High School Life in America

Diploma

Depending on which state you live in, the requirements for a high school diploma will be different. There are two types of diplomas: the Standard Diploma and the Advanced Diploma. The Standard Diploma has less requirements than the advanced one, which makes it easier to get. However, the goal should be to get the Advanced diploma.

The number of class required to be taken for you to get the advanced diploma will differ depending on the state. For example, in Virginia, one needs to take 4 math classes while in New York one needs to take 3 math classes. Make sure you plan your schedule accordingly because many diplomas require at least 3 years of a language elective and a Fine Arts credit.

How to Choose Classes

When choosing classes, make sure you know what interests you first. Go online to your school’s website and find a list of classes and electives your school offers. You are required to take a Math, English, Science, and History course, however the level and difficulty of the courses can be decided by you. There are 3 different types of classes: regular, honors, and AP (advanced Placement). Each type is more difficult than the previous one.

When choosing the difficulty of a class, think about what you’re good at. If you are good at math, take an honors math class, while if you’re bad at English, take regular English. There’s no point in taking a class that is too difficult and getting Cs and Ds the entire year. Colleges like to see you succeed in a regular class rather than failing in an honors class.

AP Classes are the hardest since they are college level courses. Depending on your high school, the amount of AP classes available will be different. Some high schools don’t offer AP classes at all while others may offer them to certain grades. For example, at McLean High School, Freshman year you are only allowed to take one AP class as an elective. Sophomore Year you can take 2 APs: AP World History (history credit) and AP Human Geography (elective). Juniors and Seniors can take a lot more AP classes. Certain AP classes fulfill the diploma requirement of a core class. For example, AP World History fulfills one history credit for your diploma, and AP Chemistry would fulfill a science credit. You would choose AP classes just like normal classes.

As for electives, choose an elective that interests you. When you get the list of classes your school offers, scan for interesting electives. These classes are a good way to explore career fields or to relax and have a fun class. Many schools require a fine arts credit, so you can choose to take an art class or a pottery class. Music classes (band, chorus, and orchestra) also fulfill this requirement, along with theatre. There are a lot of interesting classes that fulfill this credit, so if you’re not good at art you can choose another class. Check with your school/counselor if you’re not sure what would satisfy this credit.

High schools also make learning a foreign language a requirement for graduating. At Mclean, you’re required to take 3 years of one foreign language or 2 years of 2 different languages (4 years in total). Make sure you plan for the language credits when planning your schedule. However, if you’re already fluent in a foreign language (for example Chinese), you can take a language placement test and skip the beginning levels and go straight to the most advanced one. Sometimes the test will fulfill all the language requirements depending on how well you do. Make sure to think about taking the language test for Chinese if you can read, write, and speak the language with no problem.

When choosing classes, we usually go to our counselors and speak to them about what classes we’ll take the next school year. Around February you will be given a list of classes the school offers and you’ll have to choose your classes. At McLean high school you have a couple weeks to make the decision and enough time to consult with teachers and parents. Make sure you choose the classes right for you, and if you need help go speak to your teachers and counselors for their recommendations. Don’t decide on a class just because your friend is taking it, for it may not be right for you.

How to Maintain a GPA

The best thing to do is try. Grades are weighted the same for each year of high school, so if you get poor grades Freshman year but do very well Sophomore year, it will affect your overall GPA a lot. Do all of your homework and projects, and if you put in a lot of work your efforts will pay off in the end. Study for all your tests and quizzes and take good notes. No matter how easy or difficult an assignment is, you should still do them. Maintaining a good GPA is up to the student’s personal drive. If someone is proud of their grades and they want to maintain them, it becomes a matter of pride whereas if someone doesn’t care about their grades they’re more inclined to getting poor grades.

Make sure you get enough sleep every day, for getting a good night’s sleep can really benefit you in the long run. Having a good time management system can also help you get good grades. If you write down all of your work in an agenda and when it’s due, it’ll help you plan out your work. Prioritizing homework and exams will become important. If you have many tests all on the same day, study for the ones you don’t know rather than the ones you’re familiar with already.

