r/CollegeAdmissionsHelp

Hi! I am a current junior in high school and for background, my school is a 6-12, and I have been taking spanish since 6th grade. I always got As except in 6th grade, and last year I had the option to take Ap spanish or spanish cinema for this yr, and if i took ap spanish i would get into the spanish honor society, so i decided to take ap spanish. the thing is im absolute buns at spanish and i'm genuinley suprised i got As in it throughout the yrs. Now this yr, since it just started for me, I have the option to drop it and take spanish cinema if i wanted to. It would also make my life easier, because I am swicthing into my school's highest orchestra (its also a class) and dropping ap spanish would make my period changes easier, bc if i dont drop ap spanish, allllll my classes woudl be swicthed around and i rlly like my classes + teachers. but for more background the rest of my classes, other than orchestra, are Aps( ap physics 1, ap lang, apush, ap calc ab) and ap spanish would make it 5. I want to be a doctor when I am older and really want to get into a prestigious university ( yale hopefully haha i wish) or a college up northeast on scholraship (not for yale or prestigous college we all know im nlt getting a scholarshio there ) but I talked to my college counselor, and she said it would make all colleges, even my state college, look at my app like im not taking the most rigorous classes bc she said they compare to others in my school. however, i also want to point out that im gonna get a cogressional award, and have a TON of extracurrciulars in clubs (leadership in most) and i get awards in debate and MUN, and i do a WHOOOOLE lot of volunteer work, am on varsity weightlifitng (aiming for captain senior yr) and am in a youth cohort fellowship outside of school and i also volunteer in a hospital. im super scared of ap spanish, and im doing one of the assignments rn and its cooking my ahh. help im so bad at spanish tell me whats best plsss. also pls give it to me STRAIGHT bc idc if u hurt my feelings or i have to do the harder thing, wtv gets me to my goals, pls lmk what is better. (yes im scared of academic burnout, but if stop porcrastnating like usual, ill prob do much better with my stress levels so pls tell me the better option for apps taking into acc everything is it possible to drop or do i have to take it to achieve my goals?) also im a pretty good writer for college essays. i also get As in all my classes usally and have a 4.11 gpa unweighted and 4.46 wieghted and ive taken ap bio in 9th and ap chem in tenth and got 4s on them and apwh and aphug and got 5s on them and TYYYYY

A little context, I am currently taking the International Baccalaureate Careers Program in an English Schools Foundation school in Hong Kong. (CP is essentially the IBDP but with two less courses and no core but I have to create a reflective project and service within the parameters of my Program.) In my case Music that is provided by Berklee College of Music.

My first question is, if I were to choose to pursue something other than, or on top of music in college, and given that my IB courses (HL Eng Lang & Lit, HL Music, HL Psych, and SL Comp Sci) have a total average grade of at least a 5.5 with the least being a 5, would any school consider my application? Would my application, if considered, be treated any different in priority or otherwise in comparison to a DP student that received a similar grade average?

My second question is, given that my grades/certificate isn't meeting the requirements, or barely misses the requirements, would the admissions officer be bothered to look at my CV, Personal Statement, Portfolio, Achievements, etc? If they do look at it, how much would it matter in comparison to grades?

Thanks in advance for any replies that I receive, I am, and always will be, very grateful toward the community that are willing to give new gens some guidance among their confusion.

Hi everyone,

I’m a rising junior and wondering if hiring a college counselor is worth the investment. Here is some context about my situation:

Stats: Ranked in the top 2% of my class with a 1460 SAT on my first attempt (aiming for a 1560+).

Major & Goals: I plan to major in CS. My dream schools include CMU, UT Austin, Georgia Tech, and some of the UCs.

Extracurriculars:

• Placed top 5 in several national/international CS and academic competitions.
• Director of Communications for my school's BPA (Business Professionals of America) chapter of ~250 members.
• I founded my school's CS club.
• Developed websites for my teachers, and like each one has 200+ daily active users.
• Also, I work part-time at Best Buy.

My Dilemma: My parents are fine with paying for a counselor, but I'm unsure if it's necessary. I'm a very determined student and will get my applications done on my own. However, I think a counselor could help me evaluate if my current ECs are strong enough for my target schools. Also, having someone hold me accountable would definitely help me procrastinate less!

Do you guys think a college counselor is worth it for a student with my profile? If so, are there any specific counselors or companies you have worked with and recommend?

Thank you!

Edit: I live in the U.S.A (Texas). I am not an international student. Also, the range of these college counselors is 10,000 - 14,000+ Dollars.