Am I ever going to get into a good college?!?!

[vermilion]

I'm a sophomore in high school and I'm feeling like I bit off more than I can chew this year...

 

With a full course-load, including 3 AP classes, I spend a lot of doing homework, studying, reading, writing, et cetera.

 

I also have a few babysitting jobs and a few clubs I'm in at school that I need to put on applications, but they even though these are just every once in a while they still take up time and are SO boring.

 

I just got a sort of job as a journalist/editor's assistant at the paper I write for. I spend additional time reading and composing letters, emails, getting coffee, etc. and she often has me working at home on what I didn’t finish- but ONLY because she doesn’t give me things until the last second before I leave so I’m at the computer looking at random things on the internet or posting on here or doing homework because she doesn’t give me anything to do then wonders why I have to complete stuff at home!!! .......Sorry, a little ranting there.

 

One of my teachers keeps on begging me to help out with the literary magazine but I really don’t want to do this. But if I don’t I’ll probably lose her as a reference- which is BAD because she’s been teaching since my high school opened and has a lot of leverage and will really help when applying for honors society.

 

It's really important to me that I maintain my straight A average and keep top classes. But, I ended up dropping Algebra II/Trig for Algebra II. I can take Trigonometry over the summer, but I'm worried this will look REALLY bad on college applications. I'm just not strong in math!

 

And summer school’s expensive so I’m saving up for it now because my parents aren't paying.

 

I’ll need a car too so I have to get an ACTUAL job sometime, something I can actually put on my resume. Somehow babysitting jobs and assistant doesn’t sound very impressive.

 

And I’m not in any sports, I’m not exactly an impressive athlete. I'm a somewhat fast runner but not quite good enough for track and don't have the time cross-country requires.My sister says that will look really bad on applications.

 

I only volunteer every once in a while at the hospital and library- I like having some spare time! But all those college preparation things say to volunteer. And my perfect older sister says there’s no way I’m getting into my dream school(Georgetown University- w00t!)

 

I am NOT class president- not popular enough.

 

I just recently started wasting my time when I get home from school when I don’t have any meetings or anything. I just end up sleeping and talking to friends. Or I just completely zone out.

 

Then I’m either up all night doing work or waking myself up at 2 AM and working until I get to school because of my laziness.

 

I'm just barely maintaining a 4.0 GPA, but I'm freaked that if I do bad on a test it'll wreck everything.

 

Then I’m chugging coffee and soda the rest of the day. I know it’s really bad but I still do it to stay alert- but my friends complain it makes me too irritable.

 

Last night I just crashed without doing any work and slept until 9 AM and my mom was so pissed off that I was still here. I’m going to school in a few minutes though to catch the last 2 blocks, so I’m not completely skipping.

 

Ah, it feels good to type all that stupid stuff off my chest.

 

So, anyway if you skipped to the bottom here's the main question :

 

Can someone tell me what’s really important when it comes to getting in a great school? I know there’s a lot of guides out there, but I’d rather hear from someone who actually has applied and gotten in to their college of choice.

 

Also which is better for your health: staying up all night or going to sleep at

9-ish and waking yourself up at 3 AM ? I was worried that maybe I'm waking myself up in REM or something? Isn't that really bad for your psychological health?

 

Thanks for reading my boring rant and for any replies!

[rose2summer]

Can someone tell me what’s really important when it comes to getting in a great school? I know there’s a lot of guides out there, but I’d rather hear from someone who actually has applied and gotten in to their college of choice.

 

To be honest, grades are what are going to get you in. The volunteer work is great if 2 applicants have similar GPA's, but ultimately your academic performance is most important. I think your personal statement is also very very important. When your time comes around to apply, I highly recommend sending it to link removed to be reviewed. When I asked admissions about what they liked about my application and they said my personal statement, because it showed sincereness and it stood out, I wrote about an experience in my life, and how it changed me.

 

Also which is better for your health: staying up all night or going to sleep at 9-ish and waking yourself up at 3 AM ? I was worried that maybe I'm waking myself up in REM or something? Isn't that really bad for your psychological health?

 

You should get 8hrs of sleep per night at your age. I would really avoid pulling all-nighters or overworking yourself because it will take a toll on your academics. There are ways to study less but maximize performance. If you want some ideas on this let me know.

 

Hugs, Rose

[annie24]

your grades and test scores are going to get you in. extra cirricular activities are good, but college admissions officials would rather you be involved deeply in 1-2 things, than to be involved in 20 things. Babysitting is not bad at all! It shows maturity and that people out there trust you enough to leave you alone with their most treasured things: their children. that is a big plus!

 

tell your teacher that you are over-extended right now and need to focus on what you have on your plate right now.

 

you need to have some spare time! where you can just sit and do nothing. trust me. you need to recharge your batteries or you will burn out.

