Hello. I go to a really small private school. There are about 40-50 students in grades 6-12 (all but one in 9-12) and less if you exclude international students. My graduating class will be about ten. This may be pretty crazy to some of you. A school down the road had classes of 400, so I know what you might be thinking.
As you can expect, the resources are very limited and there is not much at all to do. There are very few clubs, none of which I’m interested in (unless you count student congress, of which I am the vice president). There is only one AP and one honors, calculus and English respectively. The courses themselves aren’t very rigorous and the school isn’t really competitive. That said, I’ve taken the most rigorous course load and have gotten all As.
The one thing I’m worried about is when colleges see only one AP and no clubs. They might think I am unambitious or lazy- that I don’t care to learn and don’t push myself. In reality, I do, but it might not appear so give the other applicants they see who have plenty of opportunities. So, how can I lessen or alleviate any potential negative effect something I cannot control has on me? Should I say that my school has basically no clubs (it also wouldn’t be a good place to start one), no advanced courses, and limited resources in my application? If so, where would I say it and how would I say it? Again, I don’t want to come off as rude or arrogant, but I also don’t want to be rejected just because someone else could take ten APs and be the president of five clubs.
I did score relatively high (96th percentile) on the SAT and have done some competitions and volunteering to try and make up for what I can’t do in school. I’m not applying to Ivys, but I am to the top public universities in CS, so it’s still on the competitive side. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
What ECs do you do outside of school? Do you work? Colleges are not just looking at school clubs. Colleges will also look at the classes available to you. If you’ve taken the most advanced they will consider that rigorous.
When high schools send your transcript they also send a school profile which shows things like what classes are offered. Colleges will know from that and your guidance counselor’s recommendation that you have taken the most rigorous courseload available. You could supplement it by self-studying for an AP, finding an online program, or taking a class at a local school if that is possible.
In terms of ECs, they do not need to be activities in your school. Anything such as work, volunteering in your community, music lessons (especially if not offered by your HS) etc. counts as an EC.
I come from a very small school with limited opportunities as well and colleges will consider the opportunities available. I’ve only taken 2 APs in my high school and in my school, that’s rigorous.
96% on SAT is what? Outstanding SATs 2250 and above will help. It is considered an equalizer. Your school should have Naviance, where have people been accepted in prior years, what were their stats. Other posters are correct, it is up to your GC to point out that you have made the most. What about getting a leadership role in a regional group, religious or otherwise
The fact you do things outside of school and made that kind of effort to be involved with something will be taken into positive consideration. Like you, I also went to a small private school that had only 4 AP courses (one of which I didn’t qualify for) and few clubs outside of sports teams and a couple of honors societies, so I know the frustration.
Thanks for the responses. For ECs, I volunteer for a local IT nonprofit, have volunteered for several robotics and computer security exercise events and tournaments, was a class representative and now vice president of student congress, have done several years of science fair at the state level (5 straight years, looking for 6), winning many rewards, have done very well in a computer security competition nationally with a small team, participated on a professional cybersecurity defense exercise on a defending team, did robotics my freshman year, have lead my school’s team in a trivia show for 3 (will be 4) years (semifinals 2 years), was a finalist for my region in an online cyber challenge, track and field for 3 (will be 4) years, and was a scholarship recipient (first of any kind) for a local security conference, where I have gotten training and attended for a few years.
Keep in mind doing anything that involves a team would be very difficult or impossible (so no debate, science, engineering, math, etc teams). I’m fortunate to do the security competition with other schools. I’m looking for work this summer. I tried last year, but I couldn’t find anything, mainly because I was too young, which was frustrating. I’m doing dual enrollment at a university for calculus. My SAT is a 2110 (superscore in two tries- one sitting is same percentile).
Ultimately, whatever university I attend doesn’t matter all that much, so I don’t care to study so much more for one test when I can study things I enjoy.
I’ve never heard of Naviance. The schools people have been accepted to in the past are not impressive. They are schools I could have gotten into my freshman year (mostly SAT score wise). It’s often community colleges, state schools (all are pretty weak in my state), colleges affiliated with the school’s church, and a few other mediocre choices. The GPAs and SAT scores were not that impressive, I can imagine. I recall seeing a sheet that my GC will sign saying I’ve taken the most advanced courses offered. I think that will help. I have a few leadership roles (student congress, security competition, and trivia team). I’ll try to look for more.
