Advice for the High School Freshman

Applying to College
1

I am new to this forum, so I’m not exactly sure how to do this, but recently I’ve been pretty anxious about high school. Right now, I will be a freshman at my local high school in the fall, and I’ve been preparing for the next four years of high school.

My schedule:
Pre-AP English
Alg. II Honors
Geometry (Both Alg.II Honors and Geometry are combined into one course)
Biology I Honors
Pre-AP World Hist.
Spanish II Honors

Both of my sisters (10+ years older) have gone to good universities (Vanderbilt for bachelors->Duke for masters, Duke for bachelors) Since I was anxious about college, I asked them for advice on what to do in high school, because I do aspire to attend Ivy league. At this point, it’s good to note both of my sisters are complete opposites, with differentiating morals, ideas, and appeals. This includes giving advice to me, their youngest sister.

My oldest told me to just have fun and be myself, but take APs and disregard IB. (My high school is an IB oriented school for about ten years.) However, I have read multiple articles saying IB is just as equal to AP. Yet, I don’t plan to study abroad in another country for college, so she says that it’d be pretty useless.

The second oldest told me to orient all my classes and extracurriculars from the beginning and stay with them. She told me that I should take the classes I want (I.e. American sign language I over Spanish II Honors) and that I should self-study for AP. I had already been planning to self-study for the AP Biology test since I seemed like I wouldn’t be receiving any AP or IB credits this year, and possibly an AP English or AP Human Geography. AP English because I enjoy English and I feel very comfortable with my skills. AP Human Geography because I heard it was the EASIEST AP test, and it wouldn’t be a very stressful thing to study for.

I also plan to take the SAT at the end of my freshman year (without essay) because I feel like it would give me a chance to get used to it at a time when it’s not so dire. (11th) And also because I’d like to see the growth between freshman year and 11th grade.

With all of this and the inevitable doom of midterms, finals, and my annual state test, I feel like is a very big stretch. I’ve heard to not self-study for AP English and with all of this other baggage I think it would be wise to not to. However, it’s really hard to not feel the competition and pressure of other Ivy league shooters. Plus, I just want to read and write for the rest of my high school career, so I feel like an AP English credit in freshman year.

This is also not including extracurriculars. As of now, I play in several outside orchestras as a violinist, and participate as the girls’ soccer team manager, girls’ basketball team manager, and am deciding whether or not I will be trying out for track. I play piano and plan to play for my school’s musicals and events. (School hasn’t started for me, yet, so am unsure of this.) I like to volunteer at my local food bank, and have already garnered 40+ hours. (I exercise and contribute to my community.) I really don’t want to give any of these up even though both of my sisters say to stop volunteering and focus on studying.

At this point, it’s easy to see I am very confused and frustrated. As, I want to be happy and enjoy the next four years, I also want to aim for Ivy league. But at what point would it be too stressful and to the point where I break down?

2

Don’t spend high school trying to make yourself into someone you are not because you imagine someone in an admissions office will like the person you are not better.

Colleges discourage students from self-studying APs. They’d rather see you doing activities you enjoy than spending your spare time cramming from test prep books.

Try to ignore the competition and pressure of other ivy league shooters. Most of them won’t get in anyhow. Don’t be one of the bitter students who posts on here about how they "wasted’ their time doing things just to look good to admissions and then didn’t get in.

You will get into colleges that accept students like you. Is that so scary? Enjoy your time in high school. You can’t go back and redo it when you are older and wiser.

And stop obsessing about the SAT. It’s not intended for freshmen so what is the purpose of taking it? You haven’t completed the math they are testing yet so it will likely just make you feel unprepared and more anxious.

3

Okay, I’ll be honest, you sound really stressed out right now. I think you should slow down and try to separate the things you genuinely like doing from the things you feel like you need to do to get into Ivy Leagues. That’s especially the case with the extra-curriculars–I would consider dropping at least one of them, even if it’s just for a little while. Contrary to popular belief, the trick to getting into top schools isn’t having perfect grades and a million ECs, but about showing colleges that you have something you care about that makes you unique. It’s gonna be a lot easier to figure out what that is if you take the time to soul-search with regards to how much all your ECs really mean to you.

I can’t speak much to the difference between AP and IB, but I would strongly caution you against taking APs just for the sake of it. It might be okay to take AP English if you enjoy it and are confident in it, but your reasoning behind wanting to take AP Bio and AP Human Geography leaves me concerned. On the whole, I think I’m more inclined to agree with your oldest sister.

