Thanks! I’m hoping to become as close to fluent as I can in french.
Senior schedule:
AP Calc AB
AP Lit
AP Micro and macro economics
AP French
AP Enviromental Science
And two social studies related electives
Could you take Spanish 1 and one social study related elective (instead of the 2 social studies related electives?
It’s a very rigorous schedule, although since you seem a strong student you should be able to handle it (3 hard AP’s, 1 medium, 1 easy AP, plus 2 “light” classes would be manageable if you have good time management skills).
Make sure to save time for EC’s, writing college applications, and for downtime/relaxation. Don’t sacrifice sleep (sleep deprivation is extremely dangerous to the growing brain and body). Balance is very important 
Thanks! At my school, my two electives are each semester long classes, so are AP macro and micro, so those four take up 2 periods between the two semesters. Spanish 1 is a year long class, so it can’t replace either because I have to take econ to graduate. It’s complicated. If I wanted to take it, I’d have to replace my study hall, which I won’t do, because I really need that time.
Not sure I understand your Honors logic but maybe its just me. Teachers make the same salary whether they have a “regular” degree or a degree from an “Honors” college. The only difference is if you have a masters degree.
I don’t believe there is any salary difference between those “just in the College of Education” and those in the Honors program. Can you give any specific examples.
Also, you have not addressed the question: “If you can’t get Honors, USC is not worth it due to the state of public education in SC.” What does one have to do with the other? What if you plan on getting a degree in SC but teaching in NJ or MD or VA? How does the state of SC public schools impact a teacher’s education?
@CDNatFan: I’m not talking of salaries in South Carolina. There won’t be a difference within each district. (There will be differences between districts).
Teachers typically teach in the state where they got their degree because they use the college’s connections to public schools + their practicum/student teaching period to make a good impression, create their portfolio, and create connections on the ground. So, a student who has a “regular” degree from the College of Education has those opportunities.
Students in the Honors college have additional opportunites, especially when it’s nationally ranked such as USC’s. The experience within the college will include experiences (connections, get togethers, study abroad, paid internships, support for grants and fellowships and projects…) that allow the students to function not just within SC but be recognized outside of it, which helps them move out of SC. That’s why I spoke of networking, support, and signaling as important factors in choosing a safety. It impacts degree portability.
If you want to teach in NJ or MD or VA, go to college in NJ or MD or VA. That’s the whole dilemma for this student, because she wants to make a good living AND live in the South, but most Southern states pay their teachers a paltry. So, if she goes to college in the South, she has to have an experience that allows her to teach elsewhere and thus to have connections outside of the “regular” ones.
She’d be better off then attending UIUC than USC if she doesn’t get into the Honors college because regular UIUC is better and will lead to a better career than regular USC. (She probably can get into the Honors College at UIUC to boot).
@MYOS1634 We have spoken to numerous teachers currently teaching in our schools and none were in an Honors program and nearly 1/2 got their degrees in another state then where they currently teach. I have not seen any ranking of undergrad education programs anywhere, either regular or honors so not sure what “nationally ranked” education program you are talking about.
I agree it is difficult for teachers and it does make sense to get a degree in the state you plan to reach but that is not always an easy decision for a 16-17 year old to make when choosing a school.
I still don’t think you have fully explained your comment: “If you can’t get Honors, USC is not worth it due to the state of public education in SC.” I think you can get a perfectly good teaching education in SC and teach in another area. In fact I have a family member who got a degree (non-Honors) in SC and now teaches in NJ.
I see you’re not getting my point at all.
I’ll rephrase for the last time because we’re about to derail the thread.
Perhaps it’ll make more sense if you consider that OP’s target is Vanderbilt. It should be no trouble understanding that it offers academic rigor, research opportunities, international prestige, resources, networking; you get clear national signaling when you get a degree from Vanderbilt. A graduate from Peabody isn’t limited to Tennessee. USC Honors becomes Vanderbilt’s back up in a way USC regular simply isn’t.
It’s pointless for a student from Illinois to attend college in South Carolina if that college doesn’t bring an added value. Studying education in South Carolina leads to a lower than average teacher salary if you stay in SC. If you want a better salary you have to move to another state and for that it helps attending a nationally recognized Honors college that offers national opportunities not offered. The support, networking, opportunities, and signaling of a nationally ranked honors college helps with degree portability.
In addition, certification reciprocity varies from state to state. Depending on what state you come from and how rigorous/well-considered you certification&licensure is, as well as how rigorous/well-considered the receiving college is and how badly they need teachers in your subject area/level, a college of education graduate will have to jump through more hoops, fewer hoops, no hoops.Just because there’s reciprocity doesn’t mean the receiving state can’t ask for extra tests, courses, etc (and they often do, especially in the South to North/Midwest direction). So, is it possible to succeed? Sure. But why jump through hoops when you don’t have to, unless there’s some benefit?
Not to mention, if the student can attend college with a guaranteed near full tuition scholarship in Alabama or at instate rates+ honors scholarship in Illinois, attending USC at full cost would not make any rational sense.
Finally, OP wants to attend a top college. USC Columbia Honors, like Penn State Schreyer and ASU Barrett, are in the top 5 Honors Colleges among US flagships so that’d qualify.
Yes, few teachers attended Honors colleges, alas. I wish more had.
Perhaps more students hoping to become teachers should be encouraged to attend Honors colleges, flagships, and LACs, rather than being told that it’s a waste since they “just” want to be teachers. (This is a pretty common remark made to ambitious students and it even popped up here and there on this thread).
