When deciding to attend an American high school, most international students will start out as freshmen, sophomores or juniors . Most choose to begin their U.S. high school career early, as they want to have a firm foundation of the American educational system and use it as an advantage on their college application. I attended two high schools in the U.S., one public school, which I attended as part of an international student exchange program, and another private school.
There are many ways that international students can explore their full potential and be well-prepared at these institutions. Here are a few tips to help make the most of attending a U.S. high school.
[Learn more about studying in the United States.]
1. You can get to know your guidance counselors. At this early stage of your high school career, it is very important to get to know your guidance counselors and send the signal that you are determined to do well and wish stand out among your peers. This is because counselors are likely the ones who are going to write you a letter of recommendation for college.
Showing them your genuine willingness to make the best of your high school experience, and being well-behaved and courteous, will give you an advantage over other students. For example, when you need help registering for a school club, sport team or to get into a class, your counselor will be more than willing to help.
My guidance counselor was also my tennis coach, so we interacted very often. Therefore, I tried to get to know him well and establish a very good relationship with him. At the beginning of my senior year, he wrote me a detailed and thoughtful letter of recommendation, which I think was a deciding factor of many of my college acceptances .
2. You can take advantage of AP classes. Most high schools allow you to change courses early on if you find them too heavy to handle. Therefore, you should squeeze as many Advanced Placement courses as you can into your schedule to see if you can deal with them, and you can always drop some of them later on.
Your teachers and counselors can never stress enough the benefits of these AP classes. Not only are they worth your money now — most international students pay a lot of money for their U.S. high school education — but these classes have the potential to save you many credits in college later on. They can also help prepare you for the SAT and, most importantly, increase your chances of getting into a decent university.
[Find ways to leverage U.S. high school experience in college applications.]
3. You can participate in extracurricular activities. U.S. high schools offer a variety of clubs and sports teams that welcome any interested students. Joining them will show others that you are a well-rounded, active and personable student. However, some international students like to join as many clubs as they can.
When you apply to college, the admission counselors will not look at how many clubs that you have joined, but what you have achieved and contributed to them during your high school career.
Quality and commitment is valued over quantity. For instance, a treasurer or vice president of a single club is viewed more favorably than being the member of four clubs. And even though being a heavily involved student has its own perks, it can distract you from your academics.
4. You can have your guidance counselor and English instructors to read your college essay : The application essay is one college application item many international students don’t necessarily prioritize .
From my experience, most students write it just the week before, and even the day before their application is due. Regardless of how fluent your English is, writing about yourself in 500 words in a foreign language is not an easy task.
Ideally, you should begin writing months earlier and have it proofread by your teachers and counselor. It is very important that you tell them to give you as much criticism as possible, as your essay is a decisive factor in your college admission.
[Follow these steps to writing a successful U.S. college application essay.]
5. Your guidance counselor can call college admission s officer s. Besides writing you a nice letter of recommendation, your counselor can always contact the admission officer at the college you are applying to and tell him or her about you.
Usually, this leaves a better impression on the committee and it makes them remember you longer. To a lot of students, this is like a second letter of recommendation, and it has helped them gain admission into their first choice colleges.
I once asked my guidance counselor to contact Skidmore College and tell them about myself and my interest in the school, and he was happy to do so. Days later, the college started sending me brochures and even suggested conducting a phone interview with me.
Even though I ended up not attending the school after all, it was still a pleasant experience talking directly to the admissions officer and having it as a safe choice in my college list.
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5 Ways Studying at a U.S. High School Can Strengthen a College Application originally appeared on usnews.com
