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Hey guys, i really need help in creating my schedule. you see, i really want to get into harvard or princeton, and i'm not really sure what kind of classes they want. right now i working at a medical center, kinda well-known pianist in california (in newspapers, won awards all over california) in science olympiad, nhr, nhs, (and the usual stuff), and i have a 4.1 and a's in every class except for one b (shudders) but i think they can overlook some, right? so, here is my schedule for now (next year i'm going to be a junior)

ap eng lang
ap art hist
ap chem
ap statistics
ap u.s. hist (?)
ap bio (?)
adv premed
pre calculus
journalism (?)

thats basically what i'm doing. for some reason i learn really fast, so homework and test are no problem for me. the real problem is, since i'm going to a medical field, should i take ap u.s. hist, or bio next year? which ones will look better on a college application, especially ivy-league schools? maybe i can scratch in both(hopefully not) to my schedule, but then my home and social life will be over. if i'm not taking ap us, i have to take regular us, which would look kinda weird compared to all my ap and honors classes. also, does journalism help to get in the ivy schools? any help would be appreciated! (don't worry, i'm very committed into getting in those schools)

Also, do AP tests really affect college admission that much? just wondering because i'm taking ap music thry nd euro hist in two weeks!

By Greskel (Greskel) on Sunday, April 25, 2004 - 03:11 am: Edit

Oh, no! I only have a less-than-perfect GPA! I'm only ABOVE AVERAGE?! What am I going to do?!!?

... relax, for one thing. No college wants to recruit a desperate student who's obviously taking classes to appeal to them. What's strange about this whole Ivy League shindig is that there seems to be no definite "in", no matter how much of a student-superstar you are. Don't take this as the wrong way, but apply as if you're going to get rejected, if that makes any sense. Take the classes you WANT to take, because once you're in college and getting creamed by all of the hard work and classes that make the Odyssey seem like cake, you'd have wanted to take that seemingly worthless (but fun) class in high school.

How many AP classes have you taken so far? Most people who are on their way to taking more than two APs "learn very fast", but find themselves getting crushed with the workload. No, this isn't a discouragement, if you think you can handle it, then by all means, go ahead! But don't get too stressed out and complain if you get another... (gasp) B!

And don't wreck your social/home life. It's not worth it, trust me. Once you're grown up and have a job, nobody's going to give a rat's arse about where you went to college; but if you can't even socialize with your co-workers/boss/family (haha), then coming from a prestigious school isn't going to mean a thing.

By K0w (K0w) on Sunday, April 25, 2004 - 03:25 am: Edit

no im just mad at the b because i did a practicum in premed and i started on 2 instead of 1, so i didnt have time to rewrite them at the end. i got a f on that, which was the final, which in the end killed my grade. kinda unfair, but who cares about that neway, thx for the advice, but u didnt really answer my question. since i like history nd bio, i dunno wut to take to appeal them more, and should i take journalism or not? (don't worry, im relaxed even though i sound kinda harsh nd its just that harvard nd princeton are like my dream schools to go, nd my backup is around ucla and berkely i think)

Also, do AP tests really affect college admission that much? just wondering because i'm taking ap music thry nd euro hist in two weeks!

By Greskel (Greskel) on Sunday, April 25, 2004 - 03:47 am: Edit

They want to see that you've taken the most rigorous courseload you can HANDLE (note, it said 'handle', not available). As for history and biology, don't take both if it's too much. (And trust me, both require tedious memorization like you wouldn't believe.) Plus, you're going to be a junior next year; you can take bio senior year, since this is your only chance to take U.S. history. Other than that, U.S. history is very interesting if you're into the past, and if you have a good teacher, then it's really a blast (rhymes!). Think it over, talk with former students who have taken the course, and decide which one you'd absolutely love. Because, really, we can't answer which class you should take. As for your journalism dilemma - do you even like writing?

By the way, Berkeley and UCLA are getting really tough to get into, as well. My advice is, list them as your reaches and find safety schools you'd enjoy.

And, out of curiosity, why do you want to attend Harvard/Princeton? Good luck on the AP tests.

By K0w (K0w) on Sunday, April 25, 2004 - 10:52 am: Edit

heh just remembered about that. well maybe ill use uci or some private school as my backup. ive just been thinking of going to the popular schools all this time that i forgot that ucla nd berkeley are really tough too. yeah, i guess ill talk to some people at school about the coursework (and hopefully buy their homework and notes!) and how they handled it. i kinda like writing, so i guess i should take it. thx for the advise!