Freshman year of high school advice!

F*ck the haters, remember who your friends are, and don't do drugs. :lol:

You sound like you're pretty dang smart. Teach me your ways. D:

 

Here's some advice from a person who just went through three out of the four years of high school

Well first of all, research the map directory of your high school and study it. I didn't do this and for my third period, I ended up on the other side of the school from where my class was.

Also for the first few days or even before school when you've received your class schedule, explore the school and find some routes that would keep you from being tardy without having to speedwalk, or even worse, run.

Trust me, depending on the school, 4-10 minutes to get to your next class won't be enough time if you walk the wrong path. Either the route is longer, too many stairs to climb (bummer if you have PE before a class), or it's too packed with people and it looks like NYC. I actually have eight minutes to get to class, and some routes make getting to class into hell.

Try joining some clubs and eventually become part of its cabinet. It really stands out on your university app. Try club hopping. When your school has a club fair, sign up for all the clubs you seem to find interesting. Go to their first meetings, and drop any club that you don't see yourself in for at least until your junior year.

High school is a crucial time for universities, so keep your grades high. Even if your freshman year isn't so good, try your best in improving in your sophomore and junior years. Universities do like it if you try to maintain a 4.0 GPA throughout high school, but what really stands out is if you started average, but the gpa steadily or sharply improved. From personal experience, I started with a 3.0 in freshman year, but it went up to a 3.6 by the end of my junior year.

Don't overextend yourself by excessively doing community service, dating, and club managing. Academics comes first. I've seen this in some of my classmates during freshman year, and their GPAs ending up crashing to 2.0. Extracurriculars are meant to be extras to your strong GPA. If it's weak, then your "well-rounded ness" wouldn't be highly regarded.

Try to get more acquainted with the upperclassmen. I don't know about your school, but the upperclassmen for me (2012, because I've been part of the upperclassmen since 2014 ) during freshmen year were super nice. The upperclassmen would help you get adjusted to high school life and also fill in on some tips on how to stand out in front of universities.

Lastly, high school isn't going to last forever. Make the most of it. Have a stunning GPA, become well-rounded, and make good friends. Three years of HS went by in a flash as I still vividly remember my first day of high school. If there are jerks, forget about them

HAVE FUN!

 

^ Yeah and that

I was gonna say that but ya know, too lazy and stuff

 

TAKE PICTURES OF ALL OF YOUR NOTES! Like seriously, that helped me a lot freshman year.

People are getting more mature, so less drama than middle school.

Remember to join lots of clubs, or sports, so that you'll also find people that have the same interests as you!

Honors classes in my experience aren't that difficult, at my school you only get more homework, and more stuff to learn.

Oh yeah, and most upper classmen aren't scary, don't be afraid to ask how to get around your school.

Try to make your GPA the best it can be, and remember to really just enjoy yourself. High school doesn't have to be horrible, it can actually be a decent experience, but only if you take the initiative to make it a good one.

~going into sophomore year

 

I had to drop out of honors because it was too difficult for me. >.<

I hate high school, but I think I just have a harder time with school than most people. Most people get used to it and then they're fine.

---------- Post added 23rd Jul 2015 at 12:11 PM ----------

I wish I went to your school. o.o For me it was a nightmare; we had all these huge projects that were hard to finish on time, and I couldn't do okay on my tests even if I memorized my notes word for word. I think my school is just especially tough on honors students though. The teachers would just keep telling us, "You're honors students, so I know you can handle anything!"

 

Honors classes in my school weren't really that hard for me. If it's a math honors class, the learning is typically sped up. In science honors classes, you go a bit slower than the regular classes in your curriculum, but that's because you go more in depth. Also in my school, the honors/ap teachers tended to be a lot more fun and interactive than the regular teachers.

Honestly, schedules will divide your group of middle school friends by a lot. I used to have two middle school friends, but by now, we hardly talk anymore. But you'll make many new friends in high school.

 

My high school didn't have honors classes, it only had college dual-credit classes, which if college is something you are thinking about (which in many cases continuing education is good), taking advantage of dual credit, AP, or IB classes can be very important. Many schools can give scholarships for AP/IB scholars, and them along with dual credit classes can also give you college credit. I know in my case, I have 26 college credits (almost a sophomore) before I even set foot on my University for our first day of classes.

Besides special classes like that, also make sure to keep your grades up in general, as not only colleges will look at that, but also some jobs that you may pursue right out of high school, as well as jobs you have on the side while in high school. My first two years of high school I had a 3.6 GPA, which is good, but I knew I really did not live up to my potential, so I worked my ass off those last two years, and I got my GPA up to 3.85 on a 4 point scale. Paying attention and doing well on classes your freshman through junior years can make your senior year a breeze, as that's what my best friend who was our class valedictorian did.

Also make sure to join clubs or organizations that interest you. GSA is a great start and I wish my school had one, but there are also many other great organizations out there such as FCCLA, FBLA, MASS, National Honor Society, and so on. I was in a bunch of groups my final two years of high school, as well as a manager for softball, boy's basketball and baseball, and it was a very enjoyable time for me, much more enjoyable than the first two years of high school.

