<p>My name is Abraham and I am a junior in a private, Jewish high school in L.A. I am very interested in the programs, diversity, and beautiful campus UCLA(or any other college, but this is my first choice!) has to offer. I am a 1st generation American/ Persian, so my English is not that great but I am getting better quite rapidly. But, I have recently been stressing over the fact of applying to UCLA or not (For Fall of 2013). The reason for that is because my high school does not emphasize on the strength of their academics and clubs etc. I have been in the highest level classes we can be in since the 10th grade.[Our school actually has the UC school requirements, but we have to go to school during the summer too, if we want to get the a-g courses.] In fact, I am taking calculus right now. But, the problem is that our school does not offer any AP classes. And since we start school at 7:30 AM and end on average at 9:30 PM, 6 days a week (excluding Friday’s due to religious observance) it is very hard for me to reach higher levels of secular studies. I am currently self-studying for the AP English Language and psychology exam. And I know I will do well because when I have a goal, I achieve it. But what worries me is: I don’t know if I am heading on the right track. We have no school counselor to help for this stuff! Also, my parents are very busy since we have a family of 8, so they do not really have time for this, so I have to take care of myself and my 4 younger siblings. I have also tried to make school clubs/groups; however, my school does not allow it. I even got a petition from many kids in my school that they wanted one of these groups, but no matter how many times i tried my school turned me down. Still, I have gone out of way to help my community and temple (volunteering), fundraising, setting up, tutoring, recycling, etc. Also, I took a practice ACT test and got something like a 28-29, but I am sure I can bump it up to over 30. Also, I forgot to mention I am planning on also self-studying AP Biology, Chemistry, and probably Calculus in my senior year (We are going to end at average 10:15 a night, so it will be pretty hard, but manageable). And if it helps I understand 3 languages, almost 4.</p>
<p>So I was wondering can you please help me. </p>
<pre><code> What can I do to improve my application?
What should I be doing in my summer/ free time etc. (I mean, when I am not in summer school or studying)?
What should I do about the Clubs, and AP's?
</code></pre>
<p>Please tell me of anything you think that can help me; I am forever grateful!</p>
<p>What is your GPA? I think UCLA is possible, but might be a stress. You would probably have an easier time getting into the other UCs besides UCB, UCLA, and UCSD. Depends on your expense, you do understand that going away to school can be quite expensive. That has been our families issue. UCB avg for tuition, room and board, and misc is around $30-32k a year. Depends on what you can afford and what your goal is. There are local state colleges and community colleges as well for options.</p>
<p>Since your high school doesn’t offer AP courses, you do not have to worry about taking them. When you apply to college, your guidance counselor will send information about your school along with your academic records.</p>
<p>For colleges and universities that care about your extracurricular activities, taking care of family members counts. Don’t worry about your responsibilities for your siblings causing a problem for admission. If anything, that will look good.</p>
<p>There is no reason to kill yourself self-studying for AP exams, unless of course you hope to score well enough on those exams so that you do not have to take those classes in college. You already have a more than full schedule. Keep a focus on your academic courses that count for the California admissions requirements, and you will be fine.</p>
<p>I agree with happymom. Colleges look for you to take advantage of what your school offers and do not expect that you take classes that are not offered. If you want to self-study for APs fine, but it is not necessary. If you feel the need, focus on improving your English skills (which seem fine to me based on your post). You have many strengths that others do not with your language skills, being first generation, and taking on responsibilities at home. </p>
<p>The activities you do outside of school count just as much as in-school clubs. You can mention in your application that you have worked hard to seek out valuable things to do since extra-curricular actives are not available at your school. In a way, that is a positive because it shows initiative. One of my son’s major activities during high school was volunteer work that he was passionate about which took place outside of the school and that did not hurt his applications at all. Colleges want students that are involved.</p>
<p>It sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders. Best of luck as you go through this process. There are many great schools in CA so I’m sure you will have strong choices in the end.</p>
<p>It sounds too late to consider concurrent enrollment at your local community college since you’re already a jr.</p>
<p>Kids from really bad high schools are discovering CC to graduate early from high school and (or) to make up for the lack of AP that their hs’s don’t have. </p>
<p>However, it sounds like your school is very prestigious and just doesn’t deem the higher-level courses as AP.</p>
<p>So I would agree with the others that UCLA would indeed note this and would adjust your gpa accordingly wrt admissions.</p>
<p>The way you could tell is by history: try to find out how many of your fellow classmates have been admitted to UCLA, say, in the last three years and their gpas/scores.</p>
<p>If no one has been admitted, then your school (and therefore students) has (have) indeed been penalized for not awarding (receiving) AP’s.</p>
<p>If these accepted students’ scores weren’t ascended because of a lack of AP at your school, but rather in the 3.9 range, then you’ll know that UCLA made the internal adjustment. And all you have to do is compete well against your fellow classmates.</p>
<p>Some private schools in California have their courses listed in the a-g course lists at <a href=“http://doorways.ucop.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://doorways.ucop.edu</a> . You may want to check there to be sure.</p>
<p>Trust me ,AP doesn’t count that much. Lots of high schools are cancelling AP courses. Keep your GPA and get a good score in SAT. Cal, UCLA and UCSD is totally possible, and other UCs is not hard at all.</p>
<p>Abraham: You have some interesting “hooks”, and don’t underestimate your fluency in language (including your English - your writing came across quite well to me). </p>
<p>The admissions officers at our East Coast state flagship schools want applicants to have done well in the most rigorous academic program available at their school (and there is some leeway when it comes to the actual admission decisions). If the UCLA admissions office is familiar with your school (likely), they will know what is and is not available to you. HM1, HM, and d12 have some very good advice. </p>
<p>A disadvantage of not having AP credit is not placing out of general-education classes as a freshman. I do not see that to be a significant problem. Continue to do what you are doing - your application is going to be very intersting reading to someone! </p>
<p>I am surprised about the lack of college guidance assistance at your school you mentioned. I’m unfamiliar with (guessing here) very Orthodox (or the Sephardic equivalent?) high school-level programs. Where do most graduates go? Our local Jewish day schools (generally Modern Orthodox level of observance, so a partial comparison to what you described) provide a great deal of support to the students for college admissions.</p>
<p>You need to name the school if you want someone to look at its UC Doorways page, because copying links from UC Doorways won’t give a link that someone else can use to get to the specific school.</p>