 

in the end, just do the best you can and everything else will work out. I just read a magazine article about the top CEOs in the country - all of them went to smaller state school. just because you don't get into harvard or stanford does not mean you will not suceed. it is more impressive to future to be an excellent student and a leader at a smaller state school than to be mediocre at harvard.

 

it's important to find a school that is a good match FOR YOU - for your lifestlye and values, than a school that just sounds good.

[Maverick32x]

i'm going to quickly throw in there that grades are not everything!!! I go to a pretty selective private university, and i know for a fact that i was WAY below the cutoff for grades... BUT, I became friends w/ the dean of admissions, friends with the swim coach,(i was a state champion swimmer at the time) and overall just showed an incredible amount of interest in the school.... Its a D3 school, so i doubt my atheletics helped that much, but making sure that i was really interested in the school seemed to work.

I assume this only works in smaller private schools, since the larger state schools could care less... but i guess the school of my dreams WAS a private university, so it worked out well.

 

Defintly getting the A's however WILL make it ALOT easier.. if i could do HS all over again, i would just do the busy work, and get the A.. applying to selective schools w/ a C average was the most stressful thing i ever dealt with... plus all the rejection letters made me sad

[Iggy5129]

First off, a 4.0 will impress most schools. Also your SAT and ACT scores are really important. I did not have the best GPA but I had impressive test scores and that is what helped me get in to the school I go to. I don't go to an Ivy League or anything, just a small private liberal arts school. As another poster said, being committed and really involved in a few organizations is much more impressive than being involved in tons and tons of activities. They will know that you are doing it just to get in to school and it will come off as insincere. Your job working for a newspaper is very impressive, that sounds like something you should be proud to put on your resume. I know people who never had jobs in high school and they still got in to college. The personal essay is also important it shows who you are outside of grades and test scores. My advice to you would be to slow down, take some time to have fun. You are young and honestly having a little lower GPA and some good memories to look back on is much more important than keeping a perfect GPA. Work hard, play hard, that is a good philosophy to live by.

[Day_Walker]

If you want to get into a "good" college then find out their specific requirements. Get the best grades that you can as well as participate in extracirricular activities.

[now_better]

Can someone tell me what’s really important when it comes to getting in a great school? I know there’s a lot of guides out there, but I’d rather hear from someone who actually has applied and gotten in to their college of choice.

 

school i went to: UCLA (woot Bruins!), you might have heard of it, our basketball team kicks major * * * *. anyways, stuff i did in high school:

 

clubs: ... i cannot think of one club i was in. complete social outcast.

extracurricular:

i did the Academic Bowl (it's like high school Jeopardy with teammates, but you travel around competing against other HSs, you have to a major nerd to even think about doing this) for my freshman/sophomore yrs.

i did speech & debate for my senior yr.

i volunteered to tutor an elementary school kid for a few months in my sophomore year. that's it. nothing else.

grades: 4.3 w/ all the honors + ap classes

SAT: really crappy, like mid-1200

SAT II: i took a bunch, did well in them

 

moral of the story: get good grades and good SAT I/II scores. the UC system in California pretty much uses a formula for determining if you will get in (there are the FOR SURES, MAYBES, and UM NO). the extracurricular usually pushes over the top if you're questionable. and if you're not sure, talk to the entrance counselors at Georgetown University. call them and tell them you're doing an article on admission standards, they will probably help you out.

 

Also which is better for your health: staying up all night or going to sleep at 9-ish and waking yourself up at 3 AM ? I was worried that maybe I'm waking myself up in REM or something? Isn't that really bad for your psychological health?

 

nothing will screw you up more than staying up all night for long periods of times (you will see what i mean when you go to college). it's bad for your health mentally, physically ... just bad (you will walk around looking like a panda). i know this is easier said than done, but when you get home, do your stuff. don't be a slacker like the rest of us.

[BellaDonna]

I used to work as an admissions counselor in an undergraduate admissions office.

 

By far, the most important piece of information about a student is their high school transcript. Your grades will speak for themselves. Class rank is also important so your grades can be put in perspective.

 

SAT scores are used as a weeding mechanism. If you're on the fence about a student and they have high scores, it may be the extra push to admit them or vice versa. Same goes for recommendations. If the grades are not up to par, it does not matter how great your references say you are. But if I was torn about admitting a student because they were borderline, enthusiastic recommendations would give me that extra push. If you have any immediate relatives that are alumni, that helps too.

 

The essay is important, but not so much what you say (i.e. whether you want to save the world, etc)- but HOW it was said. We were looking for proper spelling and grammer and the ability to commuicate ideas in a clear, organized way.

 

You sound like and active volunteer and being class president is also a major plus. You seem to have a good handle on the extracurricular activities.

 

It's really important to me that I maintain my straight A average and keep top classes. But, I ended up dropping Algebra II/Trig for Algebra II. I can take Trigonometry over the summer, but I'm worried this will look REALLY bad on college applications. I'm just not strong in math!

