Hi Everyone. I am a 14-year-old sophomore in high school.
I am in high school through an online school which offers ZERO AP’s. Therefore, I have taken all honors classes through my high school and got A’s in every single online course. I started taking community college courses in 2015 and now I have over 80+ credits at my local community college. I am going to finish a double associate in both electrical engineering and physics by the time I graduate. All the community college courses I have taken all go on my high school transcript, so essentially it’s my high school classes. Unfortunately, I got 2 B’s in the chemistry classes at my community college, and those transfer to my HS transcript no matter what. I know that these courses aren’t transferrable, but it’s the least I could do without APs. I self studied for 3 AP’s so far and gotten 5’s, and I’m trying to study for more. I have great extracurriculars as I have done both national and international music performances on stage, did robotics and I’m continuing to hopefully work on prosthetic legs, and I’ve done TONS of community service. I plan to get a good score on the SAT too.
If community college classes are weighted to a 5.0 scale, my GPA would be around a 4.5. If it’s unweighted, my GPA is around a 3.9.
Can I get into a school like MIT or Stanford? It’s been my dream to get into it but I don’t really know if those 2 B’s are gonna kill me.
Hi @AirBoosterNeoXD - maybe ask for “chances” on schools when you’ve taken your SATs or ACTs. Those test scores do matter. I don’t know if two "B"s will keep you out of any one school but tbh the quality of courses at community colleges vary greatly between schools and communities so I don’t know that having a 3.9 UW is all that impressive either. If you have all those great ECs, you should also have some great recommendations. Since you are doing online school, try to get recommendations from people you have worked with in person. Once you have the big picture - grades, scores, recommendations, ECs - people might better be able to advise you.
Whether you can get into MIT or Stanford no one can answer. Both schools are high reaches for pretty much everyone. Your stats sound a lot like students who get accepted, but also sound a lot like students that get rejected.
Also, even if you don’t get into MIT or Stanford, you can do very well with a degree from pretty much any “top 50” university that has a good program in your major. Also, if you do very well as an undergrad, you can get into a top graduate school (MIT or Stanford level) with a degree from pretty much any “top 50” university. I got my master’s degree from a “top 3” university, and there were other graduate students there from a very wide range of undergraduate schools. Some students came from schools that were in the top 100, but not ranked in the top 50.
I also wouldn’t worry about your lack of APs. You don’t attend a school that offers APs. You do have community college courses, and have done more than anyone could reasonably ask. I know a few students who went to a very small high school that did not offer any AP classes at all. The top 15% or 20% of the students went to very strong universities (famous LACs, or Ivy League, or equivalent). The middle 50% still went to “in-state flagship” level schools.
When the time comes to apply to universities, then keep an open mind, apply to a range of universities, and keep your budget in mind. With this, it looks to me that you are likely to do very well.
@CaMom13 - I have really good recommendations because I have worked with tons of people at community college and they have given me good recommendations before. I haven’t taken the SAT yet, but I got a 770 on Math 1 and a 760 on Math 2. I make really stupid mistakes which is a problem but still, I think I can get a good score on the SAT. I’m planning on taking a whole month just to study for the SAT and hopefully get 1550+. Question: How will colleges like MIT or Stanford know about the quality of my community college? Do they do research or anything? I worked really hard on doing 80+ credits. Each class is hard in its own way. I want to show to colleges that my community college is a quality college, how do I do that?
@DadTwoGirls - Thanks for the encouragement, I appreciate it. I’m glad to know that the lack of AP’s is okay because I have taken community college courses. You said that my stats are similar to people who got accepted/rejected. What differentiated the people who got accepted vs rejected. What attributes of my application are “rejectable”? How can I improve upon my current application?
To both of you: Should I retake the two chemistry courses which I got a B on and get a 4.0 GPA, is it worth it?
Do not retake the chemistry. It is OK to have a couple of B grades. What you could do is take a different chemistry course if you feel you absolutely must have an A in a chem course on your transcript.
Colleges and universities have their own ways of evaluating each other. There is nothing you can do to make your CC look better. Provided the coursework you have taken there will be accepted for transfer at the public universities in your state, you are fine.
Since you have finished all of the math and physics at your CC, if you are serious about continuing as a math/physics/engineering major once you do go to college, you should find places where you can enroll in more math and physics in dual enrollment. Is there a 4-year institution near you that would offer the next level coursework? If not, does your state universiy system offer anything online that could work for you?
@happymomof1 I took 4 chem classes in total, 2 of them with A’s and two of them with B’s. My community college courses(Linn-Benton Community College) can transfer to OSU(Oregon State University) very easily. If I wanted to, I could transfer over there right now, and finish my Bachelors in Electrical Engineering or Bachelors in Physics by the time I’m 18. OSU is essentially a “very-safety school”.
However, I want to get into a top school, and so I’m doing my best to have a unique application.
I have also done a college (Note college not high school) internship and will do another one at my local 4 year college. How much does that increase my odds?
You have four college-level chem classes. Don’t worry about the B grades.
You are technically a sophomore in high school, but you have basically maxed out what is possible at your CC. You might want to consider graduating HS early, and starting college sooner. Find out what is necessary in your state in order to be considerd to have completed HS.
I’m planning on graduating as a junior. I figured out all my high school requirements, and I will be able to graduate high school with all the requirements by the end of my junior year. I need to get my SAT scores before this coming summer so that I can start with college apps. Hopefully, by the end of winter break I can get this done. Do you think I have a chance at getting into a top college?
@thumper1 - We are sort of working on the budget right now… since I don’t know whether I will get into MIT or Stanford or not, we haven’t really gone into detail. However, they will do their best to pay if I get into MIT.
I took the PSAT this year, not really sure how well I did.
I probably should… I will be sure to talk to my parents and check. @thumper1 can you evaluate my overall application? Any suggestions you can make to help me improve it? Any suggestions overall?
Evaluate your chances based on what? You are a 10th grader. You haven’t taken the ACT or SAT. You have ONE year of high school grades so far.
I will tell you this. The acceptance rates for Stanford and MIT are 10% or less. That means that 90% or so of applicants are rejected. These schools are not a slam dunk for admissions for anyone. In the 90% of rejected students, most are well qualified applicants.
You have the same chance if acceptance as anyone else applying…10% chance of acceptance.
In addition to those schools, you might also want to find some sure thing for admissions…and affordable schools. BUT this will be a challenge without your SAT or ACT scores…unless you look at test optional schools.
@thumper1 Actually, I forgot to mention in my original post: I have started to take a full time high school load since 7th grade, which means that I’m done with almost all of the high school requirements. I’m done with about 3 years worth of high school, AS WELL as 80+ credits in community college. Done with all the sciences, Honors Bio, College chem, college physics, the maths, from algebra to differential equations at community college, and I have 2 years of honors writing and one year of college writing, and one year of history. I got A’s on EVERYTHING except for 2 chem classes(I did 4). I got a 770 in Math 1 and 760 in Math 2. Assuming that il get 1550+ on the SAT, what are my chances? Along with the ECs I have?
You don’t seem to understand what people are saying. Your chances are 10%. There is nothing that you can write or add that will make your chances different than 10%, unless you have test scores that are not in range in which case your chances will be less than 10%. Most of the people who apply to these schools are very qualified. There is a reason that people refer to them as lottery schools. Why does one person get in and another get rejected? Who knows? Just do your best, make sure you apply to schools that are affordable, and have some safeties.