SOPHOMORE TIMELINE FOR ACADEMIC WORK

COURSES
This is a good year to “up” the number of challenging courses you take. However, don’t take a lot of difficult courses if you are not going to be able to handle them. Talk with your high school counselor or a trusted teacher, as well as with your parents, about how much to take on. Sophomore year is when many good students take their first AP class, although some high schools only allow juniors and seniors to do that.

GRADES
Sophomore year is when good grades become increasingly important.

END OF SOPHOMORE YEAR REMINDER: Don’t forget to take the Subject Test for any AP courses in which you
may have been enrolled.

JUNIOR TIMELINE FOR ACADEMIC WORK

COURSES
Of all the years in high school that colleges are interested, junior year is at the top. This year is when you should take the most honors, AP and IB courses available, and also get the best grades you can. The most competitive students usually take more than two AP/IB classes, but they do this only after carefully assessing what their other commitments are. Generally speaking, whether or not you take 3 or 4 advanced classes is not going to keep you out of even the top schools. Nevertheless, junior year should be when you “take the academic plunge;” in other words, go the extra mile on papers; astound teachers with your work.

GRADES
Getting top grades should be a priority in junior year. If any course gives you trouble, as soon as you notice talk with the teacher about what you might do. This can also be a good way of developing relationship with a teacher. Not only will they get to know you, but you will also get to know them as you ask questions or spend time after class. You never know, you might even become memorable for the turnaround you make. A student who works himself or herself from a C to an A is someone a teacher is not likely to forget.

Some of the other ways that students deal with a class in which they are experiencing difficulty include the following:

1) Move from an advanced class to a regular class.

2) Work with a tutor.

Many people are under the impression that only poor students get tutors. In reality, some of the best students get tutoring when courses become problematic for them. Like the best athletes in the country, good students don’t settle for getting by; they use outside help to get better at, and excel in, their courses.

END OF JUNIOR YEAR REMINDER: Don’t forget to take the Subject Test for any AP courses in which you
may have been enrolled.