When it comes to friends, be sure to keep up with the friends you have all you can, but always keep the door open to let new people into your life to become friends. I let that happen with one of my current best friends who was our valedictorian, and we've grown really close, and I and my other friend were even able to persuade her to go to University with us.

When it comes to being open and out about your sexuality/gender identity, just remember to be yourself given that you're in a safe environment to do so. If anyone ever makes you feel unsafe for your identities, definitely tell a teacher or a GSA advisor.

When it comes to walk times between class, my school only had two wings plus a gym, one floor, and we only had three minutes to get to class and I was never late to any classes unless I was helping out a teacher from a previous class and they wrote me a pass. So I'm probably not much help there
I hope some of this advice was able to help you out and have an awesome first year of high school

 

The honors and AP classes at my school were basically the same thing except that the AP classes did more work. I remember my honors history teacher say that we're practically doing the same work as AP classes are doing.

As far as I remember, some of y honors classes were a pain in the butt in my freshman year, especially biology. The teacher went way to fast and didn't have time to really explain them mostly because of all the snow days we had (which were a LOT by the way).

Yeah, freshman year of high school is pretty tough and it's easy to get lost in it depending how big it is so a map would be useful. Ha, I remember getting lost trying to find my math class even though I had a map and the new friend I made earlier that day helped figure it out. Turns out it was just in front of me. I must've seemed like a dumbass, ha ha.

 

When I was learning the way around my high school, my mom timed me going from class to class. We kind of made it into a game. ^^

Everyone will be kinda lost on the first day, but then they (and you) will adjust. We had plenty of people getting lost and wandering into random classrooms to ask for help, but once everyone had it figured out, it wasn't a problem anymore.

 

I just went through my freshman year so. Just stay out of the way of the seniors. They think they are cool and rule the entire school. Do your work!!! You can fall behind very easily and fail. I learned that the hard way. It was so stressful catching up. Don't be afraid to ask for help, the teachers are there to help you. Good Luck !

 

Don't have sex, you will get pregnant, and you will die. Now take some rubbers.

Okay, in all seriousness the best piece of advice I can give you is have fun. One of the things I wish I would have done differently would have been just to let loose and have fun more often.

Next, get involved in activities. Now don't overdo it to the point that you're stressed, exhausted, and not getting homework done, but if you join a club, sports team or other activity you can meet lots of cool people and even get scholarships for college if that's where you want to end up.

Third, take advantage of any and all career planning tools, programs, etc. For example, my school was associated with a trade school that taught everything from cosmetology to auto body repair. If you find yourself seriously interested in something like that go for it! The worst that can happen is that you have a new skill to use in the world. Also, my school offered a program that allowed high schoolers to take college classes for high school and college credit and the only cost incurred is parking and if you fail the class. Textbooks, tuition, etc is all free unless you fail. Once again if you want to go to college I highly recommend this because it allowed me to shave one semester off of my graduation time. One kid I graduated with shaved close to 2 years off of his degree because he did that.

Fourth, don't worry about finding a future career right away. I'm almost 22 and basically finishing up my degree and I'm still figuring stuff out. You won't know at 14 what you want to do when you're 44 so don't stress about it. You have time!

Finally, do not allow anyone to treat you like crap. I'm not saying fight them or anything of that sort. But if you're in a toxic environment, like say a club where everyone fights and there's constantly drama, remove yourself from it. Be the bigger, stronger person. Also don't let bullies get to you. I know it's difficult but you have people around you that love and support you.

Add On: I took honors classes at my high school and for the most part they were a joke. The work was easy, some of the teachers didn't do anything, and they played favorites a lot. But for most people that isn't the usual experience. If you have problems ask your teachers. They are there to help. Keep up on your homework and learn time management skills (those are super handy in college, I wish I had them).

 

Don't take freshman year too seriousl. People will tell you it goes by fast. You just don't realize how fast. Before you know it you'll be in senior year and saying to yourself WTF HAPPENED?!!?!?

 

When i first went into high school along with people from my elementary school, I ended up hanging out with people from different elementary school. You'll eventually make a group of friends you can talk to. It happens even to shy people like myself.

Start a small conversation with people. Chat them up. Don't feel like you have to belong in a "group". Just get to know people in general.

Confidence is everything. Almost.

 

My biggest Advicd is be nice to everyone. Be nice to the weird kids, the fat kids, the awkward kids, the nerdy kids, the cool kids and the mean kids. All of them even if somebodys mean to you before being mean back think about why they're acting so mean. Something in there life got them there just be nice trust me its an appreciated quality. Smile a lot. And don't be afraid to laugh at yourself everyone does embarassing things and if you can learn to accept this embarrassing things and laugh them off everyone makes much less of a big deal about it. You'll be fine high schools not what its like in the movies. Remember everyone is in the same position your in.