Problems with Junior Schedule

Parent Cafe
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<p>Hey, I have been on this forum before. I am a junior in high school and I have been in school a couple of weeks. My original schedule for this year was: </p>

<p>AP Physics B
AP US History
Journalism/Newspaper
Int Alg II
Honors Language Arts
Honors French</p>

<p>My school had a new rule that you cannot add or drop anything this year, but it changed when you needed a note from your parents to do so. I was in AP Physics for a little over a week and was too confused and stressed. I did understand some of it, but all my effort was this one class. I'm also in College Prep math and I am terrible at trig, so the class wasn't the best fit. I then dropped AP Physics and I am now in Honors Physics. I already got an A on the first test and I'm fine with the class thus far. </p>

<p>I then started having problems with my journalism class. My journalism teacher started to have problems with me for no reason. I also have her for advisement which is where someone goes before or after lunch. She started yelling at me for gossiping in advisement when she didn't say anything to anyone else. The girls gossiped way more then I ever did (she didn't say a word) and this is advisement and not the real class. Teachers usually do not care what you do in this free period. We only had about six people in my advisement class when a normal advisement class is around 30. We have about 14 kids in the class including myself. She embarrassed myself three times in the class in-front of my peers. She said quote on quote, "Everyone knows early<em>college annoys me" and "The time labor day comes, early</em>college will be getting a new elective." I have never been so upset in my life. I have never had a detention or have ever gotten in trouble. She told another teacher she was planning on kicking me out. She also talked to me by myself and stated how I need to change as a person. She said students complained about me and how she doesn't like me. I've never had a teacher tell me that to my face. She is the department chair and thinks she can do whatever she wants. She told my father I was immature and she can kick anyone out if she wants to because she is department chair. My dad talked to my other teachers who said the opposite. </p>

<p>We talked to an assistant principal, but she is friends with my teacher. My dad talked to the principal yesterday who will "talk with her" and thought it was out of character. I have never been so upset in my life. The teacher will be getting away with this. I talked to my counselor yesterday and an AP. I have a third new counselor this year whom I never met before yesterday. I go to a big public school, so the counselors hardly know the students. I asked about college recommendations and she said I will have to create a resume to give her when I apply. The counseling staff at my school sucks. It takes days to speak with them and they give mediocre advice. They wouldn't let me drop down to college prep math freshman year when I had gotten a D in the class. They thought I should drop down and I did. There wasn't much choice elective wise because I would have to get brand new teachers for electives I would want to take. AP Psychology was an option, but I would have way too much work to make up and they wouldn't recommend it. </p>

<p>I wish I would have taken it if I could go back in time, but I wanted to take more then one AP and AP Physics was my only option. I did not get into AP Lang, but would have taken it if I got in. I am not a math or science person; however, I did receive an A in Honors Chem. I am now taking an acting class. It is the same exact class I took last year. We have a new drama teacher though. I wanted to assist teaching an intro course to drama, but another teacher is currently doing that. They may split the class into two and I may have the option to switch classes again to co teach it. I like to act, but prefer film acting then theater. It was my only option basically, so I am happy I am out of the other class. I was in Advanced Acting last year and I am in regular Acting this year. It is Advanced Acting, but on the transcript it has Acting. </p>

<p>My problem is rigor. My current junior schedule is:
AP US History
Honors LA
Honors Physics
Honors French II
Int Alg II
Acting </p>

<p>It really is the same thing I took last year, minus the honors french class. This is my sch and I cannot change it. I have already had three schedule changes. I first moved US History classes because there wasn't enough people in my class. I told the counselor that junior year is the most important, but she begged to differ. I really hope this doesn't affect me in college admissions. </p>

<p>I am interested in the following college choices:
NYU (top choice)
USC
Northwestern
Sarah Lawrence
Vassar
Conn College
Fordham- LC
Chapman
Loyola Marymount
UGA (instate)
GCSU (instate)
SUNY Binghamton
Villanova
U Dayton
George Washington
American</p>

<p>I have a 3.4 GPA and I am really trying to bring it up this year. I brought my GPA 3 points last year. I have taken AP World and AP Human before and five honors classes. I would still want to major in print journalism, but I couldn't stay in a class with that type of teacher. I really didn't have a choice. She would have kicked me out if I didn't drop. I know when I do things wrong, but I am blank in this idea. Other students talked way more and gossiped every day and they all got smiles. I almost cried and I'm not emotional. I am going to join the literary magazine after school, so I can still write.</p>

<p>My main concern is how colleges will see my rigor this year. I plan on taking two APs my senior year and will have taken five when I graduate. I may also want to take Psychology and Sociology at the local college. I am also confused with prepping for the SAT and my counselor didn't give me much advice concerning that. She said you can do everything for free and she has never heard of CC. I just wanted the parents advice on this subject, thanks!</p>

