I do not have space in my schedule to take a science senior year because I am planning on taking AP English, AP Gov, AP French, AP Calculus, Leadership (I am ASB president) and have to take Judo or Dance to fulfill my physical education requirement. So far in school, I have taken Biology, Honors Chemistry and AP Environmental Science but I am really worried that if I don’t take another science such as AP Bio or AP Comp Sci, I will hurt my chances of getting into an Ivy League. I have been taking other APs and honors and have kept my GPA at or above a 4.0. The only way for me to allow space for a science into my schedule is if I complete two seasons of a school sport and attend practices after school which I will do if it comes down to it, but I am not excited by the idea. I am busy, I have an internship and a part time job it would be tough to manage my time. So, my question is: How important is it for me to take a science course senior year and if I choose not to, am I more likely to not be accepted into a school like Columbia, Yale, NYU or University of Chicago (my top choices)?
Ivy leagues would look for bio, chem, and physics from most students. Is there a non-AP Physics option? Most students have their phys ed credit taken care of before senior year, so I’m wondering how you ended up with this problem.
Would your school let you take a sport at a community college this summer?
Try to take Physics and ditch AP Gov if necessary
AP Bio is easy, just a lot of writing and memorization. I had to look for another class since AP French wasn’t available for my year since not enough people signed up. So maybe, you can consider doing AP Bio or any other science that you like as Ivy schools will probably prefer a core class over a language. You can always take a french class during college if you’d really like to learn the language.
Highly selective schools consider language as one of the cores. They want to see at least four years of the five cores (math, english, social sciences, science, and foreign language).
OP - my recommendation would be to look into taking whichever course is lacking via online or at a local CC. This is not as big of a deal if you’re not shooting for a top 20 college.
Try to take a science, preferably “non general physics” or “physics for non majors” at a local community college, either through dual enrollment (Running Start/PSEO/CIS…) during the year, or at a local CC over the summer.
Unless your school allows you to take Physical Education over the summer through a connected wristband?
If neither is possible, try to take Government online or through dual enrollment, and replace that period with regular physics.
@am013384
Foreign language is considered one of the 5 core subjects and Top 50 universities/LACs will expect Level 4 or AP in it.
The very top colleges will also notice that your current plan has only four core academic classes senior year. I would guess a very high percentage of their applicants have five or six academic classes that year. If your school only has time in the day for a maximum of six classes, schools could understand you might need to take a non-academic class and five academic ones. But I don’t know if they will think four academic classes is rigorous enough.
So I’d suggest doing what you can (with the ideas given above) to get a regular Physics class (probably the best idea) or AP Bio on your transcript without dropping any of the four core classes you already have.
I can’t get out of Government. It’s required at my school. Also, I am much more likely to pursue something related to what I would learn in AP Gov as opposed to a science. But I do understand it’s important to take a science. Would it help if my extra curriculars look like this (see below) or will not taking a science prevent me from being admitted to a top college such as Columbia, Princeton, Yale?
- ASB president
- run the assemblies at my school
- internship with city government that works on a campaign that helps local restaurants move away from disposable utensils and toward reusables while raising awareness in the city.
- part time job at a bakery (lots of customer service)
- lead in the school play -President of Make A Day Club (a club where general education students and special education students hang out)
- Junior Statesmen of America (Deputy Director of Debate junior year and Editor-in-Chief of a newsletter sophomore year. UC Davis JSA Summer Institute: California Leadership and Politics)
- study abroad for a month in France over the summer
- Sierra Club
- summer internship at a radio station
-Also, I along with intensely studying French, I am also fluent in Russian.
My SAT score is currently a 1370 but I got that without studying and plan to take lessons and retake it later for a higher score.
Should I still try and squeeze in a physics class during the summertime or take it online?
Your ECs are good but ‘average good’ for any top 50 university/LAC.
Look for the thread titled ‘the average excellent applicant’ (ie., excellent in the way thousands of excellent students are excellent) and their special challenges.
See what EC you can push further. Can you initiate something positive that brings any of these to state level ?
Depending on where you live your profile may be unique, and if you live in a rural area or rural state you’d definitely get a boost from that, but your ECs don’t offset the absence of Physics.
Do take the sat subject test in French. See if you can find a way to get your level in Russian externally certified. There are language competitions in both, join and try to rank nationally.