 

If you have a straight A average, do not worry. Unless you want to be a math or science major, dropping that math course should not affect you. You are already going above and beyond the regular high school curriculum, and your motivation will show through.

 

I’ll need a car too so I have to get an ACTUAL job sometime, something I can actually put on my resume. Somehow babysitting jobs and assistant doesn’t sound very impressive.

 

Colleges realize your age. They don't expect you to have very impressive jobs yet, but what they like to see is motivation and determination. The journalist assistant job you have sounds very good. You can re-name

"babysitter" to "childcare provider" to sound more professional.

 

What worries me about your post is that you sound like you're going to burn-out. Try to be calm. You sound like you're doing everything right. Try not to stress out. When I was doing admissions work, if I had your application before me, I'd definitely accept you. You sound like a star student.

 

BellaDonna

[rose2summer]

I went to a school which is similar in ranking to now_better, I won't give the name of my school to keep anonymity.

 

I had a 4.45 GPA in high school, at a school where few go to college, the drop out rate is far above 50%, took honors classes, but did not perform well on the SATI, and I addressed that in my personal statement, received great scores on the SATII in foreign languages and in Math.

 

I definitely cannot claim perfection and was shocked at my acceptances. I kept believing and it happened when many told me it wouldn't because of my SAT I score. Did the SAT I effect my college performance? No way! It a useless indicator in my opinion.

 

I got so bogged down in volunteer work and sports, so I think it's good to focus on school first and foremost.

 

If you believe you can go to a good college, you definitely will. It's about trying your best.

[rmpavlock]

Definitely take a look at the specific requirements for each school. They are all different. It's great that you are working hard, but don't stress yourself out over it. It's not worth losing sleep over. Whatever college you end up at, I'm sure things will be fine. Grades are definitely not everything. It's great that you have high marks. Try to keep them there, but don't worry if you fall short a couple of points. No one is perfect. Make sure on your applications, you point out your other activities or volunteer work. Don't try to do everything at once just for a college application, but if you are involved, definitely include that and any work experience. Include anything that shows that you can be independent and responsible.

[BellaDonna]

Did the SAT I effect my college performance? No way! It a useless indicator in my opinion.

 

 

I agree. I did not get stellar scores on the SAT. They had no bearing on how I did in college. Then I had friends who did really well on the SAT and only got C's in college.

 

 

BellaDonna

[rmpavlock]

Yeah, I definitely agree. I'm not really sure why we still have the SATs actually. I didn't do so well on the test and I still got into college did just fine.

[BellaDonna]

Some colleges have done away with SATS, but most have kept them because "that is the way it's always been done" or they have some kind of agreement with Educational Testing Services (ETS)- the company that makes the SAT.

 

 

BellaDonna

[laboheme]

Ditto on everything people have said about grades, SATs and activities...

 

One thing to watch out for though: your definition of a "good school." I went to one of the top schools in the country, thinking that I'd find a good academic environment -- not a chance! I'm much happier with courses at the state school that I transferred to, and the people here are much more like the ones I expected to meet (and never did at the college I initially attended). In fact, my current school offers me more opportunities than the other one did as far as course selection, program of study, study abroad, campus employment opportunities (oh, and better financial aid!)...even though it's not as highly ranked.

 

And one more thing. Maybe you're not concerned about your future college grades, but...I've heard that it's better to get great grades at a less competitive school than it is to get average ones at an Ivy.

[Cadence308]

Honestly, it sounds like you are doing WAY too much and worrying WAY too much about this. You are a 4.0 student and your grades will speak when you apply to colleges. It's great that you are trying to do everything, but it sounds like you are doing a lot of things that you do not enjoy and are getting stressed out and burned out in the process.

 

You will probably be offered scholarships if you keep your grades up. If I were you I would put most of my energy there. Maybe keep the class presidency and the assistant editorial thing if you really enjoy it. Ditch the rest for right now. Try to have some fun. If you have balance in your life you will be less likely to get burned out and you will be able to maintain your grades.

 

I had a friend who studied her brains out in high school. She only got one B in a cooking class her whole high school career. When she got to college I think she was pretty burned out and started slacking off, cutting classes, smoking weed, and she ended up dropping out. She eventually returned and finished her degree. But, I think she resented the fact that she did not have a life in high school and was completely consumed with her grades and getting into a good school.

 

So, it's really okay to tell a teacher that you are too busy. I'm sure she will understand and will probably still write you a letter of recommendation. She is just asking you because she thinks highly of your abilities. That doesn't mean that you have to do it.

[vermilion]

Thanks for all your replies!

 

You sound like and active volunteer and being class president is also a major plus. You seem to have a good handle on the extracurricular activities

 

No, I said I'm not class president because I'm not popular. Hopefully colleges realize that it's just a popularity contest and SCA has absoluely NO power.

