Sophomore Year
During your sophomore year, your first real steps into the college life begin.
Start researching colleges and universities
Your high school counseling office can help with resources such as college catalogs, videos, and brochures. Use the Internet. Attend college fair days and meet college counselors.
Explore scholarship opportunities
Early scholarship
research can lead to more potential funding. But be aware of
scholarship scams—avoid services that charge high rates or "guarantee
college money". Visit our free scholarship search engine for over 2.4 million
individual awards.
Take your first PSAT
By spring, you should take a real SAT exam for practice. Do your best, but don't sweat it, you'll get another chance in your junior year.
Visit college campuses
Use your summer vacation to visit different colleges. Call ahead for scheduled tours. Don’t forget to file the information you learn in the appropriate folder.
Keep following last year's advice
- Stay (or get) involved in extracurricular and volunteer activities.
- Take the hardest courses you can handle while achieving the highest grade.
- Review and re-evaluate career possibilities.
- Parents — keep saving; a college education is expensive.
This is an excerpt from Get Cash for College: Real Advice for Real Results (PDF) , our exclusive guide to helping high school students and their parents prepare for college academically and financially.
Download
the complete transcript—free.
High School Students
» Freshman Year
» Sophomore Year
» Junior Year
» Senior Year
» What You Need
Financial Aid Advisor
» Financial Aid Advisor: The Guided Tour
» First Step: Completing The FAFSA
» The Financial Aid Calendar
» The Financial Aid Process
» Know Your Options