Page 12 - Demo

Ms. Behler helps a student in AP Computer Science>
BUILD
YOUR
COLLEGE
APPEAL
What to do in high school to get closer to your dream college
Story by Phoenix Boggs Photos by Johannes Reijm
curriculum. If you take AP Psychology at Edgewood, it’s going to be more or less the same as AP Psychology at any other high school. Colleges know what they’re getting with AP credits.
Even if you take seven APs your senior year, admission to the school of your choice is not certain. During high school, you should work to show colleges that you are thinking about the career you want to pursue. Highly selective colleges know that you are fully committed to your goals when you participate in clubs, service projects, and other out-of-school activities that are related to the future you want.
Bottom line, there is no guarantee that you will be accepted to your first choice school. If you want to increase your chances of being accepted, you need something that sets you apart from other students. You should try to consider this “uniqueness factor” when in high school. Maybe instead of being just a member of certain clubs, shoot for the presidency. Instead of getting the minimum number of service hours, try to exceed requirements. What makes you different from all the other students who are also applying?
Colleges consider many variables during admissions. Even if you work hard to be the perfect student by taking the right classes and being involved in the appropriate extracurriculars during high school, there is no guarantee that a college will accept you. So when applying to college, make sure that you are not resting your chances on one highly selective school. There is no “right” answer to the question of what colleges are looking for, but you should consider what is going to matter in the long run.
As a high school student, especially at Edgewood, it is second nature to have thoughts about your future hanging over your head. Many students at Edgewood have had their course mapped out for them since kindergarten, and the uncertainty of their post high school years can be daunting.
Even once a student has selected the college that they want to attend, the road to that dream school can seem murky. While there is no one route to college acceptance, there are some things that you can do in high school to move closer to your college goals.
Say that you want to go to a college like UCF and would benefit from knocking out a few years of college for free. You should probably consider dual enrollment because it would be cheaper and faster for you. The classes that you would take at EFSC would transfer over if you attend UCF.
Even if you want to go to a more selective college, taking just AP classes isn’t always the best option. Say you’re interested in a college like UF or FSU- these colleges are highly selective, but they’re not quite as selective as Harvard or Yale. They’re more likely to accept dual enrollment credits, so it may be beneficial to take a few dual enrollment classes so that you can get college credits for free while you’re in high school. Still, these schools want to see that you can handle their college workload, so it would be a good idea to take some rigorous AP classes as well.
If you have your sights set on the Ivy League or other top-tier out-of-state schools, you should probably load up on AP classes. AP classes and their corresponding tests are controlled by the College Board and have a standard
Success Has Many Paths
Dual enroll at EFSC
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More service work than required
Hold a job during high school
higher acceptance to their college of choice
AP-heavy schedule
Participate in various clubs
Member of competitive academic team