<p>any chance you can switch to a better (as in more rigorous) high school?</p>
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<p>Oh please. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. There are thousands upon thousands of people in this country who are NOT Ivy League graduates who are successful. Do the math…there are several THOUSAND colleges in this country and only seven Ivy League schools. Do you honestly believe the ONLY successful folks come from Ivy League schools? They are terrific colleges for sure, but not a necessity.</p>
<p>Take a deep breath and relax. Stanford doesn’t even consider HS freshman year in it’s gpa (my son’s best HS year, sigh). Therefore you start with your record for Stanford next fall. Colleges usually only care about academic classes (they choose what they consider so don’t worry about trying to figure out what is/isn’t “academic”), your phy ed grades won’t matter. Also, colleges recalculate your gpa using their formula- often unweighted grades, so don’t count on the way your school counts/weights grades for the gpa. Do take as many of the most rigorous courses offered by your HS- that counts. Colleges realize not everyone has the same curriculum available- but they do wonder when a student doesn’t take advantage of what is available. Improving grades also count.</p>
<p>Talk to your HS guidance counselor (GC) this spring. You want to be on their radar/be a marked student. Your GC can be very helpful in helping you choose classes to meet your goals. I’m sure s/he will be thrilled to have a student who wants to go on to college like they did. If you and your assigned counselor are not a good match you can request a different one. It is an “ask and you shall receive” more than “the squeeky wheel gets the grease” situation. All sorts of “rules” about which teachers you get et al can be “broken” to optimize your education. Educators are delighted when they have students interested in their education. Also ask about opportunities outside of your HS. Even the most overworked GC will find time for a student who shows interest.</p>
<p>Congratulations on looking ahead. Continue to look at the big picture outside of your HS.</p>
<p>Hey, cut all the doom and gloom, dogxlover! As I see it, you have a 3.5 in academic subjects (possibly a weighted avg higher than that since it looks like three of the four are honors level courses). Schools aren’t going to care much, if at all, about PE, HomeEc and typing. Plus you’ve only got one year of high school under your belt!</p>
<p>Second the advice to take the hardest level courses in any given subject.</p>
<p>How good of a standardized test taker are you? I would highly recommend taking the PSAT this fall as a sophomore for practice. This should help prepare you for taking it as a junior, when it counts to possibly get you into the running for National Merit Scholarships and National Achievement Scholarships. Borrow a PSAT prep book from the library, or look for one at used book stores and spend time reading its tips and doing practice tests. You can get old PSAT tests from your school’s counseling office for a small fee, and you get a free practice test (which is a previously-administered test) when you sign up for the PSAT. If you could get one or more of these from the school now, go for it and do the tests this summer. Some students (mine, plus their cousins and several good friends included) do a lot better percentile-wise on the ACT vs the SAT. You should strongly consider taking an ACT early in your junior year to see which test gives you a higher percentile rank. All colleges will take either the ACT or the SAT - so submit which ever one helps you the most!</p>
<p>Check with your counseling office to see if their are any summer programs for gifted/talented kids that aren’t horribly expensive that you could do. Perhaps too late for this summer, but find out about what’s out there now so that you have plenty of time to get applications in for NEXT year.</p>
<p>As a freshman, the idea of going far from home intimidates you. But you will mature a lot over the next few years, and your feelings on this may change drastically. So keep an open mind about lots of schools, not just those in your area.</p>
<p>Well me and my mom had a serious talk and it looks like it doesn’t really matter. Unless I end up at HYPS(which as ya’ll already know ain’t happenin.) then it’s probably going to be LSU, Northwestern, Grambling or Southern for me… Unless Tulane gave me some serious aid… My father earns a lot of money but he’s pretty much made it crystal that once I graduate from high school he’s never giving me another dime… So since they use both parents finances I wouldn’t qualify for financial aid even though I’m relying only on my mom.</p>
<p>Ugh screw it. I don’t even feel like trying to go to college anymore. I’m gonna slave for four years to end up at a crappy state school which I could probably go to if I made straight C’s. Gonna sound cruel mean evil and heartless but I wish my dad would die. He’s the source of all my problems. It makes me mad. Wonderful dads die in car crashes but a mean bitter old fart like him is still around at 62 along with having parkisons disease!! -_-</p>
<p>Oy, Dogxlover,</p>
<p>How 'bout merit aid, which Tulane, Emory, Rice, Wash U., USC (<–I cringed writing that, not a fan of 'SC), and others, all give. I also don’t know what’s meant by “crappy state school”. Some of the top institutions in the country are state schools–the UCs (despite budget cuts remain wonderful<—corroborated by about 20 of my son’s friends who have just finished freshman year at CAL, UCLA, and UCSD), UVA, Univ. of Michigan, Univ. of Washington, University of Illinois, UNC @ Chapel Hill, and the list goes on and on. </p>
<p>I’m sorry your father is so awful–better to reroute your anger and disappointment in the direction of researching aid at colleges and what constitutes a good college. And lose the belief that a state school is “crappy.” That is inaccurate and misguided.</p>
<p>There are many great schools out there for while you may get financial support of different kinds to attend. And please don’t take too seriously USNWR rankings or your highschool friends’ beliefs about which schools are good. It’s just way too early to know your options yet. Fortunately you have lots of years ahead of you to build up your competitiveness for top colleges that fit you well, and the more competitive you look, the more options for financial support you will have. During these years, also do your research and find the best fitting school for you, and continue to look at ways by which both of your parents can help you. Don’t jump to any conclusions yet! Neither about your competitive position in your senior year, nor about where the funds might come from (or not!). </p>
<p>As for your dad, he may be a jerk but you have nothing to lose right now by assuming he’s not and working to see if you can do better than <em>zero</em> from him. In the years ahead he may very well sing a different tune. Divorced parents can be real jerks to each other, say a lot of bad things in the moment, and kids can get caught in the middle. And kids usually just hear one version of whats really going on. </p>
<p>You should talk to him directly if you aren’t already. And keep talking to him about this. Rather than have your mom as go-between, continue the dialogue with your dad on this topic, get his side of the story, and take it from there to eventually find mutual ground. You might be surprised at how much he doesn’t have funds (or has to save them for his eventual care as a parkinson’s patient!?) and/or how much he might be willing to help you if he understands from you directly, your dreams, your goals, the hardwork you’ve invested, the constraints you are under, and what doors this will open up for you.</p>
<p>If you are seriously premed, consider Xavier!
It has the highest placement of African American students into medical school.
I have precepted med students who are grads of Xavier and they are extremely well prepared.
Congratulations on the success that you have had, despite family issues, and make it work for you! Remember that you are not responsible for the issues between your parents, and keep concentrating on doing well in school. Stick with friends who make the right decisions, and make those decisions yourself. Good luck!</p>