College Check List: Sophomores
This year’s emphasis is to continue to achieve the best grades possible, and to prepare for the college process: continue your resume, and later in the year, become familiar with testing, Family Connection, and take a first look at colleges.
August
- Continue to participate in your extracurricular activities, clubs or other organizations during the year-- or make a change and sign up for new activities
October
- You will take the PLAN (Pre-ACT test) at MC. No registration required.
February
- Attend Sophomore Planning Night
March/April
- Begin planning your schedule for next year. Meet with counselor, talk to other students and teachers. Sign up for challenging courses to the extent possible. Student athletes should make sure you are on track to take the 14-16 core courses (based on your intended graduation date) that are consistent with NCAA requirements for Division I and Division II schools. Many universities accept the NCAA academic requirements (see NCAA manual in appendix).
- Depending on
your courses, consider if this spring would be the best time to take an SAT
Subject Test. Speak to counselor
if unsure. Register for June test
date at Collegeboard.com. (For more info on subject tests, see Handbook)
- Research and consider summer enrichment programs and/or service opportunities (See Handbook for examples)
May
- Update your High School activities resume in Family Connection, begun in Freshman year.
During the Summer
- Research colleges to determine which schools fit your academic and athletic abilities. Check out college web sites and ask for their literature if you’d like to know more.
- Start visiting colleges. Get a feel for what works for you: large or small, public or private. (See the handbook for what questions to start asking yourself)
- Purchase College guides such as Fiske’s Guide to Colleges or Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges to begin getting a feel for colleges’ admission requirements and which colleges or types of colleges might be appealing to you. (See more complete list of references in the college handbook.)
To download and print a copy of the entire college check list, click here.