I agree 100%, in HS I dropped French the first chance I got....what did I do later in life?, marry a french girl, whose family is 90% french...I'm lucky if I get 10% of dinner conversations.
Dang!
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High School Tips?
- Thread starter Lammchop93
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I agree 100%, in HS I dropped French the first chance I got....what did I do later in life?, marry a french girl, whose family is 90% french...I'm lucky if I get 10% of dinner conversations.
Dang!
Well, I'm going for the highest diploma, so I have to take 3 years of a language if I want that diploma. I'm not in jazz band becuase you would have had to take jazz band in middle school, and they wouldn't let me play bass because the instuctors son was a bassist and he got the part. I'm taking a couple music classes down into my juior and senior year. They were only available for those years.
The highest diploma? My high school just had a diploma, that's it, you either got it or you didn't. Of course, you had a GPA, but as far as diplomas, everyone who got one, got the same one. Is your school different?
It's not atypical for schools to offer several different diplomas.
Mine offered a standard diploma. They also had a program for health careers that had extensive medical training with internships and all sorts of certifications. Finally, we had the International Baccalaureate diploma. It's a program designed so that diplomats' children in foreign countries could get a standard yet advanced education. It's overseen by all sorts of international boards. I did that one... it was a hell of a trip, but I could have gone to college overseas if I had wanted. Foreign schools trust it a lot more than a standard American diploma, which doesn't take all too much to get these days.
Well, most colleges really don't care what diploma you get. They just look at your GPA & SAT's. And they don't care whether you took hard or easy classes. BTW, rather than honors classes, take AP classes. At least they will save you lots money and time when you get to college.
Really now?
University of Florida is our flagship state university. They have been VOCAL about preferring the IB diploma over anything else. Each year about 30-40 kids get accepted from the IB class while kids with similar or better GPAs from the standard school get rejected. Hard classes do matter... Most legitimate colleges besides third tier state universities, are going to look at your transcript and they're going to question it. College isn't as overly simplistic as it used to be. Now the admissions pool is overqualified and there is so much more considered. Rigor of schedule is often cited as THE MOST important thing considered in an applicant.
The college admissions game has changed a lot in the past 10 years and it's only going to get more complicated. I used to be addicted to this stuff...
And yeah AP will save you money sometimes. A lot of schools give you credit... but it's elective credit and you still need to fulfill all their other requirements. If you do get actual credit for AP it only ends up saving you money if you graduate early. At my school I pay the same tuition if I take 12 credit hours or 32.
Sorry to disagree, but the days of "Only your GPA and SAT score matter" is long gone.
AP classes aren't available until Junior year. I had to fill out a high school 4 year plan. I had like 3 AP classes. They were:
AP music theory
AP chemistry
AP economics/government
There might have been one more, I can't remember.
By IB do you mean International Bacheloreat? This is interesting. I didn't know that.
They may not care about the classes that you take (Which I'm not sure about, I think taking AP classes looks good on a resume), but when I was in high school, AP classes counted for more towards the GPA. An A in an AP class had a GPA of 4.66, and an A in an Honors class had a GPA of 4.33.
That's why on a 4.0 scale, I graduated with a 4.25 or something.
Yeah. In America IB and AP are on the same tier for the most part with a few higher ends preferring IB since it is an entire curriculum over being able to pick and choose what if any AP classes you take. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Neither are anything to shake a stick at, though.
AP classes aren't available until Junior year. I had to fill out a high school 4 year plan. I had like 3 AP classes. They were:
AP music theory
AP chemistry
AP economics/government
There might have been one more, I can't remember.
Wait, you had to fill out courses for every year one time?
That seems a bit odd. We got a choice each year and made it at the end of the second semester. Like for example in grade 9 when we started in September, we'd choose our courses late in semester two, which would be like in May or June.
They aren't set and stone. They just wanted an idea of what classes we wanted/planned on taking.
AP classes aren't available until Junior year. I had to fill out a high school 4 year plan. I had like 3 AP classes. They were:
AP music theory
AP chemistry
AP economics/government
There might have been one more, I can't remember.
whoa whoa whoa, GROSSLY under-achieving here. Seriously.
