So when I was in seventh grade I got the offer to participate in a program that would allow me to “skip” a grade. It sounded great at the time, and I decided to take it. What I didn’t know was that this program was for students who had either failed previous years or started school at a later age and therefore were “behind” their real graduating class. I fell into the latter category. The program was meant to just get students “back on track” and not meant to actually accelerate. This meant that once I started the program in my 8th grade year (I would skip 9th grade after taking it) I was taking all regular, non gifted classes whereas before in middle school I was in the gifted program and was on track to take calculus in my 11th grade year. Now I’m in regular Algebra II junior year, but my teacher was able to at least get me into accelerated precalculus and recommended to me to take AP Calc AB at the same time, but I’ve decided not to based on most people I’ve talked to. Aside from that, I took as many AP courses as I could in other subjects to make up for my 8th/9th grade year, where every course is listed as regular. It’s the summer before senior year and I’m worried I won’t get into the any of the top tier colleges I want to because of Gear Up for Graduation (the program.) What do you guys think?
Have you gotten good grades in your AP classes and your regular classes? Do you have good test scores? Do you participate in interesting outside activities? Do your teachers like you? Does your guidance counselor like you?
If your guidance counselor likes you well enough, they can explain this in their letter to the colleges. If they like you a lot, they could point out that the ability to skip a grade and then take on AP courses shows that you are a hard charger who rises to a challenge. I think this could actually be an asset rather than the liability you seem to think it is.
But being in a lot of AP classes is not the only measure of a successful high school student. Don’t worry about what you can’t change in the past. Focus on excelling in what you’re doing right now.
I think you can get into some excellent schools with that sort of profile, you just have to market yourself well and show off those other stellar aspects of your personality.
Tippy top kids with 10 APs and 4.0s don’t always get into Top Tier colleges.
There are 3000 colleges in the USA…you will find one that is right for you.
Yup, I’m currently ranked #2 in my class. And I’ve gotten 4s and 5s on my AP tests, but I really need to work on my SATs. Did horribly on the subject tests when I took them in 10th grade and the first time I took the SAT I got a 1280 so there’s a lot of work to do there but I’m willing to put it in. My extracurriculars aren’t too stellar but that’s due to some personal circumstances I’ll make sure to mention in my application essays. My teachers can write some great recommendations for me, but I’m not to close to the GC. I’ll make sure to change that or at least request if she could do what you said for me. Thank you so much!