That’s good to know. I hadn’t been informed of this up till now, so it should be helpful when I apply.
The beauty of Questbridge is that you can shoot your shot at a few super-reaches, but also rank other excellent schools that are a little more attainable. Plus, colleges know that QB applicants are pre-vetted, so it puts you in the best possible position. If you match at a tippy-top school, great… but if you match at any school on the list of Questbridge partners, also great, and you’ll know that you took your shot at the schools you ranked highest. Nonetheless, entering the Questbridge process with an abbreviated high school record could put you in a weaker position relative to other QB applicants.
And to reiterate the point, even IF you were to get into Yale, that’s just the first barrier; leadership roles there can be highly competitive to get, and obviously all of the competition got into Yale too, so it’s a highly-accomplished talent pool.
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Thanks, this is all very helpful as I hadn’t known about all this Questbridge stuff.
Yeah, I’m highly aware of how competitive it’ll be, I can’t imagine the line around the block to be editor there is. Luckily, I’m great at climbing the ranks and adjusting quickly, as well as getting into a work flow easily, I think I will be able to at least get on the daily news, and hopefully work my way up to what’ll eventually be a position on their staff. Now, I know this isn’t guaranteed, nor is even getting into Yale, but I like to think of it as a possibility of a path I could take.
I’m entering this thread late, but did want to chime in. OP, I am so glad that you posted here. I was also a first generation student and probably most relevant, went to a low resource high school. More students in my high school dropped out then went to any kind of higher education, including community college. When you’re in an environment where private, selective colleges is not on anyone’s radar around you it can be challenging to navigate what makes sense for your path.
I want to reiterate the many posts above, that if you are interested in targeting private out of state colleges, do not graduate early. Do not think travel, work or other extra curriculars will offset your limited transcript. The vast majority of students applying to even moderately selective colleges met high school requirements early (with the possible exception of English as many districts require 4 years and do not count middle school). But they’re graduating with many COLLEGE level classes. The average number of APs for selective schools is 7-12. I know many, many students who entered college with sophomore or junior standing. AP, IB, dual enrollment, etc are helping these students flesh out the rest of their transcript after they’ve met the high school requirements.
I’m not sure who around you is encouraging this plan, but please listen that it will not help with private schools. If you want to go down the fast and cheap route (which is a viable option). Research graduating early, going to community college and transferring to a 4 year local public school after 2 years. Especially if you commute, it might be a viable quick cheap option. It’s a very different path than one you’re talking about here.
If you want to shoot your shot for Yale or the plethora of schools available via Questbridge - sit down and map out the next 2.5 years so that you can show 4 full years of English, Math, Science, Social Studies at a high school level (showing the highest levels offered at your school and potentially dual enrollment if offerings are limited at your school). Foreign language is already a bit challenging for you as achieving 4 years in Spanish will probably not be difficult. I’ve seen some mixed results on native speakers getting dinged for not having a different language. I think particularly for first generation, low income it’s a nice to have - but if you’re showing 4 years in everything including your native language, it won’t keep you from fine choices.
Keep asking questions, keep an open mind and best of luck to you. You’ve accomplished a lot and have an opportunity to shoot for schools that will open different opportunities. But it will take some more time.
And just to close the loop - I graduated from MIT. It is possible to make the leap - best of luck to you.
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Ok, maybe the US curriculum allows it to be done that way. It wouldn’t work with the curriculum in some other countries.
One thought with regards to French: There are some very good programs in Canada. I know of programs in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec (both in Montreal and Quebec City), but there are probably other programs as well.
One daughter for example took a 5 week intensive over the summer (late July through the end of August) French program at the Universite de Moncton in New Brunswick. First they explain the rules in English and test your knowledge of French, then you speak nothing but French for the full 5 weeks. In the morning there are language classes. Then in the afternoon there are various activities, carried out in French, but many of these activities not requiring much French (for example one day they play “le soccer” – if you are open you might want to say “ici” rather than “here”). The language classes are split into multiple sections, ranging from straight beginner through highly proficient. My daughter started at the beginning level, but moved up one step half way through the program. After five weeks my daughter and I were able to just sit down and have a very simple conversation in French. The entire thing appeared to be quite pleasant for her, and was very affordable for us.
