TeenHelp - College Admission fears

TeenHelp (http://www.teenhelp.org/forums/)

- Education and Careers (http://www.teenhelp.org/forums/f22-education-careers/)

- - College Admission fears (http://www.teenhelp.org/forums/f22-education-careers/t157127-college-admission-fears/)

College Admission fears

I go to a special-admissions, prestigious private academy. It & 2 others are the most famous ones in our state, namely because these 3 schools are the top in academics and such.

Anyways, I barely passed the entrance exams and made it into the school my Freshman year. My whole life I have struggled academically, but even worse in this new academy because the academics are so challenging. I am not even in any extra -cirriculars, sports, or clubs like my classmates because the academics were so difficult and challenging for me to pass that I had no time to do leisure stuff. My entire high school career has been time-consumed by just studying.

So yeah, I already have THAT against me for applying for colleges, because colleges don't just want straight A's (which I already do NOT have!!), but they also want well-rounded people who participate in extracirriculars, community services, and activites to make a difference.

I am a Junior. Here is my Transcript:

9th Grade (FRESHMAN)

Semesters 1, 2:

Biology C+, C
Health B, A
English A, A
Math A C-, F
PE/Gym A, A
Spanish B, B-
History A-, B

*Failed the Math A course for Freshman year, had to repeat it Sophomore year

10th Grade (SOPHOMORE)
Semesters 1 , 2:

Art A, A-
Chemistry B, A
Math A A, C
History C-, B-
PE/Gym A, A
English B+, B+
Spanish B-, A

AS IF THATS NOT BAD ENOUGH, my PSAT scores:

Total: 1140
Reading/Writing: 580
Math: 560

As you can see, I am doing a bit poorly in school. I don't even have anything impressive on my report card -- not one course that stands out because of the exceptional work I have done in it & any good grades I have gotten in it. Zero.

I have no sports, no volunteer work, no cool stuff to show colleges that I'm not really that bad of a kid as it might look like at first.

Re: College Admission fears

Personally, I think your grades are very good, even if you struggle and had to put a lot of had work to achieve these grades.

While I'm not familiar with your education system, I am aware that in general, there is a lot of pressure if you are in a private academy and are aiming for a prestigious college.

When you have to spend so much time studying, it can easily seem like you have no time for anything else. Are there any volunteering opportunities that you could do that don't have a huge time commitment? Perhaps you can do something every couple of weeks, or just once a month? Or look for online volunteering opportunities that you can do when you do have the time. It's not so much about quantity than it is quality of experiences. You might also want to talk to parents, friends and teachers and see if they can help you to find something that can fit in around your studies.

Grades and prestige aside, I'm wondering what it is you want to do? What are you interested in? What career path do you want to go into? Perhaps instead of thinking about what you need to get into certain colleges, maybe you can think about what you need to get onto the courses that you want to do? Being able to show your enthusiasm for what you want to do may help.

Remember, it's not the end of the world with college applications. Even if, worst case scenario, you didn't get into a college, you can always take a year out and build up experiences that you feel you missed out on.

Lastly, with all the studying, trying to fit in extra-curricular things and the stress of college applications, I hope that you can find some time for yourself to relax! :hug: