“True-but taking CC classes will make me a…(dun dun dun) TRANSFER!!!”
Not if you do it before you graduate high school. Then it’s dual enrollment.
I’m not saying that Ivies are my match, but like everyone has reach schools and EVERYONE needs to have goals.
I don’t think you’d be a transfer. I have friends who have taken a CC class or two and were not transfers. I think as long as you’re not taking a full-time course load at a CC, you’re a regular applicant to a college.
OHHHH I thought you meant after Senior year! Ok, yeah, no, I know what you’re talking about. sorry I misunderstood ( am planning on some duel enrollment)
"get over it as in “don’t aim for Ivies”? "
Pretty much yes.
I am not saying that you shouldn’t or won’t end up applying to and going to an Ivy. I am saying don’t apply and don’t go there because it is an Ivy.
Develop your interests and figure out how strong you are academically and decide what you want to do, THEN look for universities and colleges that are a good fit for you. If a good fit for you happens to be an Ivy then fine, go for it. If a good fit for you happens to be somewhere else, then apply and go there.
I’m not applying to a school because it is an Ivy. It’s a school I really, really want to go to that is also an Ivy. People have dream schools that aren’t Ivies, so why can’t I have a dream school be an Ivy??
And I’m not arguing w/ you here; I understand what you are saying and I’ve heard it all before, but I seriously don’t want to be halfway through junior year and be like “well, let’s see here, I never planned for anything so it seems that there’s NO chance of good schools whereas there might have been otherwise.” I’m proactive, not reactive.
It’s good to plan, but realize things can change. The schools I would have picked freshman year would be nothing like the schools I picked senior year, which would not even be the same as the schools I would apply to now if I were doing it over again.
ok, I’ll go to Nopestown State U in Alalooska-ding-dong.
As someone who goes to a state university – hilarious.
Sorry; no offense intended. But I’m perfectly serious that I want to go to a good school (not that state schools are not good, I’m just sayin’)
And what makes a school “good”? You might answer that question differently in two years.
ok, true, but why not have elite-level credentials even if I end up applying to an okay school because then I will have a better chance of going to an elite U and basically guaranteed admission to decent U’s?
Please point out who said not to try in high school. Otherwise you’re just putting words in our mouths.
I’m not saying that anyone said that.
Then why set that up as a point to argue against? Post #31 is completely irrelevant if nobody said NOT to have “elite-level credentials.”
"but why not have elite-level credentials "
Certainly. Study hard, take every class seriously, take advanced classes in the subjects that you are best at and that you like the best, participate in ECs that you care about, prepare well for the SAT or ACT, …
If you end up deciding that you really want to go to a university that has a great program in what you want to study, but your stats put you in the top 20% of the incoming class, you will get in and will be well prepared, and the effort will not have been wasted even if it did not end up being necessary. If you end up deciding that you want to go to a very selective school, then at least you will have a chance to get in.
Ok, I get it. I was out of line. But I just want to be competitive for Columbia. Is that so much to ask? Everyone has to have dreams and goals. That’s what is making it possible for me to communicate with you via fiber optics when you could be in an entirely different time zone than me. It wouldn’t exist if Bill Gates had said “Nah, bro down the street said ‘don’t pioneer Microsoft’, so I chose to become a sales clerk” (and I know that Bill Gates didn’t develop the internet and blah blah blah and that he probably wouldn’t have become a sales clerk if he didn’t do Microsoft. I’m just trying to make a point)
Nobody’s saying don’t try.
They’re saying don’t focus on it to the exclusion of all else.
I was a high-stat applicant and got into 2/4 schools I applied to – my safeties. That is the college admissions landscape you have inherited. My “dream school” was Penn. I thought I was better than the two options I ended up with. And you know what that made for? An absolutely miserable first year of college.
Don’t do that to yourself.
@bodangles Ok, thank you. TBH, I feel sort of lost and nobody I know wants to really help me until like, junior year because I’m “too young”. I would kill for someone to just kind of help me out and not judge my obsession with college. But I know that’s unrealistic.
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If you are in a public HS it is unlikely that they will allow you to stay. Have you spoken to a guidance counselor about your plan?
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I don’t think taking extra HS coursework will be likely to impress. College admission officers will see that your coursework has been taken over 5 years rather than 4 and will likely just wonder why you didn’t go to college after 4 years.
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Admission to top colleges is not won by the person taking the most APs. Colleges are looking for interesting, focused, accomplished students and I don’t think an extra year of HS will show that.
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That said, I know of a few people who did do go on to a prep school for a 5th year of HS but that is generally to work on an academic deficit and/or for athletic recruiting purposes.
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The acceptance rate at Columbia is about 6%, No matter what you do the odds will be stacked against you. You would be much wiser to develop a list of reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable and that you would be happy to attend. The people I see most hurt by the college admission process are the ones who fixate on one hyper-competitive reach school and then don’t get in. Please don’t be that person. There are tons of amazing colleges and universities out there that can give you a great 4 year experience and get you where you want to go in life.