Freshman year is overwhelming no matter who you are, and everyone around you thinks they can help. Technically, I’m one of those people, but I’m speaking from recent experience, as someone who’s barely been a sophomore for a week. Here’s a guide to some of the generic and annoying advice I got last year and if/how it helped me.
First: don’t take AP classes. You’ve already chosen whether or not to disregard this, but I can safely say that you don’t need to be overly concerned. I took AP Human Geography, and my grades in that class were better than any other core class. The teachers last year were phenomenal (shout out to Mr. Killian), and the AP test is infamously easy. AP Computer Science is a bit more complicated. I didn’t take it, but I knew plenty of people who did. There was a lot of work, but most people did well in the class and even better on the AP test. Overall, they’re both challenging but manageable, and your teachers wouldn’t recommend you take a class you couldn’t handle.

Second: join a club. This is the best advice. The senior campus is massive, and joining a club allows you access to learn to navigate it. More importantly, it introduces you to students you wouldn’t have met otherwise, specifically upperclassmen. You’ll probably be in at least one mixed-grade class in Sophomore year, and you’ll probably be incredibly lost (physically and emotionally). Upperclassmen can be amazing guides, but even if you only meet other Freshmen, you can be confused together, which always makes things easier. If rides are a concern, many upperclassmen drive to school and are willing to take underclassmen home. Depending on the club, you gain a creative outlet, connections with other like-minded people, or just a fun way to spend your time after school.

Third: freshman grades don’t matter. I am speaking as someone who heavily prioritizes academics, so just keep that in mind. Your grades do in fact matter… sort of. Colleges probably won’t look at your grades freshman year, but if you’re taking an AP class, your score on the test will matter. Your grades also go towards your GPA. If you don’t know, there are two GPAs you need to worry about- weighted and unweighted. Weighted GPA gives you more points for taking Honors/AP classes. Your class rank is calculated using weighted GPA. Unweighted GPA treats every class the same; colleges only look for this one. If you’re thinking about going to college, keep both of those in mind.

Fourth: don’t skip school. 100% come to class as much as you can. If you do, you can be exempt from taking final exams, as long as you keep out of trouble and make at least an 85 in the class. Trust me, you want to be exempt from finals. If you don’t think that’s something you’re capable of, that’s fine. I took a few finals last year, and most of them were on par with the other tests we had throughout the year, and some weren’t even tests. In Journalism, for example, we had a single question to answer about our opinions on freedom of press.
Fifth: freshmen aren’t real high schoolers. This was the most frustrating thing I heard last year. Are you on a different campus? Yes. Does that make you less of a high schooler? No. You have GPA, class rank, and the looming threat of future careers/plans. Depending on who you are, that can either be really scary or really validating. For the latter, be content in knowing this is nonsense. For the former, it’s okay. High school isn’t worse than middle school; it’s just different. The classes can be a bit more tricky, but you have the same classmates and the same 24 hours in a day. The staff at the freshman campus know how tough the transition is, and as always, they’re there to support you.

My advice: find something that works for you. You know what type of person you are, and if you want to change, make those changes. Try your best, be patient with yourself and others, and join a club.