<p>It was only after I set up my college list that I found real motivation to study hard and earn good grades. I set up my list over summer and ended my first semester of senior grades with mostly A's. This makes me think, maybe if I were searching for colleges as a freshman, I would have been more motivated to study. Plus, I wouldn't have to limit my college search to what colleges my grades and scores fit into. Do you think it's good to expose freshman to the college search and what colleges want to see?</p>
<p>No I do not</p>
<p>You are supposed to have fun in high school, when you are just entering you should not be worrying about getting into an ivy league school. Sure you should try your best and be concerned about grades, but you shouldn't be overly pressured.</p>
<p>My first reaction is to agree with Joshua, but really, the more information one has, the better. What each student chooses to do afterwards is up to them.</p>
<p>no, i'm glad i didn't.</p>
<p>i would have been miserable throughout HS if i spent all 4 years freaking out about my grades.</p>
<p>Here's what an applicant told me today: he wished he'd known as a freshmen that recruited athletes get the biggest boost of any groups including URMs and legacies, so if you have potential a focus on sports is a valid approach.</p>
<p>agreed with thread starter. my grades were decent as a freshman, nothing spectacular. and now im in my 2nd semester junior year, thinking about college, and got all As first semester for the first time. it's kind of interesting. hopefully colleges will see this upward trend as "academic maturity and motivation" rather than "realizing he has to get into college" lol</p>
<p>well i'm definitely not "freaking out" about grades but I feel a new sense of motivation (which i think is hard to come by nowadays in high school). I'm just saying that, as a freshman if i picked a certain set of schools i liked, i would have known in my mind what it took to be accepted at those schools and would have a drive to improve myself. There are certainly pros and cons so...discuss! lol.</p>
<p>oh, i definitely agree to an extent. </p>
<p>i was aimless/lazy through most of my early HS years. looking back, i passed up on many great opportunities for extracurricular activities and leadership positions, simply because i was too lazy or uninterested. </p>
<p>a lot of those things would have helped SO much when i was applying to college this year. all i can do now is just try to pass on my advice to younger HS students.</p>
<p>Not at all. I think it's good for freshman to be removed from the college process for awhile, let them enjoy high school and find the things they love. Give them until Junior year or so to be blissfully oblivious to the stress and then, if they've truly found things they love to do, etc. they'll be fine for the college process.</p>
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Do you think it's good to expose freshman to the college search and what colleges want to see?
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<p>I'm somewhat confused that a high school freshman could <em>possibly</em> not realize that colleges care about good grades. I realize that if you're first-gen or socioeconomically disadvantaged you don't necessarily have access to the same info that others do, but grades strike me as the most intuitive, obvious aspect of the entire process.</p>
<p>Of course, if what you really mean is "Oh no, I got a few Bs!", your grades are fine, relax.</p>
<p>In general, I think that more information is better, but 1) the information needs to be accurate (not "if you don't get straight As, play a varsity sport, and be the president of three clubs, you will be doomed to a fourth-tier school!"), and 2) people need the maturity to use the information appropriately (not spending four years freaking out, padding their resume with fluff, and being generally insufferable).</p>
<p>This is an interesting topic!</p>
<p>Here is a rank order best to worst:</p>
<ul>
<li>the motivation to excel is based on intellectual curiosity and the enjoyment of learning and mental exploration... it comes naturally.</li>
<li>the motivation to excel is based on a desired to excel at EVERYTHING you do, school included.</li>
<li>the motivation to excel is based on a desire to attain a goal -- the grades are a means to the end of getting into a great college, which is a means to an end of getting a great job, which is a means to an end of attracting a desirable mate, live in a luxurious, safe neighborhood, etc. etc.</li>
<li>the movitation to excel is based on the need to feel important and significant</li>
<li>the movitation to excel is based on a fear of being insignificant</li>
<li>the motivation to excel is based on a fear of parental authority</li>
<li>the motivation to excel is based on a fear of being financially destitute otherwise.</li>
</ul>
<p>Most people get their motivation a little from every single one of those categories. The higher the % from the top of the list, the better.</p>
<p>As I think back to my HS years, most of my motivation came from 1, 2, 4.</p>
<p>My motivation definitely came from 1 and 3. I started freaking out about college freshman year but I kind of think it's good that I did because really, all your grades matter and if you want to get onto higher academic tracks, you better have good grades freshman year.</p>
<p>They're already told that grades and hard classes are important. Other than that, I say just leave it up to them. Colleges don't just want to see one certain track in high school.</p>
<p>You should do your best in school from the beginning, not just to get in to college, but just to know that you did your best and didn't slack off. And that's not just for school- it goes for sports, music, dance too.</p>
<p>Apply yourself. Always. </p>
<p>Only work turns a talent into something greater.</p>
<p>You are right in this thinking. This is why I'm taking my 8th grader to see colleges this summer. I'm hoping she falls in love with at least one or two and work her butt off to get good grades. She maynot end up with such college but it certainly help with the motivation.</p>
<p>Being exposed to college materials doesn't mean you are not going to have fun in high school. The OP was trying to say only if he were exposed to college information earlier, he would have had that motivation to study hard "enough" to earn good grades and scores, which by the way should be a student's goal anyways. I mean lots of you would agree that you have straight A's but still have time to chill right? So, yeah, I think learning about college stuff as early as possible is far more beneficial.</p>
<p>Truthfully I've been looking towards college since the day I walked into my high school for the first time. I wasn't shooting for being valedictorian or anything (not that I am now either) vut I made sure to stay on top of things.
I really do think that students should get a knowledge base of what it means, what to expect, etc, so they can decide for themselves how and when to go all out or whatever. There shouldn't be the pressure to ditch everything else and study but you should be informed enough to make the decision to do so or not.</p>
<p>Look around this whole site: 80% of the HS sr posts are expressing some form of regret - they wished the criteria were different or wished they'd understood the scorekeeping earlier, they wished they had aimed a little higher, worked a little harder, extended their scope of interests and activities a little sooner. I've yet to see one from anyone wishing they had eased off and had more fun in high school.</p>
<p>I started getting into the college process in the summer of 08 and junior year (this year). It’s actually quite fun and it’s one of the topics that I talk about most throughout my day. If I learned about how fun the college application process would be for me, then I would have done so years ago to plan for Ivies. Even so, going to an Ivy doesn’t mean everything.</p>