Cupcat 9 | - Freelance Writer
Feb 02, 2018 | #1
"What? There are students who prefer to go to summer school when they don't have to? You must be kidding! Why would any student want to stay in school all year long? That can't be right..."
The above statement is the normal reaction I get from my high school students when they ask me how they can increase the profile of their college application. This is a question normally asked by either a sophomore or junior in high school who is looking forward to applying to his first-choice university as soon as applications open in their senior year. They are usually dumbfounded by my response which is always, "Attend summer school". Although always left speechless at the thought, the next question, almost always, is "Why?"
Reviewers are always impressed by students who have a visible desire for learning and an aptitude for advanced courses. A student who desires to take more advanced courses during the regular year may not have the space in the academic year schedule to insert college prep AP and Honors classes. For these students, the best option would be summer school. No, I don't mean take the AP and Honors classes in summer school.
What I mean is, the student should consider taking a large load of regular classes during the summer. These could be the subjects that a student has the least amount of interest in but is required to study during the regular year anyway. If a student must suffer through a class he can barely stand, he might as well do it in an abridged version of the class. It will cause the least pain and suffering in a class you know you won't need in college anyway. That will leave the classes you are interested in taking, the college prep level classes, for the academic year, when the student will have more time to apply himself to reaching his full potential in the learning process of that class. If a student is interested in taking AP and honors classes, that means he already has the grades to gain early admission into college anyway. Wasting the summer just buzzing around without a true purpose means a good 2 and a half months of time is wasted that could have been used to build up a student profile for the college application.
Students who prove to be eager to learn during their high school years often turn out to be high performance college students as well. That is what reviewers are on the eagle eye out for. Someone who will be able to use all his college time in an appropriate educational manner will always help to elevate the level of student learning, challenge the university professors to keep their skills up to date, and serves to impress others thinking of attending the university that the student might come into contact with.
A student who is plotting his future almost always recognizes the importance of summer school either to bring up a grade in a class he struggled in, or simply to allow him to complete his high school minor subjects in exchange for an opportunity to go and attend AP or Honors classes at his local high school. Some students even go so far as to attend college level classes at a university that offers such an opportunity while still enrolled in high school. Now the discussion of that other impressive student profile activity is for another essay.
The above statement is the normal reaction I get from my high school students when they ask me how they can increase the profile of their college application. This is a question normally asked by either a sophomore or junior in high school who is looking forward to applying to his first-choice university as soon as applications open in their senior year. They are usually dumbfounded by my response which is always, "Attend summer school". Although always left speechless at the thought, the next question, almost always, is "Why?"
Reviewers are always impressed by students who have a visible desire for learning and an aptitude for advanced courses. A student who desires to take more advanced courses during the regular year may not have the space in the academic year schedule to insert college prep AP and Honors classes. For these students, the best option would be summer school. No, I don't mean take the AP and Honors classes in summer school.What I mean is, the student should consider taking a large load of regular classes during the summer. These could be the subjects that a student has the least amount of interest in but is required to study during the regular year anyway. If a student must suffer through a class he can barely stand, he might as well do it in an abridged version of the class. It will cause the least pain and suffering in a class you know you won't need in college anyway. That will leave the classes you are interested in taking, the college prep level classes, for the academic year, when the student will have more time to apply himself to reaching his full potential in the learning process of that class. If a student is interested in taking AP and honors classes, that means he already has the grades to gain early admission into college anyway. Wasting the summer just buzzing around without a true purpose means a good 2 and a half months of time is wasted that could have been used to build up a student profile for the college application.
Students who prove to be eager to learn during their high school years often turn out to be high performance college students as well. That is what reviewers are on the eagle eye out for. Someone who will be able to use all his college time in an appropriate educational manner will always help to elevate the level of student learning, challenge the university professors to keep their skills up to date, and serves to impress others thinking of attending the university that the student might come into contact with.
A student who is plotting his future almost always recognizes the importance of summer school either to bring up a grade in a class he struggled in, or simply to allow him to complete his high school minor subjects in exchange for an opportunity to go and attend AP or Honors classes at his local high school. Some students even go so far as to attend college level classes at a university that offers such an opportunity while still enrolled in high school. Now the discussion of that other impressive student profile activity is for another essay.