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@heisenberg
0 answers, 4 votes
 • a year ago •
Admissions Advice
[edited]

International student
Answered

Okay, I really need help here.

I'm a junior in high school who just moved here like 6 months ago from a different country.(9th and 10th grade in India, 11th and 12th in USA.) I want to do everything I can to strengthen my college applications. so basically this is my SITUATION:

1) my counselor would not give me any good classes this year. resultantly, I only have one AP class ( AP literature) and am self-studying for the AP chemistry exam. My past hs grades from my old school are good.

2) I have one D on my 1st-semester transcript because I joined this specific math class EXTREMELY late and was made to take a test about three days after joining. I dropped the class and now have a very good grade on a higher-level math course I'm taking online. my current gpa is an 3.4

3) The rest of my grades are good and I'll be taking a lot of AP classes (6-8) next year to increase my GPA.

4) I will probably take college courses at the local community college. is that a good decision?

5) I only have two years of foreign language (hindi) from my indian school which my counselor was fine with

Extracurriculars:

1) I am a library volunteer at school

2) I tutor kids

3) I got accepted into the girls who code online summer immersion program

4)I got accepted to a paid internship at the TAC museum but I can't go bc I can't legally work. but I want to integrate it into my application somehow to emphasize the juxtaposition of my abilities idk-how do I do that?

5) I applied to a bunch of free stipend summer programs but idk if I'll really get accepted

6) I got accepted to volunteer at a cat shelter but then left it cause idk how helpful it'll be

I REALLY need tips on how to strengthen my application, specifically extracurriculars. i don't wanna go to community college lol. what other extracurriculars can I do? my major is mostly computer science but I aim to be a prosthetic engineer or just a software engineer.

11AP
mathematics_and_Computer_science
academic
12APs
extracirriculars
2
12

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Accepted Answer
@AlexanderOddo
expert
965 answers, 643 votes
 • a year ago

You are doing nearly all you can to strengthen your academics. Taking AP or IB classes looks slightly better than dual enrollment, so try to take them instead. 6-8 AP classes is also plenty of rigor as well - in fact, it would help you just as much if you only took 5. Taking another language would help you if you have a free elective slot, as would choosing classes that relate to your spike of computer science/prosthetic engineering/software engineering.

You should also add extracurriculars to your list that relate to this spike - these are good examples. You might be able to do the internship at the TAC museum if you offer to convert it into an unpaid internship.

Hope this helps!

0
[🎤 AUTHOR]@heisenberga year ago

I've seen my friends who are seniors struggle so much with college apps. is it smart of me to even think of competing with other ppl for college?Or should I likely accept that I'll go to community college? I'll probably finish 8 college courses in fall 2023 because I can't afford to pay for too many online AP courses. Thank you for the help though!

[🎤 AUTHOR]@heisenberga year ago

plus i study in a super, super competitive school, so- everybody here is good as heck

@AlexanderOddo
expert
a year ago

@heisenberg I think it's worth it to apply to college - there is a real chance that you could get into your dream school! If you do not get into any colleges, then you can enroll in community college.

0
@CameronBameron
2,281 answers, 8,542 votes
 • a year ago

The truth is that you and 1/2 of the juniors are behind in terms of quality impactful ECs, course rigor, and other key ingredients. There is no quick fix or emergency checklist you can do to compete with applicants that have perfect 4.0 GPAs, perfect SAT/ACT test scores, or those applying with full IB diplomas with 42+/45 scores or 10+ As with (4s and 5s). Many successful admits have been curating their ECs from middle school these days.

It's a great thing you have made it to America and hopefully, you can stay for as long as you want. That is a huge hurdle for many people. Now think about your education as a long race, not a sprint. It doesn't matter when you start college or how long it takes.

You have a couple of options.

1. Apply to as many colleges as possible and pick the one that is the best fit for you academically/financially.

2. Enroll in a two-year college after HS school. For instance, Santa Monica CC or something similar because they have an auto-admit program (i think it's called TAG or something like that) where if you get a 3.6 GPA in your classes you can go to UCLA after 2 years automatically. Applying next year directly to UCLA or UC Berkley or even UCSD or UCSB or UCI will probably not end up successful due to your low GPA and low course rigor.

3. Or apply to top boarding schools and take an extra year of high school called a postgraduate year to make up for your lack of course rigor and prop up your ECs and grades.

I think this decision has to be one you weigh seriously with your parents and other people who are adults because I'm sure you will be able to attend some sort of college if you apply, just maybe not Top 100 colleges at this time.

0
[🎤 AUTHOR]@heisenberga year ago

so...does this basically mean colleges WON'T take into account the two years I missed that I'm making up for? like close to 10 AP classes at the end of my senior year?

@CameronBamerona year ago

Taking a bunch of APs in senior year doesn't make up for the lack of course rigor in years 9, 10 and 11. Why? For one thing, you will be applying to colleges as early as 1/4 into your school year to meet the 11/1 deadline for Early Decision and Early Action. Your AP grades will not be posted on your transcript so admissions officer will not really be on self-reporting of APs for Seniors. And if you only apply Regular Decision then, at best the admission office will only see your mid-year report.

@CameronBamerona year ago

Part B. of the AP course rigor evaluation is how well you do on the actual AP tests given each year in MAY. So unfortunately you not have these grades until mid August 2024 which will be 4 months after your college decisions come back. This is why the most successful college applicants have taken the bulk of their APs during 10th and 11th grades not 12th grade. Colleges want to see both As in the courses themselves and either 4s or 5s on the actual AP tests.

@CameronBamerona year ago

If you are only taking 1 official AP this year in HS and trying to self study for a 2nd AP, just keep in mind that self-studying does not have the same weight as taking the actual course in HS. It's not as impressive regardless of your AP score. Colleges like to see students succeeding in the actual course as well. What make you think your HS counselor would agree to signing you up for 6-8 Additional APs senior year. Given their lack of support this critical 11th grade year, it's highly doubtful

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