11 Jan Road Map for January: Freshmen

For the past few months I’ve shared my thoughts on making the most of your 9th grade year: settling into high school, setting goals, assessing your progress and exploring new opportunities.  However, there’s not really that much to actually do in 9th grade with respect to college, especially in this year of unusual limitations. Right now, though, students are starting to make important decisions about 10th grade course selection, and you should keep in mind that colleges value rigor in the high school curriculum, sometimes even more than perfect grades and high test scores.

So how do you decide how much rigor is the right amount? My rule of thumb is that your coursework should be challenging but not overwhelming. Take the most challenging classes you can do well in, without crossing that line. That also means thinking about individual classes and the course load as a whole. If you know you can get high grades in each individual class, but you’re not sure you can maintain high grades in all of your classes at once, you’ll need to make choices. Think about your strengths, your interests, and your goals when you’re making those choices, and contact me if you need more specific guidance.