Selective colleges weigh a handful of attributes when evaluating applicants. As a high school freshman, some of these factors (college essays, demonstrated interest, letters of recommendation, etc.) don’t need to be worried about for a few years. However, three areas your freshman can concentrate on are: selecting challenging courses, getting your high school career off to a good start with solid grades, and finding meaningful extracurricular activities.
- Course Rigor: To start, sit down with your student and look through the high school curriculum guide. Map out a tentative plan of the Math, English, Science and Foreign Language courses they will likely take over their high school journey. If this is overwhelming, make an appointment with your student’s high school counselor. Yes, your student should take four years of these subjects. Selective colleges want to see that your child challenged themselves during high school. This does not necessarily mean taking every Advanced Placement (AP) class offered at their school. Ideally, your student should take at least 5-6 AP classes during high school. We will cover this later, but, if possible, the Math requirement should include Calculus. Admissions officers still prefer to see Calculus on the high school transcript due to its rigor. We will dive into this topic on the next blog post.
- GPA: There is no question that high school grades are one of the most important factors in college admissions. But, please bear in mind that not receiving a 4.0+ in your child’s freshman year isn’t the end of the world in getting into a ‘good’ college. Rather, colleges look for improvement over the course of high school. Some selective colleges completely ignore freshman grades or at least weight them less than subsequent years.
- Get involved in extracurricular (EC) activities: Participating in extracurricular activities shows that your child is well-rounded and has a variety of interests. Encourage your student to find activities they are passionate about so they continue participation over their high school career. In general, admissions officers don’t want to see dozens of ECs on your transcript. Rather, they are more interested in students who have zeroed in on a handful of ECs. Ideally, this will have led to demonstrated success and/or them taking on a leadership role. For example, our student became involved in yearbook in their freshman year which ultimately led to the editor title in their senior year.
Most importantly, make sure your student carves out time for having fun! The social aspect of their first year of high school is just as important as academics.