Role Of High School Freshman Year In Determining Academic Performance

Initially, freshman year helps determine a student’s risk of failing and dropping out. When you go into high school, you become responsible for yourself. This means people are no longer consistently looking over your shoulder and telling you what to do. As a result, some students may be negatively impacted because they might not be ready for such responsibility. According to Article 1, “... ninth graders have the lowest grades, the most missed classes, and most behavior referrals than other high school grade levels” ( “Ninth Grade: The Most Important Year in High School,” para. 1). What this quote shows is that in general ninth graders have difficulties staying on track.

Therefore, not being able to stay on track may become a bigger problem by affecting a student’s academic performance as the year continues. Nevertheless, poor academic performance may result in the student having to repeat classes at the end of semesters, which may lead to the possibility of dropping out. The student may drop out if he or she is unable to successfully repeat the class. In conclusion, freshman year serves as an indicator of whether or not a student will fail and drop out.

Furthermore, ninth grade is essential to a student’s academic career because skills and habits are developed. Skills and habits take awhile to fully emerge, but once emerged, they affect the way you do things and the results of doing things. For example, the author of Article 2 states, “The skills and habits that successful college students have do not develop overnight once students arrive to college. They must be obtained and developed while students are in high school…” ( “Use All Four Years of High School to Prepare for College,” para. 1). This demonstrates that if you truly want to do well on something, you must strive to work on it beforehand in order to gain experience. Thus, with experience comes skills and habits that can be learned throughout high school and applied later on in life.

Finally, freshman year has an impact on a student’s future, specifically on their college life. If you want to go to college and be considered for scholarships, you must prepare for it by showing you are serious about your future. Article 2 states, “She comments that colleges will look at all four years of grades and activities, so students need to make good grades, identify their interests, and get involved as soon as possible and not wait to get serious about their futures… In fact how well students do in high school is a key predictor of how they will do later in college…” ( Article 2, para. 3, 4).

In other words, if don’t push yourself and try to show your true potential, colleges may choose someone over you and not give you a scholarship. With that being said, your academic future is in the hands of your grades, your determination, and persistence, and freshman year is the big, beginning of it all.

All in all, freshman year is the most significant year of high school. Freshman year is essential to a student’s life. Above all, ninth grade indicates failure and the possibility of dropping out, helps discover skills and habits, and affects students’ futures. Everyday you go to school, but it doesn’t really truly matter until you reach the ninth grade. That’s when your academic careers hold the greatest significance.