I'm worried because i didn't take challenging classes in high school!?

Question

ok.. my GPA is around a 3.5. i always put my greatest effort into everything i did. but i'm worried colleges won't see that because i never took AP courses. how can i show the admissions that i AM good enough for there school. i really want to get into Marist college but on the website it says that we mainly look for people who challenged themselves with AP/honors classes. although i didn't take AP classes, i was up till late doing my homework and i finished my Junior year with a 91. i feel thats something to be proud of... but it's still not good enough.

so, should i write something in the extra optional space provided on my application? what should i say? help me.. i'm discouraged now.

the reason i didn't take AP classes is because i was intimidated by them. i know i could have handled them because i am an extremely hard worker. i always had a fear of failing them.

Answer 1

I wouldnt worry about it at all......  what you learn in h.s doesnt have much to do with what you'll need in the "real world"  

Answer 2

You definitely don't want to say that you didn't take challenging classes because you were afraid of them because then the school's first question will be "well then why don't you have a 4.0?" They have no idea-- nor do they care-- how late you stayed up doing your homework or how hard you study.

However, in your essay/personal statement you can still acknowledge the fact that you take school seriously and take pride in your education, and that while you did not take AP classes, you tried hard in on-level courses.

It is highly advised that if your grades aren't all that, your test scores should be, and a sprinkling of extra-curriculars is always great; show that there's more to you than classes.

Answer 3

Sign up for some AP classes for senior year.  Schools do look at how many APs you took compared to how many were available in your school, and it doesn't look good if you didn't take any, especially if the school specifies that they're looking for students who took APs, or if the school if highly competitive.

One option, though more difficult probably [logistics-wise] is to take a course at your community college.  This would show that you can handle more difficult work and the credits would probably transfer, assuming you take a general education type course [math, English, etc].

If it was a struggle for you to get a 3.5, however, you may need to re-think the colleges you apply to.  There are plenty of "second-tier" colleges you could get into, just perhaps not the most-competitive ones at that level.

Good luck!