<p>Freshmen:Most deffinitly get involved in stuff at school. Clubs, sports, etc. Thats the only way to really have a good freshmen year. I didn't get involved at all and it was terrible. :(</p>
<p>Sophmore:</p>
<p>Junior:</p>
<p>Senior:</p>
<p>If you've got any good advice or tips, give it to us!!</p>
<p>Ok, for freshman:</p>
<p>Don't be afraid of the upperclassmen. They may seem big and scary, but they are really nice. Join and sport or do something like marching band to meet some!</p>
<p>Don't forget to have fun and let your hair down every once in a while. That's my freshman advice. Don't get obsessive about being perfect to the point where you don't know how to have fun. One day it won't matter if you were president of the math club, scored well on your AMC, etc.</p>
<p>Don't compare yourself to others. Really. I know it's hard when your school ranks and with cc, but you'll be so much happier if it's about what you can do</p>
<p>I know mine isn't about grades, stats, EC's, but I think it's important none the less</p>
<p>I think this is just for general high school. Try to have fun, because in a few years people won't really care what you did in high school and what grades and stuff you got. Also don't be too serious, just try to enjoy life. Finally try to be positive and outgoing because your high school experience plays a big part in determining what kind of adult you are going to be.</p>
<p>Seniors: Have fun. Keep your grades decent second semester, but don't make school your primary focus. Have a good time with your friends, skip as often as you can, party hard, and enjoy every minute of it :).</p>
<p>Juniors: Don't get any ideas from the seniors.</p>
<p>Freshmen: keep your grades up, but don't obsess too much. Do some extracurriculars, sports, or join the band/orchestra to meet new people, esp. upperclassmen. Try as many things as possible to see if you have any hidden interests or talents. </p>
<p>And do your homework. :D</p>
<p>expanding on what elizabeth said</p>
<p>freshmen, sophomores, juniors: dont spend too much time around seniors allowing yourself to get ideas from them</p>
<p>Freshman:
- If you school does open house before school starts, GO. That way, you can get a tiny feel for your teachers, figure out where you're going the first day, and see some old friends you've missed all summer. Plus, if you go to one of those schools where the upperclassmen hassle the freshies you won't look like a freshman because you aren't clutching a map in one hand.
- Don't take your friends warnings and switch out a class, just because the teacher has a reputation for being extremely tough and giving a lot of homework. Sure, you might fail the class if you don't have enough work ethic but teachers like that can teach you a lot about life and time management as well as the subject you're taking.</p>
<p>Sophomores:
- Don't be too big-headed just because you've survived your freshman year.</p>
<p>Freshmen:
This is your time to get involved! You have the biggest advantage over everyone, you have time. You have time to bring up a lousy GPA, and you have time to get involved without yet thinking of admissions yet. With that said dont slack off! It will be harder than you think to bring up a really, really low GPA.</p>
<p>Sophmore: ? Get Involved, and develop interests. Dont forget to take Sat II Exams if you havent already. Most colleges require 3 to be taken. Begin preparing for the PSAT. And start looking for internships or jobs.</p>
<p>My biggest high school tip: There is life beyond high school.</p>
<p>Haha...good one TomK!</p>
<p>Tips from my personal experience (might not apply to everyone):</p>
<p>Freshman: Try to get involved. Dabble in anything that might sound interesting. If you like it after freshman year, keep doing it throughout high school. If you don't, it's fine, drop it. It's a good year to try stuff because the course work won't be that hard - it might seem intimidating at first, but once you get a loose routine, you're set. Don't be scared of upperclassmen - join clubs even if your friends don't want to. If you're too shy to really step out say "hi", smile, be polite, and act respectful. I was like that freshman year - I kind of found an upperclassmen who was outgoing and got to know me - she encouraged me to speak out, even if she would voice my opinions - seeing the reaction of my opinions gave me confidence to speak up. </p>
<p>Being an upperclassmen now, I try to keep an eye on freshman and help them if they're too shy. The thing is, if they're nice and respectful to me I will happily go out of my way to help them. The freshman that run and yell in the halls and overrun the upperclassmen halls, steal our benches, and talk back at us - those are the ones I have no problem slamming into rooms and locking the door. Some people (mostly guys, at least here) might mock you or make fun of you for being polite. All I do is smile and say "you're welcome." Getting another polite response seems to astound them - don't ask me why, but I think that's the reason people in foreign countries don't like Americans (what I noticed in Germany).</p>
<p>Sophmores: Just because your survived freshman year doesn't mean you're high and mighty. I have no problem locking a rude sophmore in a classroom, or outisde one end of the school. Hopefully by now you've found your place though, the clubs you enjoy. Keep up with those. Start getting to know your teachers if you hadn't freshman year. Also, getting to know your counsler is also good - if your counsler knows your name and such they might be able to write a recommendation letter that isn't completely generic. Classes will still be relatively easy, but things will really change socially. Remember that friends will come and go. Alcohol and drugs will get more prevalent and even easier to access. Only do what you want to do. I don't advocate drugs or alcohol - I don't do either and have fun. If anyone tells you they make everything more fun, it's a lie. I can't stress it enough - only do it if you want to. </p>
<p>Junior Year: Start looking at colleges. I was the first person looking at colleges, and all my friends thought I was crazy for starting so early (I had actually started in 7th grade, but you don't necessarily need to be so obsessed). Regardless, now (coming senior year) my friends are stressing to look at colleges and I'm sitting back working on college essays. Take your PSAT in October and SAT in the spring. This is when school work actually might become difficult. After the social changes sophmore year, you'll be more comfortable and parties will actually be fun since you'll be more confident in yourself, not worrying about what to wear, who you'll meet, etc. Keep up with those few clubs and activities you've been doing. If you've found something that really doesn't interest you anymore, drop it and find something else. Or volunteer. Don't make yourself miserable in something you don't like just because of colleges. Even if it means your only in one school club, just volunteer a little on the side. I love writing, so I do the school literary journal and that's it - but I write stuff for 'zines and contests. There are ways outside of school to do stuff and still get it on your college application so it doesn't look like you're a lazy slob, but not go over and kill yourself too. Befriend your teachers, keep in touch with ones you had befriended the year before. Do stuff on the weekends. Again, I stress, only do drugs or drink if you want to, not because you need them to have fun or make something better. Have fun but take care of yourself.</p>
<p>Summer before senior year: Have insane amounts of fun. Travel. Be with friends. Get a summer job to get some cash to go somewhere with your friends and buy stuff. Or save it. Whatever. It'll be the "last" summer with your friends because the next summer will be busy with buying stuff for your dorms, families wanting to spend time with you before you "go off" and everything. Plus there will be the graduation parties and stuff which just remind you that it's "over" and it's very bittersweet - so enjoy being able to be spontaneous, yet still completely protected. Get college applications, collect the essay prompts you'll need. When you get bored, or at wee hours of the morning when you find you can't sleep, you can look at them and completely freewrite on the topic - maybe later once you have a head you can form them into an essay, maybe not. It'll be nice to have some back-up though once school starts and you're busy with school work and application deadlines. </p>
<p>That's all I have now since I'll be a senior this year. The little bit I know about summer before college and senior year is because my boyfriend is a year ahead of me so I went through all of this with him just now. Sorry for the essay/horiscope, I just always have a lot to say, haha. Have fun, good luck to all the kiddies. Cheers!</p>