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College Pathway - Freshman Year |
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Freshmen are urged to take a challenging curriculum. However, there is no point in pressuring them to take a combination of courses that will become unmanageable, and cause them to do poorly during their first venture in high school. Parents should not push college visits and SAT tests at this stage! Many well-intentioned parents who have been frightened by publicity about the competitiveness of the college admissions process actually do more harm than good by passing their anxieties on to their 13 and 14 year old freshmen. Kids can be demoralized by being forced to take advanced college preparatory classes along with the PSAT this year - a test designed to be taken by high school juniors!
Although colleges have differing course requirements, the majority fall in line with the "a-g" subject requirements outlined by the University of California. The counselor will help ensure that students have taken courses that fulfill these requirements, so don't worry! Of course, minimums will not be competitive enough to get into the "highly selective" colleges.
Freshmen should focus their efforts, and attempt to become the type of students who can be described as "working to their potential." There is no greater praise of a student. Students should also begin building relationships with their teachers. Their input may become critical as students inquire about colleges and do their course planning for the sophomore year.
Freshman "To Do" list:
- Maintain an excellent attendance record. Missing classes can have a very detrimental impact on your learning and success.
- Familiarize yourself with Naviance and youcangetin.com. These internet-based resources put a lot of information at your fingertips, including checklists of what you should be doing month by month (youcangetin) and many ways to help you decide which colleges and universities might best suit your needs (Naviance). If you need login information for Naviance, contact your school counseling office. All LVUSD high school students receive youcangetin.com login information in mid-September. If you have lost or misplaced yours, you may request help by
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. Be sure to include the name of the school you currently attend and your student ID number in your request.
- Work at developing solid study skill habits. Consistently, always, regularly, concertedly do your homework! You can't always control the results of a test, but it is just plain wasteful to miss points because you failed to submit homework.
- Remember that your freshman year IS important. It is just a myth that the freshman year doesn't count.
- Become vocabulary conscious, look up words you don't understand. They will become words you will be expected to KNOW on national tests.
- Read, read, READ! This is the best preparation there is for doing well on reading/writing national tests. There is a direct relationship between how well students do on the writing/reading parts of the SATs/ACT and with how much they read. So, turn off the computer and the TV and READ. It is too late to begin this habit as a junior hoping it will improve your SAT scores!
- Participate in service activities and keep file to maintain a record of your efforts. Become "specialized" in an activity or activities that you enjoy a sport (or more than one), or a club, or a church group, or a community endeavor, or student government, whatever you want. But don't try to do too many things because it could interfere with your academics and that is a booby-trap you want to avoid. Also, don't become a club 'groupie' where you are just a member but don't have the time or the interest to get very involved. As mentioned above, freshman should go out of their way to pursue school-related extracurricular activities. Campus clubs provide students with a wide range of interests to meet other like-minded students, as well community service & leadership opportunities! Review your school's web site to view a list of clubs (CHS | AHS) as well as a brief description of each one.
- As stated earlier, start a notebook or file where you can organize college information, and keep track of your extracurricular activities. Otherwise these things end up in an unmanageable pile under your bed!
- Make sure you have a social security number. Colleges will not be interested in your Student ID or your drivers license - only your SSN.
Use your summer time productively to work, participate in a summer conditioning program, attend summer school or take advantage of one of the many summer enrichment opportunities colleges offer. Just do SOMETHING! To look into the numerous college summer programs that are available for research through click on our Summer Programs web link.
All students should become acquainted with the college information available in your school library or College and Career Center. You can investigate colleges and careers that seem to suit your interests and gather more information about them.
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