School Advice
Hello!
I'm not quiet a junior but a sophomore. I haves hopes of majoring in cybersecurity or computer engineering in the future. Currently as a sophomore my unweighted is a 3.6 as of the 2nd marking period. Unfortunately I'm not taking any AP classes this year. My school runs off of 10-12th grade system of "high-school". Though I'm taking full honors courses with band. As my GPA isn't the best I am, though, active as a bug bounty hunter as I started 2 years ago at the age of 14. I have a pretty solid built up high knowledge in cybersecurity as I have participated in a few CTFs and a couple other side projects and also computer engineering as I've made many, many projects. Next year as an attempt to try and get my course a little better I am taking AP Calculus AB, AP Physic N/M, AP Macro, and AP Cybersecurity. I wanted to take AP Lang with it as a I received a recommendation for it but I have a huge problem with procrastination which has gotten way better up to this point. So basically in short I'm a student with average grades but a very strong understanding in computers and cybersecurity who has a dream of applying and getting into top Computer schools. Oh and one more thing I did take PSAT 10 but has not taken PSAT/NMSQT. I did get a 1460 on so I do have high hopes for my PSAT/NMSQT and my SAT.
Any sort of advice or help would be greatly appreciated thank you!
Here's my advice (as a current Junior)
- Lang isn't horrible, but it has a steep learning curve and you should be prepared if you're not already a great writer. Also, absolutely do not procrastinate your work (I learned the hard way)
- That's a solid schedule for course rigor, but if your UW is around 3.6 now, I would maybe cut out an AP class.
- Find opportunities to deepen your exposure to cybersecurity: Job shadowings, internships if you can find any, research, etc. I live in NJ and we have a 1-week for cybersecurity over the summer that's remote, so if you want to check that out you can: (cyber.nj.gov/connect/careers/internships/high-school-internship-program)
- If you can turn one of your side projects into a high-impact, passion project, that would be stellar.
- If you can, take a practice SAT. If you get a score that is 40ish points around your goal (eg. if your goal was a 1500 and you got between a 1460-1540 on your first practice) study for the SAT after finals and take the August/September one. Use oneprep.xyz for structured practice as well as YouTube for strategies and test-taking tips.
The main thing is to start early (which I didn't do, so I'm lowk struggling) and just do what you love. Show your passion. That's all I have, I hope this helps 🙏.
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
Community Guidelines
To keep this community safe and supportive:
- Be kind and respectful!
- Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
- Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!