How to get into a good college from a bad school?
I want to pursue a STEM career but my school and community are very limited. It's an extremely rural area (a total of 400 ppl in my school) and any sort of clubs are all steered towards agriculture. My school also doesn't have any sort of AP classes other than music theory and Latin, both of which are in subjects I don't take. I've tried to petition for clubs at the school but my principal and counselors have both rejected the ideas because we don't have enough funding or enough interested people.
It's just really difficult to try to get ahead in an area with nothing for me. Do you guys have any idea what I could do? I try my best to watch videos and read books, but there's only so much I can do when my family also doesn't have a lot of money.
Hello there! I'm in the same situation as you. Below, I will list some examples in which you can stand out to colleges. If want to go to a prestigious college, I suggest you be a "big fish in a small pond"
-You can take college-level classes at a nearby community college (dual enrollment)
-this one requires a lot of self-commitment: Self-study for AP exams. There are LOTS of free resources where you can learn and take practice AP courses for free. (Khan Academy & College board) Take notes on each main topic/video and review them and summarize them in your own words.
-apply to free college summer programs. RSI is a completely free camp that is camp based on STEM. For a list of prestigiouscamps: https://blog.collegevine.com/most-prestigious-summer-programs-for-high-school-students/
-Try to take the highest level of classes you can. I don't know if there are honors classes at your high school, but try to take the hardest classes possible.
-Volunteer at a local library, park, elementary school, animal shelter, food pantry, or hospital
I've started a newspaper club, (BCHS times) at first I didn't succeed but I managed to talk to my classmates about the perks of the club. Try putting posters around the school that is convincing.
When colleges are reviewing your application, they can see your school profile; so don't stress. Try to focus your extracurriculars on one "area" like STEM.
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
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