I’m currently an 8th grader in the US and I’m going into high school next year. I’d love to graduate high school with a 4.0 GPA and accomplish many other things and go on to the top universities to study neuroscience (I’d like to become a neurosurgeon-scientist). I have a lot of doubts when it comes to my academic ability though. How do I gain confidence in my academic ability and make sure that I have a solid chance of excelling in high school and getting into a top university?
Read about growth mindset.
–Learn to use a planner or some other device to keep track of events, quizzes, tests, and other due dates. This is a skill that will be very beneficial in college.
–When you don’t understand something, speak to the teacher right away. Sometimes it’s hard for high achievers to admit they don’t understand something.
–Understand that studying is more than just doing homework. Read about different study techniques, and figure out what works for you.
–Don’t procrastinate! Putting things off until the last minute causes a lot of stress, and you won’t be able to do your best work.
–Find an activity/club or two that you are sincerely interested in. They will be good for your mental and physical health.
–Get plenty of sleep. This is often overlooked by teenagers.
–Don’t pressure yourself to be perfect! You don’t need a 4.0 GPA to get into college.
While I can’t tell you the magic formula to getting into the top university of your choice (nobody can - assuming that you’re looking at Top 20 schools, even the most qualified applicants routinely get turned away), I can tell you some things you can learn in middle school that will help you immensely in a few years.
Learn how to take notes. There’s a ton of different note-taking styles that you can find online, so experiment with a bunch of them and find what works best for you. Practice taking notes while you’re reading a textbook, while you’re listening to your teacher lecture, whenever you’re in a situation where having notes of the information you’ve just absorbed will be useful.
Learn how to study. Figure out what study aids help you best remember stuff, which locations don’t distract you, and how to stop yourself from procrastinating, even when you really want to.
If you’re not already good at it, learn the basics of public speaking (plenty of books and YouTube videos have been made for this purpose). Projecting your voice and using proper body language makes you seem like you know what you’re talking about, which will help you with pretty much whatever you want to do with your life.
This is less important than the other ones, but if you have some free time, try learning a programming language. There’s literally so much you can do with a rudimentary knowledge of coding nowadays.
Beyond that… do the things that interest you, and don’t waste time on things that you find boring just because you think they’ll look good to colleges. There will be a whole lot of new extracurriculars to try when you reach freshman year, so join as many of them as you think sound interesting and spend 9th grade deciding which ones you could see yourself devoting four years to, then narrowing them down. If you’re interested in an extracurricular that your school doesn’t have, then try and start it yourself.
Also, don’t obsess over College Confidential. It can be a good resource at times, but take whatever advice you find here with several grains of salt - you have no way of knowing the credentials of whomever the advice came from.
Best of luck to you!
That’s the best advice I’ve read on this forum :))
Everything @chercheur said, plus make a plan. Read the student handbook and the course catalog, and plan which classes you want to take each of your four years. It’s okay if your plan changes, but having everything mapped out helps you focus on your priorities.
You want to do well, but you don’t want to take easier courses just to maintain a 4.0. Challenge but do not over challenge yourself.
Run your own race…yes there maybe some kid taking 3 APs as freshman but for most people that is not wise.