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.
Obviously, there aren’t a ton of options available to you as a freshman in high school. You’ll probably take a history, a science, a math, an english, and some other required courses. But, you might have the option to take an AP; we find that Human Geography is commonly available to freshmen. You also might be able to argue for an advanced course, especially if you were ahead of your peers in middle school. If you could get bumped up from Algebra to Geometry as a freshman, that would look nice! Go ahead and petition the school, they typically say yes.
Now, the following advice is extremely, extremely, extremely important if you are a freshman or rising 8th grader who dreams of going to a top-tier school, in the top 10 or 20. If you don’t heed this advice, you might have a harder time getting into a school with a single digit acceptance rate. However, we do work with students who are a little more flexible and they’re still going to great, name-brand colleges. Now, are you ready for the advice??
Take the most challenging classes available to you at your school that you can get an A in
Okay, so this is basically it. Now, you can get an A in almost every class, it’s just about working hard and accessing resources like tutors, study halls, meeting with teachers, etc. A lot of you ask us “is it better to get a B in a harder course or an A in an easy course?” and our answer will always be neither–get an A in the harder course. We know you don’t love hearing this, but it is not impossible to get all As. Thousands upon thousands of students do it every year! So can you!
And taking more challenging courses only sets you up for success, especially come the stressful workloads of Junior and Senior year. And yes, these classes do require more time and effort, but the workload isn’t double or anything, generally they’re faster-paced and have harder tests.
Again: Take the most challenging classes available to you at your school that you can get an A in
Just putting it twice for emphasis.
It is not easy to get all As in hard classes, but it also isn’t easy to get into Stanford or MIT, so best prepare yourself now. And pursuing the most challenging classes now is only going to help you in the long run–you’ll develop better study skills, learn how to ask for help, and be prepared for even more rigorous courses in the future. To us, this is a win-win scenario!
In addition to taking hard classes, you should also start exploring extracurricular interests and developing a niche that you’ll follow throughout your career. You can also start planning your summer or taking online classes to bolster your future app. It isn’t a guarantee you’ll be Ivy League in a few years, but it will give you a great foundation to make it possible.
If you need help navigating high school, picking your classes, developing your extracurriculars, or planning your summer, reach out to us today.