<p>I’m really confused by all the people who wished they had taken MORE rigorous classes in HS. What for? And worrying about the reputation of your HS? With a 4.0, extracurriculars, good SAT/ACT scores, and genuine essays, is it still so hard to get accepted that one might need to pack their schedule full of AP classes and consider transferring to a “more reputable high school”?!</p>
<p>But what if one desires to attend a top university?</p>
<h1>1 eating too much cafeteria food!!! Ewww!!!</h1>
<p>I also wish I had egged my history teachers car…he was a jerk!</p>
<p>-Not taking more AP courses in high school
-Not attending a college in a more upbeat location (although my chioce for this was out of state and unaffordable…so that’s all financial reasons)
-Not joining different clubs my spring semester to meet more people</p>
<p>
That’s what I was talking about :P. You don’t necessarily need everything I mentioned to get accepted to any other university, but people are acting like even my list is not enough, and you need more. IMO, taking APs is a terrible decision for any kid, because the effort it takes to keep a 4.0 and pass the AP test (both of which are very important burdens that could be avoided by not taking APs in the first place) is not justified.</p>
<p>(I’m saying it’s more beneficial to maintain a 4.0 than to take an AP class, pass with a C, then get a 3 on the AP test.)</p>
<p>I will say that my AP psychology class was probably the single-most important (and enjoyable) class I took in high school, but I took it while I was concurrently enrolled in blowoff classes at the local community college, so I pretty much had no other workload.</p>
<p>Oh - another regret I forgot to mention - I wish I applied to Andover, Exeter, Hotchkiss, etc when I was in eighth grade.</p>
<p>
While an A in an academic course is certainly better than a C in an AP class, a 4.0 overall GPA with no AP courses at all will not get you into top universities. My friend had a ~4.2 GPA and about 2050 SAT and only took like 1 AP course, yet was denied from a top university, where I was accepted with a 3.9 GPA and took many AP courses. It’s noteworthy to mention that I pretty much had few EC’s with no accomplishments and never followed a single sport more than 2 years, while not in any sports my senior year, so the argument that it’s because I had EC’s or that she did not is invalid. I also did not write any essays to this particular school, as it was “optional” and I knew of many who got in without writing it.</p>
<p>not going to germany for a full year</p>
<p>Forgetting to love.
Forgetting to love activities / doing things
Forgetting to ask for help when I needed it.</p>
<p>@EngineerHead
Did your friend have ECs? If not, then that’s one thing from the list that he/she didn’t have, which would mean that it was still at least possible that improvement in areas other than APs would have been enough. As an award-winning volunteer, I truly believe that getting involved with the community is more important than taking AP classes. I gained nothing from taking AP environmental science and AP computer science classes, yet I’ve grown more than I could imagine from my experiences volunteering.</p>
<p>Usually is a combo of how good your teachers are and what sort of volunteering you do, my 2 cents.</p>
<p>^ Hahaha…</p>
<p>gotakun,</p>
<p>No she didn’t really have EC’s either, so this is possible. However(1), I did not really have EC’s either, this is a constant - I may have had better SAT’s but it wasn’t significant over the GPA difference. However(2), her GPA totally trumps mine by far - and this was the basis of your argument.</p>
<p>
Point taken, but it would be easier taken if “important” were replaced with “rewarding.” It depends on your maturity level while taking the AP course, if you’re academically mature, then being in an AP course can prove to be VERY enriching, while, on the other hand, still maintaining “class-clown” status will cause you to not get very much out of the class.</p>
<p>i regret not trying hard in hs</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sad!
Awww, i’m sorry! :[ I hope you’re doing okay now :]</p>
<p>@EngineerHead
I agree that having otherwise relatively equivalent records, AP classes would make you more competitive. I just don’t believe they are necessary to get accepted (which is all I was trying to say). I do, however, believe the alternatives are, yes, more rewarding, but also more important. My volunteering in HS was for NHS, and I didn’t really do enough or stay in one place long enough to understand the importance of community involvement. As a requirement in college, I wound up volunteering as a youth mentor and slowly began to realize that being involved is what life is all about 
(for me). I wish I hadn’t been so brainwashed into thinking taking more rigorous courses would somehow have benefited me. I had such negative associations with the “on-level” classes and the kids who took them. In the end, I had to relearn all the material in college anyway, so all I did was waste my time, stress myself out, lower my GPA, and alienate myself from the normal crowd.</p>
<p>Taking AP Chemistry (biggest regret EVER).</p>
<p>Choosing to take IB Precalc SL junior year. I heard that the teacher I hate to death was gonna switch off with another one who is the best math teacher ever, so I decided to take my chance. NOPE!!! She taught Precalc, I had to go into her class for first semester, couldn’t stand it any longer and dropped out. I used to like math unless that f-king ^%$#$&$* showed up. I was brought up to not hate teachers and until she showed up I was able to have decent relationships with all of my teachers. </p>
<p>That taught me not to take risky chances and never gamble EVER!!!</p>
<p>what do i regret. How about ever believing that ANY college admissions committee would look past MY past. I regret how i blew off high school after my girlfriend passed away junior year. I regret going back to school after being primary care giver to my mother for 4 years (before and after her bone marrow transplant), killing myself for 2 and a half years at my community college (at 27yo) and ever thinking I could get in anywhere. 4 semesters of 4.0’s, honors classes, vice president of student government, vice president of phi theta kappa, one year as president of our international business honor society and a SUNY chancellor’s award winner. NOTHING. NOT GOOD ENOUGH. What do i regret? Having faith.</p>
<p>@cornellhopeful10
Where all did you apply?</p>
<p>Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, UT Austin, Wake Forest, NYU and University at Buffalo (they accepted me but only because my community college has a guaranteed transfer program with them and would have taken me as long as i carried a 2.5). Just venting I guess but this entire process has made me feel so empty and angry. If I had wanted to go to UB I could have transfered after a semester, not payed out of pocket for 2 more full years. I’d like to shoot the people who told me to Dream Big in the head (not really just angry).</p>
<p>I wish I had known about the intensity of college applications freshman year instead of about a year ago - I would have done so much more! Maybe I would have gotten over my fear of competitive sports and actually tried out for a team or started math team earlier or looked for more productive ways to spend my summer. Maybe a job would have been good as well. I wish I could have gotten into a summer scholar program or that the language trip to Costa Rice could have worked out.
I wish I hadn’t underestimated how well I’d do on the SATs. I would have studied and gotten at least 100 points higher.
I don’t know – for someone who was just recently informed of this whole process, I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble… Just wish I had known.</p>