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" I was just wondering how soon you started planning for college in high school. Was there anything you wish you had done to better prepare yourself? And how much do your high school years affect college?  -Madison, 14 Well, I knew from a young age that I wanted and was expected to go to college. I started thinking about college my freshman year of high school, and I personally believe that is the time you really have to start thinking about it. When I say start thinking about it, I don&amp;#039;t necessarily mean find the college you want to go to, but prepare for your future.  Form good study habits early. Trust me, it&amp;#039;s really a challenge to change these habits later in time. In college, if you want an A in a class, you are expected to study 3 hours for every 1 unit. For example, my Spanish class is a 4-credit class (meaning we meet 4 hours a week), therefore I should study for about 12 hours if I want an A. It&amp;#039;s hard to believe, but it true. :( I started college searching late in my freshman year, and by my sophomore year, I had narrowed it down to a group of schools. It&amp;#039;s really kind of fun to college search.  I really wish I had taken high school more seriously. My freshman and sophomore year I got A&amp;#039;s and B&amp;#039;s and one C, and when I realized that my grades were more important it was too late. I just slacked off in classes that would have been an easy A if I actually paid attention to it, but I didn&amp;#039;t, and had to suffer in the end. For me, my grades were important because I wanted to be in the Honors College here at the University of Arizona, which required a minimum of a 3.8 high school GPA, and because of my lovely C and few B&amp;#039;s, I ended high school with a 3.72 GPA. Sure, it&amp;#039;s a decent GPA, but it wasn&amp;#039;t high enough for my personal standards. Good luck! Defy Gravity and Keep Smiling, Dawn "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/life/school/q-and-a/a3276/dawn-ask-us-1114/>