Junior Year Crash Out
I just started my junior year. I am taking 2 AP's- AP US History 11, and AP Lang. Along with that, I am taking 3 college classes- College Chem, College Trig, and Health Professions. Last year I took 3 college classes (Bio, Algebra, History 10), and up until now I have kept a 4.0 unweighted GPA. I plan to graduate with having taken 3 honors classes, 7-8 college classes, and 5 AP classes. I am currently 11th out of 430ish for class rank. I am a member of HOSA, NHS, Key Club, Just Serve (however I don't serve on cabinet or councils for any of them) and I am on my high school's swim team as well as Track & Field team (mainly JV, hoping to move up to Varsity soon). I don't plan on doing sports in college; I think it would be so much fun but I'm not good enough to do it. I took the PSAT my sophomore year and scored a 1020- 480 on math and 540 on English, and I am absolutely terrified for this year and for applying/getting accepted into colleges. I'm a horrible test taker, especially with standardized tests that matter so much for my future, and I think I might lose my 4.0 GPA this year (as someone with major anxiety this was hard for me to handle at first, however I came to peace with it as long as I am able to graduate with a 3.85-3.90 GPA or higher). I'm retaking the PSAT in October with hopes to get a higher score, ACT either at the end of first semester or start of second semester, and SAT in the spring. I know I'm going to do well in English either way but I am terrified for Chem and APUSH. Any advice on how to study/deal with those classes and how to best succeed on the SAT/ACT? Or any advice on how to build up a solid application? How do I survive this year and start to build the best app I can for college while still keeping a student/athlete/life balance?
Thinking about either BYU Provo or Utah State University; maybe Texas Tech, University of Iowa, Iowa State, or Georgia State University as well. I want to go into either Biology, Psychology or Education- PA (Physician Assistant), Child Therapist, School Counselor, Kindergarten Teacher, High School English Teacher, or High School History Teacher. I don't really know what colleges to apply to, and I don't have a lot of ideas of what I want to major in or potentially go into for a career, those are just my interests. If y'all have ideas then please share :) Not asking for application chances just asking for advice on how to to manage this year and build the best college essays/applications possible.
Oof. I'm currently a junior and I definitely feel your concerns.
First of all, a 4.0 unweighted GPA is amazing, but a 3.9 or 3.8 isn't that big of a difference. Plus your weighted GPA will matter more for your class rank. You're definitely taking a bunch of challenging courses that will reflect well on your applications.
For SAT/ACT prep, it's just practice, practice, practice. Take college-board practice tests to best prepare for the exam. For APUSH, I recommend the Princeton review and Heimler's History and score of 3 or above is definitely do-able. Know how to format the DBQs and LEQs too. I'm not qualified enough to give advice for Chem though so good luck! :)
You have a good selection of clubs and, maybe if it's possible, try and put yourself out there for leadership positions in those clubs! You might end up surprised. With regards to your sports selection, if you don't necessarily feel passionate about them or don't feel like you'll continue them in the future, maybe drop out of them to focus more on academics? Just a thought to consider.
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