I would have said “superb” or “excellent” rather than “good”. However, yes, GT is good for CS. Also, Michael Jordan used to be a good basketball player, and Wayne Gretzky was a good hockey player.
A couple of months ago I was chatting with a recent GT graduate, and we were trying to figure out the difference between GT and MIT. We came up with winters (milder at GT) and summers (milder at MIT). That was it. That was all that we came up with. The beers that we were both holding might have slowed us down a bit.
It sounds like you are doing very well. Make sure that you apply to safeties, be cautious about overloading yourself, and you are likely to continue to do very well.
By the way, one daughter took AP Euro. I have described it as the most difficult A- that I have ever witnessed (and this included my one A- from graduate school). The same daughter has since said that premed organic chemistry (in university) was worse. AP Euro requires a LOT of reading.
And it is fine for your ECs to be outside of your high school.
I do not qualify for NMF sadly. I’m taking the SAT junior year and the summer going into my senior year if I want a better score. I’m using this summer to get most of my studying done.
You have to take the PSAT Jr year to qualify. If you prep for the SAT this summer, you will be well prepared. Just keep in mind that, unlike the SAT this fall, the PSAT will already have switched to digital.
Thanks for the info! You’re right, GA tech is an EXCELLENT school. I use the word “Good” to describe a lot of things that would fall under the excellent category.
I want to try and become Sal or Val to get auto admit to GA tech, but that may be too late due to how far along I am in high school.But I am 6% in my class, which is still pretty good!
Yup! I think it’s one of the hardest APs out there. I would definitely not want to be taking it at the same time as AP Bio. DD was on the APUSH is harder camp though. She thought Euro was more intuitive while APUSH had more nitty gritty things like names and dates. Funny how some kids prefer one to the other.
My school has put me in " Accelerated Alg 2 + AP pre calc" junior year. I think it’s alg 2 first semester, and pre calc second semester. I’m not sure. But I think that’s likely.
But I’m definitely learning Algebra 2 right now on Khan academy. Should I continue learning algebra 2, or use the SAT to learn it along the way?
@TonyGrace is correct. The PSAT-10 taken sophomore year is essentially a practice exam. What I was asking above, but I did not make it clear, was if you did reasonably well on the exam you took in 10th grade… that may indicate you have a good chance of meeting the NMF cutoff this year when it counts. Keep in mind you have had another year of academics and this time you are prepping.
Have you taken a sample test yet as a baseline and to identify the main areas for improvement?
To be completely honest. I did really badly. I think it was due to me forgetting a lot of the information from previous years. Once I started prepping on khan academy, I realized that I can do a lot of what I missed.
Yep! I started a study plan on Khan academy from my linked PSAT score
yes, this is definitely different. I took algebra 1 in freshman year, geometry this year.
Normal progression is Alg 2 junior year, then pre calc senior year.
But my geometry teacher signed me up for Alg 2 + Pre calc junior year. My school will allow people to skip BC after pre calc. Since it includes AB content ( just at an accelerated pace) + BC content after.
Some students at my school took Alg 1 in 8th grade and got credit. SO they started off with geometry or Accelerated geometry freshman year. But since im taking Alg 2 + pre calc junior year, I can make it to calculus senior year.
Just make sure you are getting what you need out of the class - you still need to get a A in your classes Sr year and be prepared for true college level Math. Faster does not equal better. Here’s my experience:
S: H Math = Alg 1 in 7th, Geo in 8th - lots of quick multiple choice questions to move along the curriculum - ultimately not prepared for advanced math classes bc the base wasn’t there.
D: H Math = Alg 1 over two years (7th and 8th), same progression as Reg Math, but focused on complex problem solving - not as far down the “levels” but able to do Math at a much higher level.
Top colleges like MIT or HYPSM consider the overall rigor of your high school curriculum, including the courses taken and progression of difficulty. While starting AP classes later may not be ideal, you can still demonstrate academic rigor by taking challenging courses in junior and senior years. It’s important to explain any extenuating circumstances and highlight achievements or experiences from earlier years in your application.
@TheAverageProgrammer i believe you are a high school junior? If so, the PSAT score you get as a junior is the one that determines national merit status…and that could open some doors for you financially and acceptance wise with a strong enough score in your state to qualify.
If “require”, auto reject is likely. If “recommend”, then a disadvantage.
Private colleges tend to say “recommend” to give themselves flexibility to admit exceptional or hooked applicants who are short of their “recommendations”, or those who cannot meet them due to circumstances outside their control (e.g. high school only offers up to level 2 of any foreign language).
Public colleges are more likely to say “require”, but less likely to specify “4 years” (versus 2 or 3) of foreign language.
