School’s out, you’re ready to lounge around the house and do nothing. But, if you’re here reading this blog, you’re probably an ambitious student with dreams of top-tier colleges. And students who want to go to top-tier colleges know they need to start preparing for the college admissions process now. We know summer is the time you don’t want to think about school, but thems the breaks, kid.
How to Develop Your Extracurriculars as a Freshman in High School
“I am only a 9th grader, are you sure I should be thinking about college? Seems premature.” It’s not. The college application process starts the moment you start freshman year. Every year of college matters on your application, plus the earlier you start building your niche, the deeper and more involved you can get. Starting to build out your extracurricular profile in your interest area as a freshman could be the thing that pushes you into admission at schools like Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!
What Classes Should You Take Freshman Year of High School?
We sometimes start working with students as young as 9th grade, but we usually don’t enter the scene until after class selection for the 9th grade. Class selection is a big deal–a huge factor in admissions to top-tier colleges–and we help each and every one of our clients with this task.
Does Freshman Year of High School Matter?
Summer Ideas for Freshmen in High School
Summers are amazing. Not for beach vacations or road trips, although those are fun, but because it’s your largest chunk of uninterrupted time to explore any and all interests you might have. We know, you’re mad we’re telling you that you gotta do work during the summer. Too bad!! You have Ivy League aspirations, you can’t slack off!
What Not To Do Freshman Year Of High School
Freshman Year of High School Tips
Dear Parents of Middle Schoolers,
Are you ready for high school? Fortunately, we’ve gone through this transition a few times (read: hundreds). It’s not going to be the easiest thing you’ve ever done, but it certainly won’t be the hardest as long as you have the right perspective and preparation.
What to Do the Summer Before Your Freshman Year of High School
While we know the pandemic has changed a lot for students, this is sure to be an exciting time in life. A lot of parents ask us if freshman year is too early to start thinking about college. After all, nobody wants to put undue pressure on young people who are just getting their footing in this next phase of life. That said, the college application process is a long journey. It can be challenging and there’s a lot to accomplish. Our strategy is to have kids spread out the workload across four years, not only to build a more robust application, but also to make it all more manageable. Here are some ideas on how to spend the summer before your freshman year.
Freshman Year of High School Tips
We’ve written before about the that you can do as a 9th grader to prepare for college: , , and maybe take an . While these are all true, we wanted to expand a bit upon what 9th grade really means within the context of your college application and perhaps reframe your thinking on your freshman year.
How Important Is Freshman Year of High School to Colleges
Every year of high school is an important building block in the college process. That idea is hard for some to wrap their heads around—how can what you do at 14 impacts what happens with the college you’re heading to as a legal adult? While freshman year might not seem like the most important year, the reality is, freshman year is foundational and it’s still really important if you want to get into a top-notch school, particularly the Ivy League.
Creating Hobbies in Quarantine When You’re a Freshman in High School
Welcome to 2020. It’s an odd time. You’re stuck at home, learning and getting graded via Zoom or something similar, probably doing the dishes and way more chores than you’d anticipated, and you’re a freshman in high school. What a weird way to start off your high school experience, huh?! We’re right there with you.
What Classes Should I Take Freshman Year of High School?
We sometimes work with families as early as , 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. 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.
How Important is Freshman Year of High School
How to Recover from a bad Freshman Year in High School
So, you had a not-so-great freshman year? You’re likely reading this because you ended your freshman year with a less-than-stellar GPA or you just felt like your performance was lackluster. It happens, and we commend you for searching out information to better yourself in the future. It’s better than getting to senior year, realizing your GPA sucks, and frantically Googling, “how to get into college with bad grades.” (Yes, we wrote a blog post with this title.) The first step is admitting you have a problem! We’re here to tell you: it’s going to be okay. We know that you are capable of more and we want to help you get on track. Here are three easy steps to getting out of a freshman year hole:
Does Freshman Year of High School Matter for College?
We get this question a lot from parents and students alike. Freshman year often gets overlooked as an important year academically because it’s considered by many to be a “transition” year. Don’t get us wrong, the transition from middle to high school can be a tough one, but please hear us when we say that freshman year is not considered a transition year to colleges. Freshman year is just as important as sophomore year, junior, and senior year. If you’re considering if something is important for college admissions, ask yourself: will colleges see the outcome of this? Applying this logic to freshman year grades: will colleges see your freshman year grades? Yes, they will.
The Best Activities for the Summer After Freshman Year of High School
The summer after freshman year is your first “real” summer, and we find that the time is best used to explore initial interests in certain areas. That doesn’t mean that you can’t see your friends or that you aren’t allowed to have fun, we’re just saying that colleges look specifically at how you spend your free time as an indicator of success and work ethic and summer means a lot of free time. You could spend it at camp, but that won’t do much to further your interests. We’d like you to use this free chunk of 2-2.5 months to do something that is both fun and related to something academic that you’re interested in. And make sure that you find time to be active and play basketball with your friends. Here are some initial ideas that we have that are perfect for freshmen beginning to explore their interest(s):
The 3 Things High School Freshmen can do to Prepare for College
We know freshmen year sounds too early to begin the college process. You (or your child) just finished middle school, you’ve just started high school, and already it’s overwhelming. There’s no time for adjusting because you’re thrown right in and the prospect of taking on more than you’re already doing seems unreasonable. We hear you. But, there are small things you can (and should!) do during 9th grade. Remember that the college process is a marathon, not a sprint, and colleges will look at what you did 9th grade, even if it’s not weighted as heavily as what you do your junior year. This doesn’t mean you have to cure cancer or start a sustainable agriculture program, but you do have to fill your time with something.
How to Become President of Every Club
You’re a leader even if you don’t know it yet. If you want to go to a highly competitive school, you already know how much your extracurriculars matter. But, it is the quality of those extracurriculars and your work within them that matters. Schools want leaders who are going to be excited about impacting their college community, not followers looking for a way to stuff their resume.
Things to do Freshman Year to Prepare for College
The college process starts earlier every year. In our home base in New York City, it seems that it begins around age two when parents start looking at options for Pre-K. By the beginning of middle school many parents are already looking for independent college counselors, consultants, and ACT tutors. This approach might seem aggressive to some, and while we don’t think a ten year old should be thinking about college, ninth grade is an appropriate time to start talking about the future.