Some schools have a retake policy. At McLean, the retake policy applies to tests only. If you fail a quiz, you cannot retake it. Our retake policy allows you to take a test within a certain number of days when it’s given, and people who got below an 80 on the test are eligible for retakes. The maximum score you can get on a retaken test is an 80, even if you get every question correct (if you get 100 on a retake it’s unfair for people who got 90s for they aren’t allowed to retake). Definitely use this system if you’re struggling in a class.

Form study groups with a couple of friends and work together. This way you’ll have more ideas and it’ll be more efficient when completing difficult assignments. If you’re still struggling in a class, go to your teacher for help. Teachers are a great resource, and oftentimes they’re willing to stay after class/afterschool to help out students.

See if there are any ways to get some extra credit in your classes. At McLean, some math classes have small extra credit questions at the end of a test worth 3 points, however not all do. There’s no harm in asking teachers for extra credit; the worst-case scenario is that there is none.

Each type of class adds certain points to your overall GPA. Regular classes don’t have a boost, so if you get a 3.5 GPA you’ll end the year with a 3.5 GPA. Honor classes give you a 0.5 point boost. This means at the end of the year if you get a 3.7 GPA in an honors class, it will be bumped up to a 4.2 GPA. AP classes give you a full point boost, so if you get a 3.6 GPA in your AP class, you’ll end the year with a 4.6 GPA in that class. The overall GPA is the average GPA of all your classes. That means that you’ll never get a 4.5 GPA or a 5.00 GPA as a total, even if you get straight As in all your classes. Since you won’t be taking all honors or AP classes, some of your classes will have a GPA of a 4.0 (which is equivalent to an A). After averaging, your year-round GPA will not be perfect. Classes such as PE (gym), languages, and other electives are usually regular level classes and the max GPA will be a 4.0.

Extracurricular Activities

For information about your school’s extracurricular activities (sports and clubs), go to your school’s activities website. The clubs and sports should all be listed there.

Sports – Some schools require their students to participate in a school sport while other schools don’t. It depends on what school you go to, but usually making the team is rather competitive. For private schools, it may be easier to get onto some sports teams than public schools since private schools have fewer students, and they really want people to join. Other schools, such as McLean, have difficult tryouts and harsh cuts.

Sports are usually split into seasons. There are 3 seasons: Fall, Winter, and Spring. Different sports fall under different seasons, so a person could play 3 different sports in total throughout the year. Some sports may be year-round, such as crew or dance. Again, it really depends on the school and their policies. Tryouts for each season will occur on different dates, for example Fall sports tryouts begin in August while Winter tryouts would begin in November. It is definitely manageable to play a sport and get good grades if you have good time management skills. Do not play two different sports during the same season. This causes too many schedule conflicts since sports teams usually practice every day, and most schools also don’t allow students to do this. If there are two or more sports you’re interested in that all fall under one season, you’ll have to choose one.

Sports are usually split into different levels. The two main teams are the Varsity and the Junior Varsity (JV) teams. Sometimes there may be a freshman team too for the sport. Varsity is the best, JV the second, and freshman teams only accept freshman. The varsity teams are the hardest to get onto. There may also be limits on the amount of people allowed on a team, so cuts are common. The number of teams for a sport depend on the popularity of the sport and the school’s resources. For example, at McLean high school, we have 3 different level/teams for football (Varsity, JV, and Freshmen) while girl’s tennis only has a varsity team.

To get onto a sport’s team, it’s best if you already play the sport or have some experience. However, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try out for a new sport if you want. Schools usually choose teams based on ability, so the upperclassmen usually have an advantage since they’re bigger and have more experience. This doesn’t mean freshmen can’t make varsity. Even though you may be a freshman, it’s definitely possible to make varsity so long as you’re good enough. Tryouts for each sport will differ based on what sport it is, and they may last from a couple days to a week. However, certain sports don’t make cuts and accept everyone, such as cross country.

