<p>i want to know my chances, because so many ppl tell me tht i have a good chance of getting into a good school but i don’t feel like i do. when looking at everyone else’s list of accomplishments it’s kinda of hard to think tht i have a good chance</p>
<p>Freshmen year:
Earth Science
Literature
World Cultures
Spanish I
Geometry</p>
<p>Sophomore:
Biology
Alg II
Western Civilizations
American Literature
Spanish IB
French I</p>
<p>Junior:
Trig/Pre-Calc
11th grade English</p>
<p>Plans for Senior Yr:
2-4 college courses @ community college (Running Start)
French II (Online)
Calculus (online)
Chemistry</p>
<p>Volunteer Stuff:
Animal Shelter Volunteer- 2-5 hours/week
-Sept '07 -current
-also “promoted” to helping out w/ animals undergone surgery (no other volunteers get to do tht)</p>
<p>“Teen Works”
-with United Way
on a teen board w/ 2 students representing other schools from county
'05-'07
people (teens) would come, give presentation about a project they were doing in order to help community
the teen board would decide whether or not to grant the money to the person</p>
<p>“Peer Mentor”
-program at school during freshmen & sophomore years
-1 out of 4 students
school of about 50-60 students
presented seminars to entire school about e.g. STDs, drugs, etc.
held meetings with students whom had social problems</p>
<p>Junior and Senior Years:
-attend a project-based learning school w/ learning from actual projects
projects can range from raising stingrays to teaching tourists about coral reefs to building an electric car
since there are so few schools like this, people tell me that colleges will love that i am coming from a school that is project-based… i don’t know</p>
<p>i think i got everything please let me know… even though i am not taking a lot of advanced classes, i am hoping that all of my other stuff will kind of make up for it…</p>
<p>Eh. Not to be a negative Nancy, but I do think colleges will see some concerns with your app. They want students who take the most advanced curriculum available to them - even if you switched schools, you started out going to a normal high school, and in two years of classes only took one honors course. This would be a red flag to them signaling that you might not be academically prepared or academically motivated, and you might not get to the point where they’d look at your EC’s. Also, the lack of a normally structured schedule might raise questions about where you fit into their academic structure.</p>
<p>You might want to look at some “alternative” sort of schools. It seems to me like you’d have a good shot at places like UChicago, Northeastern, St. John’s - programs that are geared more toward atypical students that focus more on motivation and desire to learn than your grades. I still think UChicago would be a reach, though. Bennington seems like a good match. Sarah Lawrence seems like a bit of a reach and Bard like a larger reach; however, I’m not really up on what these schools are looking for.</p>
<p>That could change significantly though depending on what your projects are. So what are your projects? What have you been doing? To increase admission chances, you need to show colleges that you have been doing something educational and enjoyable. Also, what’s your field of interest? What have you done there? You can try to submit to Intel or Siemens to gain recognition for your projects. Also, you can write essays about how the projects shaped you and shaped your outlook on life, which really helps you show that you’ve taken something from this experience.</p>
<p>Your other EC’s are okay, nothing amazing - the Teen Works thing is interesting, though - a real powerful leadership position.</p>
<p>I don’t want to crush your esteem - maybe someone else has a diff. viewpoint than I do. But I still think you can maximize your chances in two main ways - 1. explain how your projects have shaped your education and outlook, 2. submit your projects to competitions for award-based recognition. Best of luck!</p>
<p>thts ok. well, actually my school is outside about 2,000 ft from the ocean and is marine based. raising stingrays, jellyfish, turtle surveying, raising tidepool organisms, doing experiments- VERY science based. and i want to go into journalism or zoology… i know, journalism doesn’t really fit. but zoology works…</p>
<p>its almost to the point of where its almost helpless because it seems i havent done anything exciting compared to other applying students…its kind of depressing</p>
<p>what you really need is a specific focus and direction. right now all i see is a list of random, barely related things. i have this exact same problem</p>
<p>There’s still time to get a lot of recognition. Do some really cool projects this summer/next year. You can write a paper on one of them and, with the help of your school’s staff, submit to a science competition like Intel or Siemens. You’ve got a really unique opportunity, so take advantage of it! You can also showcase it in your essays - write about why you chose that path instead of a more traditional one and what it taught you. You could really make the argument that you’re more motivated than the average student because you explore your interests and take the initiative to think up, design, and implement your own research projects.</p>
<p>And I wrote a lot of my post before you replied with your target schools, so I was thinking more Ivy League and less LAC.</p>
<p>Really, I think your app can go either way. It can look like slacker school, or you can make it seem like you took an amazing opportunity and took the initiative to pursue what interests you most. That volunteering at an animal shelter extracurric also helps, and maybe look into volunteering at the zoo? You’ve just got to really explain in essays and interviews the opportunity that it gave you, and solidify your extracurriculars.</p>
<p>If you find the right school (Sarah Lawrence sounds like a good fit) you should be fine. The extracurriculars that you do have are good. Besides, those kinds of accomplishments are only a fraction. The experiences that you’ve had certainly make you stand out. Utilize the “Is there anything else we should know?” text box in the application to explain anything about your school or projects that you weren’t able to fit in anywhere else. (especially if you dont write your essay about one of your projects)</p>