Thoughtfully Build Your Workout Plan

• Choose courses aligned with your interests, goals, and learning style.

• Consider how you will balance your course load and outside-of-school commitments.

• Assess your academic support skills (time management, organization, asking for help, etc.).

• Understand that Advanced Academics courses require deeper thinking, more engagement, faster pace, and student ownership of work. They get increasingly harder, so past performance doesn't always indicate future achievement.

• Keep the GPA bump in mind: Getting a B in an advanced class is the same GPA point as an A in an on-level class. Colleges would rather see students taking on challenges and getting a B than taking an "easier" A.

Plan For Productive Struggle

• Like being sore after an effective workout, facing difficulties in an advanced class is how you grow. This is productive struggle.

• Build your foundation by engaging fully in class: participate, work to the best of your ability, ask questions.

• Focus on your own improvement & growth as opposed to comparing yourself with others.

• View teacher feedback, including grades, as opportunities to learn.

• Put GPA in its proper place. Colleges recalculate your high school GPA when you apply, focusing on you taking advanced courses (especially in your stated area of interest) and doing well (not perfectly). 

• Put rank in its proper place: it is used for automatic admission to state schools in Texas. Using a measure you can't control as a measure of your success will cause unnecessary stress.

Take Care of Yourself

• Take time for self-reflection and discussion with loved ones & supporters. This can help you see root causes of stresses.

• Ask for help: teachers, counselors, loved ones are all here to help. This is a lifelong skill.

• Have healthy strategies for handling stress. This is a great ongoing discussion to have with family, friends, and teachers.

• Sleep. Do your best to stick to a schedule and get away from screens at least an hour before bed. Lack of sleep negatively impacts academic performance (and makes you grumpy).

• Spend time with your interests, passions, activities, and service. These things enhance your college resume and, more importantly, help you become a well-rounded human.