Do you like writing? Well, what about her sister — reading? We hope you like reading, since it’s time to read this blog post!! If you’re here, we’re assuming you’re a literary-minded 9th grader who’s thinking about the idea of majoring in English in college. We love it; let’s talk about it.
Before you start sassing us, no, freshman year is not too early to start thinking about college. Colleges are certainly looking at your record from day one of high school, so it’s important to take this process seriously if you have a top-tier college in your sights.
At 91̽, we mainly help freshmen plan their summers, but we are also chock full of tips and tricks to make the most of your freshman year. That way, when you join us as a sophomore, you’re already a step ahead.
Explore What You’re Interested In
English is one of the most popular college majors. It’s certainly one that’s been around for a long time, and it’s one with a lot of applications to other fields and topics. We see students with English majors go towards fields like journalism, law, teaching, corporate communications, and so much more. Knowing how to read, write, analyze, and dissect can be applied to any field post-grad. And because there’s so much you can do with English, and because it is a popular major, you need to start specializing and forming your niche early.
We get to know our students one-on-one to help you identify your niche, or at least a starting point within the broader topic of English. We ask a ton of questions, covering everything from the best books you read in and out of school this year, your favorite music/movie/TV show, how you spend your time outside of school, and your hobbies. This helps us get a better idea of where to lead you towards academically.
As you probably have gathered by now, it’s not enough to just say “English” on your college apps. They want to see something narrow — that niche we mentioned. So what does that look like for English majors? Great question. “Mark Twain’s Travel Literature,” “17th Century Political Satire,” or “Romantic Poetry of the 19th Century.”
Don’t worry, you are not going to get there overnight. And it is actually better if you take some time getting down to the specifics of what you’re interested in. You’re going to want to be able to tell a story about how you arrived at “Romantic Poetry of the 19th Century” so that it doesn’t seem contrived.
You have to start by exploring the topic on your own, whether that’s through reading (which, as a prospective English major, you absolutely should be doing anyways) and online classes. Once you discover that you like one element or theme more than others, follow that thread. If you join us full time as a sophomore and already know you want to focus on British Lit, that already puts you ahead.
Do Well in School
We do not know who started telling y’all and y’all’s parents that “freshman year doesn’t matter,” and “it’s ok if I got all Cs freshman year if I improved after that!” but they were wrong. If you want to go to a top tier school, and you’re on this blog post right now as a 9th grader (we assume you’re probably pretty Type A (so are we)), then we want you to know that colleges do care, deeply, about freshman year. It’s just as important as the rest! They want to see you getting the highest possible grades you can in the hardest classes you can take, starting on day one of high school.
We’re not trying to be preachy or naggy here, we just really care! We want you to reach your goals. And look, we know freshman year is a big adjustment. If you find yourself struggling, we recommend accessing all the resources you can. Whether it’s meeting with your teachers, going to peer tutoring, or watching Khan Academy videos, you need to take the initiative to keep your grades high. It won’t hurt to start developing good study skills, either.
Extracurriculars
As a 9th grader, you most likely don’t have a ton of options when it comes to your classes. You may not be able to load up on cool English electives or AP Lit right away, but you can start exploring your interests (even ones outside of English!) through extracurriculars. And in fact, we strongly encourage you to do so. Sometimes, students join us in sophomore or junior year and have no extracurriculars related to their prospective major on their resume. This makes us wish we were Women in STEM so we could invent a time machine to make them at least join Yearbook.
There are a lot of activities you can do as a prospective English major, both in and outside of school. You could start a poetry club, or like one past student, create a club/yearly event dedicated to Gertrude Stein. You could write for the school paper, edit the yearbook, or contribute to the school literary magazine. Don’t have any of those? Start them. You can (and should) read and write as much as possible in your free time, and maybe even publish your writings through Medium or Substack. You can volunteer at the library or teach English to little kids. There are tons of things to try — you just have to go out there and try them!
Summer Plans for freshman year
Now here’s where we come in. The summer is, in our opinion, the most important time you have to really explore English, find your niche, and get good experiences on the ol’ resume.
Summer is the longest uninterrupted period of time you get as a student, and you need to take advantage of it. We know vacation and veg-ing out seems more fun, and you can still go on that family trip, but you also need to take steps to actualize your goals.
As a prospective English major, there are a LOT of summer programs available to you. Not all of them are good, nor are all of them matches with who you are as a person, which is where we come in. We get to know our students, what their interests are, and what they’re like as people and we help match them to a variety of programs. Lots of universities, like Harvard, Brown, UPenn, UChicago, Yale, Columbia, Kenyon, and USC have specialized English pre-college programs and classes that allow you to learn something new and get a little glimpse of college life.
We help identify which programs are best for you and your goals, and we help with every step of the application process. From selecting courses, to brainstorming your application essays, to helping you ask your teacher for a rec letter, we can help you plan the summer that’s right for you.
It may feel early to think about college as a freshman — and we agree (kinda). There’s a reason we don’t start weekly calls with kids until sophomore year, but we also know that starting early, especially if you already have a few interests in mind, is crucial to getting ahead. Freshmen, we want you to take the pressure off and use this time to explore your interests. Keep your grades up, ask for help if you need it, get involved in activities you actually enjoy (not just the things you think will “look good”), and come see us if you need help planning your summer.
Freshmen, if you want to start strategizing for college, or just need help planning your summer, reach out to us today.