Sophomore Year Plan

  • Work to the best of your ability in and out of the classroom. The higher your GPA, the more college options you will have!
  • Commit to activities – determine where your passions lie, identify future leadership positions and strive for them!  College Admission Counselors seek students who will contribute to their communities.
  • Take the PSAT in October (GA automatically registers all sophomores)
    • Review the newspaper type document and practice test you will receive in your English class
    • Get a good night's sleep
    • Eat breakfast
    • Arrive at the Upper School by 8:00 a.m.
    • Bring a couple of sharpened number 2 pencils (not mechanical), a calculator, and energy snacks!
  • Financial Aid Night  
    • Each year a financial aid night is offered in the fall at one of the independent schools in the area.  Parents will be notified by email about the location of this evening event.
  • In Freshman Seminar, students are introduced to Family Connection from Naviance, a Web-based service designed especially for students and families. Family Connection is a comprehensive website that students can use to help in making decisions about your courses, colleges, and careers. Family Connection is linked with Counselor’s Office, a service that we use in our office to track and analyze data about college and career plans, so it provides up-to-date information that’s specific to our school.  As freshman, students completed Do What You Are in Family Connection.  This year students can begin to explore colleges by accessing the features under “Colleges” in Family Connection. Use of Family Connection will increase as students progress through the Upper School and parents will be hearing much more about this impressive tool and receiving their access codes too.
  • GA is also now offering Peterson’s StudentEdge, a 24-hour, easy-to-use online resource center that  allows students to prepare for tests, find a college, search for financial aid, and explore careers—all in one convenient package—and at no cost!  We are offering this resource in addition to Family Connection because it provides comprehensive standardized test prep at no cost.  All of the components of StudentEdge are outlined here:
    • Peterson’s award-winning online course for the ACT®, SAT*, and PSAT*
    • Unlimited access to online practice tests for the ACT®, SAT*, SAT Subject Tests*, AP* Exams, and ASVAB
    • Comprehensive college match tool linking to more than 4,200 schools with interactive profiles
    • The most complete financial aid tools available with more than $8 billion in public and institution-based aid in a comprehensive scholarship database
    • Resources that include a career assessment, career outlook tools and a resume builder
  • Meet with your assigned College Counselor in the spring
  • All students will receive notification of their college counselor by February of their sophomore year
  • In April and May, we will invite students to meet with their counselor so they can begin to get to know each other
  • In April, parents of sophomores will be invited to a College Guidance information session.
  • In the spring of sophomore year students should review the list of Subject Tests, which are offered by the College Board (www.collegeboard.com).  If a student is completing a course in a subject tested and the student has achieved at a very high level, the student may want to take a Subject Test in June while the material is fresh in the student’s mind.

College Entrance Exams

To complete your college entrance exams in time to meet college application deadlines takes careful planning and coordination.  Registration forms for the exams are available in the College Guidance Office. A list of exams needed and a suggested time frame follow:

SAT I: Required by most colleges and universities.  Generally, students should plan to take the exam at least twice - in winter/spring of their junior year and October of their senior year. 
Subject Exams (formerly SAT II’s): Required by more competitive colleges and universities (you can find out who requires what by referring to the common application, college guidance books or admission materials from the school). Most require students to complete two or occasionally three subject exams and some specify in which subject area. Students whose grades in an honors or Advancement Placement course are in the "A" or "B" range should consider taking Subject Exams.  Students may consult their college counselor or their classroom teacher in a given subject about which exams they should take. The exams are administered at the same dates and time as the SAT I exams. Unlike the SAT I Exam, Subject Exams consist of separate subject tests that last for approximately one hour each.  Three subject exams may be completed on one test date, but not all subject exams are offered on every test date.
Subject Tests are offered at both GA and Upper Dublin HS on June 5, 2010 with a registration deadline of April 29, 2010.  Students may register at www.collegeboard.com

ACT Assessment Tests: Many colleges will accept ACT scores in substitution for SAT I scores and/or SAT II scores.  Since the ACT tests are curriculum-based tests of educational development and have different content from the SAT I, students sometimes achieve differently on the two exams.  Some colleges accept ACT scores in substitution of SAT II exams because they access knowledge in specific subject areas as SAT II exams do.  College print literature and websites indicate which exams are acceptable.
Advanced Placement (A.P.) Exams: Advanced Placement exams are used by colleges (1) to determine your admission to the institution and (2) to assess your placement in the institution's curriculum.  If you are currently enrolled in an A.P. class, you will be required to take the AP exam.  If you are not enrolled in an A.P. class, you can still take the exam, but you should consult the instructor of the subject in which you will be tested.  The exams are given in April.