Highschool; so close yet so far

My biggest piece of advice would be to pace your course load, which you seem to be with two honors courses and two cp (Does your school also run on the common core curriculum?) Also don't stress about one bad grade as it'll even out by the end of the quarter/trimester/marking period. Good luck and remember to try and enjoy the rest of middle school

 

Okay, my advice is going to vary, but, here it is.
Heheh this is kinda controversial, but I'd say try to get most of your academic classes out of the way early so that your junior and senior year can be a lil more slack. It'll be more work in the short run, but less at the end, is all I'm saying. I took AP courses throughout most of high school, and, if you're that kinda student, make sure you only take AP courses of subjects you're INTERESTED IN XD trust me.

Also, some general advice, don't be intimidated by upperclassmen. There's sometimes the rumors that they are jerks to freshmen, but, it seriously isn't like that. And if they are at your school, who cares, there are jerks in all grade levels.

Another word of advice, and this is my BIGGEST-- cherish the time you have with your friends. You say now, "oh, I got 4 years left, I got time" and then 5 minutes later, it's senior year, 2nd semester.

Ah, and now's probably a good time to start doing some community service. If you can just get with just one agency and devote some time with them to have a good word in, that'd be good. This one isn't 100% necessary, buuut, a lot of applications for scholarships want you to have community service.

Oh yeah, SAT and ACT, take them as early as possible so that you have a feel for them. You'll get a practice sat in 9th grade i'm sure. Don't feel bad if you do bad on the practice one (i made a 900 on my practice one XD). I'mma tell you now, the SAT has harder questions but is easier with time. the ACT has less time but easier questions (If you can do 60 math problems in 60 minutes, then go ahead and take the ACT). Either way, it's probably best to take them both.

Heheh but yeah, if you need high school advice, I can give you loads of it. It's good to make the good decisons early

 

I think there is an entry recently that has the same topic
if you can't find it let me know what I will look

 

I going into high school next year too and the high school I'm going to
only has one foreign language which suck because I really want to take
German. But I'm still excited

 

uh yes...I did a Tumblr post about this. Lemme go fetch it...

---------- Post added 15th Feb 2014 at 09:45 PM ----------

Ten Tips You Need to Survive High School
1. Join groups, get involved but manage your time.

You may be reading this any be like: “This fool can’t be serious, how is it possible that one can be so involved and manage one’s time at the same time. While this is a valid point, I personally found it that when I was involved the most, grades actually skyrocketed. It sounds like the mentality is that when a person is so involved, they subconsciously prioritize. If this is very tough for you: BUY A PLANNER and so this brings me to my next tip.



2. Buy a planner!!

If I actually brought myself to buy a planner every year of my high school career, I probably would not forgot about homework assignments and such. And thus, if I did not forget, my grades would have probably been better. You also may be like “Okay, I have an iPhone or Android or what have you, it has an electronic planner in it.” This is perfectly valid as in this technological age, pencil and paper tasks are out the door. You need something you can physically touch and read or what have you. Also, a person can remember much better when they can see something in writing as opposed to something that they just electronically type and then forget. I have read something that if you write something in a certain color, you’ll remember it better. I do not know if this has been valid or not but if you think it may help you then go for it.



3. Don’t be afraid to talk to new people

This was my brother’s tip so I may or may not have much to say about this one. I’ll try my best though although I can tell you this explanation will not be as long though. Yep…don’t be afraid to talk to new people. High school is another chance to start fresh, reinvent yourself per se. Make no mistake, some classes in high school may be so work-involved and so complicated, you’ll never get out alive if you don’t talk to new I jpeople or make some friends. Believe me, you’ll want a chance to vent to these people. Find a nice middle between a loner and a complete chatterbox and you’ll do just fine. Even if it’s just to vent to these people or ridicule some teachers (let’s hope it doesn’t get to that point), and sometimes the people that you talk to may have some advice on some teachers or workload involved in a class, I’ll touch on that later on tip #7. .



4. Ask questions

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Swallow your pride and ask whenever you don’t understand something. I can guarentee you someone else in the classroom will have the same question that you do, do NOT think that they don’t because they do. You may think that you look stupid doing so but you won’t. You may think others will think less of you for asking questions but it’s your grade and not theirs. You wanna ask questions that other people think are dumb questions? Go right ahead. Asking questions is a great strategy, ask why, ask how. If you find yourself in a situation doing a problem, correcting a sentence or what have you, ask the teacher for a different problem and work it out or correct it in what way you think is correct. And ask your teacher if you did it right. The way I just described is an excellent way of learning in a classroom about any subject.

P.S: I have a tough time writing something without straying away from the subject, so if clarification is needed then just ask.



5. Don’t use electronics in class unless it’s permitted



Just don’t do it unless the teacher calls for it. It is an extremely bad idea and no matter how good you are at multitasking, you just will not find yourself paying attention to the lesson of that day. You will either find yourself absorbed on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or what have you or paying attention and learning. The only time I had my laptop out in high school was when I got permission for my teacher and we were both curious of how a mathematical formula came about. So yeah. This tip is only here because schools have just begun to put BYOT in place.



