Hi!
Well I am a freshman in High School and I am very worried about my future involving college
I have been contacted by some colleges and have been looking at colleges and these are the colleges that if I were have to choose today would be on the list of schools that I would like to attend.
Saint Mary’s College of California
University of California at Santa Barbara
University of Arizona
Northern Arizona University
University of California at Irvine
University of California at Los Angeles
So I’ll start with my academics
High School: #1 Non-entrance requirement public high school in Arizona
GPA: 3.28 (I can do much better than this but many things in family occurred this past year which caused a distraction)
Honors/AP Courses: Honors Biology Course
AP European History
Honors English
Honors Chemistry
Advanced Heritage Learner Spanish
Extracurriculars:
Member of public forum debate team on school’s Speech and Debate team
Member of high school’s Steel Drum band
Delegate of Arizona YMCA Youth & government & YMCA USA youth and government Conference on National Affairs
Play JV baseball for school and club baseball during offseason
A part of my parish’s youth ministry
Help coach Little League team
Volunteer Hours
Over 250 hours, 3 years ago for local congressman
10 hours at animal care center 2 years ago
8 hours at disadvantaged assisted living community
I guess I just want to know how people might think I stack up against others my age and if my selections for possible colleges are at all plausible. I am very interested in studying either political science or counseling pyschology
I just feel very pressured with my two older cousins now both at very good schools and feel I may not be doing enough. Please I am open to criticism. I’m just looking for advice.
Also Latino and 3rd generation of going to college if that makes any difference lol (my mom always thinks it does)
You are doing fine since you have not even finished Freshman year. First of all, you are who you are, so do not feel you have to live up to anyone else’s standards except your own. For many schools, like the California UC’s, they do not use Freshman grades in their UC GPA calculation. Here are things you should do between now and end of Junior year.
Find out how much your family can afford for college. For the California UC’s, since you are out of state (OOS) will receive little to no financial aid, so expect to pay around $55K/year. For privates, look at merit aid.
Take a rigorous HS schedule but maintain good grades (easier said then done)
Continue with your EC’s and do the ones you love, not just for the application.
Spend time on your application essays the summer prior to Senior year and really make them shine.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO: Enjoy HS!!! and do not worry too much about your college chances right now. Do your best and the rest will fall into place. Good Luck.
For Privates, URM status may help. For California publics, no…
While it’s great to have an “open-eye” towards colleges early on in HS, it may hurt your overall self if you are too much stressed about it.
My advice: Start formulating your rough draft of colleges you wish to attend, your possible major, and geographic location. BUT make sure to make HS work your #1 priority – after all, colleges can’t happen without HS. Focus but keep an open mind.
Also, know that it’s extremely possible – and likely – that your interest will change within your years in HS. Personally, my interest differed vastly from my sophomore year and my senior year. Take on the challenging courses you may think you like and test the waters. It’s the best opportunity for you to learn about different fields of the professional world.
If you need any advice through HS, please let me know. I was a frosh once and I’ll always be glad to help
Your future depends on you and what kind of work you put into it, not on which college you go to. You should use your high school years to develop your skills to the best of your ability.
If your PSAT is any indicator of how well you’ll do on the SAT, you seriously need to get that score up - as your scores would be the equivalent of CR: 570, M: 460, and W: 470 on the SAT. Maybe study over the summer? I don’t know when’s a “normal” time to start studying for the SAT, though - so you need to decide when’s best for you.
Your ECs are well rounded - you have music, sports, government, volunteer work, leadership. If possible, try to stick with these ECs.
No disrespect to your mother, but I don’t see how being a 3rd generation of going to college will make any difference. If you’re the first in your family to go to college, that’s different (but that’s not the case here).
I think that all you can really do now is continue to do your best and challenge yourself in high school. Good luck!
I disagree…I would not pick out colleges yet. I say that because you need to know your P/SAT and GPA scores Junior year as well as your family’s finance info. Keep trying to do your best with grades, increase leadership opportunities, and take the hardest classes you can reasonably do well in. Then, when you are a junior, see where you are at and then choose Universities where your scores are at least the 75%tile.
If you look at CC this time of year, you see how many kids are waitlisted because they are applying to colleges that are a bit of a reach. Which is okay, but it should not be the bulk of where you apply.
