How to succeed in High School: 21 Tips for a Successful Year

If you want to want to start the school year strong and learn how to succeed in high school, these are 21 tips for a successful school year.

College is a lot closer than you think. If you are successful in high school it’s a good chance that you will be successful in college.

My mom has always told me it is better to be ready than have to get ready. Now, is a great time to plan for the future. The habits that you create now will follow you for the rest of your life.

I want to help you establish strong habits so you will succeed in high school and be prepared for all the rigors of college.

The Top 21 Tips to Succeed in High School

Create Your Study Space

You need to find a space within your home where you can set up your study center. You don’t need much in the area because you want to have a clutter-free area. It’s easy to get distracted when there are things scattered everywhere. It may be a big task to keep things to a minimum but your brain will appreciate it.

All you need is a flat surface such as a desk or table that you can study on and beds don’t count, it’s too easy to fall asleep. Get a comfortable chair, and a lamp, and add some personal touches and you’re all set.

Utilize a Planner

A planner is great to plan all extracurricular and weekend activities. More importantly, you can schedule your daily study time and stick to it. You can avoid schedule conflicts if you document all your activities.

Post a Wall Calendar

You are probably thinking why do I need a wall calendar if I have a planner? A wall calendar is similar to a planner except it stays on the wall and you can see everything at a glance. It’s convenient to see what is going on next week as well as next month all at once.

Just in case you forget to open up your planner the wall calendar is front and center so you won’t forget that your teacher changed the date of the test.

Get Organized

Designing your study space, buying a planner, and a wall calendar all have something in common—-they should help you stay organized. Forgetting to do homework or leaving homework at home is a sign that you are not always prepared.

You should be able to organize your notebooks, folders, and bookbag so you know where everything is located at all times. College courses move at a faster pace so you need to create an organizational system that will follow you to college.

Stop Procrastination

Stop putting off things or wasting time! As you proceed through high school and college life will get busier and unpredictable. This is where your planner comes into play.

A daily planner is a great way to create your to-do lists, remember assignments and project due dates, as well as schedule study time. Write down important information because time management is critical.

Your objective should be to improve work habits by completing tasks days before the deadline, just in case something goes wrong you will have some room to make adjustments.

Develop Study Skills

Remember high school is the foundation of your college courses. If you just memorize concepts from different subjects and don’t learn the theory, this could poorly impact your ACT/SAT scores as well as your college courses.

In college, you don’t have time to go back and learn the concepts that were presented to you in high school. Make time to do a deep dive into your courses, go beyond the book and class.

Learn How to Take Notes

Obviously, you can’t write down every word that your teacher is saying, so you need to learn how to weed out the less important information. The great way is to show up for class, be attentive, and take effective notes.

Your future success depends on you staying focused in class no matter how boring the class may be. I also suggest you reread your notes after school and rewrite the notes if necessary. I love the idea of rewriting the notes for clarity and repetition.

I love and believe the quote that states, “Repetition deepens the impression.” In college, the professors will cover a ton of information and they won’t have time to repeat information because you didn’t take notes.

Read, Reread, Make Sure you Understand, and Follow the Instructions

Being able to comprehend instructions is key to academic success. It is important to read, read, and reread instructions, just in case you didn’t understand the instructions the first and second time. Sometimes students miss deadlines, do the wrong assignment, or just screw up because they rushed through the instructions.

Ask for Help

Don’t sit in class clueless! If you are struggling in class or having difficulties with your study techniques, seek extra help. Most of the things you learn in high school may seem pointless now but most of these classes are laying the foundation for your college courses. Let your teacher know you need extra help.

Enroll in Challenging Classes

You may think it is a good idea to take easy classes so you can keep a high GPA. Easy classes can boost or pad your GPA, but it will backfire when you get to college. If your goal is to attend college you should take classes that will prepare you to handle the rigors of college.

If your school offers Dual Enrollment, Honor, IB, or AP classes it is a good idea to take advantage of these classes. These challenging classes also will boost your GPA because these advanced classes are worth higher GPA points than your traditional classes. Challenging classes also show your potential college that you are ready to take on college classes.

Make Every Year of High School Count

Someone told you that your freshmen grades don’t count or don’t take your senior year too seriously because college advisers don’t look at your senior year grades. Don’t believe the hype! Every year of high school counts!

Students should start their freshman year strong because classes will become harder each year. Your grades can drop quickly but it may be difficult to get your grades back up.

Most of the time, college admission officers will review your high school transcript which will contain 9th – 11th grades, but if your grades drop senior year they can always rescind your college offer.

Focus Beyond Academics

Yes, you should take challenging courses and a full course load and get good grades. However, there are so many other things that should fill your high school experience. This is the time to step out of your comfort zone.

Take time to find out who you really are and what you enjoy and what you dislike. After high school life only accelerates and you will never have as much time on your hands as you do now.

