I’m a sophomore, but my current GPA (3.7) is a bit low, if I want in on the Ivy Leagues, so I’ve been wondering what I could do to make my application seem more appealing.
A few of my friends are taking easier courses like AP Human Geography, in which they get a 98, or regular math, and since I’m taking honors math, which in my school is the most prestigious honors class, I get much lower averages (~90). I’m wondering whether I should focus more on GPA, courseload or extracurriculars when I enter junior year.
I’m planning on taking:
-AP US History
-AP Computer Science
and taking the AP Biology exam without the class
I’m considering:
-AP English
These are the only options available to me at the moment. I’m currently taking AP World and AP Music Theory. I don’t have any extracurriculars at the moment, but it seems like I barely have any time to do anything after I finish homework and studying.
What should I focus on? Which one is more important? Do colleges consider your courseload before your GPA? My school doesn’t weight anything and grades pretty hard, especially if you get a strict teacher, so honors and AP averages stay lower unless you do really well.
featherkin - I’m a parent of 3 with 2 kids that were admitted to Highly Selected schools. The other kid has a MA and is a Director at a large state school. IMHO - Don’t focus on Ivy’s, and don’t select EC’s or courses based on what you think some AdCom wants to see. And BTW - Highly Selective schools don’t want you to decide which is more important… they want to see top scores and top grades in the toughest courses available to you at your school, while contributing to the school or your community through your ECs. So, yes, you are expected to do it all.
Best solution - Take the courses you want to take, the courses that can challenge you, that interest you, and the same with ECs. You are going to be much happier just trying to be the best featherkin you can be because there are thousands of colleges out there that will want you based on what you do accomplish in school. Good luck
Honestly, your class rank matters much more than your GPA. That is something you should consider. If you are in the top 10% of your class, you’re doing well, keep it up! Your course load matters as well. It is important to try to keep a balance. Do what you can to stay in the top 10% of your class while still taking AP classes (especially ones that will be relevant to your intended major!).
You will want to have extracurricular activities, for sure. This does not necessarily mean you need to take something through your school, if none of that interests you. Find a couple of things that interest you outside of academics, and immerse yourself in that in your free time, whether it is associated with your school or not. For instance, when I was in high school, I took a lot of AP classes and didn’t want to spend another minute in the school after I was done studying, so I joined other clubs. I was part of a local poetry club and we participated in a lot of open mics in the area. I did that because I love poetry, so it didn’t seem like so much more work to me. It was something I actually enjoyed, and I ended up getting some poems published because of it, which looked really good on my application as well. The point is, you need to have extracurricular activities if you want to get into a top 50 school. You need to either have a couple that you really put time into and can excel at, or a bunch that you just kind of get into.
@nugraddad: Thank you! I know that I shouldn’t do everything for the sake of a school. I’ll try to see what things I like will take me, and maybe I’ll get both!
@Lily1985: Really helpful!! I feel the exact same way. After school, I just don’t really want to stay in the building, on top of which nothing really interests me. Thanks for the advice. I’ll definitely look into extracurriculars outside of school.
@qpqpqp: Interesting. So hard classes are kinda like extras, like extracurriculars? That makes me reconsider some classes…
Performing excellently in an extremely rigorous program is much more important than ECs or class rank or performing excellently in a moderately difficult program (aka grade grubbing).
I feel the exact same way. After school, I just don’t really want to stay in the building, on top of which nothing really interests me. Thanks for the advice. I’ll definitely look into extracurriculars outside of school.