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College Admissions
Hello,
I am a 15-year-old in school. I am currently thinking about colleges, and I realized that I'm quite average, with average grades, minimal volunteering, and almost no leadership work. I can't do leadership in school, because leadership roles are chosen by the teachers and they usually pick students with good grades and don't want to give others with poor or average grades a chance. I suggested it several times to the teachers to pick a wider range of students, but none of them would budge. I want to get into a better college, since my parents both went to good schools, have had the same expectations for me. However, at this rate, the best school I'll be going to is a community college. I'm an introvert who likes keeping to myself and I'm also painfully shy and don't really talk to anyone else other than my friends and family. I tried sports, but I'm not very good at that, no matter how hard I tried. I'm average at art, music and creative writing. I really want to improve my social skills to be able to put into a college resume. Any ideas?
Thanks
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Hello!
It's awesome that you want to get into a good college, but I would encourage you to think about a couple of things, especially since a college degree doesn't necessarily mean what it used to anymore. For instance, what are your career goals after college? Does it require a college degree? If it doesn't, then you may not need to stress about getting into a good school. If it doesn't but you'd still like to have a degree anyway, a community college may be a great option since they're less expensive and are often much more flexible, giving you a chance to work or intern at the same time.
But if your career goals will require a college degree, start working on your grades, now. Good grades are unfortunately an admissions requirement, and that won't ever change. At 15 years old, you may be a freshman or a sophomore, and either way it's not too late to get back on track. Any college will still require you to keep up your grades so you will need to practice that now. And that will build your work ethic, too, which is never a bad thing.
As for leadership experience, and also volunteering opportunities, maybe try looking outside of school. There are many community options to involve yourself with, like YMCA's or community centers, libraries, churches, etc., that look for volunteers to help with their youth or kid programs. That may even help you branch out and improve your social skills as well, since you'll meet other people doing the same thing.
In life, you have to help yourself, because you're right that people will generally not take a chance on someone who has not demonstrated the skills required. That is unfortunately a reality we all live in. So, instead of trying to make others change to accommodate you, you will need to take matters into your own hands and change what you can within yourself. Start with your grades, and go from there!
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