Just wanted to hear opinions on my freshman schedule. Aiming for Stanford when I’m older (please don’t tell me I’m only in 8th grade and shouldn’t be picking out colleges yet)
Freshman schedule
Honors algebra 1 (will double up on math sophomore year or take geometry in the summer)
Honors biology
Honors world history
English 9
French 1
Robotics 1
Computer software
Exploratory engineering
Clean energy technology 1
I was accepted into one of the best STEM high schools in my state (only 100 freshman are accepted)
I’m so far an A student, third quarter just ended so I’ll give you an idea of my grades.
Social studies- 98% A
Science- 96% A (would have been higher but missed a lot the end of second nine weeks and got a D on the first test of third quarter)
Math - 93% A (same as the science, I am constantly in chronic back pain due to surgery)
Language arts 92% A ( yeah I know, that’s why I’m not taking honors English next year)
Technology 85% B (I’m very disappointed of this grade it’s a high school credit and I did terrible on the first 100 point project…)
Art - 100% A (lol)
So what do you think, is my freshman schedule good and do you think I can handle it with all A’s? Since I’m going to a STEM school some of those
Courses are required.
Please answer
Hey there! I see you have a lot of dedication to make it to Stanford, which is one of the things that’ll help you get there, so don’t lose hope on your ability to make it there.
As for your schedule:
Honors Algebra 1: Well it looks like you have no choice but to take this class so I can’t really say much about it. Though you may want to keep in mind that it will be better to take geometry in the summer instead of doubling up. For one, that will mean you could free up space for another class sophomore year, also it would be easier to take 1 class over the summer than worrying about 2 different math classes sophomore year.
Honors Biology, Honors W. History, English 9: These all seem like the typical classes all freshman have to take so no worries here.
French 1: Now, you say you want to go to Stanford, which if I’m not mistaken, is in California. A whopping 25.8% of Californians speak Spanish. Since California is on the US-Mexico border, I’m assuming a large portion of that 25.8% speak only Spanish. If you ever decide to get an internship or job in California, being able to speak Spanish would give a bit of an edge over other applicants. If none of these reasons are enough to change your opinion, keep in mind that nationally Spanish is the 2nd most spoken language in the US, while French is 4th. If Spanish is not offered at your school, then I guess you have no choice but to stick with French.
Robotics 1, Computer software, Exploratory engineering, Clean energy technology 1: These all look like introductory courses, or maybe the mandatory courses you were talking about so they’re fine.
I was also accepted to a very good STEM/ECHS, I don’t know how it ranks state wise but to give you an idea of how difficult our classes are; my entering freshman class was about 150 students; as of the end of the first semester of sophomore year we have only 123 left.
Having all A’s (or all A’s and 1 B in your case) does not guarantee you will do well in high school. Middle school usually does not prepare you for a school with rigorous demands like most STEM schools. Most of the 25 students that left my school were probably A/B students in middle school and it didn’t necessarily help them. The biggest advice I can give you is to forget any previous luck you’ve had with procrastination and do all your work as early as possible. Forget about 1-2 hours of homework a night, take advantage of free time and use it to do homework whenever possible. The truth is most of your class will probably experience a wake up call. Middle school is much different than high school and you gotta realize that. If you work hard enough, you can have similar grades in high school but only if you don’t goof off during freshman year. Sit near the front of the class, take good notes, take advantage of study periods etc.
Anyways, hope this helped! Keep working hard enough and I hope you make it to Stanford. 
“French 1: Now, you say you want to go to Stanford, which if I’m not mistaken, is in California…”
When I saw French 1, two things pop to mind: (i) This might be less common in California than Spanish. This might help, or might not. (ii) If Stanford doesn’t work out, down the road you might consider McGill. Of course McGill is an English language university (and one of the top 2 in Canada). Other than language classes all classes are taught in English. However, French is useful to get around in Montreal. In my experience if you just walk into a store and speak one sentence in sub-perfect French, they will switch to English but give you better service because at least you tried.
Realistically, this looks fine, but make sure that you have a plan B and a plan C. Also, don’t let yourself get too stressed out about it. A lot of students want to go to Harvard or Stanford, but very few do. Of the ones that don’t make it to Harvard or Stanford, the vast majority do very well elsewhere.
Also, I agree with the advice above to keep ahead on the homework and studying, and expect a bit of a “wake up call” being at a top high school.
@PinguisInsanus I want to learn French because I’m half African and the part I’m from typically speaks french. But do you think this will lower my chances at Stanford? I really want to take french, it was going to be french or Chinese I was going to learn. Also that’s what I thought too, I’ll ask my highschool if I can take geometry in the summer. As for ranks my STEM school is number 1 in the state.
“I want to learn French …”
IMHO, this means that you should take French. I think that it is very unlikely to change your chances of getting into Stanford in either direction. But if you are studying a language that you want to learn, you are more likely to do well.
In my experience, it is a lot easier to learn any language if you have some opportunity to speak, or at least listen, to other’s speaking the language. Fortunately, at this point there is a lot available on-line. My daughter appears to have improved her Spanish tremendously by watching movies or TV shows in Spanish. You should be able to do the same with French via the Internet. For example, at some point (possibly a semester from now) you could look at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/mafrance/
Thanks!
Actually, being from francophone Africa and taking French will actually help you.
I would caution you however to start thinking about other colleges: do what it takes for Stanford, but remember it’s easy to dream - the hard work is to find colleges with 30%+ acceptance rates (targets) and 40-50% acceptance rates (likelies).