<p>I'm going into my freshman year in a month!! I really want to have the best 4 years of high school ever. I don't want to continue to move from year to year with a feeling that: "last year sucked...better make a fresh start next year". I always had that feeling in the past. I also really want to make each summer, as well as winter/spring breaks meaningful. </p>
<p>I'm really interested in psychology and ophthalmology. Although I'm no expert in any of these 2 fields, I often think about all the wonderful EC's that I could do to learn, as well as to help out in the community.</p>
<p>here are my freshman courses:</p>
<p>Advanced Math (accelerated geometry)
Advanced Science (Track, Chemistry for 1st year)
English
Latin I
History
Drawing Studio
Dance</p>
<p>Tennis Team, Squash Team, Basketball Team</p>
<p>i definitely missed out on the CTY opportunity...I'm too scared to take the SAT now, since the score will be kept (as I'm in hs)</p>
<p>What are some ways I can improve my knowledge of psychology and ophthalmology? Reading?(Kinda dull...)
Does my freshman schedule sound good for a competitive college?</p>
<p>Freshman year doesn’t count for much, tbh. Make sure you take the right courses/do well enough to be able to take honors/APs the other 3 years. I don’t know about your hs, but at mine and many others you don’t have a whole lot of choice when it comes to course selection freshman year. I’d like to know how you’re playing 2 winter sports though.</p>
<p>Oh alright. Thanks. How about CTY? Would it be a bad decision to take the SAT in 9th grade, get an average score only to get into CTY, not a good college? Would it be a risk? I really want to take a few courses based on psysch</p>
<p>Most colleges now allow you to just send your best SAT score [?], so it couldn’t hurt. In any case, I don’t think the score you get freshman year would be supremely indicative of your scholastic aptitude to any college. Don’t take my word for it expressly though, other people on this forum would give far better advice than me. Do some research.</p>
<p>If I were you, I wouldn’t take the SAT freshman year. I’d wait until sophomore year, take the PSAT and send the score to no colleges for lower pressure (and my school even offers the PSAT to sophomores free), then go and study for the SAT from whatever score you get sophomore year.</p>
<p>What colleges like to see in a way that freshman year is concerned:
They like to see people who are committed to their ECs or clubs for all four years (but it’s definitely not a requirement; it’s just nice to see), so join at least a few clubs/take up a sport and try to stick with it.
Some people slack off freshman year and end up eliminating themselves from the valedictorian race or something like that (as the poster above me said). But at the same time, colleges like a rising trend in grades, so don’t worry too much; freshman year isn’t that important.
Branch out as much as possible, academically and socially. Especially socially, before everyone gets clique-y again (at my school, half the students in freshman year don’t know each other in the beginning, since two different middle schools merge into one graduating class at the high school).</p>
<p>Enjoy freshman year. I started worrying about college and such at the end of sophomore year, and you don’t really need to think about it until earlier. In contrast to the poster above me, my freshman year rocked.</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d try the SAT in the spring of freshman year. It’s good to have an idea early of how much/little you need to worry about improving it. I say that especially since you’ll be in geometry which is pretty relevant to the test. I was really glad that I took it early.</p>
<p>Join a club or two. Being a freshman in a club sucks sometimes because of hierarchy, but as long as you have a friend and the club revolves around something you’re interested in, it’s worth it. So many freshman aren’t interested in getting involved in things. Your year will be so much better if you stay involved in your school in some way.</p>
<p>Freshman year you should be partying, drinkings, and smoking. It’s the start of something new. You can still be a straight A student and have a life. The classes you choose should be the last thing on your mind.</p>
<p>On a serious note, I want to caution against taking up too many activities. You don’t have a feel for the rigor of your high school’s classes yet, so don’t set your heart on three sports (and some clubs I’m assuming) while trying to maintain good grades. You’re lucky to discover CC before high school. This site has some really helpful (and ridiculous) information. Take everything you read with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>And get a 4.0, no excuses. Freshman year is the easiest time to maintain a good GPA. You want to start off on the right foot. This is specially crucial if your school calculates class rank. You don’t want to get a crappy GPA freshman year. You’ll end up with major regrets come junior/senior year when college applications loom closer. Don’t be that person ;)</p>
<p>Wow thanks guys. I actually have an idea for a club, and I really want to start it. But would it be “not right” for a freshman to start a club? Should I wait? The clubs at my school are corny (the writing clubs…dance clubs…photography clubs… bleh)</p>
<p>I’ve never seen a freshman start a club. My friend tried to start an Academic Bowl team with me last year but none of the teachers took us seriously. However, one of the sophomores from last year started the school’s JSA chapter.</p>
<p>Something like that. They don’t know the their peers or teachers that well to get support. Also nobody likes the freshman. Not even teachers. Social Darwinisim.</p>
<p>Freshman at my school do occasionally start clubs, but it has to be a good club, you have to be vocal about it, and you have to have friends in the upper grades. If it’s just freshmen in the club, it’ll never take off.</p>
<p>You should make a pornography club. I tried making one in my freshman year (two months ago), and a couple parents and about 15 kids (13 guys, 2 girls) petitioned for it, but the administration didn’t let it materialize because you can only make clubs starting junior year at our school.</p>