Take either physics or physical education over the summer - ask your guidance counselor.
Right now being admitted to Princeton, Bowdoin, Brown, Wesleyan, Stanford, Scripps… is a high reach. Any college with a sub-20% acceptance rate is a reach for everyone, even 1550-SAT kids with national prizes in Russian and debate or international Olympiad finalists. These colleges turn down almost all applicants even though most are the most qualified in their school.
Do you know your EFC? Your parents’ budget? Have you run the NPC on your state schools as well as several others?
What are your target schools?
Your safeties?
I can’t get out of Government. It’s required at my school. Also, I am much more likely to pursue something related to what I would learn in AP Gov as opposed to a science. But I do understand it’s important to take a science. Would it help if my extra curriculars look like this (see below) or will not taking a science prevent me from being admitted to a top college such as Columbia, Princeton, Yale?
- ASB president
- run the assemblies at my school
- internship with city government that works on a campaign that helps local restaurants move away from disposable utensils and toward reusables while raising awareness in the city.
- part time job at a bakery (lots of community service)
- lead in the school play -President of Make A Day Club (a club where general education students and special education students hang out)
- Junior Statesmen of America (Deputy Director of Debate junior year and Editor-in-Chief of a newsletter sophomore year)
- study abroad for a month in France over the summer
- Sierra Club
- summer internship at a radio station
-Also, I along with intensely studying French, I am also fluent in Russian.
My SAT score is currently a 1370 but I got that without studying and plan to take lessons and retake it later for a higher score.
Should I still try and squeeze in a physics class during the summertime or take it online?
I do not have space in my schedule to take a science senior year because I am planning on taking AP English, AP Gov, AP French, AP Calculus, Leadership (I am ASB president) and have to take Judo or Dance to fulfill my physical education requirement. ( I was unable to fulfill my P.E. requirement earlier because I chose to take both French and Leadership Sophomore year and Junior year.) So far in school, I have taken Biology, Honors Chemistry and AP Environmental Science but I am really worried that if I don’t take another science such as AP Bio or AP Physics, I will hurt my chances of getting into an Ivy League. I have been taking other APs and honors and have kept my GPA at or above a 4.0. The only way for me to allow space for a science into my schedule is if I complete two seasons of a school sport and attend practices after school which I will do if it comes down to it, but I am not excited by the idea. I am busy, I have an internship and a part time job it would be tough to manage my time. So, my question is: How important is it for me to take a science course senior year and if I choose not to, am I more likely to not be accepted into a school like Columbia, Yale, NYU or University of Chicago (my top choices)?
I can’t get out of Government. It’s required at my school. Also, I am much more likely to pursue something related to what I would learn in AP Gov as opposed to a science. But I do understand it’s important to take a science. Would it help if my extra curriculars look like this (see below) or will not taking a science prevent me from being admitted some of the colleges listed above?
- ASB president
- run the assemblies at my school
- internship with city government that works on a campaign that helps local restaurants move away from disposable utensils and toward reusables while promoting general eco friendliness in the city.
- part time job at a bakery (lots of customer service)
- lead in the school play -President of Make A Day Club (a club where general education students and special education students hang out)
- Junior Statesmen of America (Deputy Director of Debate junior year and Editor-in-Chief of a newsletter sophomore year. UC Davis JSA Summer Institute: California Leadership and Politics)
- study abroad for a month in France over the summer
- Sierra Club
- summer internship at a radio station
-Also, along with intensely studying French, I am also fluent in Russian.
My SAT score is currently a 1370 but I got that without studying and plan to take lessons and retake it later for a higher score.
Should I still try and squeeze in a science class during the summertime or take it online? Is Physics a good choice?
I stick with my answer in #9 above but more parents may have opinions that’ll be helpful to you. It’d be helpful if you could answer the questions asked, especially wrt EFC and parents’ budget.
Parents…
@Lindagaf @thumper1 @intparent @BrownParent @circuitrider @gearmom @eandesmom
Go ask your GC if s/he can tick the ‘most rigorous’ box on the Common App for your course load / course history. Also ask if you are in the top 5% of your class, both in GPA and in the GC’s perception of the stand-outs in your class. If any of the answers are ‘no’ then you probably need to re-set your objectives.