All that being said, I actually disagree with mathyone in that I don’t see the harm in starting a little SAT prep now. I don’t know if you’re actually allowed to take it as a freshman, but there are tons of practice tests out there that you can use to study. You’re not wrong that it might be better to get a head start while things aren’t so drastic.

I hope all of this helps you feel better!

4

As a rising senior, I’ve got some advice for you. I’m not someone who’s applying to the Ivies, but I’m telling you that you need to take your stress levels down about 100 notches. You’re what, 14? Slow down! High school is not the thing that determines your success in life.

Although, I applaud you for being on top of things–I know kids who are going to be seniors in one month and still have no idea what schools they want to apply to. When I read this post, it instantly reminded me of my own freshman year self. When I was a freshman I started thinking about potential majors (I should also add that my major ended up changing about every six months. I started high school thinking I wanted to be a psychiatrist, then I decided I wanted to do film, then I decided business, then psychology, and now I’m thinking about communications. This will most likely happen to you as well). I got a list of about 10 schools that I thought were good for me (coincidentally, none of these schools are on the list of schools that I’m actually applying to). Once I had an idea of where I could end up, that was the motivation for me to try hard in school. This resulted in me proudly boasting to my friends that I was going to go to Cornell for about 6 months until that dream died super fast when I found out how many people actually got accepted.

This may sound very pessimistic, but PLEASE do not go your entire high school career thinking and hoping that you will get into an Ivy. There are so many other schools that are just as good as the Ivies (UCLA, UCB, UVA, UNC, etc), that will give you just as many opportunities (if not more), and will also allow you to secure a great job in the future. By all means, apply to an Ivy if that’s what you want, but you have to know that even if you’re extremely qualified, you could still get denied. My friends dad went to a state school, and he makes just as much money as their neighbor, who’s a doctor and went to an Ivy. You can get just as great of an education and be just as successful at a school that isn’t an Ivy.

Now, onto the advice about school. When an admissions counselor reads your essays and your application, they want to read an application from a HUMAN. they don’t want to read applications that have been created by robots who supposedly have 15 AP classes and 1000+ hours of volunteering and 5 varsity sports. While these may seem like great accomplishments, the admissions counselor will know that you are lacking in some other part of your life. Oh, she took 7 AP classes in one year? That’s nice, but she must not have any kind of a social life. You’re a teenager. This is the time for you to do stupid stuff with your friends and have fun, not spend your Friday nights studying for a test. Colleges don’t want people-pleasers, they want students who do things for themselves. You think Honors Spanish will look better compared to ASL, even though you wanna take ASL more? TAKE ASL. You will have the most miserable 4 years of your life if you spend your entire time doing things that will look good to other people rather than doing things for yourself. I had a similar struggle: do I take Spanish 3, even though I hate Spanish? In the end, I decided not to take it, because even though it might have looked good on my application, it really wasn’t worth the year of misery I would have had to endure. Take the classes that you enjoy the most.

I can’t give you any advice for self studying because I haven’t done it. But what I can tell you is, don’t ever take an AP or Honors class that you aren’t confident that you’ll get in A in. Not the best at math? Then it’s probably not the best idea to take AP Calc. Colleges want to see A’s in AP classes; not Bs. I can tell that you’re a very ambitious and hardworking student, and if you’re shooting for high caliber schools, getting a B (or even a C) in an AP won’t help you. Take classes that you know you’ll be successful in.

In regards to the SAT/ACT, don’t even bother thinking about it until you’re a junior. At the very earliest, take it in June of your sophomore year. There’s really no point in taking it before you’ve taken all the necessary classes–it’s a waste of money and you’ll be disappointed with your scores. Take it in September of your junior year and you should have plenty of time to get a tutor or self study.

As for extracurriculars, as I said earlier, colleges want to see humans, not robots. You aren’t gonna get the Nobel Peace Prize for having 1000+ hours of volunteering. Focus on 1-3 things that you work very in-depth in. This means doing a sport for all 4 years, being a member of a club all 4 years (and becoming an officer later on), and pursuing an instrument, volunteering, or other hobby. colleges want to see passion in a subject–if you spread yourself thin with extracurriculars that aren’t really related to each other at all, it shows colleges that a)you don’t really have a passion, or b)you only did the thing because someone told you it would look good on your app. Don’t be this person. Remember that you’re a teenager and you need to have a life outside of school and ECs. Your grades and your test scores don’t define who you are as a person–you need to push it all to the back of your mind and focus on the present. You only get one shot at being a teenager, and you don’t want to look back and wish you weren’t studying so much. If you’re working to the point where you’re sleep depriving yourself, you’re doing too much.

