how do colleges look upon full time enrollment at a comm college for high school?

Chance Me / Match Me
1

<p>Hey so I have about a 3.75 gpa, I’m a junior and im just finishing this quarter at my comm college now.</p>

<p>I was wondering how good colleges for engineering/physics look upon dual enrollment in comm college classes. I have a special case in that I am a sponsored athlete who travels alot during the winter, so it’s the best way for me to get my high school done.</p>

<p>I have been taking the SAT since 7th grade (some John Hopkins program IDK) but I didnt take it last year. I got a 1720 in 10th grade literally after not sleeping the night before (I was hanging out with friends) and sleeping between sections. Comm college has made me learn a ton and I’m starting to practice the SAT questions when I get time to hopefully dominate this spring and the Physics subject test and Math Subject II.</p>

<p>I will be thru calc 3 by the end of college and be past the associates level in physics, hopefully all with good grades (I’ll work my butt off). </p>

<p>I havent looked into a whole lot of colleges but what about:</p>

<p>-MIT (obviously a long shot but who knows)
-UW
-UBC
-CalTech
-other schools that are good for physics?</p>

2

<p>I could recommend you a test-optional school, in the event you don’t score much higher than 1720, and that test-optional school would cost less to attend than UWA/UWI, but that test-optional school requires the TFI (the TFI is a French test; that school doesn’t accept French SAT subject tests or French AP tests) for applicants that didn’t attend a French-language high school.</p>

<p>Are you sure you don’t mean Berkeley? UBC is just fine for physics but somehow I think it’s a typo. Berkeley is obviously a bigger name in physics than UBC but a lot harder to get into.</p>

3

<p>What exactly is your situation with regard to college courses? Are you dual-enrolled, taking a certain number of classes while simultaneously enrolled in a high school and getting high school credit? Are you considered homeschooled and just taking the majority of your courses at college? Or are you enrolled as a degree-seeking college student through an early admission program? Colleges like to see dual enrollment (although it varies by college, and many don’t give credit for dual enrollment classes), but depending on the college’s policy, you might be considered a transfer student, which will hurt your chances.</p>

4

<p>OOPS</p>

<p>I just realized I said I took it in 10th grade but it was actually 9th grade haha.</p>

<p>So yeah, in 9th grade I got that score.</p>

<p>And yeah theres no way im not gonna get at least 750+ on my math and reading sections. I’m determined, you have to realize in 9th grade i was trying to spite my parents for making me take it (immaturity at its finest).</p>

<p>And yeah it’s dual enrollment so I get high school and college credit.</p>

<p>And by UW i meant University of Washington
And UBC= University of British Columbia (they have their own particle accelerator and it’s near Whistler)
idk about other engineering focused schools…</p>

<p>Obviously I would like to get into a cool school like MIT or whatever other good engineering schools there are, but I am really just not worried about the “prestige,” of the school is. As long as they have a good program with creative fun people I don’t see how an undergraduate degree would be much different one place to another. The material is pretty much the same, no?</p>

5

<p>I think you should find some more matches/in-between schools. I’d say MIT and Caltech are definitely reaches for you, while UBC and UW are safeties (although I’m not 100% sure about UBC, not being an expert on Canadian schools). Definitely look at top engineering schools like CMU, Case Western, Harvey Mudd, Olin, Cooper Union and a full range of tech schools. Most top private universities also have great engineering programs.</p>

<p>Is your sport available at the varsity level? Are you good enough to get recruited? If you are, get in touch with coaches at schools you’re interested and ask them how to get recruited as an athlete. No reason you can’t do that now. What are your other ECs?</p>

<p>Also, make sure you and/or your guidance counselor fully explains your situation to the colleges you apply to, especially if most other students from your school have a lot of AP courses. DE can look really impressive to colleges, or it can look a little sketchy, like you’re trying to take the easy way out. Not that comm college classes are easy, but some schools are suspicious of them because they don’t have national standards and they don’t know how rigorous they really are.</p>

<p>Some schools with good engineering programs (courtesy of the Fiske Guide): Caltech, Cal Poly, Colorado School of Mines, Cooper Union, Florida Tech, Georgia Tech, Harvey Mudd, Illinois Tech, MIT, Michigan Technological University, New Jersey Tech, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rose-Hulman, Stevens Institute of Technology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, BU, Bradley University, Brigham Young University, Brown, CMU, Case Western, Catholic University of America, Columbia, Cornell, Drexel, Duke, GWU, JHU, Northeastern, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Olin, UPenn, Princeton, Rochester, Santa Clara University, USC, SMU, Stanford, Syracuse, Tufts, Tulane, University of Tulsa, Vanderbilt, Villanova, WUSTL. And that’s before you even get to public universities and small colleges!</p>

6

<p>You need at least a 2100 , if not 2200 for a shot at those schools.</p>

7

<p>wow, thanks for all of that great info!</p>

<p>I def. need to narrow down my schools that I’m looking at, I’ve been very busy with my job/finals.</p>

<p>And another 130 or so points on each section (of the SAT) should be pretty easy for me, trust me.</p>

<p>My ec are as follows:</p>

<p>-Sponsored skier
-have my own website
-market myself
-volunteered maybe 100 or so hours by senior year with a Wilderness Awareness school
-worked at QFC part time since 10th grade
-National Honors society 9th grade and (i think) this year too
-worked for months on trail working parties in the backcountry to upkeep and maintain hiking trails
-1 gap year of teaching in Mongolia
-competitive weightlifter</p>

<p>I have already signed up for a 1 year english teaching program in Mongolia (i’ve always wanted to go and backpack there) for as soon as I get out of high school, so I’ll have to defer my acceptance. I think that will certainly up the strength of my ec’s.</p>

<p>As far as clubs go I honestly just am not interested in the clubs that they have, and I don’t want to try and be something I’m not.</p>

8

<p>oh and I am trying to get an internship at Planetary Resources (asteroid miners) that are here in Seattle area. I doubt I will but it would amazing if I could haha…</p>

<p>My sports aren’t really recruitable, (I don’t think).</p>

9

<p>I am one who knows better about the situation at Canadian Us. UBC is holistic, so doing weightlifting at a high level means a lot to that school. If it does your sport as a varsity sport, and good enough to play at a Division II level, becoming a Thunderbird is easier, especially if you score 2000+ on the SAT.</p>

10

<p>alright cool thanks catria! I mean for a skier/person interested in physics, IDK how it could possibly get better than a particle accelerator and Whistler haha!</p>

11

<p>Is UBC your first choice now? If you want a safety, consider Michigan Tech; it has its own ski resort.</p>