|
tips for getting into college
im 14 and i really want to go to Yale when it's time to go to college.
I'm not in high school yet but i'm starting to prepare now so that i have a better chance.
what are some good tips for getting into a very prestigious school?
[ ]
Want to answer more questions in the Work & School category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Colleges & Universities?
i will try to make this simple and all.
so take honors/ap courses.
keep grades of a's. and at the least b (but probably not a b)
do community service, a lot of schools look at that, and you need it to be in national honor society.
study for the SATS and try and do good on them, take them a few times.
do a lot extra ciricular things (not sure about the spelling of ciricular)
like maybe some student council type things, if they have anything like best buddies (a program which pairs you up with a special needs person, they have it at my school)
try some sports or something maybe if you have time.
other things is if your school has like academic competition clubs you could join those and try and do well in those.
take "smart" classes. like don't take slacker classes, unless they are required. i'm not sure if you know what i mean, but yeah.
uhh, maybe try being on student council, like try running for president, vice president, treasurer, or something like that.
and if you don't win you could always still get involved in student government or something that helps the elected officers decide things like about prom.
so yeah it will all look good on a college application.
hope this helps you!!
]
Although preparing early is key, you cannot prepare until you enter high school because once you enter high school you can make perspective schedules/classes you want to take, clubs you want to join, etc. However I go to Brown and I started preparing in 10th grade but this is what I did. (Brown is also quite prestigious)
Classes/Grades:
Ivy leagues especially (which Yale is) requires to you take certain classes and meet a specific grade. This means 4 years of math, english, 3 laboratory sciences, 3 years of languages, 2 years of an elective, 3 years of history. Take honors classes 10th-12 grade (9th grade isn't necessary unless you want something a little more challenging.) Colleges like Yale want to see you take the most rigorous courses possible. This means that once AP classes are offered (unless you go to an IB school) TAKE THEM! AP classes boost your GPA, meaning that if your normal GPA without AP classes was 3.83 then with one AP class you could be a 4.2 (depending on your schools rating system on AP classes.) AP classes are also more difficult, infact they are college level classes this shows the college that you are prepared in this class and you don't have to repeat it in college so it makes your college corse load lighted. Don't overwhelm yourself with AP classes, even one is fine! Once you're done with an AP class you will need to take the AP exam for that subject and recieve at least a 4 on it for it to be considered for college credits.
PSAT/SAT:
In 10th grade you will take the PSAT. Don't study for it! Just take it when it's offered. Then, depending on the score you you get on your PSAT and how difficult you thought the PSAT was start studying for the SAT test. The SAT test is what colleges use to determine much of your academic abilities. The higher you score the better. Get books such as the Princeton Review SAT to help you study for the SAT and give you examples questions. Then you can take practice tests to see how good you are and how much you may need to improve. (As of right now an SAT score that Yale would look for, would be about 2100 out of 2400. This is a difficult score to obtain without practice. The SAT is ALL ABOUT PRACTICE.) Later on your high school you may want to enter some SAT Prep classes.
Extra-Curricular:
Colleges like seeing students who are intrigued with learning as well as students who have hobbies and talents. Many people load up on a huge range of extra-curricular's but this is actually a downfall. You want your extra-curricular's to look cohesive. So join clubs and take classes that you would actually enjoy and that are all somewhat related to each other. Also you want Volunteer work (not community service. you don't want the volunteer work to be mediatory, you want it to be VOLUNTARY). Throughout your 4 years in highschool do something around the lines of 75 hours. Which is not much at all.
]
More Questions: |