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Wow! That sounds like a great program! I will definitely be looking into that, because I have always wanted to learn french.
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Thank you so much for your advice, I have gotten mixed signals from people I’ve asked, some, for example graduated early and did fine, others who graduated regularly are advising me to stay the full four years. I am still very conflicted on my decision, but hopeful over the holidays I will be able to devise a plan and what I want to do, regarding everything.
Your issue is rigor. You don’t have it. Sorry to be blunt. The test will matter too but that’s tbd.
That’s why you need to stay four years. You will have, in my opinion, near zero chance at Yale, NU, QB, and others with your current trajectory. . You will be more aligned with schools like Texas Tech or Lamar.
Btw pick your school paper - the Daily Orange or whatever - if you get a high end role, not easy, but yes it’s a boost but also realize print journalism is dying a slow death.
Good Luck
You don’t have to be sorry, I am aware this year my schedule is not very rigorous, but with what I will likely gain next year, I think I could have a chance at an out of state school. I also believe I have a good chance with QB since I meet all of their requirements and expectations. I know that is not the thing that is going to get me in, not meeting “expectations” but that I have to go beyond and be well above my requirements. I am planning to do this, and it’s not like I have no time to better my application. I will do better on the SAT, and ACT.
Best of luck to you.
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If you ramp up rigor in 11th grade, and apply to colleges in the fall of that year, they will see a transcript that looks like this:
9th grade: Regular high school classes
10th grade: Regular high school classes
11th grade (IN PROGRESS): Big increase in number of classes and rigor, including a large number of AP classes, but no grades yet, and no AP exam scores
Until they actually see your grades for that final year of HS, colleges would have a reason to be concerned that you might not be able to handle the big jump in rigor. Just being enrolled in a bunch of APs doesn’t necessarily reassure colleges that you can handle these classes.
I think it would be much more reassuring for colleges to see a transcript like this:
9th grade: Regular high school classes
10th grade: Regular high school classes
11th grade: Increase in rigor with AP classes; good grades and good AP exam scores showing that you can handle this increase in rigor
12th grade (IN PROGRESS): Same or increase in rigor compared to 11th grade
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Of this I am aware, but I have not said I will not complete a 12th grade year, nor that colleges wouldn’t have reason to be concerned at my jump, I have simply said, that unlike what the last post said, I could have a chance next year. I will always believe I have a chance, even if it’s very small. (This does not mean I will be graduating early, I am considering everything right now)
Except that the advice saying you have a chance at the out of state, highly-rejective colleges is from local people with not much college admissions experience . The advice saying you don’t have much of a chance is from posters here who have sometimes decades of experience advising students on college admissions.
Meaning if you follow the graduate early plan.
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Amending to say that most here think you have a much better chance after four years of HS.
what is the down side of taking four years of high school?
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No downside, just looking at all my options.
I also agree this would look much better, but I just have all my cards on the table right now.
I am also considering not going to an Ivy, rather a state school or maybe more accessible school for my needs.
1500+ means you’ll be in the top 1% of all test takers in the US. There are thousands of kids who study for months with tutors who cant crack 1500, despite 4 or 5 attempts.
Effort does not necessarily translate to a 1500+. You have to be an exceptional standardized test taker. And many of the top SAT scorers are taking AP BC calculus in high school.
You can get a high score without calculus but the math questions are tricky and you can only miss a few questions.
Good luck and hope you get in to the school of your dreams.
Thank you! I will take that into consideration. I am definitely gonna study more for my Math section, as English is my forte.
The real issue here is budget. You’re going to need a home run and home runs typically come from high level schools. So you’ll want to be at that level. Depending on your budget, it could be the difference to attending a four year school vs no school at all.
Once you get your SAT back, it will be interesting to see how you do vs others in the school. If you’re in a low scoring school and you score hundreds over the school average, that can really help, especially with QB.
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My 2 daughters both used the Erica Meltzer books for the Reading and Writing sections. They’re about $25 each on Amazon. One got 790/800. The other 780/800.
FYI if you’re looking for relatively inexpensive study material. It’s not for everyone, but it may help.
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