pattern, GPA, essay and test scores most important. Admission for out-of-state applicants more selective than for residents.
The campus does not admit students on the basis of academic major or choice of UC San Diego undergraduate college. Alternate majors are considered. Also note: Capped majors require additional pre-req courses and specific GPA to be able to qualify to if changing majors.
Thank you so much for your insight! I really appreciate it and can benefit me!! Thank you!! <333
I think at this point you should aim for CSU’s, perhaps the more residential ones with good honors colleges like Chico. Add UCSC, UCR (<=dedicated medical scholar programs) and UCM.
But your story will be reviewed by private holistic colleges - run the NPC on Laverne, St Mary’s of California, California Lutheran, Whittier, URedlands, Whitman (reach), UPuget Sound…
Yes your pre IB classes should be on your transcript as such or as honors.