You also need to take AP English, AP Calculus, AP US and/or world history, and preferably AP computer science.
AP classes matter. big time. take AS MANY AS POSSIBLE.
smart snob go to hell, I'll eventually beat you when I have a music degree and a history degree
Rakie
Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to...
hah, that doesn't happen in my city. Everybody is so uppity, if you even look at a kid wrong you're in trouble and sued by their parents.
Cali is nuts.
I say, try to be friends with everyone you can. You can learn a lot from the different social cliques that exist in a high school. Stand up for people who can't stand up for themselves, it will make you feel good, gives you a sense of importance and people will respect you for it. Make nice with your teachers so later in HS you can get a cushy "TA" period where you have to do really awful things like "get me a red bull from the store." Stay active in music, play with older guys; I mean you are a bass player and bass players are in demand, plus people love bands especially hot girls. Go out for a sport, football, baseball, tennis, cross country, it doesn't matter, it will keep you in shape and girls like hot guys with muscles. Don't talk S@#$ about people you don't like, it makes you look weak and crass, and nobody likes crass people. Don't try to be cooler than you are, that is if you are a metal kid, be a metal kid, don't buy a ton of clothes from abercrombie to fit in, people will like you for who you are. Do the work, no one likes to look like a smacked a$$ in front of their classmates, plus hot chicks like smart guys that can help them with their homework. Don't be a "wallflower," get out there and meet new people, you never know who you can meet (just like TB). Even if you get rejected by people, who cares? You do not need their approval. I am not going to tell you not to drink or do drugs, but these things certainly do not make you cool, but everyone tries it at some point. Just be yourself... and be as awesome as possible!
I read some other posts and I never got beat up by older kids, and the only time I got into fights was when kids would pick on kids that were incapable of standing up for themselves. Also, some AP classes are BS. I was supposed to be almost done with my freshman year because of AP classes and I had to re-take the majority of them in college. However, they do prepare you for the workload so if you are comfortable taking them, go right ahead. When things look down, just ask yourself, "how can I be awesome?" When you find your answer, things will turn around fast.
I read some other posts and I never got beat up by older kids, and the only time I got into fights was when kids would pick on kids that were incapable of standing up for themselves. Also, some AP classes are BS. I was supposed to be almost done with my freshman year because of AP classes and I had to re-take the majority of them in college. However, they do prepare you for the workload so if you are comfortable taking them, go right ahead. When things look down, just ask yourself, "how can I be awesome?" When you find your answer, things will turn around fast.
I can respect that opinion. I suppose that everyone's experiences are different...social constructivism and all...
I wasn't a jock in school. My parents didn't have money. It was a small town type of place. So I suppose those types of things stand out more. I just look back on my high school years and some really bad memories from both junior and senior high. I honestly cannot recall one "bad" memory from college. There were things that challenged me and I had "hard" times, but never what I'd call "bad times." Of course, I didn't have the typical college experience either. I went four years after high school, had been out in the real world a bit, and was a commuter. Still, I felt that college was more of a meritocracy and I was, for the most part, rewarded for my efforts. On the other hand, high school was an exercise in being ignored. I didn't get the senioer superlative for "Most Musical," despite the fact that I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who has done anything at all with music after high school. I just think that life is 1000 times better now. I was pretty much ignored by the opposite sex back in high school, and now, I have so much female interest, I feel like freakin' Mystery sometimes. It may sound like I'm bitter at my class, but truth be told, I really liked most of the people I graduated with. I'm actually going to a little pre-reunion thing in a few weeks. I think it will be fun.
Well, I respect your opinion also, but I still disagree. I just went thru the process with both of my children and it still boils down to GPA & SAT. The only exception is if your looking for a free ride at Harvard or other schools in that league. They are looking at the full package. BTW, the University of Florida was one of the schools my daughter was accepted at without that special HS diploma. Also, most all of the schools accepted all 4 of her AP classes for full credit.
John