<p>PS- I also wanted to add that I had a 100% in journalism.</p>

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<p>Work on bringing up your GPA and prepping for SATs. Take a couple AP courses senior year and you should be fine for most of the schools on your list. Of the schools on your list, I only see Northwestern (my alma mater) as tremendous stretch. My D and some of her friends applied there with higher GPA’s than yours and good SATs and were rejected. Their standards are approaching Ivy league these days. Much harder than when I got in 30 years ago!!! (And I add that D was rejected from NU with 6 legacies - so I don’t put much stock in that route either) Can’t comment on NYU as I don’t know anything about their admission stats.</p>

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<p>Thanks. Northwestern is/will be the biggest reach. I know that, but I’m not applying to all of the Ivy’s. I am going to apply to Gallatin at NYU. I also like Emerson, Northeastern and Boston U in Boston. </p>

<p>I may take the following for senior year:
AP Micro/Govern (one per semester)
AP Lit
Honors French III
Astronomy
Int Trig
Advanced Theater Production</p>

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<p>Looks like a good senior year schedule to me. If your district does not offer SAT prep classes (ask your GC) then I suggest buying one of the review books and doing several practice tests. I don’t know about your area or finances - but my kids go/went to a mostly lower socio-economic HS and no one could have afforded (or even knew about) private test prep courses. And the kids at our school did just fine on their own - acceptances to Dartmouth, Harvard, Rice, American and several other highly ranked schools.</p>

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<p>My school is mostly middle class with the majority of the class staying instate. We do have people who go out of state though. I know a girl who is going to NYU this year. Counselors know more about instate schools though. We have the Hope Scholarship and that is why most people stay instate. </p>

<p>We offer an SAT prep course for Math and English for $25. They are different courses and they meet about four times for an hour. We looked at a private test prep course and it was over $600. It looked like a big rip off to me. I am also not a great test taker.</p>

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<p>You need to re-do your list. Take the “out of reach” schools off your list. The following schools are way out of your reach. Don’t waste time focusing on them. Replace them with more realistic options—Match schools.</p>

<p>NYU–out of reach
USC–out of reach
Vassar–out of reach
George Washington–out of reach
Villanova–out of reach
Fordham–out of reach
Binghamton–out of reach
American–out of reach
Northwestern–out of reach</p>

<p>Connecticut College–one of the most expensive colleges in the country. The comprehensive fee for 2010-11 is $53,110—plus the cost of books. Don’t forget add in the cost of travel.</p>

<p>There are plenty of MATCH colleges out there for you. Adjust your list accordingly.</p>

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<p>The average GPA for NYU is a 3.6. I am applying to Gallatin and they look at the individual. Also, I have a year to bring my GPA up. If I bring it up two points, I will have a 3.6. I brought my GPA three points last year. </p>

<p>I disagree with Binghamton and American. UGA is not a reach according to you and it is higher ranked then Binghamton and American. The SUNY’s are looking for OOS students and that would be a plus. USC and Vassar will always be reaches. I’m a guy, so that may help with some LACs.</p>

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<p>Being a guy also helps at American (my D’s school).</p>

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<p>I would also add Fairfield, Skidmore, U San Diego, and Clark.</p>

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<p>early-college, I should have clarified myself. I only made note of the colleges that I am familiar with when I labeled them as reaches. I didn’t make any mention of the other schools because I’m not a familiar with them. In other words, I didn’t mention Sarah Lawrence, UGA, etc. because I don’t have any 1st hand knowledge about those schools.</p>

<p>Binghamton is a reach school. Kids with much higher gpa’s and rigor are routinely rejected.
Even though you are an OOS applicant, it is not enough of a boost to overcome the lack of rigor and gpa. Also, you mentioned that you do not test well. I’m going on the assumption that your SAT scores will come back below their average for accepted students. </p>

<p>I’m encouraging you to re-do your list with more realistic choices. The schools that I specifically mentioned are too reachy for you and not worth focusing on. You’ll have more options and a better outcome if you research and focus on MATCH schools—especially knowing that testing is not one of your better attributes. Without having any SAT/ACT scores at the moment to include in your stats, I suggest aiming for schools with higher admission rates.</p>

<p>Again, you are a good candidate for many colleges. However, you need to adjust your college list by dropping the reachy schools and focusing more on Matches.</p>

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<p>Along with studying for SAT via books, also sign up for “SAT question of the day” on College Board website. Each day you will get a new quesiton sent to your email. It’s a good way to get used to the questions. </p>

<p>I agree with removing the super-reach school. Also keep in mind that the GPA will likely make it tough to get scholarships. Make sure you have financial safeties on your list.</p>

