SOPHOMORE PLANNING FOR COLLEGE CHECKLIST
You cannot start too early to begin the college process. The earlier you
start, the better off you will be when the big transition from high school
to college comes your way. Listed below are some things you can do during
your tenth grade year.
[]If you have not already, begin to pray about where God wants you to
attend college and what direction He wants you to take.
[]Develop good study habits. Participate in class, ask questions, take
good notes, get things done and turned in on time. Learn how to use a
library and take advantage of it.
[]Use the Internet and the vast amount of resources available on the world
wide web. You can look at a college¡¦s profile, take virtual tours of the
campus, and request information.
[]Begin searching for scholarship opportunities that are available.
Register on one of the many free scholarship search engines via the
Internet. (i.e. www.fastweb.com)
[]Make good grades. Do not think you can wait until your junior or senior
year and then be dedicated enough to bring up your grade point average
(GPA). Just a couple of low grades can lower your GPA.
NOTE 1: Do not be discouraged if you already have a couple of low
grades. It still isn¡¦t too late. Work hard and bring your
GPA up to the best it can be.
NOTE 2: Striving to get good grades does not mean ¡¥all work and no
play¡¦. Listen in class, do your work and get it in on time.
Getting good grades may not be as hard as you think!
[]Make sure you know what is required to graduate and that you are taking
the required courses. Take as many advanced and AP courses as you can
handle and do well in them. These courses strengthen your transcript.
[]Take the PLAN test. This will begin to prepare you for taking ACT and
SAT tests.
[]Get involved! Extra-curricular activities, volunteer and community
service, summer enrichment programs, mission trips, etc. These are
important to college admissions and scholarship committees.
[]Make a list of what is important to you in a college. This will help
you weed out schools as you begin looking at colleges. Think about
things such as: location, size, housing, majors, type of students, etc.
[]Attend college and career fairs. Begin to search for the school that God
wants you to attend. Watch for information about college open houses.
[]Learn about different careers that you are interested in. Plan to career
shadow someone or see if you can volunteer in an area you may be
considering in order to explore the career.
[]Make a list of several colleges that interest you and learn research them.
[] Make a reading list of several books to read throughout the year and
through the summer. Also, stay up on current events.
Parent Planning Timeline for the Sophomore Year
In terms of preparing for college, it's an important time, since AP and
honors classes require prerequisites that your child will need to be
fulfilling this year and next. You and your child should have an open
discussion and strategically map out classes together.
Sophomore year also marks the beginning of standardized testing. The PLAN
assessment, the pre-ACT test is administered in their sophomore year. If it
hasn't already started, it's buckle-down time!
Most importantly, continue to pray for God's direction and wisdom regarding
your child's life after high school.
September
>The PLAN helps immensely in predicting your child's performance on the ACT.
Have your child prepare for the test.
>It's time to start checking out college fairs and meeting with school
representatives that come to school. Encourage your child to start
investigating schools by attending one fair and talking with college
representatives that come during lunch at school.
October/November
>Register your student on a free scholarship search site, such as
www.fastweb.com. Scholarships are available for 10th grade students.
December
>PLAN scores should be back by now and you and your child develop strategies
for improving weak areas, if necessary.
January/February
>Keep communicating. Ask your child how the are doing in their classes.
If grades are slipping, help them to get motivated and/or get them some
extra help.
>Take a look at extracurricular activities as well, not just from the
standpoint of whether or not they're going well, but if they are having a
negative impact on your child's studies and need to be cut back.
March
>You and your child should discuss Advanced Placement classes that could be
taken during the Junior Year.
April
>Summer is coming up again, and your child should be considering what
options are best for his summer plans. Vacations are nice, but so is
earning money for college or enhancing one's transcript with community
service, a summer camp, enrichment program, mission trip, etc.!
May/June
>Update your child's high school resume.
>Finalize any summer plans, and, just as you did last year, devise a summer
reading list together that will help the transition into junior year.
Summer
>Your child should be participating in constructive activities
throughout the summer. Summer study, jobs, and volunteer work always rate
high with admission officials. If your child has a career goal in mind, see
if you can help arrange a day where he or she can "shadow" someone who
works in that field.
>The Web provides good college entrance information, as well as online
applications to many institutions. Summer is a great time for you and your
child to check out some of the sites and bookmark your favorites.
Some information taken from petersons.com.
