High School Sophomore Timeline
STRIVE FOR A HIGH GPA
As we will often state, maintaining a high GPA and taking more progressively challenging classes will aid in demonstrating your worth as a future scholarship applicant and also put you well on your way into become a more well-rounded student. You will do yourself a great service by developing good study habits and skills now because when compared to college coursework, most of your current school assignments are quite manageable. As an example, if you go back and look at any of your middle school assignments, the notion that they were ever challenging will more than likely seem inconceivable. This feeling will persist because, more often than not, we work at a lower level than our full potential. Do what you can to eliminate the chances of that experience happening in the future and push yourself to excell!
MEET WITH YOUR GUIDANCE COUNSELOR OFTEN
Plan to meet with your assigned high school guidance counselor more frequently to discuss topics such as possible careers or colleges/universities/vocational/trade schools that you may be interested in. Also use this opportunity to periodically make sure you are on track for graduation.
REVIEW ACADEMIC REQUIREMENTS OF COLLEGES
Review academic requirements for the colleges and universities that you may want to attend. Keeping them cataloged will help you more easily keep track and focus on what may initially appear to be an overwhelming number of possibilities. Focusing on organization now will save time and energy in the future when you are narrowing your choices. Continue to explore college and university programs in which you might be interested. If, for example, you plan to study abroad be sure to confirm that the colleges and universities you’re interested in offer a program in your desired location. There are some really incredible programs out there!
COMMUNITY SERVICE AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Continue extracurricular activities and community service and obtain the necessary documentation to verify these activities. There are many generous scholarships based solely on volunteer work. Demonstrate commitment by giving back to your community. This will not only put you in good stead when applying for most scholarships, but will put you well on your way to becoming a lifelong philanthropist. While that may seem like a far-fetched notion at this early stage of your life, it will hopefully come to make sense further down the line!
IDENTIFY THOSE WHO MIGHT RECOMMEND YOU LATER
Keep a list of teachers and educators whom you have had as instructors, in addition to their contact information, as you may want to seek a letter of recommendation from them later on. Students frequently overlook this task and often have to scramble at the last moment. So prepare in advance by sending your instructors a note of thanks after the course(s) have ended and let them know you would like to keep in touch. This is not only a considerate gesture, it will also set you apart from the throngs of students who would never consider it even when strongly encouraged to do so.
PREPARE FOR AND TAKE THE PSAT
Most high school sophomores take the PSAT during the month of October of their sophomore year. To find out what date your respective high school will administer the PSAT by following this link https://psatordering.collegeboard.com/pno/public/search.do. Find out in advance what the PSAT entails and how you can prepare for the test. Determine if your school offers any preparatory courses or other forms of instruction to prepare and do your best on this exam. Practice specific techniques to lessen anxiety and stress, so that we you take the SAT and/or ACT you are less likely to panic in anticipation of the test day. Take advantage year to use this as an opportunity to learn how to put an end to any and all standardized college entrance examination test-taking anxieties!
START SEARCHING FOR SCHOLARSHIPS NOW
This is the time to start scheduling regular scholarship search time into your daily/weekly schedule. The sooner you develop diligent scholarship search habits, the better. The goal is to make searching for scholarships part of a routine. In the beginning it be a meddlesome chore but once it becomes a regular part of your life—like any extracurricular activity—and you have taken other important steps such as establishing essay templates, it will get easier – I promise!