What are the best ways to take advantage of your four years in highschool?

Question

I've been working really hard since elementary school to make sure that I get into a good university. I know that you need good grades to get into a good university, but I was wondering if whether anyone knew of any ways that i can take advantage of my four years in highschool to guarantee me the best. Any scholarship ideas?? I'm also signing up for soccer, tennis, and the swimming team. Does it help any?

Thanx

Answer 1

The best thing that you can do is make yourself a well-rounded student.  Grades are extremely important, but don't brush aside extra curriculars.  If you are thinking about a career in journalism, join the school newspaper or yearbook team.  If you're thinking about engineering, join a math a science club.  Sports are also good, you may even be talented enough to gain an athletic scholarship.  And of course, don't forget to take part in some community service activities (which might be fulfilled through a church group).  

Above all, enjoy high school.  Don't join 23 clubs and groups so your resume is 5 pages long.  Pick a few things that you really enjoy, and you're good at, and put your heart into it.  Just try not to overextend yourself, otherwise, you're likely to burn out at some point.

Answer 2

So long as you have good grades and are active in sports that will pretty much guarantee entry into a good school.  These days entry into college almost has sport activities as a mandatory requirement.  See, traditionally, College required entrance examinations.  The problem with entrance exams, is that too many clever black or hispanic people could self teach themselves into passing them.  Thus they developed an ingenious solution; the SAT, which is graded in accordance to your parent's income or academic achievements, or degrees.

See, only white middle class children have leisure time enough to both study, and be active in sports.  The idea with placing so many demands into college entrance, has to do with a need to keep minorities out.  That includes east Asians by the way; the whole "sports" requirement was made with the stereotype of the "good student but uncoordinated Asian."  The reason American Colleges and Universities started demanding sports, was indeed to keep Asians out.  Also, even though fairness DEMANDS the use of entrance exams, they have discarded them.  I mean if academic standards are an issue, the school itself should be worried about that.  The whole argument for standardized testing is so that "everyone has the same standard."  Oh is that a fact?  I thought standards spoke for themselves.  If a person can pass an entrance exam then obviously the school did its job, if they can't, obviously they didn't, but with standardized tests, its so much easier to just herd people and keep certain people isn't it?

I'm on to them....  now, what this has to do with you; if one or both your parents has a college degree or higher, don't worry.  Also, do not listen to your guidance counselor; the SAT's are indeed a competitive race against time, so you have to work as quickly and accurately as possible to answer ALL the questions.  So, don't listen to that "take your time" c**p.  You will have to send as many applications as possible, to as many places as possible BUT, if you receive an invitation, don't say no.

Lower level schools have honors programs now, for people who can not afford to get into the Ivies.  Even if you get stuck with a "bad" school, you can always try for its honors program.  The words "honors program" will carry a lot of weight in a resume I think.  The only way to guarantee the best school, is by acing your SAT's, but remember, I am assuming you are caucasian, and that both your parents have college degrees.  You want a good score?  Take the practice tests over and over starting your freshman year.  Take them every weekend if possible, don't wait until the end of high school.  Also, try practicing filling in little circles to become ultra fast at it.  The SAT's are all about speed, and the only way to get it, is through both practice of the test taking and of course knowing the material.  The only way a good score will be guaranteed, is if you study so hard you get into advance placement Math, Science and Language courses.

Trust me it is very much rigged; if your school, for whatever reason, cheats you, find advanced language books yourself, advanced math books yourself, and take it into your own hands.

Answer 3

My advice is choose one of the sport activities if they are time consuming, but if you can handle it all, go for it.  If your not planning on participating in sports in college though, don't devote too much time.  The MOST important thing is grades, especially for stipends or honors programs.  ACT and/or SAT is second most important for money purposes.  

The next best thing to GPA and test scores is college classes.  If your high school allows you to take Advanced classes that are AP, which means they can be paid for so you get college credit, take any that are part of basic college core.  If there is a community college near that you can take classes through, that is great too.  In high school I took two semesters of college Spanish that equaled 2 YEARS of high school spanish and gave me 6 college credits.  Sometimes you can get College Algebra out of the way, which is great to not have to worry about your freshman year of college.  I recommend taking college Algebra and an Advanced english (even if you can't get college credit--the preparation is the best for real college classes).  

Don't take scholarship application lightly... apply for anything you qualify whether you think you have a chance or not.  the more applications the better chance.  Start looking the summer before your senior year.  and visit the college and programs your interested in.  Good Luck.