<p>Hi CC,
The post is a little long, so I appreciate if you could read, and give me your comments. I am stuck in my schedule.
I have been a high achieving student, however not like crazy high achieving. I have a few Bs in my record so far, and rank not in top 10% of my class (however I have sound explanations for these). Last year I took a very hard course load with AP Bio and Precal in it, so this year, I took an internship at a major newspaper and 4 classes, 2 are APs (Lit and Econ) and 2 are Honors (Art and Spanish). No Science and Math though. The schedule makes sense because I have big achievements in writing, and the rest of the classes on my schedule are prerequisites that I have to somehow take to graduate. College students and a renowned college counselor said my schedule wasn't a problem in college admission at all because I have an extenuating circumstance.
To be honest, I regret my choice.
I feel myself now under challenged. Peoplere stressed out over their hard course load, especially because my friends are competitive and intellectual; Im stressed because I have not many important things to do. I rarely have homework, even though my school ranks very high academically. Suddenly, I feel myself a fish out of water. I miss occupying my time with busy work instead of hours of mindless facebook-ing and socializing. I want to get into a top college. I feel so also because, perhaps of peer pressure, my friends around me seem to be taking the hardest courseload possible to them.
Ive since constantly tried to find something to do, and have come up with these:
Reading books; expanding my vocabulary for college
Self studying Spanish
Reading the news
College essays
Some extra curricular stuff
Study to take the SAT the third time
Trying to take AP Stat online through school. I will know tomorrow from the principal. This is uncertain because it is kinda late into the years
Search for writing competitions and applying to them</p>
<p>That is about it. As you can see, they are not very challenging intellectually, and do not take a very huge time commitment. I cant waste my time to socialize with friends more than once or twice a week or spend more time on facebook. I desperately need to do something to 1) help with my college admission chance, 2) prepare for college. I miss Math and Science now, but it is too late to change schedule, or drop out of my internship.
Do you have any suggestions?</p>
<p>Are there any writing-centered non profits in your area that you could volunteer with? Becoming a reading tutor is usually easy to do, but some places have non-profit centers to encourage and support young authors or else child writing or poetry programs. At any rate, some volunteer work might help boost your applications and give you a meaningful way to fill your free time. Maybe you could volunteer with the Prison Book Project or similar charity as another idea. Or else, in these times of great need, Food Banks always need people to help. </p>
<p>I don’t think you need to worry about not having taken math or science, lots of people get into Top 20 colleges with only 3 years of science or 3 years of math. I’m surprised that you’re not taking a social studies though, or does Econ count as that? It is a social science. At any rate, your schedule is set now, so stop worrying about that and focus on the things that you can change.</p>
<p>don’t worry about the schedule and focus on getting more volunteer/EC activities in your area of interest. Now that you have the time, take advantage of it and pursue your passion. That is what counts anyway.</p>
<p>I’m a senior.
I don’t know. Writing to me is mindless. I’ve won international and national and state recognitions for my past attempts. Now, I don’t even know if I want to be a writer anymore. Writers don’t make much money; my motivation is just lost.
Econ is counted as a social science, yes.
I know my schedule is set now, but I’m trying to get the school to allow me to take an online class in Math. The problem is that there is no teacher on that program, and because I leave at beginning of lunch everyday for the internship, I can’t see them or my friends. Teachers generally don’t stay long afterschool btw.
My goal is HYP, do you think my schedule will hurt my chance?
The problem with me is that, I don’t really do anything unless it is absolutely necessary if it doesn’t set me apart from other college applicants. I know it may sound bad, but that has also been my thinking. I grieve over my schedule frequently, though it is set, because I realize I need something intellectually challenging to effectively occupy my mind from a bad breakup, and good memories of this past summer; I am stuck in the past and need a way out. I tried talking with friends, and while it helps, I feel like I’ve only been wasting time for too much socializing. I want to do something besides writing that shows colleges that I’m not one dimensional, and help with my senior schedule.
I applied for jobs, but they haven’t called me back. I don’t want to join more ECs for the obvious reasons: because colleges don’t like applicants taking on different ECs during senior year and because I have enough on my plate.
Right now, I’ve been spending every second agonizing over it, and I think because of that, my mood went down, and so my girlfriend broke up with me…</p>
<p>If you’re not in the top 10% of your class and you’re at a school that ranks, you can probably say goodbye to HYP. Not to say that you shouldn’t still try, but you should probably lower your expectations too and have a less stressful senior year.</p>
<p>I transferred from a low performing school to this school, which ranks pretty high at the beginning of junior year. The class size is much smaller, so my rank dropped.</p>
<p>Graduate and take cc math over the summer, and whatever else you think you are missing, then try for fall admission. I would reconsider my options there, given your facts.</p>