Sophomores: What to Expect Junior-Senior Year

The majority of my posts here on Admit This! concern high school juniors and seniors and sometimes current college students. This post, however, is for high school sophomores, those 10th graders out there who are sometimes overlooked in the realm of college admissions advice. So, just for the record, I want to address some thoughts to that group, who will be so-called "rising juniors" at the end of this school year. Appropriately, then, let me get you to look ahead to your junior and senior year.

The junior high school year is a year of decision and planning for college-bound students. Senior year is the action year. During both years, you'll continue to take challenging classes in English, math, science, history, geography, a foreign language, government, civics, economics, and the arts. As a junior, you must then start thinking ahead to your senior year. At the start of your senior year, you will decide if your standardized test scores are the best they can be. If you're not satisfied with them, schedule the SAT I for October (preferred) or November. You may also want to take some Subject Tests if you were unable to do so at the end of your junior year (also preferred).