How does my Junior year (11th grade) of high school look in terms of difficulty? Also, any comments regarding where do I stand in terms of college admissions? As of right now, my dream school would be Georgetown University (majoring in political science.) Also would not mind UC’s such as Irvine or Davis. [Brief notes]: I took 1 AP in 10th grade - AP Human Geography (scored a 5 on AP Exam.) Sophmore GPA was a 3.83 unweighted for the first semester and a 4.0 unwieghted and a 4.16 weighted for the second semester. I also scored (very low imo) 1200 on the PSAT as a 10th grade Sophmore.
Classes: 1) Latin 2
2) Algebra II/Advanced Algebra
3) AP United States History
4) AP English Language And Composition
5) AP Statistics
6) AP Environmental Science
Extracurriculars: Intern for district supervisor, Vice president of school Chess Club, Event Coordinator for Chess Club, Umpire for local SFLL baseball, Parliamentary Debate (JV), Participated in a 4 student group in the summer of YELL (Youth Engaged In Library Leadership) that created a day event which gave back to my local community, blogged/created chess articles for local Beacon center (Sunset Media Wave), member of Heart In Motion (volunteer group for various events situated in San Francisco) - volunteered at over 20 events totalling 110 hours.
Accomplishments: - 2016 SF Middle School Scholastic Chess Champion (1st place-Scored 4/4)
- 2017 Bi-Annual Northern California Chess Team Champion (_____ Chess Club)
- President’s Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) - Gold (100+ hours)
How do I stand for UC Irvine, Davis, and my potential (reach??) Georgetown?
Any insights would be awesome!!
Thanks, members of CC!!!
Since UC’s only use 10-11th grades in their GPA calculation, it is difficult to determine your chances at this point. So far you are doing well academically. Definitely consider some SAT prep. You have some very good EC’s so continue to follow through with these until end of Senior year.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
I see no foreign language class for Junior year and UC’s recommend 3 years. What is your goal for doubling up on Math courses? Do you plan to reach Pre-Calc by Senior year?
Every August, the UC Website updates their Freshman profiles so you can use the listed UC GPA capped weighted, SAT and ACT score percentiles to gauge how you compare. To be competitive, you want to be at least at the 50th percentile or higher.
Also start looking for 2 safety schools that you are willing to attend no matter what and then build your list from there.
Best of luck.
Hi Gumbymom, thanks for the response. I really appreciate the insight. Couple responses: I am taking Latin 2. It is listed as number 1 on my list of classes. That is going to be my second year of Latin. Should I take an additional 3rd year of Latin as a senior? (won’t make it to AP Latin.) Also, my goal is to get Stats out of the way, because in my opinion, I want less of a stressful senior year. I will make it to Pre-Calc as a senior. Do you recommend pre Calc or pre calculus “honors”? I won’t be able to make it to AP Calculus, which I fear may place me below other competitive UC/ Georgetown applicants. At my school, AP Stats is an elective. The curriculum (Common Core) is usually:
9th grade: Algebra 1/Geometry
10: Geometry/Algebra 2
11: Algebra 2/Pre Calc/Stats(after Alg II)
12: Precalculus(honors)/ AP Calculus (AB or BC)/AP Stats
Coming from a public middle school, we were not taught “algebra 1” so we had to take it as high schoolers. It is important to note that the school does allow concurrently taking algebra and geometry but I did not choose that option in fear of burning out mathematically. Your thoughts??! Thanks for the response.
Sorry missed the Latin and yes I would take Latin 3 to be more competitive. If you are getting good grades in Math, then definitely take Pre-Calculus Honors over Regular Pre-Calc.
Would like to note in my reply to your original comment, as an 11th grader at my school, the course options are available (assuming you have the prerequisites) : Algebra 2, Precalculus(honors) , or “AP” Stats (assuming you’ve taken algebra 2.) Corrected my original reply saying “Stats” We don’t have a regular statistics course. Our school only offers AP Stats. Thanks.
And also should I complete the trio of sciences? (Biology, Chemistry, physics) I took Bio as a freshman, and Physics as a sophomore. I am going to take AP environmental Science as a junior, and should I take chemistry as a senior? And if so, do you recommend Regular Chemistry, Chemistry honors, AP Chemistry, or Organic Chemistry?
I would not take AP Chemistry or Organic Chemistry if you have no prior Chemistry class. I would take Honors Chemistry or Regular Chemistry especially since you are not targeting a STEM major for college.
I wouldn’t count on good chances at Georgetown. from the 2018 admissions, many people with outstanding academic records are being overlooked. that is to say, if you are a female african/mexican american with that kind of record, I’d say you have a better shot than most. but if you are white/chinese, I don’t really know what to say. these are all heavily subjective viewpoints, but I only say these things from experience. As long as your ec’s continue to grow in significance, you’ll have a better chance than no chance.
UCs on the other hand-- you have great chances at everything except Berkeley and LA. I’d wager a safe enough probability of getting into the two, regardless. Your academic status need to be maintained. Your ec’s need to be boosted.
What constitutes “good grades” in math? In algebra I, I received a 95 (1st semester) and 94 (2nd S.) in geometry, I received a 92 and 94. I don’t know how I will do in Algebra 2. Hopefully I don’t slip any further down below a 90. What constitutes a good enough grade to determine whether one should take pre Calculus honors over regular pre Calculus?