I am currently a sophomore in high school. I was born in Korea and came to the U.S. at the age of 7 and have been raised only by my amazing mother. I am very active in my community and school where I was in tennis, interact (volunteering club), robotics (robot building competition club), ASB, history club, Spanish club, and also volunteer at a local animal shelter weekly. I have am currently going for valedictorian. I am trying to graduate early to help financially for my family (and also to keep a promise to a girl that I was close with in 5th grade… although that isn’t really that important). I am taking a lot of honors and AP classes that will add up to 7 SEMESTERS of honors and 10 SEMESTERS of AP classes. I am an extremely hard worker that have done summer classes every year and is also doing extra classes to meet my A-G requirement. I also am in need to make a choice of either doing Spanish 3 honors or taking AP psychology in which I want to do psychology currently as I have a goal of becoming a cardiovascular surgeon by majoring in biomedical engineering as my premed. I am willing to go to any decent university that will grant me a full ride in order to ease my mother’s financial burden of getting me and my two brothers to college. (My PSAT was a 1200 but I was not in my prime in the day of the test as I was not able to study much and slept only two hours that day as I had to finish a project in my engineering class and get the only one hour of study for the PSAT.) I am currently planning on taking per-calculus 1 in a college during the summer and will study my butt off for the SAT that I aim to get a 1500 in.
I am still in the clubs and organizations that I aim to continue until graduation.
It sounds to me that you are doing well and have a bright future. You are wise to try to find a way to make university affordable. Your mother is probably very proud of you.
When you say “graduate early” do you mean graduate from university early? Starting university with some AP credits can be quite helpful in that direction.
However, I don’t actually see any question in your post for us to answer.
Graduate high school early
Why do you want to graduate from high school early?
- So that my mother doesn’t have to work as hard to support the family
- Get my brother to be in the same high school for four years
- Get my brother out of Bakersfield as he is having trouble with asthma and have severe alergies
- Keep a promise to a girl that have helped me in school especially in English that I have struggled in as I am a first generation to this country.
My brother is currently in 7th grade and will have to move in his fresman-> sophmore year summer if I graduate as a senor
To answer your question, do your best to qualify for NMF as there still are a number of schools that offer full ride for National Merit, mostly large public universities. Also, I would take Spanish 3 because top schools will want to see depth in all major subject areas.
If you are low income, you could apply to Questbridge and that would open up many other options.
If your family is low income, you may get good financial aid from UCs and CSUs. Try the net price calculators on their web sites.
You may also want to try for merit scholarships (verify on college web sites since some may have changed):
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/21089443/#Comment_21089443 (automatic if you make the needed stats)
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/ (competitive)
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/ (if National Merit through high PSAT score)
Graduating HS a year early will give you 1 year less of extracurriculars and other experiences. This could hurt your scholarship chances.
Second the advice about studying really hard for your Junior year PSAT in hopes of qualifying for a National Merit Scholarship. If you don’t qualify, that studying will be helpful for when you take the SAT, so it’s not a waste of time.
@mamaedefamilia If OP plans to graduate from high school a year early, next year’s PSAT is too late.
OP: you need an SAT score! Take it in June and August. Even if you don’t qualify for Questbridge, their test score suggestions would be good goals to strive for. If next year is your last year in high school, you will be applying in the fall semester and you need to know if your test scores match the schools on your list.
If you can go to high school for four years, try to get the PSAT for National Merit, it really does open more doors. Going to high school for four years also gives you a leg up in competitive school admissions, but I also understand wanting to help your brother have a better life.
Have you talked to your guidance counselor about college plans? You should be reviewing your college listmwith teachers and counselors between now and the end of the school year so you are ready to apply in the fall if you go through with graduating early.
Congratulations on your accomplishments so far. I agree you sound like you have a bright future ahead of you.
Unless you are already fluent in another language in addition to English, I would definitely agree with taking all four years of foreign language in high school. Doing so will likely exempt you from foreign language requirements in college.
I’m not really understanding your situation with needing to graduate early to save money and so your brother doesn’t have to change schools…I would think that unless you are in an expensive private high school it would be financially advantageous to stay in high school and continue taking AP or dual classes…if you plan it correctly, you could knock off the expense of two years worth of college right there by completing general Eds in high school. It also gives you opportunities for leadership, extracurriculars, volunteer work, commitment to a part time job, or whatever— which will strengthen your college application when the time comes.
Are you a US citizen?
“What you are worth” has absolutely NOTHING to do with your grades, your college acceptances, or anything academic.
Please get out of that mindset right now.You sound like a wonderful kid… desperately trying to help your family. And I hope that you can find a way to make your dreams come true.
But the fact that your priorities are on your family tells me… you’re worth so very much more than all the A’s in the world.