Tips for HS Freshman (Add your own)

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<ol>
<li><p>DON'T PROCRASTINATE ! - it will only screw you at the end</p></li>
<li><p>Maintain a 4.0 GPA - This is the most important year of HS imo because your GPA at the end of this year can set the tone for the rest of the years to come.</p></li>
<li><p>Get involved in a sport AND club (or do what is comfortable)- Dreamed about being a Varsity Captain? Leader of the Engineer Club? Student Body President? It all starts here.</p></li>
<li><p>Never surround yourself around negative peers/ bad influences - They will only drag you down at the end (Starts out as pressure to blow off your hw to you skipping school)</p></li>
<li><p>(Optional but recommended) Study for the SAT/ACT- Doing this now and not 3 months before the test will better you by a lot.</p></li>
<li><p>Don't give your teachers a hard time- You never know what teacher you may have in the following years, they may bump your grade if your on the border line/ help you with a favor, and you never know if they may be your recommender.</p></li>
<li><p>Start to do something during your summer- For example Ivys enjoy seeing applicants doing something for their summers.</p></li>
<li><p>Keep an open mind and know your role- You are only a freshman, you don't know the future, you are not the valedictorian, and you don't run the school. Take every opportunity to advance yourself, look at every opportunity equally. Judge others as you would judge yourself (nicely). Don't let your emotions influence your decisions and judgments.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Your mission is to survive freshman year and enjoy it while you can, because it only gets harder!</p>

2

<p>Take the toughest classes you can and do well in them, </p>

<p>Eat. Sleep. Breathe.
Quizlet. Sparknotes. Khan Academy.</p>

<p>Join 3-5 clubs</p>

<p>If you play an instrument/sing keep it up</p>

<p>Do at least one sport if possible, preferably 2, 3 if sports are your thing</p>

<p>Volunteer, Volunteer, Volunteer!</p>

<p>Tutor peers</p>

<p>Make a bunch of friends, connections will take you places.</p>

<p>Don’t waste time at the lame parties</p>

<p>If you get a chance at a once in a lifetime experience, e.g. school trip abroad, etc. TAKE IT AND DON’T LOOK BACK!</p>

<p>Find one or two friends to compete with in each class (see who can get the highest grades on assignments and tests) Motivation is Key!!!</p>

<p>Come on College Confidential, gawk at the kids in 6 AP classes, meet with your guidance counselor, sign up for 6 AP classes</p>

<p>Spend your time wisely and get sleep.</p>

<p>Don’t brag, but reward yourself when you achieve (e.g. let yourself stay up for 20 more minutes on the internet for every A+ on tests/quizzes)</p>

<p>Figure out what you want to be, I’m not kidding, take the free online career aptitude tests, and think about what you like doing. If you can figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life Freshman Year… by the time you are applying to colleges you will have been able to craft your ECs to knock down all other competitors in your field :)</p>

<p>Have fun, cause these may just be the best four years of your life!</p>

<p>Message me with any Questions :)</p>

3

<p>Try hard for hardest classes, don’t study at all for your easiest/two easiest classes</p>

4

<p>Do what you want. Don’t be a robot, and be forced into everything just for college. Maintain a passion all 4 years, and have fun.</p>

5

<p>I agree with tacoperson123.
You don’t NEED to maintain a 4.0 gpa freshmen year, it will help but don’t get discouraged if you can’t get it.
And do the extra-curriculars that you want to do, there are people who get accepted to the top universities without doing a sport or a musical instrument. </p>

6

<p>After typing this, I realized this turned into a “don’t” post instead :))</p>

<p>Don’t stand idly in the hallway to talk with your friends. One of the most annoying things anyone can do, especially freshmen (but we’ve all done it lol). Everyone makes mistakes in high school, but it’s the freshmen that get pointed out for them. So just relax, don’t cause any problems, but be sure to leave good first impressions!</p>

<p>Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Use your counselors and teachers to your advantage; they are there to help and guide you.</p>

<p>Don’t be scared to try new things. However, I think that it’s important to note that there is nothing wrong with being a quiet kid either! One of my biggest pet peeves is when people assume that you have to completely transform yourself once you reach high school. BE YOURSELF, and friends will come. It’s sad watching all of your peers become people they’re truly not, just to get into the “in crowd.” Surround yourself with people you enjoy spending time with and make you a better person.</p>

<p>Don’t sign up for a crap load of clubs just to “look good” for college. I cannot stress this enough. Take the clubs that genuinely interest you and that you feel passionate about. I was one of those kids, and I realized that I invested a ton of time in things I didn’t even care about when I could have been working on hobbies that I really love.</p>

<p>Don’t spend so much time on CC. It’s fun to talk with other people and gain insight, but coming on here excessively, especially as a freshman, will only intimidate you and stress you out. Seriously. It’s fun to daydream about going to an Ivy-League and seeing the stats of other people, but remember that you are you. Don’t feel the need to “follow” the others; just understand what’s best for you and spend time on the things you love.</p>

<p>My biggest one: **Do not expect to spend the best 4 years of your life at high school <a href=“sorry%20Spiral7%20for%20the%20downer,%20but%20I%20just%20can’t%20agree%20with%20you”>/b</a>. While you may have fun doing all the activities that high school has to offer, like going to football games and joining clubs, high school is often over-glorified in movies and tv shows. It isn’t just fun and games… you have to work HARD if you’re dreaming about a top school (like HYPSM).</p>

