Tips for Standing Out: Show That You're An Independent Learner
By Path Mentor D.S., a recent graduate from Columbia University majored in Biomedical Engineering • Columbia Egleston Scholar (Originally Posted on December 19, 2019)
When I started my freshman year of high school, I noticed that a lot of students would take advanced placement (AP) tests for classes in which they were not in (or that they were in the pre-AP or honors version of the class that did not have an offered AP class at my high school). I thought that was peculiar at first, but then I realized that was honestly a smart thing to do. Read further, and I will explain why.
In many colleges, a lot of your professors do not focus on teaching because they expect you to be proactive in your education (and personally I believe that this is a good habit). While this is not the case for all professors, the reality of the situation is that they are pressured to output research to ensure tenure - leaving the teaching component as a side-task that comes with the job. What this means for students is that you should be prepared to learn how to learn for the situations in which your professor is not as helpful as you are used to. One good way to do this that knocks out two birds with one stone is to prepare for and take AP tests for classes that you did not or do not plan to take.
To do this, first you need to plan out your proposed course load for the four years in high school. This can best be done by going with a school counselor to see what is offered and usually when students take certain classes and the respective order. This may involve having discussions regarding some courses that you would like to test out of and the school’s policy on doing so (for example, some schools will let you skip a class if you take the AP exam and score a 5, others will allow you to take a different exam for which you skip out of a pre-AP or honors or standard class).
After you have figured out what you will be doing, then you need to construct a budget for yourself. AP exams can be a bit pricey, and you need to see if your district will cover the cost of the exams (especially for extra ones that you elect to take) or if you can afford to take additional ones (this involves going to your parents and talking to them about it). There are AP fee reduction waivers that you might be eligible for.
Once you know your constraints, next thing to do is to evaluate yourself. Are you a math and science person? Are you good with history or government? Are you good with languages? Figuring out what you would be successful in will allow you to prioritize the exams that you will be most successful in. If you are not sure yet, try a good mix of easy and hard exams that compliment your current schedule.
If you are nervous about the exams, try grouping the easiest ones for your first year to see how you perform and what study practices are best for you. Make sure that you try to get some of the more impressive and relevant (e.g. STEM if you are going into engineering) by your junior year so that you have it for your college applications.
And finally, remember, other students are taking these exams too! Form study groups and take practice exams together to help each other through hard concepts and practice for the exam. Remember, you school library should have books to rent out as well that you should try to get at the beginning of the year!
Here at Path Mentors, we would be happy to help evaluate your current landscape and see where we can both make your life easier and your applications more impressive.
