Alumni Interview with Julie: From Early Planning to Dream School Admission

With a 1570 SAT score and a weighted GPA of nearly 5.0, former Think Academy student Julie Zhang was admitted to her dream school, Boston College, where she will begin studying Biology this Fall. How did Julie make her academic dreams come true? We spoke with Julie, and she was happy to share her journey to college admission success.

Julie taught us about four key decisions that led to her admission:

• AP and other college-level classes to boost GPA
• Accelerated math track starting in middle school to allow more time and flexibility for advanced high school courses
• Extracurricular activities focused on sports passion, leadership, and volunteer experience
• Early SAT preparation to achieve a strong score

AP Classes in High School

Julie opted for a challenging courseload in high school. She took 8 AP courses, which helped her stand out to college, as AP classes on a high school transcript are a sign of an ambitious student. These AP classes also allowed Julie to improve her weighted GPA and earn college credits.

She took AP U.S. History in Grade 10; AP Literature and Composition, AP Physics 1, and AP U.S. Government and Politics in Grade 11; and AP Biology, AP Calculus BC, AP Psychology, and AP Chinese Language and Culture in Grade 12.

Taking AP classes also had another benefit for Julie: “I earned college credits through my AP courses,” she explained. “Many schools accept scores 4 and 5, and some may accept 3s. It really depends on the school. For Boston College… they did accept some AP credits.”

Julie also took advantage of her high-school’s partnership with the University of Connecticut. She was able to take college-level classes in high school through UConn and have the potential to earn additional college credits at a reasonable price point.

Accelerated Math in Middle School

Julie’s success in some of her AP classes can be traced back to her decisions in middle school. In Grade 8, Julie chose to skip ahead to Algebra 1, while most of her classmates took Pre-Algebra. This had a snowball effect: she took Geometry instead of Algebra 1 in Grade 9, Algebra 2 instead of Geometry in Grade 10, and Precalculus instead of Algebra 2 in Grade 11. This, in turn, enabled to her to take and excel at AP Calculus BC in Grade 12. Had Julie taken Pre-Algebra in Grade 8 instead, she would not have been prepared to take AP Calculus in Grade 12.

Grade	Julie’s Accelerated Path	Standard Math Track
8	Algebra 1	Pre-Algebra
9	Geometry	Algebra 1
10	Algebra 2	Geometry
11	Precalculus	Algebra 2
12	AP Calculus BC ✅	Precalculus or no AP

Her Grade 8 Math decision also allowed her to succeed in AP Physics 1 in Grade 11. AP Physics 1 uses Algebra as its foundation to explore Mechanics concepts, and Julie was well-prepared since she had taken both Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 before Grade 11.

Current middle school students have the opportunity to capitalize in the same way—by accelerating in middle school, students will be able to handle more advanced classes earlier in high school, giving them the ability to take harder AP classes at an earlier grade level, take more AP classes in total, earn additional college credits, and boost their weighted GPA and class rank as much as possible.

SAT Prep & Extracurriculars

After completing Think Academy’s SAT course, Julie scored a near-perfect 1570 on her SAT. She also had a 4.994 weighted GPA (3.941 unweighted GPA), making the academic portion of her application a clear strength. Julie stated that she was able to achieve such a high GPA by taking all of her high school classes seriously, starting in Grade 9: “many people may say that junior year is the most important, but it is important to do your best all throughout high school, including freshman and sophomore year,” she said. “Since classes may be slightly easier then, it is a good way to boost your overall GPA and figure out what classes interest you more than others.”

Julie supplemented her strong academic portfolio with a variety of extracurricular activities, including Student Government, National Chinese Honor Society, Unified Sports club, track & field, volunteering at a hospital and a community center, an internship as a Science Ambassador at a non-profit organization, and a job at a smoothie shop.

In addition to Boston College, which was her target school, Julie’s application was also strong enough for her to get accepted to Villanova, Penn State, Northeastern, University of Maryland, and UMass Amherst.

Julie chose Boston College because of its academics, sports, beautiful campus, and location on the east coast. “I think visiting schools really helped me narrow [my] list down,” she said. “Looking at campuses, going on tours, and hearing perspectives from current students helped tremendously.” After touring many schools, she decided to apply “Early Decision” to Boston College. “Everything aligned with what I wanted in my college experience!”

Julie’s Advice for Middle School Students

When asked if she has any advice for current middle school students, Julie recommended that they “prepare earlier rather than later.” She said, “I honestly didn’t really start thinking about college until the end of junior year, and it put a lot of pressure and stress [on me], because I felt like I had so much to do in so little time. So, if you can, I suggest joining many clubs or activities of interest that align with what you may want to do in the future… My last piece of advice is to really research different colleges and be open minded with the whole college application process. There are so many different colleges, each having their own values and traits, so it’s important to find one that will make you grow to be the best version of yourself and prepare you for the future.“

Big congrats to Julie! 🎉

About Think Academy

Think Academy, a leading K–12 math education provider wholly owned by TAL Education Group, is dedicated to helping students build strong mathematical foundations and critical thinking. Our structured curriculum provides multiple course levels designed to accommodate students with diverse academic goals and proficiency levels, ensuring targeted and effective learning experiences. Supported by advanced teaching methods, expert instructors, and innovative AI technology, Think Academy consistently demonstrates excellence, trustworthiness, and proven expertise in mathematics education.

Want more insights on math education and parenting tips? Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly expert advice and updates on the latest learning tools.