Advice for Freshmen

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Freshmen generally don't stress about colleges; we tend to think of our senior year as the doomsday year, so we just ignore it, as y'all probably did.</p>

<p>I'm a freshman attending a mediocre-level public HS, and I would really appreciate some tips and what-I-wish-I-had-done advice from current applicants, or whoever has already gone through the process. [For example: maybe I should pick up a sport, start volunteering, take extra weekend classes, etc.]</p>

<p>Here's my rather limited resume (just finished the first quarter of freshman year):</p>

<pre><code> ~ All-honors classes (no APs are available for freshman here):
~ Quite a few clubs: MUN, SciOly, newspaper, art/lit magazine
~ Band, Marching Band (Clarinet Level 1 NYSSMA), started at age 9
~ Violin (Level 6 NYSSMA, Level 4 RCM), started at age 8
~ Piano (Level 4 NYSSMA), started at age 6, quit at age 8 to pursue violin.
~ No sports
~ No volunteering gigs yet
~ Awards: National French Contest, rank #3
~ 98 GPA = 4.0
</code></pre>

<p>If I were to take a guess, I'd say I rank top 5 in my grade.</p>

<p>Other things:
~ I like to write. I'm attempting to write short stories, perhaps submit one for a contest. I'm working on writing a novel, but I understand that the publishing process is near impossible for me now, due to my skill level, age and inexperience. But hey--a girl can still dream, no?
~ Also, because my school is so academically-lax, I'm studying outside of school. Mostly just PSAT practices. I'm relatively weird, which means that I like to teach myself things, trig, calc, etc.
~ Also, I'm a Chinese-American girl...which, from what I hear, makes colleges cringe.</p>

<p>So. I'd really love to hear your thoughts and tips. There's no need to sugarcoat things. Honesty is what I'm craving. I'm worried about my lack of volunteer hours and undemanding academic schedule. Mostly I'm afraid that my entire academic repertoire is extremely weak and I'll never get into a good college.</p>

<p>I was wondering what y'all would recommend moving forward into sophomore year. This is for me, and also for all the other freshman out there.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>I’m a sophomore, and still haven’t done too many volunteering hours because I’m not sixteen. Don’t worry about it right now, you have the next 3 3/4 years. You’re at a great start, just keep your GPA up and get involved.</p>

3

<p>Advice? Don’t worry about college and stress over where you’ll get into; just enjoy high school and do what you enjoy.</p>

4

<p>I have a giant high school advice post [here[/url</a>].</p>

<p>

There’s no reason to do any of these things unless they appeal to you. Colleges aren’t looking for any specific ECs like sports (unless you’re a recruited athlete) or volunteering. But you should be doing something outside of class that allows you to show focus, dedication, accomplishment, leadership, etc.

In most cases, awards you won before high school (as well as extracurriculars you stopped before high school) don’t belong on your college applications.

In case this is relevant to anyone, you can’t directly convert a GPA on a 100-point scale to a GPA on a 4.0 scale because it’s possible to get different results depending on what your individual course grades are. You don’t necessarily have a 4.0 just because your GPA on a 100-point scale is in the A range.

Have you thought of submitting your work to [url=<a href=“http://www.artandwriting.org/]Scholastic”>http://www.artandwriting.org/]Scholastic</a> Art & Writing](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/1661936-if-you-could-redo-anything-in-your-high-school-career-what-would-it-be.html]here[/url”>If you could redo anything in your high school career, what would it be? - High School Life - College Confidential Forums)?

If you’re taking the most challenging courses available at your school, you’re fine.</p>

5

<p>Work Hard, Play Hard, Party Hard</p>

<p>But in all seriousness, I was like you as a freshman last year. I did a lot of EC that I though would be “just good enough.” I was lying to myself. This year, I quit all of those and now am starting with new ECs that I chose because I love.</p>

<p>Moral: Do what you like. It’s cliche, yes, but true.</p>

6

Thank you for the feedback!

I’ll take the “don’t worry, be happy” advice to heart, but I’d also like to know what I can do to push myself into the Ivy league running. Some Ivy applicants have such extreme résumés and I wondered what they accomplished freshman year. I don’t want to fall behind on grades or ECs and regret it come junior/senior year. Thanks again.

7

Seconding the Scholastic suggestion!! It’s a great opportunity.

8

Do things that make you happy. Figure out what you’re interested in and try and find a way to pursue it. It’s not worth it wasting hundreds of hours on something you think colleges will like (especially since that generally generates a laundry-list of ECs, which won’t really stand out to colleges). If it ends up helping you get into XYZ College, great! If not, at least you spent your high school years meaningfully.

Treat everything as a learning experience. It might be hard to stomach your first rejection or bad grade, but don’t let it get you down. Use it as motivation to do better next time! On a related note, don’t be scared of failure. Try out for things that you are interested. The worst that can happen is that you don’t get in. I’ve applied to many MANY positions/programs…was accepted to some, and was rejected by even more.

Remember the important things in life. You might get caught up in the stresses of school, but never neglect your health or your family/support network. Appreciate all the people who love you, because they won’t always be there. Take care of your health; you only have one body.

And finally, don’t procrastinate. Easier said than done :stuck_out_tongue:

9

Haha, yeah, unfortunately this was very true in my case. I think it’s good that you’re thinking about it, but please don’t let the thought of college completely dictate the next 4 years of your life - don’t be that person that only does activities/certain classes for the sake of your resume or your transcript.

As already mentioned, piano shouldn’t go on your resume - especially considering that you quit at a very young age. Violin and clarinet on the other hand - that’s good, assuming that you intend on sticking with it.

At least from what I noticed with Ivy League applicants from my schools, they usually have some amazing accomplishment outside of school - I can’t give specifics (b/c they can actually be looked up easily) but their accomplishments were really impressive. They usually have high GPA/high SAT scores, with a rigorous course load, but they usually aren’t taking ALL AP classes junior and senior year (unlike certain other Ivy League applicants from my school). So just remember to keep your ECs strong, as well as your course load.

I third the scholastic suggestion - and you should look around for other contests that you could enter your work into. I think your passion for writing is great!

Good luck! :slight_smile:

10

@halcyonheather‌ I checked out your post and I noticed you said don’t worry about social life. I don’t mean to diss you or show disrespect. I’m just curious what you mean by this… Why is it okay to be alone? I would strongly disagree with that (again, I’m not the one who got into college. I know I’m a freshman, but how does that make sense). I understand controlling yourself as far as parties go, and putting school as a priority but…

11

I’m not a college student but I am a professional in education, I’ve advised students and learned a lot from my own. I advise students to be fully engaged in whatever activities (school too) they are involved in. Why in the world would anyone structure 4-8 years of their life around what might get them into a place where they will spend only 4 years of their life? That isn’t to say you can just forget about academic expectations. You need to excel academically for life-not for college. Next, what are your values and interests? How can you get most involved in things that are meaningful to you? Dabbling in everything and checking off some laundry list (Volunteering x hours, check) of activities is not what is most meaningful to most people nor does it tend to produce/add to the world much. So instead focus on a few things and try to make your involvement meaningful. Seems like you are on the right track with that. You like to write and plan to submit your writing for publication. You will get reviews when you do that which will help you. Do you belong to any writing societies? Are there any geared towards students? If so, they may be geared towards college students but that’s ok. Take academic risks. Put yourself out there. Allow your work to be critiqued and use the reviews constructively (don’t recoil, for example). A nice side effect of being fully engaged in your activities is that they will end up being more meaningful and ultimately could help with college-but don’t do it for that reason. Life is more meaningful when you pursue activities that are meaningful to you.