As a rising senior, my biggest regret from being a freshman is focusing on school too much and not developing as deep of friendships with my peers. I often skipped out on doing fun things with my friends because I was studying. AP English lasts for one year. Friends last a life time. Which choice are you gonna make?

I hope some of this information can help you in some way. Wishing you the best of luck!

5

Seriously you need to relax. You don’t need any AP credits in your freshman year! If you are interested in AP bio or AP English, sign up for the class in your junior or senior year. Your time spent self-studying would be far better spent trying out activities in high school so that you figure out what you like and what areas you’d like to focus on.

The AP and IB programs are rather different and you should learn about both of them and see which one suits your academic interests better.

It is a myth that colleges like students to self study AP exams. It’s a myth that seems to have caught hold in certain schools and on cc, and simply refuses to die. If you ask any admissions officer, they will say, we’d rather see you being involved in activities than studying extra AP classes. I’ve heard several of them say it, from top colleges. They have a disdain for students who are obsessed about testing. Colleges also say that they give little to no admissions weight to AP scores. They care more about your performance in the classroom. Your self studied AP is just an empty score.

I did not say that you shouldn’t do any SAT prep this year, if that concerns you and you have time for it, though I think during the year you really should prioritize school and activities and fun. What I said, and I stand by it, is that you should not take the SAT this year. There are always students who take it “just to get experience” “just to get a baseline”: and then later on they are on here anxiously asking “how many SAT sittings is too many?” and dearly wishing that they hadn’t put all their studying and practice onto their official college application record, because yes, those scores, which you will probably hate, will be seen by colleges.

You should not become obsessed with the Ivy league. It’s a sports league. Most students who apply are not going to be accepted. No college is worth having a break down for. None. Many successful people attended colleges without a lot of prestige. Why would you want to make yourself miserable for 4 years to get into a college where you will be miserable again, because you can’t do work at that level without making yourself miserable? Either it’s a good fit for you or it isn’t and if it turns out it isn’t find a place you can be happy. Choose a program that will make you happy, work hard at it, and you’ll do well. Oh, and if ASL can satisfy your language requirement, I would absolutely do that instead of Spanish if that is what you like.

6

But seriously, don’t study for the SAT. Why would you spend 3 years studying for the SAT? Even for a test like the MCAT (which is much more important), people don’t do that.

For your own sake, stay off this site for the next 2 years.

7

Don’t forget one very important “soft” factor for very competitive schools – do you play nice? Really. Do you positively influence others and is it clear by your teacher recs that you’re likable?

One of the best ways to sink your chances at a place like those is to come off sounding like a jerk. Being obsessed with some top school also makes you aloof and forgettable by your classmates.

HS is not simply a stepping stone to some degree factory afterward. If you fail to be excellent among your HS peers and teachers now-- which means actively engaging them and your studies, top colleges will know it. Good luck.

8

My advice would be to not live your high school years as a four year competition to get into the best possible college.

Yes, you should work hard and do as well as you can in the most rigorous courseload you can manage. And yes you should prepare for standardized tests junior year. But you should also find friends you enjoy being with, get involved in activities you truly care about (don’t try to craft an activity list to please a college – it doesn’t work), get the most out of your education, be a good person, and have some fun along the way.

Come back to CC junior year, not before.

9

It’s reasonable to ask what selective colleges will be looking for 4 years down the road rather than assuming things automatically take care of themselves. Kids that attend expensive privates are getting advice and are steered towards being competitive to those schools, as are those with savvy parents. Why shouldn’t you know the same things? Get a good book on admissions such as “Admission Matters” so you understand the road ahead. It is much less reasonable to have decided there are exactly 8 colleges you want to attend and if only one takes you then it is fine; this reflects the worldview of many HS kids that think Ivy colleges give some kind of leg up that nobody else matches or exceeds.

If you’re really volunteering because you want to and not because you think some adcom expects to see that you have “given back” (because they don’t) then keep doing it. In general HS kids spend 9th grade exploring and figuring out areas they like, then in 10th & 11th they become more focused on a few. Selective colleges want to see leadership and achievement so what you have listed so far as participant in this and that are not the activities that are going to stand out. I’m not saying give these things up, keep doing them if you like them, but if the main purpose is for admissions then that’s the path to being what adcoms dismiss as “a mile wide and an inch deep”. You need to find one or two areas where you can really make a mark, regardless of whether you keep all you are doing or not.

