As a future engineer, what are some tips that I can take to better prepare myself for college

Hi Trayquil. My best advise would be to get into the mindset of solving problems and creating efficiencies.. Math, science, and technology are your tools. The better you get with your tools, the better problem solver you will be. Don't wait until you graduate, find problems within your community, school, it doesn't matter, keep working on out-of-box solutions to bring efficiencies to the world around you. The best engineers never finished school. They had a passion for solving problems immediately. If you take this approach, school will be the least of your worries.

Do your homework in regards to choosing a great engineering school. Look for the school that specializes in the type of engineering you are interested in. Also, ask questions during your visit regarding internships and what type of companies are interested in the graduates of this school.

Trayquil:

Here is some advice to optimize your chance at getting accepted at the engineering college of your choice:

Take the advanced math classes your high school offers, including calculus
Take 3 years of science classes: Biology-Chemistry-Physics
Get the best grades you can
Become active in an engineering-related high school club; outside activities help you college application stand out
Enter one or more high school engineering-related competitions such as bridge-building or robotics
Look to form a study group among a half dozen or so peers at high school; study groups are an important part of success in college

Good luck, Pete Sturtevant, PE

A lot depends on your study habits. I rarely studied at home during high school, I was able to keep up with all my class assignments during the school day. I did not develop good study habits and nearly flunked out of college my first semester. I was able to recover from that, but earned a degree with a lower than average grade point average.
Several years later, I went back to college for my engineering degree. I took nothing but math and engineering classes (having fulfilled all the elective courses the first time around). But, I was married and had a child and knew that this was a second chance that I could not afford to fail at.

I graduated in the top five percent of my class. I studied harder and worked harder than any of the other students to earn those higher grades. I treated my day as a work day, and put in at least eight hours of homework and study (I would work extra problems every day). You may not be smarter than others, but you can out study and out work them and be successful.