The thread @MYOS1634 mentions is here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1878059-truthful-advice-about-getting-into-top-colleges-for-your-average-excellent-student-p1.html
You have had spot-on advice from MYOS.
My thought is that you have two big gaps in your profile: your lack of physics and your test score. U chicago requires physics, and all top schools will pretty much expect it. Your test score as it is will not be competitive for those schools. ECs don’t get you in without having the rest of the package. I suggest that you meet with your counselor and figure out a way for you to get physics into your schedule. I also suggest devoting a lot of time to test prep. You will need to maintain high grades too, so you might have to cut back on your ECs for a bit, until you have a test score that is very competitive for your top choices.
Yup. @Lindagaf nailed it.
There’s lots of good advice there in post #9, but, in the end “you can only do what you can do.” It’s never going to come down to whether you took one class or another; it’s about the whole package; what does the adcom see when he or she sits down and spends 20 minutes to quickly go over your file? Right now I see a female from an overrepresented state who is probably more of a language person than a science person. Her ECs indicate a possible interest in international relations or politics. But, that’s with a lot of interpretation; a good essay would go a long way in connecting the dots on the OP’s behalf. Was Russian spoken in the home when she was growing up? Does this mean she is a possible First Gen college seeker? The same exact profile with an extra hook could make a big difference.
Yes, @Lindagaf is spot on. The way I see it, your course rigor, test scores, and EC’s are good but, realistically, not at the Columbia/Princeton/Yale level.
@circuitrider Yeah I am a First Gen! And your interpretations are spot on. And I love languages because they connect you with people. Talking to people and learning about strangers is by far my favorite thing to do. I was actually thinking of writing some of my essays on some of my experiences working at a bakery where I use all three of the languages I know and have been able to learn about so many people and their lifestyles, thoughts, feeling and passions in away that helps me grow everyday. I also forgot to mention that I am in the process of becoming a certified yoga instructor and have continued learning more about myself and others through the training. This is why I am attracted to schools like Columbia, NYU and U of Chicago. They are located in cities make up of the most interesting people and their ideas. I have considered International Relations/Political Science but I have also been thinking about possibly pursuing Journalism or Radio, Broadcasting and Digital Communications. Business Administration is also on my list.
Personally, I do not think that participating in competitions like suggested in #9 would be really worth the time because I’m simply not interested in proving to whoever runs those competitions that I speak languages better than the kid next to me. It’s not why languages are so important to me.
What would be another example of a hook that would make a big difference?
@MYOS1634 Thank you for the advice and helping me put some things into perspective. I will try to take Physics over the summer time at a local college. That seems to be the simplest fix to my problem. Here are my responses to your questions: My EFC is not yet known and but my parents gave me a rough estimate on how how much they will contribute to my education and that is $90,000. We live in the Bay Area where both wages and living costs are high. UCs are very affordable for my family (about $13-22 thousand a year) and UC Berkeley is probably the best option for us because it will cost roughly $14,000 a year and is 20 minutes away from where I live.
Here I have categorized the schools I am interested in:
Target schools:
Boston University
NYU
UC Berkeley
Safeties:
San Francisco State University
UC Davis
Reach:
Barnard
Bowdoin
Wesleyan
High Reach:
Columbia
University of Chicago
Northwestern
Brown
Do you have any more advice now that you know the specific colleges I will be applying to?
@katerpillarca Can you drop Leadership?
Does your school only offer 6 class periods per day? It seems that it would be difficult to fill all of the requirements for that upper tier universities expect with only six slots per day.
I would take PE over the summer, if available. I know many HS students that have done that to maximize their options during the academic year.
I also recommend that you take physics.
UC Davis, BTW, should not be viewed as a safety, based on results that were posted on CC last year.
I would also consider Berkeley to be a reach.
Have you taken all of the necessary classes to meet admissions requirements for the UC system? Is that 4.0 weighted or unweighted? Do you know what your UC GPA is?
I also recommend that you sit down with your parents and run their financial information through the Net Price Calculators of the schools that interest you. What they are willing to pay and what schools think they should pay may be two very different numbers. Your parents’ budget is about 22K per year. If the privates on your list think that your parents should be able to afford 45K per year, those schools will be unaffordable to you.
Good luck to you. It’s better to do this financial research before you apply, not after your acceptances.