HS Freshman Year Questions

[Froot4Lyfe]

Ok, so I start off my freshman year next week, and I have 3 very important questions.

-First, will colleges look at freshman grades? I've looked online, and some people say that it depends on what college you plan on applying to, and others say no colleges ever look into your freshman year. Is it true that colleges won't look at your freshman grades at all? The colleges I plan on applying to in the future are Princeton, NYU, and a few other universities, but NYU is my top one, if that helps to answer the question.

-My second question is about extracurricular activities. In my freshman year, I wanted to do 4 clubs. The clubs I want to join are: Key Club, French Club, Library Club, and Teen Fit. I do plan on playing 1 sport this year and that's golf (tryouts not until the Spring). Do you think that this is too much for someone starting off high school? I have a pretty good grip on managing my time, but I really don't want the clubs and sport (if i make it) to have a bad impact on my grades.

-My last question is about Geometry. For the people that have already taken this class, is it that hard? Math is one of the 2 classes I'm best at, science being my #1. But, I do tend to have a harder time with shapes rather than equations themselves. I know that if I have trouble with a subject, I should go to my teacher or a tutor for help, but I just want to know if it's generally an easy, medium, or hard class.

Thanks in advance

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[I'm No Superman]

1. Colleges tend to look more at your cumulative GPA much more than Medical schools do. Even then, only some medical schools place more/less importance on certain years. Some colleges may, but it has never come up IME.
2. You should be fine. Honestly, most high schools are so dumbed down due to NCLB that you'll probably have too much free time.
3. Not really, you'll have some proofs, definitions, and shape stuff, but again, nothing in HS is really that conceptually difficult.

Have fun in HS, don't do drugs, don't force yourself into medicine, etc.

 

[eteshoe]

Use YouTube for a lot of your subjects (a very cool resource that I wish was around when I was that age) and don't be afraid to challenge yourself in HS, especially if your school does weighted grades. I can say that I personally didn't find geometry that difficult (though I was more mathematically inclined).

I would slowly build up the ECs once you have a good grip of how your school operates - you got 4 yrs, no need to overdo it.

 

[Froot4Lyfe]

Use YouTube for a lot of your subjects (a very cool resource that I wish was around when I was that age) and don't be afraid to challenge yourself in HS, especially if your school does weighted grades. I can say that I personally didn't find geometry that difficult (though I was more mathematically inclined).

I would slowly build up the ECs once you have a good grip of how your school operates - you got 4 yrs, no need to overdo it.

So would 2 clubs be better to start off with?

 

[eteshoe]

So would 2 clubs be better to start off with?

Yea see how you do w/ that load plus keeping up w/ your grades and adjust accordingly.

 

[undetermine]

Hi~

In my opinion, you should keep your grades high if you want to aim for competitive schools. Freshmen year is the easiest out of all the years, so I do not think you will have trouble with all your ECs, sports, and your grades. If it doesn't work out, it will be a good learning experience, and you should be fine if you have good time management. On your question about geometry, I found it easy compared with algebra.

You should enjoy freshman year as much as you can, good luck!

 

[Adjet]

-You want to do well in all years to a) build good habits which carry over to the rest of your years when grades are more important and b) your school will still probably rank you based on freshman year, which is an important factor for college. You don't want to get behind early.

-Check out every club you're possibly interested in and see what sticks. Not much is expected in the way of commitment from freshman so no one will really care if you end up dropping out early on in the case that you find yourself to be overextended.

-Geo is generally considered easy to medium

 

[Kurk]

Ok, so I start off my freshman year next week, and I have 3 very important questions.

-First, will colleges look at freshman grades? I've looked online, and some people say that it depends on what college you plan on applying to, and others say no colleges ever look into your freshman year. Is it true that colleges won't look at your freshman grades at all? The colleges I plan on applying to in the future are Princeton, NYU, and a few other universities, but NYU is my top one, if that helps to answer the question.

-My second question is about extracurricular activities. In my freshman year, I wanted to do 4 clubs. The clubs I want to join are: Key Club, French Club, Library Club, and Teen Fit. I do plan on playing 1 sport this year and that's golf (tryouts not until the Spring). Do you think that this is too much for someone starting off high school? I have a pretty good grip on managing my time, but I really don't want the clubs and sport (if i make it) to have a bad impact on my grades.

-My last question is about Geometry. For the people that have already taken this class, is it that hard? Math is one of the 2 classes I'm best at, science being my #1. But, I do tend to have a harder time with shapes rather than equations themselves. I know that if I have trouble with a subject, I should go to my teacher or a tutor for help, but I just want to know if it's generally an easy, medium, or hard class.

Thanks in advance

Hello there!
I'm a HS senior myself so hopefully I can be of some help.

1. Colleges will look at your freshman grades but value the grades from sophomore and junior years more. The most important thing is to have an upward trend to show schools that you've bettered yourself. For the most part you don't need stellar freshman grades to get into a decent school as long as your other years are good; now if you're applying to Ivy League, everyone else already has stellar grades all years so in that scenario mediocre freshman grades can keep you out.

2. Commit yourself to clubs/activities you genuinely enjoy. Colleges do not care if you're in 10 different clubs. They care when you're in one or two and have made a significant impact somehow. It's quality not quantity. I personal believe sports are a waste of time unless you really have a passion for it. I play on the golf-team myself, but mostly to get out of P.E class. Remember: nothing supersedes the transcript. Grades should always be top priority followed by all the other stuff; at the same time, schools do not want academic robots who can't contribute to their campus.

3. I took normal geometry freshman year and averaged a B. It should be noted though that I was highly apathetic about school and slacked off quite a bit. IMO it's the easiest math class you can take next to statistics. Now if you're like me and aren't necessarily a very visual person who is better at algebra you may require extra help but it honestly shouldn't be a problem.

 

[jcdo]

Ok, so I start off my freshman year next week
Thanks in advance

so wait, you're fresh out of middle school and already on a forum for prospective doctors?

all this prep you shouldnt be worried ab a thing!

 

[Froot4Lyfe]

so wait, you're fresh out of middle school and already on a forum for prospective doctors?

all this prep you shouldnt be worried ab a thing!

I'll take all the help I can possibly get to make sure I meet and go over my expectations for high school.

 

[dm005]

Enjoy life and do fun stuff! Stay out of trouble! Once you start undergrad, you won't have as much time and once you start med school, you won't have any time! So don't stress too much, there is plenty of time for that later! - Sincerely, a stressed out 1st year lol

 

[schmoob]

Don't overdo it. Go to a cheap undergraduate program and do well there. What you do in high school doesn't really matter. Just don't screw up too much. Going to an expensive undergrad isn't the best move either. Undergrad + med school bills add up, and accrue interest for years and years.
Seriously, you're going to drive yourself crazy. You will be more than twice your age by the time you are done with school. It's a long road so enjoy life along the way. Take time to be a kid. But like someone stated above, stay away from drugs and bad influences. It'll be alot easier to get sucked into that crap than you realize.
Good luck on your journey!