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Can external coursework in addition to what my school offers help in my journey to an elite university?

Can External Coursework in Addition to What My School Offers Help in My Journey to an Elite University?
AUTHOR
Gala R.
REVIEWED BY
Date
November 25, 2024
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4 mins
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The short answer is yes – you can take extra courses in your free time in addition to the school which you attend. And as academics are 40% of the university admissions equation in the USA and 70% in the UK, you can assume that “good grades in challenging courses” would be essential to get you ahead of the game.

At Crimson, there are a few ways you can do that. If you want to do a formal course whose grades you can submit to university one day and to receive credit for them, I suggest doing things with the Crimson Global Academy. You can do classes as part of an online class there or DaVinci style, which is 1:1 at your own pace. We have both the British and the American curriculum in our fully-accredited online high school and many students choose to join us full or part-time depending on their needs to get ahead of what their local school curricula may offer. Students can join as early as age 7 with CGA Leap, and we have classes all the way through the AP and A-levels, including our very popular i-GCSE courses.

More interested in academic support? We have Crimson Rise, with the strategy department working on your overall candidacy for university which guides you on classes to take, extracurricular activities to start, researching careers and your future path, etc. With Crimson Rise, you can also do shorter classes of 20-25 hours called modules, in subjects such as coding, entrepreneurship, or speech and debate. Getting personalized, 1:1 tutoring in a foreign language or any subject of your choice is also a possibility so don’t be afraid to level up ahead of the competition in your chosen field today or get that extra push in a subject that challenges you. Crimson Rise is best suited for students aged 11-14 to start carving their future path. We are the only program in the world to start off students this young to help them get a vital advantage over peers their age. Once a student completes Crimson Rise, they would typically go on to Crimson Core in their high school years, where they’d focus on their university application journey.

Finally, if you’re looking for an experience that’s beyond the classroom, you could also consider to do an internship with a top company such as Uber, Ferrari, etc through the Delta Institute or an online research paper from the Indigo Research center. Statistically speaking, all applicants to top UK schools such as Oxbridge have had a research paper published while still in high school, and many highly lucrative career paths such as medicine require practical experience so these two options are recommended if you are looking for something hands-on.

While getting ready for your future is exciting, bear in mind time commitments. If you feel confident that you can manage additional academics and activities in addition to what you go through in school, sign up for some new experiences with us! However, make sure you know your limits as signing up for too many commitments to the point where you can’t study properly and won’t achieve high grades obviously won’t count in your favor. The trick is to find the “sweet spot” where you’re doing more high-quality activities than peers your age and can still excel in your chosen pursuits.

All in all, we would love to have you join us – whether for strategy, tutoring, modules, online courses, etc. If you’re wondering what’s right for you, I strongly recommend filling out this form on our website and speaking to an Academic Advisor.

Yours in education,
Gala Radinovic
Crimson Rise Senior Strategy Consultant

 

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