This past spring, U.S. News visited La Jolla High School in the San Diego Unified School District to ask several seniors who had recently gone through the college application process and were then weighing their options for lessons learned along the way — and their best tips for high school students just getting started.
Set in a postcard-perfect seaside community, La Jolla High is a comprehensive high school serving about 1,650 students. Because of the district’s emphasis on school choice, students from an array of San Diego neighborhoods attend La Jolla.
The school provides Advanced Placement courses in 21 curricular areas; 98 percent of students graduate, on average, and 70 percent go on to four-year colleges (about 22 percent go to a two-year school). White students comprise 56 percent of the student body, with Hispanics, Asians and African-Americans accounting for most of the rest.
Hallie Bodenstab’s family hired an “expensive college counselor” to help guide the application process, leaving the budding engineer, who wants to go into sales, with mixed feelings.
The counselor “kept me on track,” which avoided fights with Mom and Dad, and helped her land a spot at her top choice — Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, where she is a third-generation legacy — by advising her to apply early decision.
But a downside, she feels, was that she ended up taking chemistry and AP English — a struggle — rather than regular senior English and an arts class; she loves and is active in the performing arts. She made sure she had applications ready to send to several other schools, including Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, the University of Puget Sound in Washington and Carleton College in Minnesota, in case Lehigh said no.
In her application, she highlighted being a strong student with an interest in science balanced by a deep resume in theater, music and art. She also pointed to a summer computer science internship at a local firm — an experience that dissuaded her from majoring in the subject.
GPA: 3.9 unweighted
ACT score: 32 composite
Extracurriculars: Drama club , singing, kickboxing, working as a singing princess at kids’ birthday parties
Essay: In response to a Lehigh prompt asking her to describe what her 1 million-hit YouTube video is about: “Using my voice against authority, and doing the right thing,” she says.
Helpful resource: “The Hidden Ivies” book. “A lot of good schools don’t get enough credit,” Bodenstab says.
Major selling point: She was attracted to Lehigh’s “real engineering” program and undergraduate research opportunities in the field.
Eye-opener: While several liberal arts schools tout their 3-2 programs — three years to get one bachelor’s degree are followed by two years at a partner engineering school for a second bachelor’s — it seemed too big a risk. Only the top students are likely to make the leap.
Stressor: Applying to one school while everybody else seems to be applying to 20.
Advice: Find schools that are a good fit instead of focusing your energy on reach schools.
This story is excerpted from the U.S. News “Best Colleges 2015” guidebook, which features in-depth articles, rankings and data.
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