Long gone are the days when freshmen could ease into high school with a light load. Although sophomore and junior year may be the most important when it comes to applying for college, no longer can a student overlook their first year in high school.

“Freshman year is the beginning of a student’s high school transcript and colleges will consider a student’s transcript (courses they took and grades earned) as one of the most important factors when deciding whether or not to admit a student that their college or university,” college counselor Addison Snyder said. “That being said, if a student does poorly their freshman year it can be pretty difficult to recover their GPA and class rank over the next two years.”

That being said, many students on campus aren’t wasting time when it comes to academics.

“I’m taking pre-calculus, statistics, and chemistry because I’m really interested in math and science,”  freshman Emily Belk said. “I want to be a neurosurgeon when I grow up.”

Other freshmen are getting involved in a variety of sports on campus.

“I play soccer and basketball,” freshman Meredith Welch said. “Thankfully the seasons don’t conflict but it’s still stressful trying to plan everything out.”

A generation ago, freshman picked their extracurricular activities based on interest. Now such choices are based on interest and the future.

“I think being in the environmental club will look good on my college application because it will show that I helped my community,” freshman Ashton Franquiz said.

Whether its clubs, sports, or academics, students are doing what they can to boost their chance at getting accepted to their school of choice.

“When student’s begin applying for college at the beginning of their senior year they will only have three years of grades on their transcript (freshman, sophomore and junior year grades),” Snyder said. “So when you think about it, freshman year comprises 1/3 of the GPA student’s will provide when they apply to college. Almost 100 percent of applications are completed during the fall semester of senior year.”