Dear Teen,
You can get onto a four year college without ever having taken an advanced level course of any kind. I see it all the time. It’s about meeting the college entrance requirements and challenging yourself to the best of your ability. If you do not take any advanced level courses maybe then think about taking an extra year of your world language, or another science or math course. Get involved with journalism, speech and debate or drama. You can explore your extracurricular opportunities and take that a step farther. You can play your sport all four years of high school, you can volunteer in the community for 100 hours. You can find an internship to explore a career area of interest. It’s about showing that you are challenging yourself and succeeding. It’s about showing commitment and leadership if possible. It’s also about taking advantage of what your school offers because colleges will compare you with what is available to you. It’s about trying things that will build on who you are so that when you go to college, you are ready. Then be sure to never compare yourself to anyone else. You are all apples and oranges and cannot possibly have a fair comparison. So focus on doing the best you can and build on who you are. At the end of the day if you know you did your best and maintained a well-balanced life then you did great! Don’t let anyone intimidate you into to doing more than you can handle. And don’t ever believe you cannot go to college if you didn’t take advanced courses because yes you can!