Yes. End of blog.

Ok, kidding, but we want to address a long-standing myth that freshman year is a “transitional period,” and not an important piece of your college application. Colleges like to see consistency throughout your high school career, and starting off on the right foot is the best way to set yourself up for four years of strong grades.

Perfect grades and scores are the best foundation for a strong application to a top-tier Ivy League level school. When you add killer extracurriculars on top of that, you’re in a really good position come senior fall. Let’s address a few other myths about freshman year:

“Schools actually don’t mind if you do poorly freshman year if you improve your grades with each passing year.”

Bzzt. Wrong. Like we said, colleges want to see consistency. If you have Cs and Bs freshman year, it actually might be really hard to get those grades up to As the following years–especially since what you learn freshman year is often a foundation for the rest of your classes. Also, if you’re getting Cs in those intro classes but As in your more challenging classes later on, that signals to colleges that you were lazy until you felt like it actually ‘mattered.’

If you find yourself struggling now, get help. Talk to your teachers, find a tutor, and take a hard look at your own study habits. It’s best to get a foundation now, because good grades throughout your career are important. And if you end up doing poorly freshman year, not all hope is lost, but it’ll be a lot harder for you to catch up.

“Freshman year is the least important year! Who cares!”

BZZT. Also wrong. Each year of high school is equally as important, because each year factors into your overall GPA. Even if you got all 100s in sophomore, junior, and senior years, if you got a mix of Cs and Bs freshman year, that’s still a 3.7 GPA. And grades aren’t the only thing that matters for freshman year, you also need to be pursuing your extracurriculars and developing the niche we always talk about.

If you start building out your extracurricular profile now, you have plenty of time to fully explore your interests and figure out what you want to study in college. If you’re an Ivy League hopeful, exploring and developing these passions now is key to a strong application that stands out from the rest. Don’t hesitate to jump in and don’t avoid exploring an interest because some nerd at school called it cringe.

“I didn’t do well because of some major life stuff, they should just give me a break!”

How can they know if you don’t tell them!! They cannot read your mind, they are not the tarot decks on your TikTok for you page. When you eventually apply to college, the Common App has a place for additional information, where you can expand on any situations that may have contributed to an extremely uncharacteristic semester or year.

Look, we know the transition from middle school to high school is challenging. It’s a big move! Things feel real! College is so close and yet so far! All these changes are a lot, but you need to make sure you’re taking freshman year seriously. If you’re struggling, ask for help. If you feel unmotivated, find an accountability partner. You’ve got this.

If you need help navigating high school, developing your extracurriculars, or strategizing for college admissions, reach out to us today.