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<p>Fairfield University can be considered a Match school for you (if you can pull at least a 500 of CR section of the SAT and at least a 500 on the Math section of the SAT).</p>

<p>Just to let you know—Fairfield University is a Catholic Jesuit university. If I remember correctly, you are Jewish. If you like the college, then put it on your list. I mention it only because I didn’t know if you were aware that it is a Catholic Jesuit university.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the advice. GCSU and Flagler are my safeties, financially and academically. I don’t think my rigor is terrible. I will have 11 honors classes and five AP classes by the time I graduate. I could take three AP classes my senior year, but I don’t want to kill myself. I will also have four years of math, science, social studies, language arts and drama. I will have three years of french.</p>

<p>I’m Catholic. My father is Jewish and my mother is Catholic. I am a liberal Catholic though.</p>

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<p>[Skidmore</a> College: Cost of Attendance](<a href=“http://cms.skidmore.edu/bursar/cost.cfm]Skidmore”>http://cms.skidmore.edu/bursar/cost.cfm)</p>

<p>I would place Skidmore in the Match list temporarily until you have your SAT/ACT scores.
Unfortunately, Skidmore is extremely expensive.
Tuition and Required Fees=$41,184/yr
Plus Housing=========somewhere between $6,496-$8,348/yr.
Plus Board (food)======$4490/yr.</p>

<p>Regarding religion–again, I only mentioned it because I thought I remembered reading that you were Jewish and you wanted to study the Holocaust and wished your father would take you to Synagogue. My memory could be playing tricks on me. :)</p>

<p>Regarding your rigor: College Admissions will focus on your HS transcript through your Junior year. They focus on the transcript through Junior year for admission’s purposes.</p>

<p>Maybe research the following schools. I don’t know if they offer majors that you’re interested in, but they could be included in your Match List. </p>

<p>Manhattan College (Riverdale, NY)<br>
Manhattanville College (Purchase, NY)<br>
Marymount Manhattan College</p>

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<p>Perhaps consider dropping SUNY Binghamton and replacing it with SUNY Oneonta. If you can pull off average to slightly above average SAT/ACT scores, consider adding SUNY New Paltz also. New Paltz has better access to NYC.</p>

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<p>I am interested in the Holocaust, but never wanted to go to temple. I wanted to go visit a Holocaust Museum. I’m not looking to convert or anything. I did interview a holocaust survivor in May though and it was a great experience. I want to be a print journalist and would like the school to have a journalism major, although, it is not a mandatory. </p>

<p>1) Strong Journalism/English major</p>

<p>2) I would like the school to be in an urban or suburban area.</p>

<p>3) I would prefer little to no greek life</p>

<p>3) Northeast or Cali. I will look at schools in the Midwest and Florida too.</p>

<p>4) More girls then guys.</p>

<p>5) Small class sizes, small/medium size school</p>

<p>6) Good financial aid</p>

<p>7) Drama Opportunities for non-majors</p>

<p>8) Few General Education Requirements</p>

<p>9) Liberal atmosphere, but not too liberal like Reed or Bard. I don’t want a hippy or preppy school, but something in between. </p>

<p>10) SAT Optional</p>

<p>11) Well known. If I move out of the state, I would like my future employer to know where I went to school.</p>

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<p>I think the schools you listed are schools I could get into with college prep courses. My rigor isn’t terrible. I’m only in college prep math. I think I can get in the mid 1800’s on the SAT. How about Marquette?</p>

<p>I don’t have average grades, but I don’t have perfect grades either. I’m in the top 20% of my class and the rank is unweighted. It won’t be worth going out of state for an average school I can get into here.</p>

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<p>“It won’t be worth going out of state for an average school I can get into here”</p>

<p>^Good observation.</p>

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<p>The average GPA for entering freshmen at UGA this year is 3.83 (out of 4.0) and the average SAT was 1264/1600. <a href=“http://www.ajc.com/news/uga-prepares-for-new-591561.html[/url]”>http://www.ajc.com/news/uga-prepares-for-new-591561.html&lt;/a&gt;

UGA is a reach, and getting into their journalism school is very competitive and difficult. Even if you get into UGA, you very well might not get into the school of journalism. Have you taken any SATs yet? What did you get on the PSAT?</p>

<p>As an aside, and don’t know why this is relevant, IIRC you mentioned that one of your parents is jewish but that you were not raised jewish. </p>

<p>As for a “name” school- I would not worry about that. You never know what school is known/not known by potential employers. You were previously considering Simons Rock, which is not a known program to most. You might consider a lower ranked school and transferring later, if your grades are strong.</p>

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<p>I don’t think American is out of reach, but I do agree the list looks very top heavy.</p>