I know you are probably thinking that you don’t really have any free time, just trust me life only gets more hectic. So try something new, think about your future goals and the life you want to have.

Find Your Passion

This is why you need to take some time for yourself. If you are not sure what your passions are, that’s okay too. Learn about the various clubs and sports at your school and find a club to join.

Your passion may be outside of your school, maybe there is something in your community that you want to improve or maybe there is an organization in your church that you want to join. You can’t be everywhere doing everything, so choose your extracurricular activities wisely.

Be a Leader and Team Player

So you have joined some extracurricular activities and you are starting to find out what you are passionate about, not it’s time to gain some leadership skills. Start stepping up and assisting the club sponsors with some of the club’s responsibilities.

Next year you may be chosen to be the President or Vice-President of the organization. However, you don’t have to have an official title to take on more responsibilities. Taking on additional responsibilities can help strengthen your leadership skills.

Teamwork skills are just as important or more important because colleges and employers are looking for people that can thrive in team environments. Working on class projects and being involved in extracurricular activities will help you enhance your team skills.

Start College Planning

It is never too early to start thinking about your career and long-term academic goals. Start going to college fairs, and visiting colleges in person, and virtually. You should start building your college list now, and as you get more information and talk to college students your list will probably change.

It is important to find a college that is a great fit for you. If you have your heart set on one college or if you wait until senior year to think about your college options, then you are doing a disservice to yourself. Your college choice can positively or negatively impact your future so NOW is the time to start thinking about building your college list.

Design a Scholarship Spreadsheet

Do you know how you are going to pay for college? It is never too early to determine how you will fund your college. If you need financial assistance for college then you need a scholarship spreadsheet so you can keep track of your current and future scholarships.

The best scholarships are merit scholarships which come directly from the college you will be attending, this is why you need to have a college list. Hopefully, you have started researching colleges because you need to look on these college websites to see what type of scholarships they offer.

Once you locate these college scholarships you can see what they require and you can determine the best approach to make yourself scholarship worthy.

Apply, Apply, and Apply for Scholarships

After you have researched your potential colleges and their merit scholarships, now it’s time to look into private scholarships. Whereas most merit scholarships are based on your academics, private scholarships can be based on various factors.

I have seen scholarships related to video games, community service, your future career path, etc… There are all kinds of private scholarships to help fund your dream school. A lot of students will wait for their junior year to start their scholarship search while others wait until high school graduation.

It is never too early to start looking for scholarships, there are scholarships for elementary and middle school school students too. Looking for scholarships is like a part-time job so don’t let this search impact your study schedule, grades, or social life.

Utilize Your Summers

I know you want to binge-watch your favorite shows, scroll Instagram and TikTok, and sleep in. A better idea is to see the summer as a great opportunity to take a class, gain career experience, or dive into a volunteer project.

Utilizing your summer to explore things that you can’t do during the school year will also help you jumpstart your college planning. A well-spent summer will help you boost your college application essays. I’m not saying your entire summer should be focused on how to succeed in high school because you do need some time to wind down and just relax.

Take Advantage of Your Weekends

We all live for our weekends. Maybe you work on the weekends, study, or clean which are great activities. But…..Don’t forget to spend time with your family because before you know it you may be away at college feeling a little homesick—-I know you are thinking homesick who? Believe all college students miss the comforts of home whether they admit it or not.

During the week most family members are going in several different directions, this is why the weekends are so important. Take time to establish activities you and your family can do together. It could be going to church together and going to your favorite restaurant, catching a movie, or just spending time outdoors together as a family. Treasure your family time.

Choose Your Friends Wisely

This may not seem important right now, but if you want to know how to succeed in high school, the right friendships are vital. The friends that you had in elementary school may not be your best friends now, we tend to outgrow our friends which is a normal part of life.

You should have friends that have similar goals and values. If you have a friend that is attracted to drama and you feel drained every time you hang out with them, they may not be the friend for you.

Take time to analyze your friendships and think about how you feel when you are around them. Even though friends will play an important role throughout your high school years so choose friends you enjoy being around in and outside of school.

Take Care of Yourself

If you don’t get enough sleep, exercise, or eat nutritious meals, it will impact your overall health and exacerbate mental health issues. You should get the proper hours of sleep for your age because a good night’s sleep can make a difference.

Hopefully, your extracurricular activities include some form of exercise, if it doesn’t, you should find time to exercise daily. Starting your school day with hot Cheetos, an energy drink, or a latte is not the best way to start your day.

If you don’t take care of yourself it will impact your high school success. So get moving throughout the day, eat healthy foods, and most importantly dim all the blue lights in your room and get some rest.

I hope this post put you in the right mindset to take on ap courses, strive for higher grades, and find regular time for the things that matter the most. These 21 tips will help you succeed in high school and build a foundation for a successful college journey.