When you’re just a freshman, you don’t really have a ton of options for different classes to take. You’ll probably have a history class, science, math, english - the typical stuff. But you might have opportunities to take advanced classes, and since colleges care about what you’ve been doing since Day One of high school, we think you should take them.
We have some pretty strong thoughts about how important picking the right classes is - and colleges have them, too. Some high schools might offer you the option to take AP classes; we’ve found that AP Human Geography, for example, is a pretty standard option for freshmen. You might also find options for dual enrollment, advanced courses, IB, and more.
If you’re a freshman or rising 8th grader and have a dream of going to a top-tier college, you really, really need to take the following advice to heart. Getting into college is a competitive process at any tier of education, especially when you’re eyeing schools with super-low acceptance rates. So, let’s talk about what you can do to get the most out of your freshman year.
Starting your freshman year and planning for college can be overwhelming. Reach out to us for help putting together the plan for your academic success.
Take the Hardest Classes Available to You And Get All A’s
This. Just this. We’ll be talking about this for pretty much this entire post. There are rumors (and they are rumors) that colleges don’t care about freshman year, or that if you tank 9th grade but ace the rest, you’ll be fine. Wrong! So wrong!!!! They care! Day one!
With getting As in mind, some students might wonder if it’s better to get a lower grade in a harder course or an A in an easy course. The goal should be to get As in the most challenging courses possible. Colleges care deeply about getting (and keeping) grades high throughout high school, especially in those honors, AP, or IB classes. Plus, taking harder classes in high school will prepare you for those tough college courses.
We believe you can get an A in every class. If you’re not a natural at school (and not everyone is), you’ll need to work hard and ask for help. There are so many additional resources out there like tutors, study halls, Youtube and Khan Academy videos, meeting with teachers, etc. You need to find the way that you learn the best, lean into it, and use that to your advantage. These next few years will be hard, but getting into the groove for it as a freshman will just set you up for success as your Junior and Senior years get busier and harder.
For Emphasis: Take the Hardest Classes Available to You And Get All A’s
Getting all A’s isn’t necessarily easy, but getting into college isn’t either, especially if you’re interested in attending top-tier schools like the Ivy League, UChicago, Stanford, MIT, or Duke. Build yourself up, figure out what study skills and resources work for you, and own it. Then you become a better student, AND your chances of getting into your dream college skyrocket. It’s a win-win scenario!
It’s also good to start considering what extracurriculars you want to explore and what your specific academic interests may be. You can join some clubs at school and when it comes to summer, reach out to us so we can help you plan.
Helping you find and build your brand is really important to us, because the sooner you can find the specific thing you’re interested in, the sooner you can start building out the most impressive resume possible. So, if there’s something that you’re really passionate about, or even just curious about, start doing some research!
If you need help strategizing for freshman year, let us know. We specialize in helping your student know exactly what they need to do to prep for college.