My daughter goes to a nearly-as-small school—there are 28 students in her class, which creates issues when certain scholarships are earmarked to only the top 10% (and therefore, for her, the top 2) in a graduating class. But, like everyone else has said, colleges—at least the ones that are of a sort to care about ECs at all—know enough and have enough resources to take such things into account.
As for Naviance, it’s a system that many K–12 schools, particularly private ones, use to track student outcomes and such. For some reason, a lot of people on CC seem to assume that it’s used universally, but it has nothing near that sort of market penetration. If you’ve never heard of it, odds are that your school doesn’t use it.
Taking courses at the local university is better than AP courses in some sense. At my university, we have seen repeatedly that AP classes are not always equivalent to a college course. There were no AP courses when I went to high school a long time agoand by the time of graduation, i had over one full year of college courses. No question about my score on an AP test, the credit was simply counted.
Breaking 2200 or 2300 on the SAT will raise you several tiers. It will also help qualify you for merit money at schools that are not as competitive since you do not care about prestige.
Are you in an underserved state? For example the Dakotas or Montana, that will help with admission. Or an underserved region in a more populated state. Such as inner city of Detroit
Taking college classes will help. Try to dual-enroll in another subject in addition to calculus (English? Foreign Language? Lab Science?) to show your ability to handle academic rigor and the fact you’re realy trying to create opportunities for yourself even if there are few.
I’m sure it would raise me up quite a bit. However, I’d have to practice and study a lot to get that high (I’m kind of reaching my peak without more intensive study and practice). I’m taking two subject tests in October and I don’t want to spend that much time on both during that stressful period. I do kind of care about prestige (that sounds arrogant) in the sense that I want to go to a quality school with good resources and opportunities, but I don’t care to go to Harvard, Princeton, or Yale. My career and life will generally be the same as long as I go to a decent university. It’s up to me, not the university (especially the case in my career field of computer security).
My scholarship is through AFROTC, so if I say I’m doing computer science, I think it must be that. My state is Hawaii. I don’t know if that’s undeserved, but certainly isn’t any California. I can’t enroll in any other classes at the university because I must take classes like basic art and health for graduation. It wouldn’t fit in my schedule.
For computer security, definitely look into UMaryland College Park and apply for Honors College and CS scholarships. You never know…
If you have $400 (or can earn them), you can take Health via Florida Virtual School. There may be other classes you can take, of course, including Art. And I’m sure there are other virtual schools, such as K-12, not sure which is cheapest or best (although, for Health, you seriously don’t need a top-notch class, the content is very basic.)
My dad’s friend was from Hawaii and back in 1987 she got in every place she applied with lower than average stats, including ivies. Are you a pacific islander? That would be even better. I would apply more on the east coast, you will be considered more unusual than on the west is my gut feeling but others would know better.
How are you on the ACT? Last year there was a September test. Look at schools you are interested in, they will show maps on their web sites with the number taken from each state. See what it says for Hawaii
Thanks for the reminder. I was thinking about UMD and dropped it earlier but will probably add it again. I think I have to take the classes in school.
I am not pacific islander, though I am Hispanic. I’m not sure how much of a difference that will make. It might help a little although the UCs banned AA a while back, so I don’t think it will help there. I have never taken the ACT and don’t plan to. Few people are from Hawaii in most mainland colleges, save maybe so popular ones in the west.
No, it won’t help for the UCs, but it may help in many colleges, especially Midwest, South, MidAtlantic, and Northeast.f For the UCs, is there an agreement that Hawaians pay in-state in California? Because otherwise your parents are looking at 55K with no financial aid. In addition, there are two essays where you can speak about economic difficulties encountered by your family, your neighborhood, etc.
Well then I guess that’s good. I’m almost certain there is not. Why no financial aid? In any case, my AFROTC scholarship will either be a full ride or 18k a year. I can handle the rest with other scholarships, grants, help from relatives, work, and loans if necessary. I don’t really have any economic difficulties. I may not be able to afford the better schools nearby, but I’m content overall with what I have.