1. Don’t EVER procrastinate

The second you leave off a big assignment until the day before its due, all your other teachers will decide to assign homework due the next day or schedule a big test for the same day, which will induce a panic attack. Instead, try and work on your assignment for just 20 or 30 minutes every night before its due, that way it’s not too much of a burden the last night. You don’t have to go crazy and do it the day it got assigned to you, but try and at least give yourself a buffer day or two.

2. Take at least one hard, but interesting, class every year

You may think you’re too busy to be burdened with a class that you know will require more out of class time than the blow-off elective you planned on taking. However, I encourage you to take at least one class that will challenge you, but at the same time you don’t 100 percent despise. AP Math and Science classes are typically avoided like the plague, but they come in handy when asked to talk about how you are intellectually equipped and open to the challenges of learning. Furthermore, it’s important that you are able to learn how to study in high school, so that when you get to college and all of your classes are hard, and most of them aren’t interesting, you at least have some study habits to fall back on.

3. Don’t try too hard

It’s important to get good grades, take hard classes, and prepare yourself for college. However, you can do that and still budget out time for having plenty of fun, too. Colleges want well-rounded students, not perfectionists who only spent their four years in high school studying. Frankly, if you aren’t valedictorian of your class, there’s no difference between being number two or 25, as long as you’re still in the top 10% (which is really only important if you are applying to a Texas school).

4. Get involved with as much as possible

Join as many clubs and sports as you have time for. Try and go for a leadership position in one or two of them, as well. Getting involved not only looks good, but it gives you a chance to meet a bunch of different people with different interests.

5. Befriend your teachers.

There are benefits to having a good relationship with at least a couple of your teachers, primarily letters of recommendation for jobs and college. However, teacher friends are good for other things as well. Having one or two teachers you feel comfortable venting with, asking for advice, or bouncing ideas off of could come in handy.