What is the difference between applying to an honors and regular college? I’ll apply to honors at all of the schools but I don’t really know what that even means.
It depends on every university - some invite you to apply, some admit you automatically, some have a special application. U Wisconsin is invitation only (and then you have to apply). USC Columbia includes a pretty hefty application. Schreyer requires three essays that’ll be read by professors as well as recommendations. Alabama Honors admit automatically if you meet a certain GPA/Score index, but you do have to send a quick application.
(You won’t apply to Honors at your reach schools).
You can visit websites for Barrett, Schreyer, USC Honors, UCF Burnett, UGA Honors.
Basically, universities concentrate some specific resources onto their most promising students, gathered in the Honors College. At good Honors Colleges, these students get to have small, interactive classes taught by professors (v. a giant lecture), they have a personal adviser and sometimes two (v.a random person in a large building for two years), they have support for research, to present that research at conferences, to publish that research if it’s good, to learn how to apply for a national grant if their project is that good, they get stipends to study abroad, they get unique study abroad opportunities, they meet professionals and successful alumni, some of whom become mentors. On a shallow note, Honors Students/Scholars often live in better dorms.
Ok thanks, that’s interesting. It’s really starting to sound like USC Columbia isn’t worth it for me. I don’t think I’m going to even bother applying there.
Look at the websites I listed above.
I looked at the websites. The honors colleges are all really impressive, I can see why it’s so important to apply.
I don’t think anybody has suggested Tulane yet? (Sorry if I missed it)
https://teacher.tulane.edu/
It seem to me that Tulane has the kind of location, vibe, and prestige level that you’re looking for without being a super-reach.
Also Clemson http://www.clemson.edu/degrees/elementary-education?utm_source=search&utm_campaign=degrees&utm_medium=0 which offers teacher certification with a BA and also has an honors college https://www.clemson.edu/cuhonors/
Thanks for the suggestions!
So this is my updated list:
Safety: UIUC, Alabama
Match: UF, UCSC, UCSB, Elon, UW, Penn State, Ohio, IU, UCI, UGA, Baylor, UCF, Cal Poly, Tulane
Reach: USC (cal), UT, UVA, BU
Dream: Vanderbilt, Brown, Cornell, UNC, Duke
And this is what it would be narrowed down to my top 13 schools, in somewhat of an order:
Safety: Alabama, UIUC
Match: UGA, UCSB, Penn State, UCF, UF
Reach: UT, USC, UVA
Dream: Vanderbilt, Cornell, UNC
I really appreciate everyone’s help so far and would love if anyone could give me any more advice on my list.
I know my safeties are good (and I actually can’t wait until I get to apply to them). I can’t remember if Penn State is a match or reach for me because of the whole honors college thing, and I don’t know if USC is a good fit for me in general. I think it would be but I’m not sure. I also don’t know if I’m completely lying to myself by even wanting to apply to my dream schools. Would I actually even have any chance at an Ivy League School or Vanderbilt?
You could also consider Wake Forest as a more realistic reach. It’s a little smaller than other schools you like (5K undergrads, 8K total) but still has the D1 sports, active Greek system, etc. that create the vibe you are looking for. http://college.wfu.edu/education/undergraduate-programs/elementary/
I’d have to say that with your current stats and no compensatory “hook,” Vandy, Duke, and the Ivies are a pretty big long shot. Students with your stats do get in, but usually because they have something else that gets them in the door - they’re recruited athletes or legacies or in a very underrepresented group either racially/ethnically or geographically or something. Not usually just because, “Yeah, but we’re holistic and she seems like a great kid.”
One tool that helps to frame this more objectively is the Admissions Calculator on the Prepscholar site. (They’re selling test prep, yes, so they’re going to err on the side of convincing you that you need higher test scores… but still they are working off of a pretty defensible algorithm, I think.) Just for example, putting your GPA and ACT score into the calculator for Vanderbilt gives back a 1.2% chance of admission. For Wake Forest, 17% chance. Tulane, 35%
(CC isn’t letting me post the link, but if you search for “prepscholar [school name]” you’ll find it)
Of course, these are just averages - they don’t account for subgroups. So for example, the calculator for UNC will overestimate your chances, because it’s harder to get in from out of state. It may be under-estimating your chances at Tulane, because it’s averaging in other majors like engineering that are tougher to get into. So, you have to consider all of those other factors. But it’s still not bad for comparing ballpark statistics relative to your stats.
It never hurts to try, of course; just don’t let the “lottery schools” siphon off effort or emotional energy that should be invested in better matches. There are many excellent schools that you have a really good shot at.
Thanks! I just used Prepscholar for all my dream school and the only ones that it looked like I would maybe have any chance for were Cornell (14%) and UNC (17%), but I guess maybe those are wrong because I’m out of state.
In vs out of state only matters for public schools, not for privates. I’m not familiar with prepscholar, but if it didn’t take into account that you were out of state for UNC, then you can’t trust the numbers. UNC is much harder to get into OOS than instate. Cornell is a private school and in vs out of state should make no difference for admittance chances. That said, these chances don’t mean much anyway for very selective schools. I wouldn’t put too much stock in them
Cornell’s contract colleges are included in the overall numbers, which likely throws them off even if the contract colleges have no in-state preference. (Cornell is an oddball in that it’s a private university but also a land-grant university.)