What will my freshman year be like in high school?

Question

I'm going to high school this year :D

My high school is very competitive. There is about 1,000 kids for each grade level. So I'll be competing against 999 other kids. Skipping a level of math is the norm. Most people are dropping Humanities to take AP Human Geography for the higher GPA scale, while I am still taking Humanities, where it gives Honors GPA. People usually get rid of all regulars classes to take more honors for the higher GPA by correspondence or credit by exam.

What will the transition from middle school to high school be like?

I am worried. I want to go to a "good college" like Duke or Cornell.

How high does my rank have to be for a college like Duke?

I want to make at least top 10%, but I am really hoping more for top 4-5%.

How many hours will I need to study per day?

For college, I am thinking about majoring something in Business.

Where should I volunteer?

I'm taking:

English 1 Honors

Biology 1 Honors

Algebra 2 Honors

Chinese 2 Honors

Humanities (for the gifted kids)

Debate 1

PE.

Answer 1

I am also going to high school this year, but I might be able to share a little insight.

If your school is competitive, you have a better chance of getting into a great school.

Why?

If your school is competitive, it's probably full of smart people. Since smart people learn faster, the teacher can teach more, thus, everyone at your school would get higher SAT's than "regular" schools.

So then, you could be getting maybe a 3.7, and some kid at a really bad school could be getting a 4.2. You would have a great chance because of your higher SAT's, and also because you come from a "better" school.

Next year, I am taking

Eng honors

Alg2 honors

AP chem

AP chinese

Forensics

Journalism

Orchestra

PE

That was actually a lot of info. and I'm not sure it made sense, but, just think about it like- bad school=higher GPA(lower expectation of students) good school="worse" GPA (everyone is very smart so the "medium- smart" people would get B's as the really smart people- A+) but looking at SAT's  good school> bad school, and SAT's make a difference.

Answer 2

with those classes its going to be very hard.