First of all, this is my first post on cc and I greatly appreciate any and all input given to me, thank you in advance.
I’m going into senior year, attending a highschool in Santa Cruz, CA, and I’ll be applying to colleges this fall. I’m planning to apply to most of the UC’s, maybe a couple privates and my reach application will be Stanford.
I have leadership positions in student government, and I’m actively involved within school activities. I believe my unweighted GPA is around 3.8. Anyways, this summer I’m debating what I should spend more focus on; taking a computer science class at UCSC or studying to improve my sat score and college essays.
My June sat score came out to be 1850, and I plan to retake the next SAT. I guess what I’m asking is what would college admission officers value more: taking a computer science class over summer at a UC or having a higher SAT score and killer college essay?
deciding between the two is so overwhelming especially since to get a refund for the computer science class I have to drop it by midnight tonight.
Again, thank you so much for any input you all have, I greatly appreciate it.
It would be a little difficult because I’m also taking a political science class at UCSC that I find very interesting and I’m not considering dropping. The main reason I would drop the computer science class is because the teacher is a TA and is not very good at teaching. The classes are very boring and we are expected to reach ourselves at home, practically paying the enrollment fee just to get the grade. I would continue to take the class regardless of how boring it is if it could really help with my college applications, but it would be very difficult to manage both UC classes and studying hard for SAT since I’m also taking 5 A.P. Classes next year that require summer homework which is a lot
Sounds like you have a lot on your plate. Based on your added info on the computer science class, I would drop it. Doesn’t sound like you are getting your money’s worth nor do you find it interesting. On the other hand, getting you SATs into the 2000+ camp would be beneficial.
I would say doing your essays and retaking the SAT.
If you can get a 2000+, many more doors will open for you.
Also, essays are very important for the UC’s and Stanford and they require a lot of effort to polish and edit.
Study for the SAT’s, work on your essays and summer homework. Taking a class at UCSC will not make your chances much better but getting a good score on the SAT will.
If you really like the class, then take it and try to find some time and cram for the SAT, but if we’re talking about purely increasing your chances, then retaking the SAT/working on essays is your best bet.
It is fine to spend a good portion of your time studying for the SAT and starting your application, but I’d suggest you do something else even if it is not the class. Perhaps some part time volunteer/community service work, a part-time job or something along those lines? Colleges want to see you doing something productive over the summer and I don’t think you will get a lot of positive attention for spending 100% of your time doing things that many who apply to top school are able to accomplish during the school year.
I agree with the post above about finding some kind of job/community service activity to get involved in this summer. But in regards to SAT and essay vs. computer science I would say definitely drop the computer science class and study for the SAT/ACT and work on your essays