<p>^^ cbrand you said it perfectly.
OP: Your school gives you an amazing opportunity - to distinguish yourself by becoming a leader in your school and community. All the examples above are exactly what top tier colleges look for.
If you want more challenging classes, enroll at a community college nearby - they may have night or weekend classes. Then, keep your straight A GPA AND help your fellow students. :)</p>
<p>Another thing to consider is if you were at one of the other high schools there would likely be 100 students just like you. Competition for class rank, leadership positions, top recommendations to choice colleges from GCs, would all be off the charts. Trying to shine in a pool of very exceptional students can be very difficult. </p>
<p>You’ve gotten some great advise. The best IMO is to make a slight attitude adjustment. Your peers have not had the advantages you have had. You say yourself they didn’t know the importance of leadership. You also mention one couldn’t make the time commitment. This very likely could be due to responsibilities at home. They may be after school care for younger siblings while a parent works, or they work to help pay for family expenses. They may not have the luxury of devoting the extra time needed. Be careful not to look down your nose at these types of things, but first think how blessed you are, and second think what can I do? Maybe you can suggest a college prep assembly for freshman to include very basic things to keep in mind as they make early choices. If they’re not learning these things until late Jr/Sr year it’s too late. Use your good fortune of already knowing these things, and early success, to help, not look down on others that simply weren’t born into affluence, and thus opportunity.</p>
<p>@MYOS I’ll look into classes at the community college. However, I know for a fact that I’ll have to pay for them…
@blueiguana I guess you’re right about the fact that it’ll be easier to excel. Actually I have been thinking about doing something with the middle school that feeds into the high school. If we target the illiteracy about higher education early, it would result in a better overall school. The problem is that implementing such a program would be though this year, as most of my peers don’t know the value of volunteering (both altruistically and from an college perspective).</p>
<p>Well, then, you’ll have to convince adults, find a peer adviser, and build it from there, perhaps with the other 3 students who came from your middle school and the ambitious students at your school. Enroll the juniors and seniors who want to attend selective colleges and sell them on how that’s exactly what they need for their resume.
However, don’t start by trying to do something huge like building an entire program from scratch at the middle school.
Once you have an adviser and your principal’s approval, look at one small thing you are certain you can pull off successfully (success will then attract more people).
Target one issue - for example: choosing your ECs in middle school to prepare for high school, or anything that’s likely to interest middle school students while connecting them to high school and college - prepare a program around it, with slides and skits and videos, quiz show with buzzers and pizza coupons, then go pitch it to your adviser, practice it, then together go to the middle school’s principal and see whether they agree on your presenting it to an Assembly or perhaps to select social studies classes.
And that’s just ONE SMALL thing you can do you start. Once you’re done with this first step, build from there. You have 3 years to build it into something solid that matters in the life of the middle schoolers and 9th graders at the high school.
As for paying for CC… typically, it’s not too expensive. I thought you said you could afford it?</p>
<p>@myos Those are some great tips! I was originally thinking something along the lines of a mentorship program (which was why I thought I should wait until next year), but this could work this year. I like the idea of talking to individual classes, but I wonder if people will take me/us seriously (since we’re freshmen and we didn’t go to that middle school).</p>
<p>@myos Yes, I can definitely afford it, it’s just that it isn’t covered by the public school system.</p>
<p>Excellent follow up and advise MYOS. Start small and build from there. You don’t have to be a Jr or Sr and have to have gone to that particular middle school to have credibility. All the students know is a student group from the high school is coming to introduce them to some of the many EC opportunities that will be available to them and the importance in college admissions. You’re in high school. They’re not going to differentiate you as a freshman, especially because you didn’t go to school there…no one knows you. ;)</p>
<p>This is something you build on each year as you find what works, what the students are receptive to, etc. Start with the ECs in middle school, perhaps a program on leadership and course rigor freshman year. Sophomore year could talk about PSATs and standardized testing (SAT/ACT), etc. Jr year is a great time to educate about financial aid, that sometimes private schools can be less expensive then public schools. These are just ideas. You know the needs at your school much better. </p>
<p>While doing these be very careful to remove words from the conversation that could be seen as demeaning to your peers (illiteracy). While I understand what you meant your message can get lost if people feel you are coming at this from a place of superiority as opposed to a genuine desire to engage and help educate your peers early. Just keep your message and language simple.</p>
<p>@blueiguana Great advice, thanks! I’m going to start talking to my friends about putting together such a program.
(Btw I didn’t intend to imply illiteracy as a derogatory term.)</p>
<p>I know you didn’t mean it poorly, you meant it, well literally. Unfortunately it has a negative connotation sometimes. Adults get what you’re saying, understand your message. Peers tend to get hung up on language and word choices. You just don’t want you message hindered, because frankly it’s a really good message and sounds like it could help in your community. Good luck to you!!</p>
<p>what are your current practice amc 10/12/aime scores? have you have past experience with the amc contest? Have you made aime?</p>
<p>@blueiguana yep, I’ll have to watch the unintended implications of word choice.
@wcao9311 I know from other threads that you’re a precocious, gifted mathlete (and you have higher AIME scores than me). My AMC 10&12 scores (on the four practices I’ve taken so far) are all AIME qualifying. I haven’t actually taken an AIME practice yet, but I’ve been able a good number of questions up to problem 6/7. As for previous experience, I missed making MathCounts Nationals (finished in top ten at state) because I messed up on rounding (if you did MathCounts last year, it was the one state question with the answer of 4.91 and I wrote 4.9). I haven’t taken a real AMC yet (and obviously my school doesn’t offer them; probably will have to drive 4 hours or pay for the exams to be at my school).</p>
<p>So why don’t you be the catalyst to change the school’s image? Join the math team and do your best to get them to the next level. Organize the kind of club that people who you think could match you intellectually would want to join.</p>
<p>@stradmom I’m on the team already (captain too!). I’ve already recruited two others of good intellect (bringing our team to a grand total of 5 now). I’m going to work on building up a team with real potential. It won’t happen this year, but it could definitely start looking promising by next year.
I think the real problem at my school isn’t a lack of intellect, but a lack of motivation - a problem that can be fixed relatively easily.</p>
<p>Sounds good! I like your long term thinking - that’s the kind of thing college admissions officers also appreciate. Stay positive… :)</p>
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<p>I really hope that the members of the team don’t get that vibe from you. Research in math shows that basic math ability is not about natural intellect as much as it is about skill, and most people, if taught in the right way, ‘train’ for competitions all the time. The members of the team you have now are there because, presumably, they are interested in math-- capitalize that and make the entire team feel cohesive and valued and make it a time of mentorship; please don’t approach it as if the other members are just people you’re looking at getting rid of in a year down the line.</p>
<p>@purpleacorn No! By good intellect, I meant people who have participated in math competitions before. They just didn’t want to be part of my high school’s team. The junior on our team recruited a couple people too; we had a full team at the meet today (and we didn’t do too bad! 3/4th as a team, scores are being tabulated right now).
Math competitions are definitely about training, and I’m thinking of asking my coach if we can have 2 practices a week.</p>