 

And unfortunately, I have no alumni connections.

 

My mom went to nursing school and my dad went in the navy and everyone else in my family either dropped out of high school, just barely got a diploma, or went to community college. Yeah, it's good to be southern white trash.

 

And this is something I forgot to mention: class rank.

 

I recently edited a column written by a local high school's valedictorian. She didn't get into Brown (her # 1 choice) ,Columbia,Cornell, UVA, or Georgetown. She was the top in her class! I know the first three of them are Ivy league. But as for UVA and Georgetown, it should have been easy. I still remember talking to her and saying, "Uh, I think there's a BIG typo."

 

But how is that possible? I'm not sure about her extracurriculars but she was writing stories for a pretty large circulation (over 200,000) newspaper so I imagine she was doing other things too. Maybe she really screwed up the interview?? Bad SAT scores?

 

Also, even though my rank is pretty high my school might not be very impressive compared to some of those private schools. So maybe class rank doesn't count as much?

[BellaDonna]

No, I said I'm not class president because I'm not popular. Hopefully colleges realize that it's just a popularity contest and SCA has absoluely NO power

 

Sorry, my eyes are failing me today.

 

Even if you're not class president- you still have a great track record.

 

 

BellaDonna

[sophie274]

The thing is, good schools are interested in "cool" individuals. People who are well balanced, people who are extraordinarily good at one thing, people who bring an interesting story with them.

 

Don't do things to get into college. Do them because you like them. Trust me, they can tell the difference. A lot of schools want to know that you are very invested in something and that you will continue that at their school and add to the mix of things that are going on.

 

I also think essays make a whole lot of difference. Virtually everyone who applies to the best schools has a great GPA and great SAT scores and a resume 30 pages long. I attend an Ivy League school, and every year they make a point of saying that they rejected many people with 1600 (I guess 2400 now) SAT scores and 4.0 GPAs. The people they accept are the people whose applications they read and about whom they think "Wow, I want this kid to be my roommate". If course, they need their share of physics geeks and football jocks, but I'm convinced that's mainly what they're looking for.

 

Finally, do your best but don't freak out. Work on the part of the process that you control - your grades, your application - but don't worry about the selection. There's nothing YOU can do about that. Every year great students don't get in and not so great students do. It's not about YOU, it about YOUR APPLICATION.

 

And sleep! Teenagers need at least 8 hours a night. Well-rested people are happy. Colleges like happy people.

 

PS: Your high school does not need to be impressive. Colleges know about private schools, and while more people from them may get in to high ranked colleges, that's also because most of them were EXTREMELY good students before going to private school - so they're sort of the top of the top, academically. Colleges have quotas for these well-know private schools - EVERYONE applies to the Ivies, and of course, only a certain number can get it. You will absolutely not be disadvantaged by your high school.

 

Good luck!

[annie24]

So what if she didn't get into those schools? they probably weren't the right match for her either. My opinion is that I don't want to go to a school that doesn't want ME. I want a place that will recognize what I have to offer and be excited about that.

 

Like i said before, the school you go to isn't as important as what you do when you get there. You can take the bare minimum at harvard and scrape by with Cs, or you can go to a state school and really excel, take hard classes, take on leadership positions...

 

don't stress too much, you WILL get into a good school, so take the time to find somewhere you want to live, study, and play for the next 4-5 years.

[pacman]

I think youre stressing yourself out too much over this. Youre only in highschool and shouldnt be pulling all nighters, atleast not in highschool lol. I took all kinds of AP classes in highschool and you shouldnt have to be up all night for it, youre being too hard on your self.

Also it depends on youre industry and degree/job youre looking for but most of the time the "prestige" of your college wont matter once you get that first job out of school. In my field of study, real world experience and forming connections with companies will mean far more than a top level college. This may be different if youre looking to go into academics, or looking to getinto a top med or law school, but I still think you are worrying too much. Also just taking the AP classes over the regular classes will show the colleges youre a serious student. Its worth more to have a B in an AP class than an A in a normal class.

[annie24]

yeah, I agree with pacman.

 

also, it does matter what you want to do afterwards. do you want to go to med school, law school, or grad school?

 

to get into those schools, overall, it is better to get As at a state university than Bs and Cs at an Ivy. Especially since many Ivies are known for grade inflation. If people are paying $60,000 a year to send their kids to school, they're going to demand the profs give out plenty of As. state schools, however, don't have that reputation (for the most part).

 

so, especially for medical school, your grades are so important, much more so than where you got your diploma from.

 

for graduate school, I have heard many professors say they would rather take a B student who has a love of research, than an A student who is just a book worm and can't apply what they learn.

 

but yes, if you are looking to go into industry or a company, yes, they are looking for real world experience than what was your GPA.