We sometimes work with families as early as 9th grade, but oftentimes we don’t start working with them until after they’ve begun their freshman year. This means that they’ve already selected and started their classes. Class selection is a big task that we tackle with each and every one of our students, and because we often miss out on this process with 9th graders, we wanted to clue every rising freshman (and their parents, who we’re going to assume are reading this right now. Hi.) in on some considerations to have when you’re making your class selections.
Please do hear us when we say that we understand that sometimes there isn’t a lot of wiggle room, especially during freshman year. Oftentimes your courses are pre-set. That said, remember that the rules aren’t always quite as black and white as you think they are.
Just because someone says that something isn’t possible, it doesn’t mean that it’s not accessible—it just means it’s not for most. For example, if you are enrolled in Geometry, but you want to talk Pre-Calculus because you’ve been bumped up every year in middle school and studying on the side and you have the pre-requisite knowledge to do so, then petition the school. More often than not, you’ll get what you want. Or we’ll help you to. Trust us.
These suggestions are particularly useful for students who are aiming high. We’re talking top 10 or top 20 schools. While every freshman can benefit from these suggestions, students who haven’t executed on the below starting in freshman year who then want to apply to top tier colleges end up fighting an uphill battle. If you don’t care as much about getting into a top tier school, that’s totally fine. We work with students who are more flexible and they still get into wonderful colleges that excite them. But, if you want to go to a top tier school, and you care about learning the rules of working hard and going above and beyond, then listen up.
Here is our one tip to keep in mind if you want to maximize your freshman year and truly hit the ground running, what with college as a small landmark down the road quite a few miles and all:
Take the absolute hardest, most challenging courses available to you that you can still achieve an A in (and yes, you can get an A in basically any class).
That’s it. There’s one tip. We have a bit more to say about it, but that’s essentially it. You can keep reading, though.
We get the following question all of the time: “Is it better to get a B in a harder course or an A in an easy course?” Our answer will always be the same: It’s better to get an A in a harder course. Impossible? Nothing is. Challenge yourself. Set time aside to get ahead and attend tutoring sessions with your teacher. Create a study group. Learn how you best learn and retain information. Get an A. It’s not an elusive goal. In fact, it’s quite achievable. It just probably won’t be easy. But then again, it’s not easy to get into Harvard, so you might as well start challenging yourself in a serious way now.
Also, while you’re selecting your courses and debating the course that your freshman year is going to take, delete your social media. While it’s not relevant to your course selection, it is relevant to your success in these classes that you’re so diligently choosing. We’re serious. Delete it. It’s only going to distract you from achieving As in your courses, and it’s not going to get easier to delete it as you amass friends (in real life. Like, human friends, not flat friends on the internet). So just do it now. You can recreate your profiles once you’ve been accepted to college. Trust us, rip off this band-aid sooner rather than later. We won’t change our mind.
Let us know if you have any questions. We’re here to help you and we’re here to let you know how to maximize these short four years so that you can spend the following four years at a place that you love.