High School/College Worries

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

I’ll just vent out all my problems to you guys:

I’m an upcoming high school junior right now and I feel like my class schedule might not be challenging enough to UCs (UC Berkeley is my dream school). So far I am planning to take 3 AP classes (Calculus BC, AP Chem, APUSH) and then regular English 3 and Spanish 3. However, I am considering switching out APUSH for AP English Language. I know I sound stupid for saying this but my friends say that the teacher who teaches AP English is a pretty tough teacher and it’s hard to get an A in the class. Plus I don’t want to screw myself over myself with grades in a very important year. But I know that if I take this class it will most likely prepare me for college work and applications (and I don’t want to have stupid classmates and bad teachers in English 3). And with less than 3 weeks of summer left, time is running out for me to make a decision. Also there’s summer homework for AP English so if i decide to switch I need to do it soon. I probably have a lack of self-esteem or something but I feel like I won’t be able to handle it since I have to study for SAT, AP Exams, gather up some volunteering hours, play tennis matches, and on top of that some how manage my time to study for BC and AP Chem to get straight As. I talked to my counselor a few weeks ago and she said that if I took AP English it would look really good on college applications. So what advice can you give me on this?

Also I feel that I don’t stand out enough to UC Berkeley. My grades so far are decent, but I have very little extracurriculars.
Freshman Year:

S=Semester
English 1A S1: A S2: B
Engineering S1: A S2: A
Physics S1: A S2: A
Spanish 1 S1: A S2: A
PE S1:A S2: A
Pre-Calculus S1: A S2: A

Summer:
Chemistry S1:A S2: A

Sophomore Year:

Photo 1 S1: A S2: A
PE S1: A S2: A
AP Calculus S1: A S2: A AP Exam Score: 5

Spanish 2 S1: A S2: A
AP Environmental Science S1: A S2: A AP Exam Score: 3
AP World History S1: A S2: A AP Exam Score: 3
English 2A S1:A S2: A

Extracurriculars:
6 years of Vietnamese School
8-9 years of Piano
2 years of National Honor Society (I barely have any hours) I plan to do 4 years of NHS
I plan to do 4 years of tennis and maybe 2 years of Model United nations in junior and senior year

Coming from an Asian family, I have a lot of pressure on my shoulders. I don’t want to disappoint myself and my whole family if I get rejected from UC Berkeley. What can I do this junior and senior year to improve my chances?

2

With an acceptance rate of 14.8% for UCB this year, odds are not in anyone’s favor for a definite acceptance.

AP English with a passing AP test score will fulfill an English requirement GE at the UC’s, so definitely a good choice.

Only you will know if you can balance these courses with your EC’s and preparing for ACT/SAT and you do have a tough schedule for Junior year with Calculus, Chem and APUSH. You could always take AP English senior year since you will only get credit for 1 AP English course from the UC’s.

Good Luck.

3

Are you pressured because you are Asian or because your parents are pressuring you? If it is the former then please forget any stereotypes about all Asians being smart or going to a top 20 school. It doesn’t matter what college you go to or your class ranking; in the grand scheme of things, it is minuscule and most likely will not pertain to you being happy where you are in the future. Not going to a top school or getting a 4.0 GPA does not undermine or invalidate you being Asian.

Top colleges don’t really care about an EC if you aren’t going to be a remarkable role (President, Secretary, etc.). Unless you intend to have an important role in NHS, you should not join it. A lot of students participate in NHS, so it won’t make you stand out. NHS is also extremely time consuming and will suck time away from college applications, SAT/ACT prep, sleep, homework, and basically everything else. This also goes for tennis: if you truly enjoy this sport then keep doing it (really; if you are genuinely happy playing this sport then continue), but if you aren’t a captain or winning competitions or anything like that then it might be good to quit. Try advancing/excelling in your EC’s by participating in competitions if you have time to do so. Though, that being said, make sure you are active in at least two EC’s at the time you are sending in your applications.

I do see that you are science-oriented (please correct me if I’m wrong) so AP Chem might be good on your app if you are going into any science fields. I think AP Lang might be better than APUSH (in relation to any science fields) if you don’t consider any other factors, but if you do not feel that you can be successful in that class or if it might take away from any other activities then don’t take it. If there is an honors option at your school I would recommend you enroll. I don’t really know what your counselor means - any AP class (even if it’s AP Underwater Basket Weaving) looks good on an application.