Hi, I won't be applying to colleges for a year or two, but I have a couple questions regarding it... First off, when it says "honors and awards", what exactly would that consist of? For instance, if you won something in an extra-curricular (like, as part of a smaller group), would that count? Is it just individual? And another question... I know colleges want like 4 years of english, 4 of foreign language, etc, but you usually apply to college in november of your senior year, right? (Don't you? I always thought it was jr year, but I read somewhere it was november of the year before).. and at that point you don't have all those required, for instance you might have like 3 foreign language and 3 english credits at that point, so... one more thing.. is it true that when calculating your gpa for admission purposes, they don't use your 9th grade scores? I hope so.. because I got a B+ in Algebra 2 and it would be great if *technically* that didn't count
Honors and awards can be anything. Extra-curriculars are probably the biggest sources of those. The four years include what you are taking at the time you apply (which, for regular decision, is generally January-ish of your senior year). That gpa thing is not true. They do count ninth grade. What they do not count, however, (at least at many schools) are things such as gym and other non-academic subjects.
No, it can be any formal recognition you've recieved...whether in a group or not. For example, I was on the debate team so I put that I had won third place in a tournament and that I was a member of the National Florensics League. It can also be anything outside of school. Technically, you can apply anytime between when the school puts out the application (usually september of your senior year) up until the school's deadline (usually between december and march---the more prestigious the school, the earlier the deadline as a general rule). The schools know you aren't finished with all your classes. That's why you send them a transcript a few weeks into the second semester so they know your still enrolled, etc. (you can send in your transcripts past the deadlines as long as you send in everything else before). Then, after you graduate you send in a final transcript to prove that you graduated and that you passed everything (grades don't really matter at this point). I haven't heard this. But a B+ probably won't hurt your gpa that much. Don't sweat it love! All things must pass! Good luck! -Kate
Thank you both for answering my questions. I'm sure the B+ probably won't hurt too much, I just read *something* somewhere about all the U of California schools not using it, I dunno. Anyway, for honors/awards, would things like your school placing 3rd in a math competition count? Or of course, Academic bowl... because that is a team effort, so I'm not sure. I just don't see myself winning tons of individual awards in the near future. Except maybe in Journalism or possibly Model U.N. One more.. I'm not saying I plan on doing this, but I'm looking at my options. If I were to apply to college my junior year for early admission and starting college after my junior year, high schools would give you your diploma and you'd actually *graduate*, right? And would your GPA be for the class you were graduating with, or the one before which you've been with for 12 years? For admission purposes, and as far as the whole valedictorian/class rank thing goes.. lol, sorry for all the questions, but this stuff has been bugging me..
Grades from your freshman year are sometimes important because they show how well you adjust to change within an academic context, if that makes any sense. No, you would probably not graduate. To get a diploma you have to complete all of your state's requirements. I know that in my high school, that would have been impossible without summer school (for example, you must take twelfth grade English, as well as economics and government your senior year here).
I know at our school you can graduate early and take summer school classes to get the credits you need, but I've been reading online and some colleges mention "early admission" and talks as if you would attend WITHOUT a high school diploma, and I was wondering how that works, because it doesn't explain very well.
Oh no...Early admission into college means you apply earlier in your senior year and they let you know a few months earlier whether or not you got accepted. You don't apply your junior year for early admission, because schools don't even have applications ready until september of the year before you go (i.e., the apps for Fall 2004 classes were put out in sept. 2003) Personally, I wouldn't reccomend early descision because it is usually binding, which means that you MUST go to the school you did early application with if they accept you, even if you change your mind. The only reason to do it is if you are 100% sure that is the school for you because it does slightly improve your chances of getting in, especially if it's a prestigious school. As for graduating high school early, I did that, and actually just graduated this may. I went to summer school for two summers and did a coorespondance course. I still applied my third and last year of high school. If you graduate a year early, the first semester of your third year counts as your "junior" year and you become a senior during the second semester. (At least this was how my school ran it, yours could be different.) Whether or not you're a sophmore/junior/senior depends on how many credits you have, not how many school years you've been there. I got a diploma when I graduated, same as everyone else, and my GPA was ranked with the class of 2004, not 2005 (the class I was originally scheduled to graduate with). The only restriction was, at least in my school, if you graduated early you couldn't be validictorian or ranked as one of the top ten students (although you could still be in the top 10%). -Kate
Really? I was looking and it said that early admission was for "exceptional juniors who wish to enter college blah blah blah" and then get their high school diploma from their high school at the end of their freshman year of college or something.. Anyway, as far as graduating early, most colleges want 4 credits of english, right? How would that work, since by the end of your junior year you'd only have 3...
I took english 2 over the summer and got credit that way. I've never heard of getting your high school diploma after your freshmen year of college...where did you hear that, just out of curiousity?Where are you thinking of applying?
i saw it on websites for a couple colleges, like boston university, barnard collage, and reed college. I was confused, because I had never heard of the concept before. Right now, I'm looking at Reed College, UC Berkeley, Vassar College, and UC Santa Cruz. I have been thinking about early graduation a bit, though. My senior year would be kind of pointless anyway, because by the end of my jr year I'll have 4 credits of everything, except spanish and english.. so instead of just sticking around for another year I'd probably just want to get on with my life.
Early admission means you apply to college early (sophmore or junior year), then, if accepted & if you can afford to go, you drop out of high school to go to college. The ones that tried to recruit me in high school had a special section of the dorms & extra supervision for such underage students. Unless either 1. you make special arragements with your high school (like correspondence courses & summer school), 2. you take the GED test, or 3. the college you go to has some special program to get a diploma or GED (which the one you looked at might very well have), you do not graduate or receive a diploma. The idea behind this is that, once you have a Bachelor's Degree, nobody really looks at your high school info. Even when I applied to my current school as a transfer student with only 28 credit hours, my record at my previous university was the important part, I don't remember whether they even asked about high school info. As for early graduation, if you have the credits you need, it is pointless to stick around for an extra year. If you're only short by one or two classes, do them in summer school or as correspondence courses! If you can get your diploma AND move on early, right on!
Yeah, I've been thinking about that lately. I don't know if english can be taken over the summer here, though. Esspecially considering that I'm taking Humanities classes, which are the advanced/gifted classes, and there are only 3 of those (after humanities, you take AP english)... I'll have to talk to my counselor, he'll obviously know how our summer school program works better than I do. It'll be interesting if I do that, though, because I'd go off to college when I'm 16 (I skipped a year).