6. Do homework

DO HOMEWORK!!! This should be #1 but I guess I may turn this into a bulleted list. This has been ingrained in your head since the beginning of your educational career but this cannot be stressed enough. If I bothered to do my homework, I would have probably been a straight A student and you can too!! Just remember to do your homework and that’s including optional homework also!!



7. Ask the seniors or upperclassmen for help.

Seniors are the oldest and the most experienced students of the school and can be the great resources to one! One can ask them about academic work, variety of tests, about the teachers, and about universities. They can guide, help, and even provide information very easily to younger students. Remember tip #3 don’t be afraid to talk to new people — the seniors are the key! Also seniors have experience so they can give you more tips on how to survive high school, how to survive certain teachers even certain classes. Even though it has been rumored that seniors look down on freshmen and see them as “Fresh meat,” seniors will be glad to help out freshmen. If you remember that Family Guy episode where Chris gets dropped off by Lois and everybody brings out their paddle when Lois yells “Fresh meat!,” just remember that it’s a cartoon and it really does not happen.



8. Don’t sleep in class your classes.

I’m just gonna provide a personal example. Senior year, English IV, fell asleep while reading Beowulf, test day came, made a 32 on the test. DON’T SLEEP IN CLASS!!!



9. Get to know the teachers.



Knowing one’s teachers can be one of the tickets to success in high school. By knowing the characteristics and personalities of teachers – one can easily estimate on the “type” of work that one should produce. Also, teachers can be of guidance to one’s queries about the real world outside high school, as well as supporting one on non-academic projects.



10. Be yourself .

Be confident, be assured and most of all don’t worry what other people think, you are your own person now.

 

My life has gone upside down since high school. I used to care about grades, and sanity, like I was meant to follow the great plan.


I can't think that anymore.

 

I'm not sure how school works in New England, but if your grades count towards university application from now on, be very careful; choose classes that are interesting, but still core and versatile enough to open many university choices. Have a look at what universities like near you, but I'd advise you to choose at least one science, maths, English/literature and another humanity, and probably a language. If your grades don't count towards university yet, be a little more free with class selection but always choose classes that are likely to give you a head-start with future classes/application to university. It's really important to make wise decisions now, so you don't regret them later because you took an academically worthless class that seemed interesting.

As for actual schoolwork:

-Do not neglect drafts and homework, so you should get a diary or make a big sheet covering the assessment in the term on one page; forgetting something is never an excuse. Do tasks as soon as possible; procrastination is evil and will get the better of you and possibly affect your entire future if you're not careful. Homework is often not checked as you get into higher levels, but this is not an excuse not to do it; it will show up negatively on your results as you're unprepared for assessment items.

-Make electronic back-ups of all assignments, and always submit print when possible.

-Always listen in class, and don't take of for sickness unless absolutely necessary (conjunctivitis, a funeral, diahrroea) Missing even one lesson can seriously damage your grades, especially in the years closest to graduation.

-It's important that you've got a good relationship with your teachers; although it's unfair, your teachers will be more likely to give you helpful feedback and advice if they're fond of you - my history teacher told me that he wishes he could have us submit our official numbers instead of names to avoid bias, so that indicates how important it is to be friendly.

-Make good friends and get involved in extra-curricular activities. Study is your priority, but you need to have fun.

 

As a junior in high school, I've learned a lot over the last two years of being in high school. There is a lot more to this, but the most important tips to have a successful high school adventure is to:
1. Homework - It's important to keep up your homework so that you will do successful on your tests. The amount of work you put in your high school years vs. middle school years is a lot more. Teachers will not hold your hand during these four years; it's your responsibility and a lot of kids coming into high school think that teachers are still going to hold their hands. They're wrong. Also, the homework isn't as bad sometimes. If you have easy classes for the quarter/trimester/semester, then it's good.
2. New friends/people/etc. - You'll meet so many people coming into high school. It's kinda cool actually Even if you're shy (I was my freshman year), you'll still meet people! Also, get involved in activities because not only that'll bring you to more people, but it looks really good on college applications.
3. Class stuff - Always, ALWAYS pay attention in class. It's vital and some teachers will either be gladly to help you or will not help you at all. If you have a day where you don't pay attention, that's fine, but make sure you are listening because it really helps. I'm pretty sure you know not to use electronics and whatnot, so I don't have to tell you much about that. And before tests, space yourself time throughout the week before a test to study and eat a very good breakfast. Tests get stressful throughout the years.
4. Be yourself - High school is a place where you get to start realizing who you are and don't be afraid to show off who you are. Be crazy, be happy, be daring, be whatever because at the end of the day, you are who you are and only you have the power to judge yourself.

 

What was your junior high like? For me, the biggest change to get used to in high school was having different teachers & classrooms for every class. But I probably skipped junior high, since I was homeschooled from grades 7-9. So maybe that starts in junior high instead of highschool.

Also, I found that grade 10 kids are a lot nicer than grade 7 kids. I was bullied really badly in grade 7. In grade 10, people didn't care that I was weird, and I made a couple of friends. (At least until I had a stress breakdown - I really wasn't ready to return to school then.)

 

Don't treat your freshman year like a joke because colleges really only see your freshman, sophomore and your junior years on your transcript when you sent in applications. I know a lot of people that didn't get their acts in gear until after their freshman year, not realizing that freshman year was 1/3 of their transcripts.