I am in 9th grade, What should I start doing now?

Question

to make my chances better at getting into a good college?

Answer 1

It's great that you're already starting to think about this. My advice is to do your best in school. Make sure you have some fine arts credits and join some clubs or sports. Leadership activities look good on college applications. Take your SAT and ACT tests seriously and don't just blow it off... they can also help you with financial aid!

But really... you need to enjoy your high school years. Make sure that whatever you do, you enjoy doing. You tend to succeed more in things you are passionate about. Learning to have a good balance between school and fun is important.

Answer 2

It's a simple formula (I say this as a teacher and mentor to high school students in the Bronx):

1. Get your GPA to a point where, in case next year and junior year are tough, you have room to not do so great in a class and still have an awesome grade point average. Since 9th grade classes are easier (than other high school courses) get your top grades now.

2. Join extracurriculars that make sense. Community service is now the #1 to earn scholarship money, and the longer you're involved, the more they'll offer you come senior year. Athletics are the same. Four years of one sport?

3. Find one teacher that will "have your back" - for recommendations, advice, suggestions, college knowledge. Sometimes, our guidance counselors aren't helpful. They're assigned to us.

4. Try to get some piece of intelligent writing published. A school paper, an online blog, an op-ed piece in a city paper. Writing is a huge thing now, and schools are getting nervous that students can't write.

I'm impressed that you care now. Keep up the good work.

Answer 3

I would start taking some challenging classes don't take any too easy classes. Take some honors and maybe in sophmore year or junoir take AP classes those will really help you later on in the future mainly because if you do well on the AP exam you will be able to get college credits allowing you not have ot take certain classes when you get into colleges. Oh and another thing don't PROCRASTINATE and try not to slack off. In addition to that relax and try to enjoy your high school years since those are somewhat the last years to enjoy and have fun :)

Answer 4

Being in high school myself, I have to deal with this as well.

Take the most challenging classes you can. Honors, AP, they all look wonderful on a college transcript, and you'll be mentally stimulated. Honors and AP are not as hard as some people crack them up to be.

That being said, get good grades. There's no point in taking an AP class if all you're going to do is get an F in it.

Do community service. Not only because it looks good, but because it can be enjoyable too. You don't have to volunteer at a soup kitchen, or anything traditional. You should find something you love and put it to use. For example, I love to act, so I joined a group of actors who preform plays about sexual violence and then preform them in front of middle school and high school audiences to spread awareness. It's incredibly fun, and good for the community as well.

Take extracurriculars that you love. Don't join academic team because you think it will look good, join something you love. (And if you love academic team, you can join that.)

Find something that you love to do. For me, it's writing and acting. I'm on the school newspaper and in the school musical. For my best friend, it's photography. She's in photography and yearbook.

If you're not sure about what you love (and even if you are) experiment! High school is supposed to be fun. Even if you're mediocre with a camera, join photography club and see if it's right for you. Take Japanese, you might find that you love the language. Join a sport. Take creative writing, ect. You might meet new friends.

Seriously, work hard, play hard. That's the most that any college can ask of you.

Balancing academics, extracurriculars, volunteer work, and a social life is no cakewalk, but it's also not some sort of grueling punishment. Extracurriculars and volunteer work should be fun for you, not like your weekly dose of purgatory or something.

Also, know that if you trip, you just need to get back up again. I've gotten Fs in my Algebra II class, I've failed my AP European History quizes. I just made sure to ace the next ones, and my grades were salvaged.

Build up good relationships with your teachers, by the way, you'll be needing them to write recommendation letters for you. Talk to your guidance councelor about what you could do to get into a good college, and research potential colleges yourself. 9th grade is not too young to start.

Preparing for college takes a bit of planning, but it's relatively painless. Good luck!

Answer 5

1. Do well in class - get as high of a grade as possible. Don't be afraid to seek help.

2. Community service - get involved in some community service outside of school.

3. Extracurricular activities - join a club or a sports team.

The key is to be well rounded. Take PSATs when you can, and when you get there, take the SATs. Good luck!

Answer 6

you going to have to work for an awesome chance for college admissions. start looking for a college now. Some high school kids wait until senior year before looking. Sooner is better

Answer 7

Study, take advanced courses and go out for sports or other things like student council, drama etc. Good luck!

Answer 8

take honors and ap classes. join clubs, esp red cross, interact, nhs, csf, and be active in the clubs.

optional: get involved w/ one sport or one instrument, and then get super good at that sport/instrument

in short: take hard classes, get good grades, be involved in school clubs, and choose one or two activities (i.e. sports or music, community service, community organization) to be very active in. good luck!

Answer 9

study study study.
keep your grades HIGH.
like all A's & B's.
Suck up to your teachers.
Start looking now for the college you want to go to.

Answer 10

Pay absolutely NO attention to horny young boys! Keep your nose in your books and pay attention to the teacher! Take notes! (Not from other kids, I mean write down what the teacher says in class).