15 Tips For Incoming High School Freshman

Hey guys! I hope you all had a great July 4th and long weekend! Totally unrelated, I know, but today I thought I’d share with you guys 15 tips for all the incoming high school freshman! I was a freshman last year and I learned sooo much, so I really think that you guys will benefit from these tips! Also, these tips will work for you if you’re a homeschooler, online schooler, or public or private schooler. 🙂

1. Take lotsss of notes. I can’t tell you how helpful my notes were, especially at the end of the semester when I was studying for finals. (and especially in Algebra XD) I’d also recommend looking up some different note-taking strategies, and maybe grab some cute supplies to make it more fun!

2. Start thinking about after high school now. I know that everyone always says, “oh don’t worry about after high school, just focus on right now” and honestly, I’m so glad that I’ve started thinking about what I want to do. Even if you aren’t sure, try new things and meet new people! This is a great time to do it, rather than just waiting for college and switching your major several times.

3. Choose classes that you want to take or that relate to what you want to do after high school. Take classes that you’re actually interested in or that are related to what you’re hoping to do after high school. Taking classes just for the sake of being with your friends or you guys being able to talk about the class is super unfortunate. Remember, they’ll be plenty of other time to hang out with friends.

4. Start on your foreign language now. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I did this. I plan on taking 3 years of French, and it will be so nice to have senior year to be finished with it, rather than still in French 3.

5. GPA matters – try your best now. I know a lot of people say that freshman year is the year you can slack a little bit, but honestly, I really wouldn’t recommend that. Get ahead on your GPA now, rather than trying to make it up next year or in future years.

6. Check out the CCP program. This is something that I’m so glad my mom really encouraged me to do. At first, I was a little worried about the idea of taking college courses in high school, but to be honest, the college courses aren’t really that much harder. I mean yes, they do take quite a bit of time and effort, but it’s not so impossibly hard that I can’t achieve it.

7. Be polite and respectful to your teachers. First of all, be polite and respectful just for the sake of being polite and respectful. Second, often you’ll need high school teachers or other people from your high school career to write reference letters or do other things later on. Try your best and keep an open line of communication between you and them.

8. Keep up with your homework. It’s soooo easy to get behind on this. High school is more work than middle school and it’s not impossibly hard, but it does take work to grasp and understand. I can be such a procrastinator at times, and yes, maybe I do work best under pressure, but procrastination has never really helped me significantly. XD

9. Manage your time wisely. This kind of goes with #8, but managing your time, especially if you’re involved in sports or other huge time commitments is so important.

10. Listen to any advice teachers give for assignments. Guys, this is soooo important! The teachers or instructors are the ones making/grading your assignments, therefore they know what’s on the test, what format they want to see, etc. If they tell you to put it in a certain format, then do it. If they tell you to indent paragraphs, do it.

11. Sit at a desk to study. I know I always see all the cozy little study areas, complete with some cute blankets, floor cushions & fairy lights, but honestly, how much studying do you think actually gets done in those? Maybe it works for some people, but for me personally, I find it 100% more helpful when I’m sitting at a desk studying or working on school.

12. Have a Word or Google Doc with all your important formulas. Having an info sheet like this has been super helpful for me, especially since my school is online. It’s incredible how many of those formulas or terms I’ll forget in math or science class, so having a sheet like this has been super helpful for me!

13. Get enough sleep. I know that this one can be soooo tricky sometimes. There is so much to do and get done in any given day, it’s honestly kind of overwhelming sometimes. I’ve found that getting to bed at a good time, then waking up around 6:15-6:30 is when I’m most productive.

14. Do the extra credit. In high school, all the little efforts and things we do add up. I remember my worst grade in freshman year was like an 89, and I was so frustrated because there had been many extra credit opportunities that I didn’t take advantage of and do while I had time. Lesson learned, do all the extra credit you can, because yes, it does add up.

15. Be nice to everyone. Okay, so this is kind of just a general life tip honestly, but it’s so true! You (or I) don’t want to be remembered as the “mean kid” in high school. So just generally try to be a friendly and nice person.

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I hope these tips are helpful for you guys, even if it’s not your freshman year I think there is still many of these tips that are helpful! 🙂

Also, make sure to let me know your best study and just general school tips, I’d love to hear from you!

❤ Hannah