SparkNotes

I'm a freshman at a pretty good private school in New York, and I'm a pretty good student. I've been getting A's in almost all my subjects, with the exceptions of English and Spanish. Spanish is just a little hard for me, but I will get through. English, however, is a real challenge. I have a super tough teacher, and no matter how hard I try, I just CANT get that A that I want. What should I do?

I'm a Freshman in high school now, but I'm trying this new thing where I think about the future. Right now, I want to be a music major, and I need to know the best way to get into a school with a good music program. I've heard all about academics advice, but nothing about music. Do grades matter? I'm in the Orchestra and the Marching Band now, and that seems like the most important for me. Since I'm still a Freshman, I don't really know any good colleges with strong music programs, but both my parents want me to go to Belmont because we live in Tennessee. Can you help me with this ton of questions?

I am a junior in high school and I have a low GPA. I have all As and high Bs except in math in which I have Cs and Ds. I am in all advanced classes (including math) and have taken a few AP courses. I want to be a teacher and major in English. I was wondering if, because I get good grades in my english classes and everything else, my math grades will really affect my getting accepted into college for english.

I suspect many students have thought about this question, or a variation on it ("I want to study biochemistry; do my bad grades in English matter?").

Facebook is fun, but what if a college admissions officer sees that photo of you making out with your boyfriend while wearing your Sexy Kim Jong Il Halloween costume? A Sparkler writes:

I am a freshman in highschool and I don’t have a facebook account. I figure that it will be better for college admissions if I am pretty much invisible online. The problem is that all my friends have facebook accounts and I feel kind of left out when they talk about everything on facebook. Any advice? Should I remain invisible online or not? Thank you.

Transferring schools is always stressful—especially when it comes time to apply to college:

I'm a junior in high school, and i just moved from a completely different state. My old school was private, and they were kind of poor so we didnt really have all of the resources and stuff that a public school could offer me. there were no extracurricular activities, no sports, no music, there just wasnt enough money for that there.

I am 22 years old and just started college for the first time. I currently attend a local community college but I must transfer in order to get a bachelors degree. I want to go to law school at: Duke, Wake Forest, University of Virginia, or Boston College. I was wondering if these types of school payed much attention to were I get my bachelors degree. Should I try to attend the college that I want to go to law school at, or is it ok to go to a small local college. Please help me if you can. Thanks

Thanks so much for your question. I rarely get inquiries regarding community colleges, and I'm glad you wrote in, because I think these schools have several advantages that most students aren’t aware of:

Applying to immensely competitive schools is stressful. One Sparkler has a great list of questions about the process.

Dear Corinne,

To start off, I really appreciate your time when it comes to college admissions advice. I am planning on applying to Stanford next summer and hopefully (if all goes well) I will get admitted. I've seen the statistics when it comes to admissions at Stanford and at just below 8%, it's immensely competitive. I just have a few questions about college admissions:

It's an age-old question: is there any real reason to take the PSAT?

Hi, My name is Brandy. I think having a college advisor on Sparknotes is a great idea, mainly because it is so tough getting a hold of my guidance counselor. And when i do get a chance to meet with her, she is unable to answer all of my questions, and i have a lot of them. So here it is; Are there any other reasons for taking the PSAT besides National Merit Scholar, and SAT practice? I mean do colleges and scholarships (aside from National Merit Scholar) look at PSAT scores?

What should you do when everyone tells you you're aiming too high? A Sparkler asks...

I am a high school junior trying to end up somehow in the best college/university possible that I can get admitted to. However, I have no idea what I should place as my ‘aims’ (ivy league or state?) , ‘reaches’ and ‘safeties’ are. Is it possible that you could point me in the right direction?

What if your high school does things a little...differently? Will colleges understand that your B is someone else's A? A Sparkler writes:

I was curious what a college would think if your GPA system was different. A=100-93, B=92-83, C=82-71, D=70-65, F=64-0 For example one quarter I had a 95 average with two B's according to that scale, but in a normal 100-90,89-80,etc system I would have a 4.0 but my school was my GPA was much lower and all clases were equally weighted.
Thanks

I would not get too hung up on your high school’s way of calculating GPAs. For one thing, all the relevant information is clearly spelled out on your high school transcript, so admissions officials can clearly see just how competitive an applicant you are based on the scoring system your high school uses. In most cases, admissions officers go through transcripts that are on a weighted system and translate the grades into unweighted scores. That way, they can compare each applicant fairly.