CCS GUIDANCE GAZETTE on the Web

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VIEW: Home \| College Acceptances and Scholarships 2009 - 2010 \| Senior College Planning Checklist \| Junior College Planning Checklist \| Sophomore College Planning Checklist \| Freshman College Planning Checklist \| NewsFlash \| ACT, SAT, EXPLORE, PLAN, PSAT and ASVAB Tests and Preparation \| Scholarships \| Financial Aid and College Costs \| Glossary of College and Financial Aid Terms \| College Visits - on and off campus \| Checklist and Questions for College Visits \| College \| Tips for Writing Essays for College and Scholarshi \| Resume' Samples \| Financial Aid Tip of the Month \| Article of the Month - College Interviews \| Web Links \| Work Ethic Certificates / Diploma \| CCS School Profile, Graduation Requirements, Grading Scales, etc. \| Important Dates \| Off CCS Campus Programs \| FastWeb Newsletters \| Guidance \| Career

Visit the TeacherWeb® videos to learn about the features, modifications, and customizations available on your website. Click here to learn more. Sophomore College Planning Checklist small medium large 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. 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CCS GUIDANCE GAZETTE on the Web

Sophomore College Planning Checklist

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