There’s an old saying that goes, “The
journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
No matter how unsure you feel taking that first step,
every single one after that will be a little easier. It
also helps if you have a plan to follow through your
sophomore year—and here it is.
For details on each step, click on the
notes below. For useful links for college preparation,
click
here.
Prepare for standardized
testing
• Take the ACT PLAN test in the fall,
normally in October or November. This is a valuable test
to help
you prepare for the
ACT, which you can take during your junior year in April
or June.
• Review PLAN test
results with your parents and school counselor. Compare
these to your
EXPLORE
results to measure growth.
• Take the PSAT in
October. The scores will not count for National Merit
Scholar consideration in your
sophomore year, but
it is valuable practice for when you take the PSAT again
in your junior year
when the scores
will count, as well as for the SAT Reasoning Test, which
you should also be taking
in your junior
year. You will receive your PSAT results in December.
• Start preparing for
the SAT Reasoning Test.
• Register in April for
the SAT Subject Tests that you will be completing before
June.
• Take the SAT Subject Test in
June.
Update your file of important
documents and notes
• Copies of report cards
• Lists of awards and
honors
• Lists of school and
community activities in which you are involved,
including both paid and volunteer
work, and
descriptions of what you do
Continue
your college search and visits
-
Think about selecting a school, finding out about
the different types. Decide which characteristics
are most important to you, such as the size of the
school, distance from home, cost, and
extracurricular activities.
-
Visit colleges and talk with college students.
-
Be ready with a list of questions to ask on your
campus visit.
-
Use this list of college characteristics to decide
how to evaluate different colleges.
-
Review the high school courses you need to take to
meet the requirements of the colleges you are
interested in attending.
Find out about honors-level courses at your
school
-
Ask if AP or other honors courses are available.
-
See if you are eligible for the honors classes you
want to take.
-
Find out how to enroll in them your junior year.
Other top tips
•
Continue extracurricular
activities, as admissions officers look at students'
extracurricular
activities when considering them for admission.
•
Continue
participation in academic enrichment programs, summer
workshops, and
camps with specialty
focuses such as music, arts, and science.
•
Continue
to meet with your college/career counselor at least once
a year.