Clubs – Go to your school’s website to get a full list of the clubs available. To join a club, there may be an activities fair held at your school where different clubs each have a booth. You can add your email to an interest list, or ask the members when they meet. There are many different types of clubs. Most are free, however some have an enrollment fee (usually for trips or competitions).

There are two main types of clubs: Competition-based and interest-based. The competition clubs include Debate, Model UN, Math Counts, Science Olympiad, etc. Some of these clubs require an exam to get in, such as Science Olympiad, while others accept anyone, like Debate. Joining one of these clubs will give you a chance to compete against others and win very nice awards. Usually the members are split into groups within the club based on ability, so if you put in enough effort you can become one of the best and compete more.

Other clubs vary in purpose. There may be a chess club, politics club, feminist club, Eco-action club, animal lovers club, French club, etc. The list is endless so definitely look at what clubs your school offers that interests you. These clubs range from providing community service opportunities to talking about current events and meeting with others with similar passions. Clubs are a great way to meet new people who have similar interests, and they’re a nice way to make friends.

If you’re interested in a club that your school doesn’t offer, look into how to start your own club. Usually you’ll need to fill out some forms, find a teacher to sponsor the club, and have a certain amount of people sign an interest list. Then you’ll submit your proposal to the county and if they approve it, you’ll have started a club. Starting a club shows your leadership and also looks nice on college applications.

Schools also may have several honor societies. You have to apply to get into these, and they’re a nice accomplishment if you get in. Honor societies usually require students to do some community service and pay an admission fee, however it shouldn’t be too much work.

College Application

When applying for college, make sure you have a target school in mind. Don’t stress too much about college in your freshman year of high school. Focus on maintaining good grades and join a couple clubs or sports you’re interested in. Since the transition from middle to high school is very different, make sure you focus on doing all the work and getting used to the change.

Sophomore year, you can start visiting some colleges you’re interested in. Definitely visit colleges, for college applications will ask whether or not you’ve visited before. Visiting will also allow you to get a sense of the environment and overall vibe of the college. Don’t judge a college by their name and rank; you need to make sure it’s a good fit for you and that you like the life on campus. Take an SAT prep class over the summer before junior year.

Junior year is when it gets tough. You’ll have to take the SAT or the ACT test. It’s not recommended to do both. This should be the year you really focus on college visiting and choosing several interest colleges.

Senior year, you can begin to apply to colleges. When applying for college, there are 4 types of applications: Early Decision, Early Action, Regular Admission, and Single Choice Early Action.

Early Decision – For early decision applicants, they apply early (usually in November) to their first choice college and get a response by December. This plan is binding, meaning if a student gets in they are required to go to the college they applied to. Even if they applied to other schools and got in, they must reject the other offers since they got accepted by the Early Decision College. Only apply Early Decision if you’re sure you want to go to that college, for once you get accepted you have to commit.

Early Action – Students also apply early, and would receive a response by January or February. Early Action colleges are nonbinding, meaning you do not have to commit to that college and can accept offers from other colleges. The benefit of applying early is that you go through selection first. For example, if a college is only accepting 100 students and they accept 75 early action applicants, it means they can only accept 25 regular applicants. However, colleges usually set limits to the number of early applications they accept, so don’t worry if you apply regularly.

Regular Admission – Applying regularly means you’ll submit your applications around December-January, and get a response back by April. This is just a regular application and nonbinding. Don’t apply to too many colleges and overwhelm yourself with essays.

Single Choice Early Action – Colleges with this plan allows you to apply early, however it must be the only college you apply early to. It is nonbinding, meaning if you’re interested in other colleges, you’ll have to apply through regular admission.

Throughout your entire high school years, do some community service. Helping out your community is a good thing to do, and colleges will often ask you about your service opportunities. Helping out at a nonprofit organization counts as community service, so that means you have a lot of choice. Do something you’re interested in for service. For example, I really like animals so I volunteer at animal rescue shelters. If you have a hobby, look for service opportunities relating to that area.