<p>I'm a rising junior thinking about the two years ahead, and college applications. The Ivies and other big universities such as Vanderbilt don't appeal to me at all, but I'd love to go to a small LAC like Haverford, Bowdoin, Middlebury or Williams. I want to study something in the Humanities field.</p>
<p>The problem is, I go to a small alternative Waldorf school where there are no AP classes, the only advanced options are Honors English and Honors US History. The academics aren't too rigorous but are designed to teach you how to think. Also, I have only done 20 hours of community service thus far. My EC's consist of attending a mere Model UN conference and founding a French Club (the only club in my school!). However, I've always gotten As and A+s and even A*s (at my last school, a British one), but there's no GPA at my school. I went into the PSAT last fall not knowing what it was and got a 190, which seems to be low by College Confidential standards but I'm sure I'll do well in this fall's PSAT and SAT. </p>
<p>By the way, I'm from Italy (so not a URM), I transferred from the British school in Rome to my current school in my sophomore year. I'm absolutely proficient in English though, and my level of French is v. good. Also, I've been told I write quite well, so the Essays won't be a problem. Does being foreign give me an edge at all?</p>
<p>Long story short, can you advise me on what to do over the next few years? For example, would you recommend doing a summer program (for example, the Harvard SSP or the Princeton CTY, or maybe the TASP) or spending a month in Anantapur (India) doing volunteer work? I know you should be passionate about EC's, so maybe I should go to Anantapur as I strongly believe in the NGO I'd be helping and I love travel and the country itself. What do you think? Do I have no chance due to the fact that my school doesn't offer APs? I only slightly regret not having gone to Exeter or Deerfield, as I love my school, but I'm aware they make things easier.</p>
<p>There isn’t a particular formula for admissions. The general consensus is that adcoms don’t care much for expensive trips or summer programs. You could probably develop some ECs that are cheaper and mean more locally.</p>
<p>The lack of APs shouldn’t hold you down, since you’re judged within your context.</p>
<p>In your situation, your SAT scores will be very important. Focus on doing well on your SATs and you should be fine. Certainly don’t worry you don’t have APs. The schools you’re interested in have lots of experience evaluating international students who obviously will have a different educational background from their American counterparts.</p>
<p>Is there a college counselor at your school you can talk to? S/he will have the best advice regarding your grade/curriculum worries. </p>
<p>If volunteering in Anantapur is something you’re interested in doing, by all means go for it. If you find things you like to do and get involved with them, the college resume will take care of itself.</p>
<p>Thank you all very much for your input! I now see that the SSP program (or any other summer program at a top school for that matter) are not worthwhile. I will, however, apply to TASP which is free and, from what I’ve heard, very rewarding. </p>
<p>I forgot to mention that I go to a boarding school in NH, so I’m hardly an international student.</p>
<p>If you’ve taken the most rigorous courses at your high school and there’s no option for dual enrollment in college courses, you’ve done the most rigorous curriculum available to you. Admissions will see it as rigorous (because it’s rigorous relative to your high school), even though it’s obviously far less rigorous than what people take when there’s lots of APs on offer. You’re looked at in the context of your high school.</p>
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<p>That’s the entire point of a liberal arts education. If you can somehow demonstrate that on your application, they’ll love it.</p>
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<p>Community service isn’t mandatory. While it looks good to do it, it’s not the only way to get into college. I would recommend trying to find something you could do for community service though, both because it’ll help with admissions and because you’ll probably find it a worthwhile and rewarding experience.</p>
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<p>Play up that it’s the only club in your school. That’s a huge deal and the makings of a great essay if it’s something you’re passionate about.</p>
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<p>There’s tons of different methods of calculating GPA out there (almost as many as there are high schools), so this won’t be an issue at all. You’ve obviously done well from an academic perspective. Admissions will be able to interpret your transcript.</p>
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<p>The PSAT doesn’t matter for anything in your sophomore year. All it determines is who spams you. In your junior year, it’s important to do well if you want National Merit money and standing (although you don’t really get much unless you take one of the full rides), but is still largely irrelevant for college admissions beyond the ability to say “Hi, I’m a National Merit Semifinalist” on your application ;). Spend some serious time preparing for the SAT (and try the ACT, too) to ensure a strong score, there. I agree with the above posters that your standardized test scores will be extremely important in helping admissions officers compare you to other applicants from different high schools.</p>
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<p>Since you’re not an international student, it probably won’t make much of a difference either way.</p>
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<ol>
<li>Prepare for and do well on the SAT and/or ACT (try both at least once if feasible).</li>
<li>Continue your excellent grades.</li>
<li>Continue your involvement in French Club.</li>
<li>Continue your involvement in MUN if possible.</li>
<li>Try to find a community service activity you enjoy.</li>
<li>Don’t be too hard on yourself :)</li>
<li>Don’t forget to have fun.</li>
</ol>
<p>As for your specific questions:</p>
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<p>If you see one that interests you and you think is worth the money, go for it. It probably won’t help too much in admissions unless you’re taking actual college courses and getting strong grades in them (thus proving you can handle college-level academics).</p>
<p>While many people will say they’re not worth it simply because they’re not some free ticket into college, I challenge that notion. As I will say time and time again, the point of high school is not to spend four years doing activities carefully selected to impress some faceless, nameless admissions official. The point of high school is to become educated and to take advantage of opportunities that interest you - some of the opportunities you’ll have in high school may never return.</p>
<p>I did WUSTL’s summer program. It didn’t help me get in there (I was rejected ED), but I don’t care. It was a worthwhile experience. Why? I spent 5 weeks learning how to live life as a college student - how to handle the additional freedom and responsibility, how to study for college courses, how to manage my time, etc… On top of that, I had a great time, did something productive with my summer, and met lots of people. Even if it had no impact whatsoever on admissions, I still consider it a worthwhile experience. It made the transition from high school to college considerably smoother than it otherwise might have been.</p>
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<p>If this is financially feasible for you and something that you’d enjoy, do it. Even if it didn’t help at all for admissions (and it probably won’t make a huge difference), it would still be worthwhile if you have a good time and feel like you’ve done something useful with your free time. It’s important throughout this process to think not just about what the admissions officers want to see, but also about yourself - what you want to do and what will make you happy.</p>
<p>Plus, it could turn into a great essay if it ends up being an amazing and/or educational experience (or even if it falls far short of your expectations, if you care to take that angle).</p>
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<p>No decent admissions program would hold that against you.</p>
<p>I, for one, think you’re in rather good shape and wish you the best of luck in the rest of high school and in the admission process :)</p>
<p>Thank you so much! You seem much more wise than most of the people here, who strike me, for the most part, as conceited, overly ambitious nerds. Well, that’s probs taking it too far, but their posts are much less helpful. A lot of those just don’t seem to get that “the point of high school is not to spend four years doing activities carefully selected to impress some faceless, nameless admissions official”, to the point that they’ll probably end up joining every academic society, despite feeling no passion for most (if not all) and re-taking the SAT 5 times to have that 2400, but ultimately being rejected at Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, etc. for sounding like a complete overzealous automaton on their common app essay. I actually wasn’t concerned at all with things like EC’s and looking good on paper until I stumbled across this page. Your post has made me realize that as long as I’m true to myself and don’t consider “colleges will like this” a valid reason for a pursuit, I’ll be fine. It’s high school after all, it shouldn’t be a means to an end but instead a time for actually learning things and growing as a person. Some people on this forum have an almost unhealthy obsession with getting into a top university.</p>
<p>Anyway, sorry for rambling… Thank you again for the useful advice, and good luck at Rice!</p>