COLLEGE READINESS TIMELINE
Think about Your Interests
There are so many things that you can do! Whether it be an engineer, business owner, psychologist, or legal scholar—you can achieve it with proper focus on the attributes your chosen field requires. If there is a subject that piques your interest, this is the perfect time to explore new things.
Take courses in high school that you could see yourself continuing in college. If you don’t know what you want to do just yet, take a variety of courses to see if a new subject is of interest to you.
Let’s revisit those questions: What do you like? What are you good at? What do you want to do with your life? Your answers can lead you to different areas of exploration.
Visit Different Types of Nearby Colleges
Taking a visit to the community college, university, or trade school near you is an inexpensive way to get a feel of how higher education works. Take the time to speak to students and check to see if you can sit in on a course you think you will eventually take when you go to college!
You’ll find there are more opportunities for formal visits to colleges--near and far--during your junior and senior years. Sophomore year is the perfect time to explore and learn about types of colleges and college environments, more than specific institutions.
Maximize Technology
So many resources are accessible to you online. From colleges’ websites (read the student newspaper, learn about admission requirements and financial aid, check out student organizations and event calendars) to online college guides, you can start to do your research right on your device.
Check out collegeboard.com, cappex.com, and niche.com to start. If you create accounts on these sites you will have further access to content and up-to-date information from colleges.
Create an email address for yourself that you’ll use just for college stuff. Check your inbox often! You don’t want to miss out on information about events, campus visits, scholarship opportunities, and just all around good information!
Aim for College Credit
Usually, in your sophomore year, you can begin to take Advanced Placement (AP) courses that not only expose you to college-level work, they give you the opportunity to gain college credit. Doing well on an AP exam or taking a college course while still in high school can reduce the cost of your overall undergraduate cost by allowing you to place out of introductory-level courses. The hard work you do in high school can really pay off!
Explore. Practice. Excel.
You will definitely want to take the PSAT or Pre ACT during your sophomore year. Both offer an assessment of college readiness and are good low-risk practice opportunities for the SAT and ACT respectively. For those who perform well on the PSAT, there are specific scholarships that are available. Your guidance office will inform you about these tests and other important standardized test activities during sophomore year.
There’s one more benefit to taking these tests: colleges will begin to reach out to you because they are interested in you and want you to learn more. This is a fantastic (and easy!) way to add to your research. Sign up for emails and mail from colleges now.
Career Exploration
Talk to your parent(s)/guardian(s), relatives, and other adults about what they like most about their careers. If you have a particular career in mind, try to talk to a professional in the field to see if they have any tips for you. Make sure to ask them what schools they went to, as they might be willing to write a letter of recommendation for you.
Ask your counselor if there are job shadowing programs available that will give you a day-in-the-life look into certain career paths.
Use your Breakthrough network to connect with individuals in professions that sound interesting to you. You’ll find that most professionals are more than happy to give some time to an earnest and curious young person.