Friends
Once school begins, you will come to notice that some friends slack off and lose sight of their intentions for the future. In these situations, try and avoid the people who dwindle from their goals or make you feel insignificant/unaccomplished; alternatively, find people who have a strong work ethic and are people you strive to be like.
You can make friends easily in places like clubs and student activities. If you have trouble socializing with a new crowd, bring someone you are comfortable with and gradually meet new people together.
Classes
Look up how much time you have to drop or switch classes so you can try out a class and see if it works for you.
Avoid conversations that involve what classes you plan to be taking because learning that others are possibly taking something more advanced can often psych you out and leave you feeling discouraged. The same goes if you are taking something a little more advanced, as this can make someone else feel unintelligent.
Ensure that when selecting classes, your difficulty level increases to demonstrate growth. (Ex. Freshman: 3 honors, Sophmore: 5 honors, Junior: 3 AP, Senior: 4 AP).
Try to show strength in a particular subject and build a theme around it.
Take classes that you know will reward you in some sense with things like compelling teacher recommendations or GPA boasts.
Extracurriculars
Take as many clubs and sports as you can handle, and then as the years go by, you can consider dropping a few you do not appreciate as much, but overall try and be consistent over the years.
Beginning activities starting freshman year gives you a better chance of receiving leadership roles in that club, which looks great on college transcripts.
Use extracurriculars to build a theme around what you would like to pursue in the future (Ex. Stem). But also make sure to take things that interest you and maybe not even have anything to do with your future career to show you are willing to try new things and are diverse.
Don’t be generic and do the clubs that EVERYONE takes, instead try something unique and exhibit growth.
Take extracurriculars in which there is something to obtain like awards, leadership, and volunteer hours.
Organization
High school can often be when many students slack off and get overwhelmed by the sudden gain in coursework, so stay on top of your assignments.
You will realize that many teachers don’t teach in detail, and you will be expected to absorb the content on your own, so do your best to always stay ahead of the coursework, which might mean learning chapters over the summer or reading ahead to gain a better understanding.
Arranging coursework by difficulty and doing the hardest content first will help save time and improve your overall grades.
WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN. Between clubs, jobs, and classes, you will find many significant dates to remember, so markdown all things in an agenda or app.