Sophomores – What To Do in July

Rising sophomores have finished one year of high school, so it’s an important time to reflect on the past year. Sophomores should think about how they felt about their time management skills. Did they get off to a slow start and then have to play catch up most of the year? How about activites at school? Were they involved? Do they need to cut back on activities to better focus on academics; or do they need to look for a couple of things in which to get involved to feel more positive about school? Depending on how the school year went, sophomores might consider taking an AP class next year. One of the things colleges care most about is the rigor of the curriculum. Colleges are very suspicious if they see very strong grades without hard classes. As reported in Education Week, “The best predictor of [college] success is the rigor of curriculum in high school,” said David Kraus, director of admissions at Davidson, a 1,900-student, selective liberal arts college. Then, admissions counselors consider grades, and whether the student kept pace when the rigor ramped up. It’s not that students have to excel in every AP class, but Kraus said he is looking for balance, and grades are looked at through the lens of the program of study.