I'm a Freshman. What should I be doing to prepare for college?
Your freshman year of high school is an especially exciting time. You’ve made it past middle school or junior high to the big leagues! Yet, your freshman year can also feel like an especially peculiar time in your academic career. This is because, although middle school or junior high is in your rearview, graduation likely seems a long way off, and you can find yourself asking: Is it too early to start planning for college?
The answer to the above question is this: While you don’t yet need to have your college application letters written or your dorm room posters packed, there are some practical steps you can take at this stage to ensure your success in both the college applications process and in your eventual transition to college life. To start thinking about these processes, here are 7 tips for what you should be doing to prepare for college as a high school freshman.
1. Create an academic roadmap
You might not yet know what you want your college major to be. And that’s OK! In fact, many college freshmen don’t yet know what they want their majors to be, and they only make this decision a year or two years into college—once they’ve completed all required coursework.
However, even without knowing what you want your college major to be, it’s a good idea as a high school freshman to create an “academic roadmap.” This will guide you through your high school studies and help prepare you for your college career. To create your academic roadmap, just ask yourself a few basic questions:
What are your strongest subjects?
You might consider taking Honors or even AP courses in these areas, since AP courses can help boost your GPA and (at some schools) even count toward college credit.
In what subject might you need a bit of extra help?
It might be a good idea to seek a tutor in this area.
What do you most enjoy learning about?
Knowing the answer to this last question is perhaps the most important because it can give you an idea of the field you might be interested in pursuing as a major in college and an eventual career after college. Additionally, knowing this can help you to pursue extracurricular opportunities related to the subject. These extracurriculars will not only be fun, but they will also help your admissions prospects when it does come time to apply to college.
2. Seek expert advice
In general, asking the questions above will help you to create a basic academic roadmap that can assist you in planning for your academic future. However, remember that you’re never alone in this planning. There are many experts out there with whom you can collaborate when creating your roadmap.
Most high schools have just such experts on hand to help you. Trusted teachers are, of course, a great place to start. But don’t forget to also seek the advice of guidance counselors, who are trained to discuss matters of the future with students. These counselors can help to ensure that you are taking the necessary classes required for admission to most colleges and universities. And, when the times comes, they will also be able to assist you with the college applications process. If you have any specific questions (such as if you should take the ACT or the SAT or what to expect when applying for college financial aid), just remember that your high school guidance counselor is your #1 resource for all matters of planning your academic career.
3. Familiarize yourself with the college experience
To be successful in college, it will do you well to know beforehand—to the extent that is possible—just what you’re getting yourself into. And, in part, you can familiarize yourself with the college experience by the courses you take in high school. Most high schools offer college prep courses, such as Honors classes, AP classes, and IB (International Baccalaureate) classes. While each of these class types differs somewhat, they are all similar in that they are more advanced than the average high school course; so, they can give you a good sense of the work load and level that will be expected of you in college.
Outside of your coursework, you can familiarize yourself with the college experience through good old fashioned word-of-mouth. If you have family or older friends who happen to be of college age, ask them about the transition from high school to college. What were their biggest difficulties? What were their happiest surprises? Having these conversations with trusted people who have recently gone through this experience can help you to anticipate and plan for your own college experience well in advance.
4. Build effective study habits
Much of college is spent studying. And for better or worse, there isn’t the infrastructure in place for studying in college that there is in high school. Once you get to college, mandatory study halls and time left at the end of class to get started on your night’s homework will be a thing of the past. So, it’s a good idea to build effective study habits now that will benefit you for many years to come. To this point, it’s important to know that there isn’t a “one size fits all” style of studying. The study techniques that work for your friends or classmates might not work for you.
So, what is your studying style? Do you work best first thing in the morning? Or into the very late hours of the night? Alone in your room or with a group of friends at a coffee shop? In complete silence or listening to your favorite tunes? Figuring out your studying style and building effective study habits now will save you a lot of time (and possible heartache) once you get to college!
5. Experiment with extracurricular activities
Again, it isn’t necessary to begin writing your college application materials as a high school freshman. However, you can make certain choices now that will help you to be a better applicant when you apply to college. And a big part of what makes you a better college applicant is your involvement in extracurricular activities.
The great part about being a freshman a few years out from college is that you still have a good amount of time to explore your interests and hobbies. But a helpful tip to consider is that you pursue both breadth and depth throughout this exploration. While it is definitely a good idea to try new things via a number of different extracurricular activities, it is also important to remember that your involvement in extracurriculars demonstrates your motivation and responsibility to college admissions committees. So, be sure to find at least one activity you especially enjoy that you can stick with consistently in order to showcase such commitment.
6. Complete a college scan
As a high school freshman, you don’t yet need to be going on college campus visits or scheduling interviews with admissions staff at your dream schools. These are steps you will likely want to consider taking in your junior year of high school. Rather than performing a formal college “search,” you might instead start thinking about what we could call a college “scan.” This, again, involves asking yourself some basic questions about what you’d like to get out of your college experience, scanning colleges for whether or not they fit your criteria, and narrowing down schools based on your preferences. Where would you like to study geographically? What size school would you prefer to attend? What specialized academic opportunities (such as study abroad programs or internships) would you like made available to you? As you complete high school and the college applications process nears, this initial scan will help you to have a more realistic view of where you’ll eventually apply.
7. Finally, don’t forget to enjoy high school!
It’s important to remember that a huge part of college is the experience outside of the classroom, meeting and socializing with your fellow students. Often, when one arrives at college, they are thrown into an environment where they know almost no one and are forced to live and make friends with new people rather quickly. And high school is a time to learn the skills necessary to effectively thrive in this scenario.
Of course, high school is also an important time to plan ahead by creating a foundation from which to be academically successful in college. But, there will be plenty of time for studying for exams and pulling all-nighters when college actually arrives. For now, remember that working 100% of the time is ultimately unhealthy for one’s mental and physical health.
According to an article from Forbes.com, working too much can lead to stress and—eventually—to burnout. “Burnout can cause fatigue, mood swings, irritability and a decrease in work performance.” And just as this can happen in the workplace, so too can this can happen in the study space. So, for now, remember to leave some time to have fun and enjoy high school. After all, maintaining this kind of work-life (or school-life) balance will help you to be more successful in your academic career in the long-run!
Stacy G. is a writer and teacher who has taught composition, literature, and creative writing courses at a number of public and private universities across the U.S. She has also taught SAT, AP English, and Literature SAT Subject Test courses at Elite Prep. She likes poetry, dogs, and poetry about dogs.