10 Tips for Academic Success in High School
High school can be a challenging time. While you have this free time, use it wisely! If you’re aiming for a future career in the sciences, then now is the time to start building up your strong academic foundation. Build your skills and be ready for the basic college courses you’ll need to succeed in your scientific career.
Use the following 10 tips for academic success in high school.
Keep a calendar
Keeping a calendar may seem like an old-fashioned way to keep track of time and appointments, but for high school students, it’s an essential tool. A well-laid-out calendar will help you keep track of all your important events, assignments, and due dates so you can focus on your schoolwork and your extracurricular activities.
Get involved with the community
Getting involved in your school community is the single best way to prepare for a successful high school career. For students, the more involved they are, the more successful they tend to be. For schools, the more involved students are, the more engaged teachers will be. If students aren’t engaged in school, they aren’t going to learn much or perform well. And if they want to succeed in high school, they need to learn. And that’s hard to do if they aren’t engaged.
Find your passions
For many high school students, academics come easily. You’re good at memorizing formulas or solving equations, and you can easily understand new concepts. However, if you’re struggling a bit in school, you may find that even simple tasks are challenging, like finding the right words for your essay or organizing your thoughts in a paper.
Participate in class
High school years are a time when students are expected to assert their independence, but too many students are still failing to take full advantage of their education. According to an article in Forbes, most high school graduates only participate in 40 per cent of class activities, which is well below the 70 per cent participation level in high schools where academic expectations are high. Chances are, students who are struggling academically might have trouble managing their time during class, and they can easily fall behind if they fall behind in participation, too.
Learn to say no
As high school students, we’re taught to do our absolute best in school. And while it’s completely natural to want to succeed, it’s understandable that some things need to stop. It’s okay to say no because saying no to the right things will help you succeed.
Cultivate a support network
As high school approaches for high school students, it’s important to start preparing for the challenges ahead. Making friends, studying for tests, and succeeding in school can be hard, but having the right support can help you succeed academically and socially.
Learn to be okay with criticism
Everyone experiences criticism in life. Criticism is inevitable, whether from parents, teachers, peers, or even family members. It impacts our feelings and self-worth. Being critical of others in a hateful manner is never acceptable. How we react to criticism gives others a reason to criticize us for how we handle it.
Discover your learning style
High school is a time of transition. You are moving from being a child to a young adult. The demands of high school can be a lot to handle. Along with academics, you may also be dealing with stress management, friendships, and other important changes. Unfortunately, some students struggle with the transition to high school.
Make a study plan
High school is a time that can prove challenging for some students. Whether it’s vocabulary words that stump you or assignments that leave you overwhelmed, high school can be a time of stress and frustration.
Here are some tips to plan in high school:
- Make an honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses.
- Be organized. If you know what assignments you have coming up, you can work ahead.
- Make a study plan.
- Prioritize. Be realistic about how much time you have for each assignment.
- Take breaks. Don’t cram an entire semester’s worth of work in one day.
Plan for college before your senior year
When it comes to preparing to go to college, planning ahead is essential. Start thinking about where you would like to apply and what you want to major in before you graduate. Early planning can help you customize your junior year, senior year, and college applications.