How can I get into college?

Question

i am a junior in high school and my grades are in the 80s. i think that is good but not great. i just found out today that my history average is 78. i was so upset and i truly don't know what to do. trust me i do study and i even have a barrens book to study from. my mother told me to volunteer. but i do not know what to volunteer for. any suggestions?

Answer 1

Museums, hospitals, libraries, churches, there are plenty of places to volunteer, you may want to check out any places that help handicap people such as the deaf or the blind, those places are looking for volunteers as well. I don't know what your interests are but if you should look into volunteering at a career your interested in. If you can't find something in your field of interest, still try the suggested places, volunteering looks really good on your college application. Also if you volunteer for a year at the same place you can put them down as a job on a job application as experience. You should talk to your guidance counselor at school about places you can volunteer. As far as your grade are concerned they sound very good and I'm sure you will be able to get into a good college, also start looking into grants and scholar ships, a B average in school can get you a lot of funding believe it or not. Good luck and keep up the good grades.

Answer 2

I hate to break it to you but Sarah is somewhat wrong about the belief that colleges are looking for a well rounded individual. Sure that would be great, but most of the time it comes down to two main things, Grades (GPA), and test scores (SATs/ACTs). This is especially true at very large campuses which receive tens of thousands of applications each year. Let me give you an example at Penn State. They receive over 100,000 applications each year. About 80% of them want University Park (the campus where the football team plays). That means 80,000 applications to look at for an incoming class of between 6,000 and 7,000 students. You can't honestly believe it's not a numbers game. Sure, when it comes to scholarships, and when you're on the bubble of admissions criteria then it becomes real important how well rounded you are. Or Harvard (or any Ivy League School really). They're so used to seeing 4.0+ and 1400 SAT scores that they don't care unless you've done a million and one things. Small schools are the same why, they want to pick and choose their students.
So how do you get into college? You choose the college best for you. Perhaps starting out at a branch campus of a larger school, or even a community college is best for you. It's much less stressful then being in a freshmen class of 6,000+. And you'll get more one-on-one attention which might be exactly what you need. Not everybody is cut out for MIT right out of high school, don't feel like you need to fit someone else's standards.

Answer 3

Your grades are not bad at all, but if you feel as though they will hinder your chances of getting into a good school, you have to compensate. As for volunteering, it's very important to differentiate yourself from other volunteered. Because lets be honest, any one can fold clothes at the local clothing center. I did this thing called Teen Court. I was on a jury and sentenced kids who committed misdemeanor crimes. College's really like commitment too, so if you continue the volunteer work through out your senior year, they'll like that. They also like when you're changing the world (i.e. rebuilding houses), but don't go out of your way to do this if you don't think your grades do not already qualify you.

What else... Internships are looked highly upon. As is tutoring of some kind (in academics, music). And then of course you have the SAT/ACT/SAT 1, teacher recommendations. They will be considered to a good extent.

So yeah, basically that's it. Best of luck and try to relax because your grades are not bad!

Answer 4

theres a school for everyone out there, but to help you get into the best possible school here ya go....
-be a minority
-overcome adversity (They eat that sht up)
-Have any documentation of Disabilities (I'm ADD and they give u a freakin break can u believe that!?)
-Be awesome at a sport / activity
-Be active or have a passion in something
-Have good scores and grades
-And lastly Meet with them. Meet with a counselor / academic person there on a visit. Put on you game face and get serious. A recommendation from someone in the system or who has a lot of pull makes a huge difference.

Answer 5

Gettin into college is based more than just on academics (although that is the main focus)
colleges love a well rounded person...
I suggest joining sports,
clubs (such as french club, the national honor society, etc.), and getting involved with the community
(like ask a church to help out with a soup kitchen (since the holidays are coming up more help is needed),
you could gather around a car wash and donate the money somewhere (any little bit helps),
volunteer at places like nursing homes or animal shelters,
get ur friends to join too if ur not 100% comfortable goin by urself.
if ur having trouble with studying
go to google and type in VARK
and fill it out (thats what we use at UT)

just keep workin hard at gettin good grades
and get involved

apply early
(esp for scholarships and grants)

hope ur college experience is a great one!

Answer 6

enroll in an online course for adults

Answer 7

enroll on an adult course.