High School Tips?

[Jiggybass]

Just do what you do and have fun with it. It's really not all that hard.

And do lotsa drugs

 

[Phantopeth]

just my advice, but you really needn't bother taking 3 years of a foreign language. Inordinate waste of time.

I want to throw my two cents in on this. Taking 4 years of a foreign language in HS good very well pay off down the road in ways you may not think of. Although even after 4 years you probably won't be anywhere near fluent, you'll have (I would assume) a fantastic foundation to build on in college if you so choose to pursue classes in that language as electives. Being bilingual and this day in age is a huge advantage.

I took 4 years of Latin in HS, and for the longest time the only pay off appeared to be that I'd have a decent idea of what a word I hadnever saw before meant. However, last year I transferred to Hunter College in NYC, where they have a foreign language core requirement! Had I not taken any foreign language, I would have had to take 2 years worth of one to graduate. However, since I took 4 full years in HS, I was completely excempt.

Believe me, a former roomate of mine was a foreign language major for a while, you would be very wise to get this sort of thing out of the way while you're in HS, because the work load in those classes in college will be much greater. Not all schools require you to take a foreign language, but some do.

Have fun, but not too much fun: that's what college is for.

 

[Visirale]

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

Ok, I'll disagree further. Coaching your daughter through college admissions doesn't mean you know or understand the current face of things. In fact, most students don't know either. The amount of college counseling students receive these days is dismal. I was luck enough to have 4+ years of pretty extensive counseling for this subject along with several workshops about it. I'm by no means an expert on the subject, but I know far more than your average bear about it.

First off, Harvard or any of the other Ivies do not offer ANY merit-based scholarships. They are all need-based. As far as that goes, they are some of the most generous of all the schools. I believe most of them now don't require any payment from students whose families make less than $40,000 a year. Several of them have increased the amount to $60,000.

It goes well beyond GPA & SAT. Harvard, Yale, and all the other top schools could hypothetically create an ENTIRE class of valedictorians and students with perfect SATs. It's been like this for quite a few years now. If it was just about GPA and SAT, they would do this now, wouldn't they? They realize that a student is much more multi-faceted than two numbers. It is in their best interest and their students' best interest to create a diverse class representing all walks of life... even if it means not accepting all the valedictorians and perfect SAT whizzes. As competition has grown at the very top level, it has also increased at the other levels. I'd say every college besides community colleges and trade schools look a little further than the numbers. That's not to say that if you get great scores that it won't make things a lot easier... but it does say that it is important to come across as a well-rounded individual with many developed interests and leadership positions.

My point wasn't that the IB diploma was better than all the other ones. When they look at strength of schedule, they want to see that you took the hardest classes made available to you. If that's IB, then do IB. If it's AP do that... if you don't have either of those, you're not at a disadvantage... just take the hardest classes available to you... and beyond that the hardest classes you can handle and still succeed in.

And acceptance of IB and AP credit varies widely. I was given tons of credit at all the public schools I was accepted at. The private schools not so much. My current school gave me quite a bit, but I still have to take classes that I took in HS because of curriculum requirements.

College admissions is definitely a complicated game. The one person that has the most control over it is YOU. So go in strong to HS and keep on pushing hard. Nothing that you did before HS matters ever again. The work you do here will determine your future and the paths made available to you. I think it's definitely worth putting forth a fighting effort.

-Ted

 

[MAJOR METAL]

Stay away from addictive substances. Dont hurt yourself. All the best in your secondary education !