Confused freshman just trying to survive

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

Hello! I’m a high school freshman and I’m just a little unsure in my grades? My friends were saying that my grades were sort of low and I just wanted some other opinions? Thank you.

GLOBAL 1 HONORS-94.57
SPANISH 2-103.54
BIOLOGY HONORS-93.68
ACCELERATED ART-91.88
GYM-100
COMMUNICATIONS-100
ENGLISH 9 HONORS-95.45
GEOMETRY HONORS-82.43

Overall: 3.77 GPA

2

Low relative to what.

There’s a zillion colleges out there - for a zillion students.

I don’t see anything to worry about grade wise but more important is what you’re learning - or not learning - and how to improve in where you are short so it helps you in future classes.

While I can’t tell from the #s posted, it seems like Geometry is an area that you need focus - tutoring, etc. Again, an 82 isn’t bad - but if you don’t understand the material, then you need to get that under control.

But stop talking to your friends about this. It’s not a race - and it looks like you’re doing fine.

Keep it up.

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3

You have excellent grades. I wish mine were that good freshman year. I had much lower freshman grades and I still have been accepted to 7 colleges so far. You are doing great. Keep it up. You will have lots of good options senior year so don’t even worry about it. Just have fun in high school. It goes by faster than you think.

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4

May I ask which colleges you have been accepted into?

5

When you ask this I get the sense you are hoping for Ivy or top 20 or Michigan types.

I hope you get an answer but it’s way too early for pressure. Be a great you. Get involved. Take a challenging but realistic schedule. And get help in the area you struggle. There is no reason to think about where you’ll go for two more years.

And it’ll all work out.

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6

You are a freshman in high school…and these aren’t even your end of freshman year grades.

You need to do the best you can for YOU. Forget about what everyone else is doing.

My free advice…stop talking about your grades with your classmates.

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7

Many colleges don’t even look at freshman grades. While it’s always a good idea to understand how to position yourself for your goals – who wants to discover when they are applying to college that they should have taken FL to a certain level or English every year when they didn’t? – you really need to do the most with where you are now.

So…

  1. Figure out how to do even better. How can you study more effectively? You want to be truly learning and mastering the material while still leaving time for things you enjoy outside school. Can you talk to the teacher about how to do better in Geometry? Or can you get other outside help? Are you relying too much on memorization? At this point, you really need to learn how to learn! That’s not always easy for students who are bright and for whom things have come easily.
  2. Think about what you like and why. Also what you don’t like and why. This is a great opportunity to learn about yourself.
  3. Think about balance in your life. Do you get enough sleep? What do you do outside the classroom that makes you happy or excited?
  4. Consider keeping a very brief journal. In it, note why you chose the classes you did and what you hoped for from them. From time to time, check in in your journal, noting what you like and don’t. Before you pick courses the next year, review the prior year. Some of this may also help with college choices and essays.

There are tons of excellent colleges out there, and your choice, when the time comes, will reflect what you want to learn, how you want to learn, and the environmental you thrive in. This is your time to be working that out.

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8

OP is a high school freshman. Not college

9

This was a response to a poster who said they were admitted to 7 colleges, not the OP.

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10

As a high school teacher, my suggestions for my students are:
have a set of personal goals (and practical plans to reach them), such as cooking and cleaning for self, advocating for self, getting a job, managing own budget, managing own schedule, having several true friends, driving, etc.;
get involved in classes and clubs with mixed grade levels - sports, band, orchestra, speech, etc.;
identify a few students in each grade ahead who are similar to you and observe how they navigate high school;
get involved in regular activities interacting with students from other high schools;
read books, listen to ted talks, subscribe to podcasts of various perspectives, think why they say what they say.
Do NOT make “attending ABC college” as a goal. It’s okay to have a dream school or two but it’s also okay to not have them. Grow to be a responsible person, develop interests, practice overcoming setbacks/obstacles, keep an open mind, college options will come naturally, so will grades.

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11

Your friends know as much about college admissions as you do. So, you are correct to doubt them.

Unless they are 30-year-old friends who work in college admissions, your friends are essential for peer support, but not good sources of knowledge-based information.

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