November 1, 2012



Dear Rachel,
    Hope your sophomore year of high school is going great! This essay will tell you how to avoid being in the position Rachel is in today in 2012.

    In order for you to better understand the urgency of this letter, you must first realize the direction in which you are heading. Let me tell you a bit about Rachel. She is currently a freshman at Oakland University, her major is Psychology and she is paying for college. Do not be alarmed. She is not paying for all of her college, but she is paying for some of it. Also, your first choice of college did accept you, so do not be discouraged about applying there.

    In your outline of your five-year goals that you made freshman year, there were three specific things that stuck out. These things stuck out because Rachel failed to complete them. If you can remember, you wrote that you want to graduate valedictorian, attend Michigan State University on a full scholarship and major in Biology/ Pre-Medicine. Just to let you know, a lot has changed since 2010. However, this essay will tell you how you can still make some of your goals a reality.

    All three of your goals are interdependent on each other. For instance, in order to major in biology, you first need to make it into college. In order to attend Michigan State, you first need the full scholarship. In order to get the full scholarship, you need to graduate at the top of your class as valedictorian. Clearly, this did not happen for me.

    In order to graduate valedictorian, you will need to start getting all A’s and A plus’ starting as soon as possible. Why? Do you know that guy Elias? Well, Elias graduated in my class of 2012 with a 4.3 grade point average. So, your current 3.5 G.P.A will be no competition to his in two years. In order to get higher than a 4.3, you will first need to complete all assigned work, no matter how laborious. If you become confused on any assignment, get clarification. You should be getting so much help, you seat should be permanently adjacent to the teacher’s desk. Next, you will need to check your grades at least four times a week. To help ensure that you are monitoring your grades regularly, make the online grade book your internet homepage. Through completing these steps, you should be in line for obtaining that 4.32 G.P.A.

    Michigan State University is very stingy with their money. Therefore, you need to earn every bit they offer you. The Michigan State Website does not really offer information on how to get full scholarships, so for this, advice based solely on experience is all that can be offered. The best thing to do to get scholarships is to score high on the ACT, keep volunteering and get that 4.32! If you do all three of those things, you should get partial, if not all your tuition paid for. If it turns out that you still cannot pay for a Michigan State education, then there is always Central Michigan University. Your last choice for college is Oakland University, but it really is not that bad of a school. You will learn about that when you take your personal campus tour senior year!

    Do you remember when you were eight and told your mother that you wanted to become a psychologist? Do you remember her reaction? Oh well! Rachel, sorry to tell you this but Pre-Medicine is not for you. You will learn more about that when you take that biology course at the community college senior year. Our stomachs just can't take it. So, your major will be psychology! Arthur Hill does not offer any kind of A.P. psychology course. So you are going to have to get dual-enrolled in community college! Start the application process this winter for next fall. Only take classes that are four credit hours and take classes that relate to psychology. You can only take one class a semester and only during the fall and winter semesters. Take your intro into psychology course during semester one and take your intro to writing course during semester two. Do not make the same mistake I did and take three credit courses. Those are not likely to transfer. Senior year, take whatever classes you want! It’s free anyway.

    Please act with urgency in response to this letter. Almost as if your life was depending on it, because it kind of is!


Sincerely,


your future self