<p>What are some bits of advice you wish you had known before starting high school? Or interpret this differently: if you could redo your high school years, what do you wish you could change? </p>
<p>Personally, I wish I had taken a gym class early on during freshman year because I need to fulfill grad requirements and that doesn't look like it's happening now.</p>
<p>Get to know your teachers!</p>
<p>Learn as much as you can about yourself.</p>
<p>Don't slack off, and get into the highest level classes possible. I wish I could redo my freshman year over. <em>cry</em></p>
<p>Take required courses over the summer after freshman year; do NOT leave them until senior year. Get to know your teachers definitely, join clubs early on, get to know upperclassmen.</p>
<p>Me personally...not to take band. I didn't like it at all, and dropped it halfway through sophomore year. I could've taken more classes that were pre-reqs for APs earlier, and then consequently taken the APs earlier. Not that I want more APs, I just had to put them all of untill senior year! Oy vey!</p>
<p>suck up to your teachers junior year.</p>
<p>Join clubs early on, get leadership positions</p>
<p>not slack off and get As in some really easy classes freshman and sophmore years</p>
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Take required courses over the summer after freshman year;
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<p>I have to disagree with silentsailor. Enjoy your summers. Go to camp, travel, and just have fun. There will be plenty of time to work and study during the summer later. For now, just have fun being a teenager. And if you must work, work at the local town camp with all the other teenagers.</p>
<p>Okay, I can see where you're coming from there, and I guess my advice on that count was more school-specific. You're talking to the girl who had to take PE instead of AP physics last year, though, so occasionally it IS useful to get required stuff out of the way early on.</p>
<p>Take SAT IIs right after you finish a course while it's still fresh in your mind!! I wish I could've done this for Bio...</p>
<p>Don't get into drama!</p>
<p>don't get a B in gym freshmen year!!</p>
<p>I agree on joining clubs early and sticking with them throughout highschool. I did that, but my friends who didn't are hurting about it now. :P</p>
<p>do try to take advantage of everything your school has to offer but DO nOT tailor your ecs for colleges, do them because you love them--this will pay off in the end!!! oh, and dont bother with gossip, because well, the dumb people who love it will never manage to get anywhere near where you're going in life. just be yourself and have faith.</p>
<p>get involved in student council (or any other fun clubs/groups)!!!</p>
<p>oh man, it's so much fun at my school, and the people are amazingggg. i feel like i completely wasted 2 years of high school because i wasn't in it.</p>
<p>Don't slack off, and don't try to attempt more than you can handle. Really experiment with clubs in your FRESHMAN year so that you can stick with them (meaning don't limit yourself right away). Study persistently every night, even on nights when you don't have homework, because then you will have studied the material and won't be cramming the night before a test.</p>
<p>Take the USABO, and actually prepare seriously for the AMCs.</p>
<p>join clubs freshman year instead of waiting till you are a senior</p>