The other day I was driving my friend to her orientation for the first day of sophomore year. Stressed out and nervous, she didn't know what to expect because it was her first day at a new school– in an American high school.
My friend is a transfer student from Shenzhen, China and coming to a new country, speaking a foreign language, and entering this crazy microcosm we call high school as a sophomore is a scary thing. She had no idea as to how to get into college, had no idea what college to go to, and no idea what major she wanted to do in college.
Sound familiar?
I think we've all been down that road before, or maybe you're experiencing it now. I remember as a freshman in high school I had no idea what I was going to do in the future so I joined a bunch of clubs and dabbled in a bit of everything. And really, that's how it should be. I found what I loved (Bioinformatics) and now I'll be attending a great college in the fall!
So how do we go from clueless young grasshopper in high school to ready and visioned college student? Well, I can't exactly tell you how to find your passion but I can help you at least go to a 4-year university.
So I've broken the criteria into three basic parts. 1. GPA 2. Tests 3. Extracurriculars
1. GPA
Okay so this is a no brainer. Good grades = good college (or college at all). But what does it really mean to get good grades? Is it simply the grades or do colleges look deeper than that?
Well yes they do.
In high school, classes are usually broken down into three types: regular (or CP, college prep), honors, and the dreaded AP and IB. Colleges know the difference between getting an A in CP English and getting an A in AP English. (For the schools that don't offer AP, you should dictate that in the college application.)
The GPA system, for those who don't know, comes in weighted and unweighted GPA. For a weighted GPA, AP, IB, and Honors classes may count for more points than a regular class. It is up to your school and the counselor could tell you exactly how it works. For example, in a weighted system an A would count as a 5 for an AP class while an A in a regular class would count as a 4.
Grades
|
AP, IB, or Honors weighted
|
regular
|
A
|
5
|
4
|
B
|
4
|
3
|
C
|
3
|
2
|
D
|
2
|
1
|
F
|
1
|
0
|
Some schools, like my high school, don't weight honors classes so asking your counselor would be the way to go.
Next all we have to do is add up the scores from each class grade and divide by the number of classes you are taking and you will get your weighted GPA.
Colleges look at both the weighted and unweighted GPA and some colleges, like the University of Californias, will weight your GPA according to their own system.
This website offers a somewhat accurate predictor of your chances.
This website is the best and super accurate with predictions! I recommend you make an account and explore it to its full extent. It is also used for sending out transcripts to colleges for $3 during the end of senior year.
Parchment
So back to GPA, if you want to go to an ivy league, aim for a GPA of 4.5 to 5.0. For a middle tier school like Boston University, NYU, or UCLA a 4.2-4.5 is the way to go. All UCs require a 3.0 or higher GPA in order to apply.
In high school, I took a total of 11 AP classes, 6 in senior year (yes, it was hell and yes, I hate high school). But it wasn't unmanageable. I ended the year with 2 Bs and 4 As. A pat on the back to me. My friend who was admitted to Harvard took a total of 16 or some ungodly number and received As in every class.
So to sum everything I just said up into one sentence...
Take hard classes and get As in everything.
2. Tests
And I'm not talking about the tests you take in class. Those you should do well on but these you should do great on. Like greatness oozing out of your skin when you sit down in the testing center.
"The Big Almightys"
- SAT
- ACT
- APs
- SAT IIs
But don't get too stressed about them because parents (especially if you're Chinese like me) tend to magnify the power of the tests to a larger degree than they really are. A great test score alone won't get you into an ivy league. And vice versa a mediocre score won't end your chances.
This year three of my friends were accepted into Harvard University. All three of them had SAT scores around 2200. This just goes to say that a 2400 won't guarantee you admission and a 2200 won't be the end of the world.
Now that we've set its place, let's dive into each and understand each better.
SAT:
- A roughly three hour test taken with the College Board
- mainly involves logic based questions
- 10 parts to the test with four categories: one 25-minute essay, math, grammar, and reading
- each part is about 10-30 minutes long
- two breaks are given during the test
- 2400 is a perfect score with 800 in math, reading, grammar
- 1/4 of a point is deducted for wrong answers. Blank answers are not penalized
- offered 7 times a year (not during the summer)
ACT:
- A roughly 4 hour test taken with ACT
- mainly involves questions modeled after school material
- 5 categories: 1 essay, 60 math questions, grammar, english, and science.
- 36 is a perfect score
- no penalization for wrong answers so guess away
APs:
- each test is about 3-4 hours long depending on the proctors and how many students there are
- taken on the first and second weeks of May
- two parts: multiple choice and free-response
- two hours for the multiple choice and 1 hour for the free response
- 5 is a perfect score
SAT II Subject Tests:
- taken on the same days as the SAT
- same level of hardness as AP exams so I recommend you take these with the AP exams
- about 2 hours of administration but 1 hour for the test
- up to three can be taken per test day
3. Extracurriculars
Do not underestimate the importance of extracurriculars. Today's colleges no longer need students who can only get As and study but also lead other students in a rally, organize a fundraiser, volunteer at a hospital, and defend against a zombie apocalypse. Yea, they're so needy these days sheesh.
In freshman year, I was Public Relations officer in Speech and Debate club, active in Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), and National Honor Society (NHS). I realized I hated both. I also joined long distance track and ran 5-miles a day in the sweltering heat of SoCal. I do not recommend that.
In sophomore year, I was in FBLA again (god knows why), didn't join NHS again because they only wanted my money, and ran another year of track. I also founded SAVE club on campus to spread suicide awareness. I volunteered four hours for four days a week for three months at the local library.
In junior year I had 4 APs so I quit track, but I continued my club. During the summer, I interned at City of Hope National Medical Center doing research on natural language processing systems.
In senior year, I was Director of Membership in National Math Honor Society. I also had my own private tutoring service.
My extracurriculars are somewhat weak compared to my successful friends but it kind of gives an example of the choices you have when it comes to getting involved.
In conclusion, remember to include a sport, clubs, volunteer, and job experience onto your application.
Thanks for reading this post and I wish you the best on your journey to college!
