Keep options open when you schedule. It’s lousy to get to junior year and realize that because of how you chose your science classes, you can’t do what you’d like.
Keep a journal. It can be in note form - it doesn’t have to be elaborate. In it, make notes on why you are making choices-- of classes, ECs, etc. Update it with how you feel about it later. This can be very helpful in working out who you are, making choices each subsequent year, and in having good material for college essays. It’s okay to choose a class to preserve an option for more advanced classes later on, because friends are taking it, because you’re curious, or because it’s required…
Do your best in what you choose to do.
These are 4 really important years of development. Don’t treat them as an extended college admissions exercise. There is a college for every kind of kid and interest. Every year, there are kids who come here disappointed because they feel like they “did high school” in a particular way in order to get into a certain type of college and they weren’t admitted. If you do high school in an intentional way that is authentic to you, you will know what you want from college and be engaged to get it – anywhere.
As a parent, leave college discussions for junior year. It’s okay for you to understand the lay of the land and critical for you to understand what will be affordable, but let your kid be present for high school. There are enough other issues to navigate through this time – be there for your kid on those!