Sophomore Year

  • Sophomore College Advisement PDF

     Adobe PDF Print the Sophomore College Advisement Presentation in PDF


    College Bound

    The 10th-grade year is when the rubber meets the road, it’s the "let’s-get-serious" year. Students who are aiming for a highly selective college will need to be taking the difficult and demanding curriculum in order to be prepared for honors and/or AP classes ahead of them as juniors and seniors. If students did poorly as freshmen, they still have time to redeem themselves and show colleges that there has been a turn-around. Colleges will overlook a mediocre freshman year if they observe a change in the sophomore year that continues through the high school career. 

    Sophomore "To Do" list:

    • The significance of extracurricular/volunteer activities takes on even more importance in the eyes of college admissions officers as students progress through high school. 
    • Students should continue to develop a reputation for “working toward their potential.”  Nothing breeds success like success.
    • Students should learn to deal respectfully and personally with their teachers and advisors as they will need to know and remember them fondly when it comes time to write recommendations and provide feedback to the college admissions process later in the senior year!
    Each year the OPHS Counselors held a "Sophomore Class College Advisement" meeting for all sophomores and their parents who are planning to apply to 4-year colleges in their Senior year. At this meeting, OPHS Counselors will provide an overview of what sophomores need to be doing to be ready for the college application season which begins in the Fall of their Senior year.
     
    Campus Clubs
     
     
    Campus Clubs It's not too late as a sophomore to get involved with any of our Campus Clubs.  They provide students with a wide range of interests to meet other like-minded students, as well as community service & leadership opportunities! 
     
     
    Community Service  We have a webpage devoted to external community service, leadership & volunteer programs that you can access by clicking on this Community Service, Leadership & Volunteer Opportunities hyperlink.
     
    College & Career Ctr.College & Career Center Students who have not yet visited our College & Career Center should do so ASAP! It is located in C-6, next door to the OPHS Student Store. You can investigate colleges and careers that suit your interests and then gather information about them. 
     
     
    Naviance Student is a web-based program for academic planning, college, and career research.  If you do not yet have a passcode contact the College & Career Center ASAP. You will need to become very familiar with this program as this will be the primary vehicle you use to research colleges, request recommendations from your counselors and to order transcripts. If they have not done so already, Sophomores should complete/respond to the following assessments: the Do What You Are personality assessment, the Career Interest Profiler, the MI Advantage and the Learning Style Inventory. These assessments will help students learn more about themselves, and what careers and college majors to consider. Students should continue to record their extracurricular, community service, and volunteer activities in the Resume section of Naviance. Click here or on the Naviance logo above for more information about Naviance.  
     
    NAVIANCE STUDENT For an overview of "Naviance Student" please view the video below.
     
    PSAT/NMSQT
    The PSAT For sophomores, taking the PSAT is a possibility each year in October. Please remember – it’s a practice test!!! So no test preparation is necessary.  For more information on the PSAT, click on the "PSAT" hyperlink.

    College Board The College Board is the company that administers the SAT, SAT Subject Tests, and the AP program. It is not necessary for Sophomores to sit for the SAT unless they want to do so for practice. For more information about the SAT, program click here or on the College Board logo.
     
     
    ACT Students can actually improve their overall chances by taking both the ACT and the SAT! The ACT is a three-hour multiple-choice examination of four major curriculum areas: English, Math, Reading, and Science Reasoning.  Usually, students whose worst subject is Math do better on this test! It was designed to be taken by High School students towards the end of their Junior year.  The four sections' scores are converted to scaled scores between 1-36. Virtually all colleges and universities (with the exception of Caltech in California) accept it as a qualifying entrance examination. It may be re-taken without penalty. For more information on the ACT click on the following hyperlink: ACT Test Details 

    Honors & AP

    Honors & AP Courses 10th grade is the year that many students will begin to access AP & Honors level courses. The OPHS "Honors & AP Courses Page" will give you more information about these courses as well as how they factor into the college admission decision process! Resist the temptation to sign up for multiple AP/Honors courses because it seems to be required for a particular university - this strategy will backfire when the combined workload of multiple advanced courses begins to crush a student's spirit. Ultimately, there is a college out there for every student based on their unique combination of skills, abilities, SAT's, extracurriculars, & academic transcript!  


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Last Modified on January 20, 2021