Free College Counseling: College Courses in High School: Where should I start?

Hi Meagan,

Glad to hear that you?re planning on working ahead. That shows a lot about a person, and it?s going to look great on your academic resume. I?m not quite sure where you are looking to take summer classes at, but assuming you?re staying in the Mississippi area, here?s some information I thought would be useful to you.

According to The University of Mississippi, the school has developed the Summer College for High School Students. The Summer College includes the Liberal Arts Program, and the Health Professions Program among others.

?The goal for the entire Summer College is to prepare students to succeed in college while broadening their intellectual and cultural foundations through in-depth study in selected fields of interest and exploration of many others.?

The first session at UM runs May 29-June 27, 2006, and the second session is from June 28-July 28, 2006. Your GPA is definitely high enough for their standards, just make sure that you submit everything on time.

This program is very well-known, and will definitely start you off on the right track. You?ll get the college experience before you go to college. And if you want to learn more about Ole Miss, check out the College Prowler book that we?ve published specifically for the university. This can help you decide whether or not you might plan to enroll here after high school.

You can get all of the information you need to know on The University of Mississippi Outreach and Continuing Education website.

It all truly depends on where you want to take these college courses, and how many you plan on taking. If the University of Mississippi doesn?t sound like it?s the right choice for you, check out a local community college. They are always offering courses for high school students. Check with their admissions advisors and also your own guidance counselor.

I hope this helps?
Joey Rahimi
The College Prowler Counselor

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Hi Margaret,

If you want my honest answer having an A in AP Biology would be the very best in a perfect world. But this would have been my answer before I saw ballet and cheerleading. You seem to have a lot going on! Being involved outside of the classroom is great? and if taking one more AP course means giving up something you love to do it makes it that much harder.

This is where I would tell you to stop for a second and take a deep breath. Take some time to evaluate how much you love cheerleading, how many other Advanced Placement courses you are taking next year and make your decision based upon what you feel is the right thing for you. It is your high school and college experience, and if cheerleading really means a lot to you then stick with it and don?t look back. If you are a cheerleader just to be one, then you might want to consider dropping it for the AP class. Also, talk to your prospective colleges/universities and see what they say. Most schools want students who are passionate about what activities they are involved in and who also succeed in the classroom, which you do.

Hope this has helped and make sure you check out the rest of the website to purchase a few of our guidebooks as you continue your college process!



Once you narrow down which colleges you are looking into we hope to get an order from you!

Best of luck and remember to do what you feel is best for you (it is your life!),


Madison B.
College Prowler Counselor

Heather,

While I would love to congratulate you on all of you current successes, I am almost afraid to do so. I will tell you that all of your achievements?your G.P.A., class ranking, leadership roles, and various activities?are all admirable. You are one productive young woman!

Nevertheless, I can appreciate your concern about living up to your own expectations and worrying that if you continue to strive for your ultimate goal, your health and personal life suffer. I cannot imagine, with all that you are doing, that it has not suffered already!

You asked how you know if you are making the correct decision. Why did you choose to dedicate your life to going to an Ivy League school in the first place? Do you have a competitive personality? Was it because of the challenge? Has a family member gone to an Ivy League school, and you are expected to meet that standard?

Also, would any old Ivy League do? Because if so, it seems to me that you are merely chasing after the admiration of others. You want that stamp on your diploma entitling you to say, ?Hey, guess what? I went to insert school, and you weren?t good enough to get in.? And you know what? Wanting that could easily condemn you to four years of misery. What if you are accepted to Harvard and arrive only to discover that you are surrounded by a bunch of cheating, cutthroat students and professors who don?t even know your name? This is no to say that Ivy League schools are necessarily like this, but choosing a good college is a much more personal process than choosing the best name-brand product on the grocery store shelf. It?s more like shopping for a pair of pants: you have to go to the store and try them on, look in the mirror, walk around a little, check the price, decide if they?re worth the money.

If you revise your goal to get the best education you can or to become the best doctor/lawyer/teacher/juggler/etc. you can, then you won?t be disappointed. These are things that remain under your control. You cannot control whether or not an Ivy League school will accept or reject you. You can make yourself as qualified as possible; the admissions office may still send you a letter of rejection. However, if you focus your energies upon activities that make you happy, activities you personally enjoy instead of activities that simply look good on paper to other people, then you will have success. Your personal life won?t suffer, your health won?t suffer, and you will achieve your goal: being the best individual you can be.

Allison G.
College Prowler Counselor

Megan,

First of all, I?m not sure I entirely understand your opposition to attending a public school. Bigger does not necessarily equate ?worse.? After all, the colleges you have listed as your top picks will most certainly have larger student bodies than 200 students, and dealing with a few more students before you are thrown into a mix of many thousand might not be a bad idea.

However, concerning taking college credits, I doubt that college admissions will view this negatively. In fact, they may see it as your taking on added challenges that you may not have found in high school otherwise. However, if you do end up with as many credits as you have indicated (40), you may have to apply as a transfer student. Forty credits is almost the equivalent of a two-year degree at a community college. Therefore, I would recommend narrowing your colleges of interest and contacting them well before this upcoming school year begins. Explain your current dilemma and ask for advice. There is never any harm in asking, and this is a way to ?get your foot in the door,? so-to-speak. It shows that you have a genuine interest in attending that college/university once you complete high school and are diligent enough to plan ahead for that transition.

I wish you and your family the best of luck and health.



Allison G.
College Prowler Counselor