My school messed up my schedule this year, and I had to make a new one the week before school. They weren’t able to give me one of my electives for semester 2. My counselor told me to come back in Jan and she will see if she can get me in, but if she can’t will this effect my chances at bs/md programs and top schools. I’ve heard they don’t really like you to take study halls, so should I be concerned or will I be okay since I’m a freshman.
Since you’re a freshman, you’re okay.
…OR see if your school allows you to take a semester-long online course during that period.
It’s WAY too early for you to be discussing BS/MD programs.
As for top schools… what classes are you taking?
@MYOS1634 Honors English, Honors Algebra 1, Honors Physical Science, Honors American World History, AP Computer Science, French 1, Business, and 3D Design and modeling are the classes I’m taking this year.
How is it to early to be thinking about bs/md programs?
You can only have an idea whether you’d be competitive around junior year. Those are few and far between and HIGHLY selective.
In addition, they can be offered at a lower level school where you’re in a very small group (10-20) of peers and there’s a huge gap between your group and the school’s population - you have to be careful about that. You DO NOT need to attend a top school to get into Med School (a good move is attending a national LAC with minimal weeding or an Honors College at your flagship) but you can’t attend a school that’s unranked on USNWR for instance.
In addition think back to when you were 10, how much you’ve changed. That’s how much you’re going to change between now and college. That’s why now is too early.
What you CAN do is:
- volunteer at a clinic or hospital
- afters sophomore year, see if your community education center offers classes in French Creole and take them summer after sophomore or junior year, to help Haitian people or people from French speaking countries (like the Carribeans) at the clinic or hospital (this will come in handy if you really do become premed)
- volunteer, in general (at the animal shelter, with Habitat for Humanity, with your church/temple/mosque, etc) and try to learn from the adults you meet then
- try to get certified for CNA or junior EMT or junior firefighter
- Try and keep your grades as close to straight A’s as possible.
- Plan to have 6 academic classes each year, with English, Math, Foreign Language, Science, Social Science/History each year.
- Ask your guidance counselor whether they offer Geometry Honors over the summer, or if you could double up Geometry Honors+ Algebra2 next year, so that you can take Precalculus Honors Junior Year and Calculus senior year. This will require straight A’s in Honors Algebra1.
- Plan to take Chemistry Honors next year and Physics Honors OR AP Physics 1 junior year, then AP Chemistry senior year. This will require very good grade in science every year.
@MYOS1634 I’m already volunteering at the hospital, and doing most of the other things you listed. Next year i was already planning on taking honors geometry and algebra 2. I’m taking honors bio next year, and honors physics and Chem junior year, physical science is required course for freshman at my school, but if you’re in honors the first semester is the equivalence to the first semester of honors Chem and second is the equivalence to the first semester of honors physics.
It is way too early to think about specific colleges (especially the hyper-competitive ones) and BS/MD programs. You don’t even have one full year’s GPA and you have no standardized testing. You also need to recognize that HS should be an experience in and of itself – a time of learning and growth and not just a 4 year college application prep experience. It is good to take school seriously and know that college will be on your horizon, but it is too early to start planning for specific colleges. I would highly recommend that you get off of CC until your junior year.
For now you should focus on:
–Working hard, learning, and doing as well as you can in the most challenging curriculum you can manage.
–When the time comes study for standardized tests.
–Continue your involvement in activities you care about and work towards making meaningful contributions to those activities.
–Enjoying spending time with your family and friends.
When the time comes (junior year) asses your academic stats (including GPA, standardized tests, course rigor) as well as your financial needs and apply to a wide range of reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (you will have to run a net price calculator for each school you consider) and that you would be happy to attend.
And to answer your question, having one study hall for one semester freshman year won’t make any difference to a college admission officer.
Do you have to take Honors Physical Science? Can you take Honors Bio?
@bopper Well the first 9 weeks is almost over, so even if I could I would’nt be allowed to now. But no physical science is required for freshman to take. Like I explained earlier, if you take honors physical science it is the equivalence to first semester of Honors chem and first semester of honors physics. My school does things differently.
It’s a good system: this way all students have been exposed to bio, chem, and physics over two years.
@MYOS1634 I never thought of it that way, but that’s very likely because they encourage use to take the ACT by the end of sophomore year. This makes use eligible to take more advanced classes as long as we get a 28 or up.
It also means you had a basic introduction to all three sciences, so you can take any AP science you wish junior and senior year.
Colleges don’t mind seeing study halls. They might actually help you in the long run: you have more time to study and an opportunity to do your homework at school, which is especially helpful with APs and extracurriculars. I used to be so adamant against study halls, but now that I’ve been in high school, I’m happy I took them because I would be too overwhelmed without them.