<p>**Good luck all incoming freshmen! You’ll do great! :slight_smile: **</p>

7

<p>I have a really long high school advice post [url=&lt;a href=“http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/high-school-life/1661936-if-you-could-redo-anything-in-your-high-school-career-what-would-it-be.html]here[/url”&gt;If you could redo anything in your high school career, what would it be? - High School Life - College Confidential Forums]here[/url</a>] that covers most of the advice I’d give to a freshman. </p>

<p>In addition, remember that you don’t need any specific ECs to get into selective colleges. You don’t need to do sports or join school clubs or play musical instruments if you’re not interested in those things! Just look for activities (inside or outside your school) that allow you to show focus, dedication, accomplishment, and ideally leadership. </p>

8

<ol>
<li>Find a balance between work and play</li>
<li>Don’t take life too seriously</li>
<li>Take advantage of extra credit and office hours</li>
<li>Do your homework and you’ll be fine (often times)</li>
<li>Keep a calendar or an agenda to help manage your time</li>
<li>Don’t stress out too much (You’ll be fine!)</li>
<li>Walk the walk instead of talking the talk</li>
<li>High School flies by </li>
</ol>

9

<ol>
<li>Don’t do something just because you think it will get you into college (hint: one thing wont make or break your application anywhere)</li>
<li>Don’t join this website until at least the end of your sophomore year. </li>
<li>Don’t start looking at colleges until the beginning of your junior year. </li>
<li>You don’t need a 4.0. </li>
<li>Don’t worry about college - do what you want and follow your passions or potential future passions.</li>
</ol>

10

<ol>
<li><p>Start being active early. Join clubs and go to events. Build yourself. By doing so, you will open up leadership opportunities (don’t be shy and run, you might be more capable than you think you are!) that will give you experience that will spill into later life. It can be harder to get leadership positions as you move into college or later as the competition will be tougher!</p></li>
<li><p>And if you win, make sure your academics do not make you neglect the position. Make time!</p></li>
<li><p>Personal opinion, BS the nonsense if it works for you. Develop your own methods to learn and you can efficiently proceed through your studies and it will open up time for you to do the above positions, even if you have maximum AP classes.</p></li>
<li><p>Awards. Touchy subject, but before striving for awards, consider if say trying to be Valedictorian/Top 10/other competitions is actually worth it–will they benefit you later in life? How many people are you competing against? Will maximizing AP classes and limiting no-GPA boost classes actually help you? Say you put in all the effort but don’t get the award–then was it worth it for everything you went through, the risk you’ve taken? Awards are a sense of accomplishment and should reward those that have done well (in contrast to those that have gamed the system to snatch up awards) probably have a lot of personal over bragging value… (It gets complicated when people look up to you) Work hard, and work on yourself before considering honors.</p></li>
</ol>

11

<ol>
<li><p>Establish yourself in clubs and activities as an active member, and someone that people can go to for help, because if you’re planning to try to get some leadership positions later on in high school, what you’re doing now will really matter when it comes to elections. </p></li>
<li><p>If you’re sitting someone that’s really distracting in class, I would suggest that you talk to the teacher after school to be moved to a different seat, most will understand. In my first semester of 9th grade, I got a B in Algebra 2 Honors because I sat next to one of my friends and we never got anything done.I think this was more of a problem in Freshmen year then later on because you get used to balancing work and play.</p></li>
<li><p>If you get a “B” in a rigorous class, or a “3” on your first AP test, this does not mean you aren’t cut out for it. Honestly, my first AP class was the hardest just because I wasn’t used to the rigor. Don’t let that turn you away from taking higher level classes, because trust me, it gets better.</p></li>
<li><p>A lot of people on this thread are focusing on the academic side of high school, but just remember that it isn’t all work. You’re going to have a lot of people around you with similar or dissimilar interests. Don’t be afraid to make friends, and make sure you know who your real friends are. </p></li>
</ol>

12

<ol>
<li><p>Establish good relationships with your teachers. After all, they’re the ones grading your work and writing your rec letters. Plus, you might find that they’re actually kinda interesting.</p></li>
<li><p>Your friendships will not stay the same as they were in middle school. You’ll lose some friends but you’ll gain new ones, too. </p></li>
<li><p>Don’t do something only because it’ll look good on college apps. If you’re genuinely passionate about the things you do, it will be so much easier to excel at them. </p></li>
<li><p>I really regret not taking the chance to get to know certain upperclassmen. Before I knew it, they’d graduated and left for college.</p></li>
<li><p>Work hard. I go to school with lots of kids who end up going to top colleges. You know what they all have in common? They work their asses off. </p></li>
<li><p>But also play hard. Have a little fun! Just don’t go overboard.</p></li>
</ol>

13

<ol>
<li><p>Focus on your studies, build relationships with fellow students and teachers and start extracurriculars that you truly enjoy.</p></li>
<li><p>Hard work pays off. Take rigorous classes (whether they are AP, IB, DE, etc). Don’t slack so early; if you work diligently now, you won’t have to worry about your GPA later. Give yourself some breathing room for junior and senior year.</p></li>
<li><p>Have fun (in proper amounts)! Hang out with friends, play video games, take part in sports. Don’t spend all of your time in “school-only” mode. That said, don’t stray too far from your academics.</p></li>
<li><p>Plan out a standardized testing schedule early. Take SAT/ACT/Subject Tests as soon as you feel prepared.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t worry so much about college yet. After all, you only have four years of high school. Enjoy them.</p></li>
</ol>

14

<p>@texasteen99</p>

15

<p>taking 9 AP classes as a freshman can be helpful when applying to colleges</p>

16

<p>My advice:
BE</p>