Your sister is right, grades are important. And the funny thing is that in the 8 years of schooling so far they have taught you lots of things but one thing they never cover is how to learn. So you might be thinking that you’ll be sure to reread the chapter a few times before a test, even though this is one of the least effective learning methods. Get the book “Make it Stick” which explains the current research on the most effective practices such as self-testing and distributed practice. The book has sections aimed at HS and college students explaining how to put the ideas into practice.

BTW you are not limited to the teachers in your school; I hate seeing kids whine in the forum “I had a bad teacher” to try to excuse a bad grade. There have long been workbooks and other resources, and now programs like iTunesU or Khan Academy bring even more help. You can watch some of the best profs in the country lecture on almost any subject under the sun, including ones overlapping what you’re learning in school. And this applies even if your teachers are good; watch some of these series to supplement what you’re getting in class.

Lastly, there’s a saying that the last thing you expect a fish to discover is water so your day-to-day life probably seems routine and unremarkable. Yet this is the last time in your life you’ll see your parents & kids you’ve grown up with on a daily basis. Right now it may even feel like that’s too much, but once its over its going to be over forever.

10

What I actually said is "I did not say that you shouldn’t do any SAT prep this year, if that concerns you and you have time for it, though I think during the year you really should prioritize school and activities and fun. What I said, and I stand by it, is that you should not take the SAT this year. "

In my opinion, a kid like the OP who is shooting for a top score, and feeling anxious about it would do well with a slow steady prep that begins in the summer after freshman year, rather than stressing about “doom”. Suffering with anxiety serves no purpose, but using it to motivate and take positive action to accomplish the goal and reduce the anxiety can be a good thing. I also personally think it’s best to complete this testing in the fall of junior year, to allow the student to focus on more important things and reduce overall stress. This schedule gives the OP 2, not 3 years to prepare and my suggestion would be to do some prep over the next 2 summers and go in to a first testing in the fall of junior year feeling well prepared and confident that it’s not “dire”, just an annoying chore which they will likely have to perform only once. Would I suggest this plan for every student? No, certainly not.

11

First of all, congratulations on recognizing that your actions will have consequences. That’s a great start to high school. Your objective now is to make choices that will keep your options open, so specifically, make sure that the classes you’ve chosen will put you on the path to AP classes (as that seems to interest you), and take a look at several competitive colleges to see how their requirements align with your high school’s graduation requirements. If most of the selective schools require 4 years of a foreign language, ASL is probably not a good choice. If you are worried about testing, you could start looking at vocabulary. Perhaps a word a day calendar would do the trick. Read for fun when you can. But don’t start test prep at this point – it’s too early.

Then stop thinking about college and start thinking about making the most of the next four years! Think about who you were at the beginning of 5th grade and who you are now. It seems absurd, but that’s the difference between who you are now and who you’ll be when you’re starting college. Would you really want that 5th grader to be charting your path today?

To be in the here and now of your academics, focus on learning to be a good student. Develop self-discipline and organizational skills, not simply to excel in school but so that you can work efficiently and effectively enough to have time left for other activities such as music and volunteering. (While the book “That Crumpled Piece of Paper was due last week” is intended for the parents of disorganized students, many of the tips in it will help good students as well.) Figure out how to forge relationships with teachers, not in a kissing-up kind of way but in a way that conveys your interest and encourages them to nurture that interest. Learn how to figure out whether you have mastered material before the test rather than waiting for the grade as an assessment. When you get something wrong on your homework or a test, re-do it. As noted, learn to learn! And while your freshman year can affect your class rank, most colleges care little about those grades. While it’s great to hit the ground running (and it will preserve your ability to take higher level classes), don’t sweat it.

Open yourself up to different people and different opportunities. During high school, many students drop things because they realize that they’re taking up time but are not really so fulfilling. Up to this point, your parents have probably had a big say in how you’ve spent your time – that power is going to shift to you. Don’t do things because you think colleges want to see those things on your application – do them because they matter to you. Remember that few ECs are true “hooks” (unless you’re nationally ranked at something ) and that colleges admit people. This is not the time to start being who others want you to be. If you do what you love, it’s easier to do it well.

I like the idea of keeping a journal – even in list/bullet form – so that you are sure to spend time thinking about who are you and who you’re becoming. Even if once a week, you reflect on what you’ve enjoyed that week, what you’ve tried that’s new, what frustrated you, what you’re grateful for, what you’re afraid of, what’s on your mind – all of this will make you more mindful and more intentional in your decisions. This can be a hard time of life to resist peer pressure (in the sense of conforming) but you’re the only one who can be you, so make it count.