Most of us were in APWH last year and are now in APUSH this year. Which class (or test) do you think is harder?
So far, APUSH class seems to be easier than APWH, but I’m not sure about the AP test.
@neoking Idk about the APWH test/class, but I took APUSH last year as an independent study & it went fine. I got a 4, though, which was disappointing.
Does anyone have any opinions/advice about the World History subject test? I’m looking at taking 2 subject tests in June, and I’ll probably take Math II and either WH or USH. Any opinions on which is easier/better/thoughts in general?
@tonystarkofwinterfell oh no I am so sorry!!! :(:(
Financial aid is BS as soon as you hit a certain income range. My mom recently got a job and a few promotions increasing our income substantially, so universities will assess our aid based on those numbers…however, she got the job like two years ago, meaning we don’t really have much money saved up for college. It’s basically a lose-lose situation.
But don’t give up! See if you can apply for any major scholarships outside of the university. Maybe something will come through!
@eyrar99 yes, it’s true that Carleton does not give out merit based aid. From my standpoint, I was encouraged that all students were given a clean academic slate (in the sense that no one was entering with a boost before even setting foot on campus or proving themselves, etc etc), but obviously it’s going to be a problem if you aren’t rich or don’t qualify for a huge financial aid package. Unfortunately, a bunch of people fall into the middle (myself included), meaning while the thought of having an even playing field by getting rid of merit scholarships is nice, it really isn’t that great in the long run.
Additionally, the Carleton rep said that their endowments fell short of a million dollars…and that’s why they don’t have money for merit scholarships. Buttttttt by the looks at their campus I think they have more money than that…
On their website, Carleton says the average financial aid given is around $45,000. But looking at my family’s income, we would probably get only a little over half of that. That means we’re still paying ~$35,000. Yikes.
@neoking My counselor thinks that I have a good shot/am likely to get in to schools like NYU, Northeastern, GWU, and Johns Hopkins. I just feel that he’s overestimating how good I look to colleges…
Like, I wouldn’t say that I’m likely to get into those schools, especially with my GPA. Even if he says that the fact that I have a rigorous schedule will lessen the badness of my grades, I just don’t feel like what he’s saying is quite right. Though what he says about my reach schools is what I expect, I just feel he’s being too optimistic.
On another note, I went from regular European History to AP US History. It’s been quite the experience.
@Faultystart me too!! Usually when people say, “oh you’ll definitely get into HYPS etc” and I ask them why, they say it’s because “you’re in a lot of AP classes.” Mhmm yeah wish it worked like that…
Hardest class this year??
Mine is math. I suck at math. Probably not a good idea to double up on it this year
@Faultystart I feel like my chances are overestimated by people around me, too (especially my parents). They’re like, you have great grades! You’re in extracurriculars! You’re from an underrepresented socioeconomic group! Clearly, you could get in to an Ivy!
It’s hard to explain to my parents that being a great student just isn’t enough. ):
Ugh my hardest class this year is also in math… I’m taking Calc II online and am ending up essentially having to teach it to myself. It’s the worst because it’s going to bring my GPA down and isn’t weighted or anything, even though it’s a college class and not even through my high school.
@eyrar99 WHY DOES THAT ALWAYS HAPPEN???
I mentioned how I was interested in Vandy at a house party one time and a family friend was all like, “Oh my god, you think it’s HARD to get into Vanderbilt?? My friend had like straight Cs and got in thirty years ago–you’re a shoo in for SURE, you’re smart!” And now I’m just silently hoping he forgets to ask me if I got accepted next year because there is no way I’m a “shoo in”.
I think WHEN you went to college is a big part of the problem too. Like…yo…it’s a heck of a lot harder to get in now…
@eyrar99 lol #precalculus
no but seriously my teacher doesn’t even teach. she gives us handouts and tells us to figure it out.
Hence why my grade is at a terrifying 92…
@SugarSmarts Yeah, when they went to college is definitely a huge factor… It’s so much harder now!
Lol I’m insanely jealous of your 92 (I’m probably somewhere in the low 80s right now. Gulp.)
@eyrar99 yeah but you’re in calc freaking TWO
that’s the scary math :0
ALSO
is anyone applying for either U Chicago or Carleton summer programs???
@eyrar99 @SugarSmarts @Faultystart Y’all are totally right! I have good grades, good test scores, and ECs with some level of accomplishment in different areas, and people expect me to just get in automatically. In class, one of my teachers even jokingly printed a Harvard application guide online because I kept making the highest scores on his tests.
Sure, I’m a good student, but so are the other bajillion people applying to top schools. It’s just not that simple, and only my friends who are also Ivy/Top-tier school bound understand me.
Don’t even mention trying to communicate this to my immigrant parents. Ughhhhhh
@neoking I gotchu completely!
I like how on CC everyone is like…the same…in terms of valuing academics. I have one friend–ONE–that actually gets me when I talk about colleges (and that’s only because she’s looking at the same schools). It’s not that I don’t value my other friends, it’s just that they don’t get it…? That sounds like a mean way to put it idk…
So anyways CC is a nice place to vent/ask questions/talk about college stuff without the initial “are you just bragging?” or “why are you worried about a B?” from everyone else in my school.
Ugh people tell me I’ll get in too, but I’m no where NEAR a shoo-in to any top college. And people at my school are actually crazy. (Cases in point: girl who interned at a big company senior year and single-handedly developed important software + has her own (legit) startup that’s won awards; boy who went to USPhO camp sophomore year + is on science everything team AND both of these people are on the really-hard-to-get-into school newspaper.)
CC is basically a representation of my school, so I never miss out on the competition. :))
I feel for y’all…
:(:(:(:(
stay strong! pm me any day if u need a boost in happiness 
YES AH!!!
People look up to me for academics and such, but my school isn’t even remotely competitive besides 10 - 20 people (pretty much most of the people I associate with, at least for the majority of the time). They look at me like I’m crazy for getting super anxious about colleges, and just assume that I’m a shoo-in to Stanford…but I honestly haven’t done anything //great//, and I just feel like I’m another cookie-cutter Asian student. Add in the fact that I’m from California, and just - ughhhhhh. Part of me wishes I went to a super-competitive Bay Area school, just to prove that I’m not very outstanding (at least compared to the overwhelming pool of applicants to any of the colleges I’m interested in - which does include Stanford but branches out a bit from it as well).
Hardest class - Spanish III. Sigh. I totally took Spanish lightly my previous two years, and I’m really regretting it; although I do have an A in the class, it took me SO long to get to that point and a lot of frustration (also, asking for help because I was really stubborn and yeesh).