4 Tips for Your Sophomore Year of High School

As the parent of a 10th grader, you may recall the heartaches of this awkward year of high school and how challenging it can be. What can make this year awkward from a college-readiness standpoint is that your teen isn’t quite fully in the college admissions phase. To make the most of this year, here are four sophomore year of high school tips that I have learned over the years:

#1 – Develop Self-awareness

This is a great year for your teen to get in touch with who they are and what they want . . . not just being who their parents say they are or imitating their friends’ interests.

Developing self-awareness can be done through taking some initial inventories and interest surveys that can help with figuring out likes and dislikes. Your school counselor may have access to some really great tools that your teen can take.

The key will be making sure that they review the results with their counselor and you should get a copy as well to discuss with your teen. Perhaps interpreting the results can lead your teen to consider certain careers or help with building their interpersonal skills, depending on the survey instrument taken.

#2 – Re-evaluate friend groups

This second tip may sound a bit harsh in some way, but 10th grade is a good time for your teen to really reassess their friend groups. When I say reassess friend groups, it’s really about your teen thinking about who is a friend and who is not a friend.

And if it’s someone that’s really not a good friend to them, then it’s okay to exit that relationship and not be in a place where they feel bad about themselves or unwanted.

I’ve seen a number of teens go through this experience and it’s been one that’s really been valuable for them in 10th grade. During 9th grade, they may have made some friends that weren’t the best choices. Because 11th grade will likely be a bit more intense, managing toxic relationships at school could be even more challenging.

Sophomore year can be a good time to join a new group because it’s likely that there are some other classmates who are also open to new friendships.

#3 – Pursue interests

Your teen should consider pursuing what interests them . . . whether it’s a particular club at school or community service activity. The key is that whichever activity they pursue, make sure that it’s not about doing what their friends are doing or participating because mom/dad suggested.

BTW, I understand that this may sound easier than it is in practice, especially if your teen does not want to be involved. A parent shared recently that they forced their teen to choose one club to join. Although I don’t recommend “forcing” a teen to do anything, you, the parent, would know best what will motivate your teen to take action.

What have you done when your teen has been reluctant to participate at school?

#4 – Spend summer wisely

Encourage your sophomore to spend their summer in a productive, intentional way.

For example, let’s say that your teen completes an interest inventory and the results show that they may be a fit for business. Then they could consider a summer internship, part-time job and/or countless summer business programs. These summer experiences could help them determine whether business really is an area that interest them.

One of my students attended a summer business program after his sophomore year and realized that marketing interested him far more than finance. That’s an important distinction to make because business is such a broad field. (With an interest an marketing, then that could lead to getting involved with DECA during junior year.)

Whatever the experience your teen pursues during the summer, remember to be intentional about the summer and not just let the summer happen to your teen.

For more insights and tips for sophomore year, check out our 10th grade roadmap which includes specific month-by-month suggested actions, colleges worth considering and scholarships!

College Scholarships for Middle School Students: Start Early

scholarship money for middle school students | College Scholarships for Middle School Students | Compass College Advisory

Did you know that your child can start getting scholarships for college before they even get to high school?

It’s true. There are more middle school scholarships available to students than ever before!

I didn’t know this until recently either—I was working with an 11th grade student to find outside scholarships for college, and we were doing some independent research.

We had a meeting set up to review our findings together, which revealed some very surprising results.

Can middle schoolers get college scholarships?

I was amazed at the college scholarships for middle school students available long before they even started applying to college.

I realized that (as someone who is fully immersed in the college application and admission processes) if even I didn’t know there were so many excellent scholarships available for middle school students, how could the students and their families know?

I began sharing several of the scholarship opportunities I found with families who had younger children.

While we’re on the topic, you won’t want to miss this post, with tips for preparing your ninth-grader for college. 

What I’ve found is while most people wanted to know about these scholarships as soon as their child was eligible to apply, only a small percentage actually followed through with the applications.

Can you guess what happened when other middle schoolers did take advantage of these scholarship opportunities?

Their road to college was a much smoother ride!

Of course, obtaining scholarships isn’t the only important part of the journey to getting into college.

Although it’s still a few years away, here are some tips for supporting your middle school-aged child during the college admissions process.

Scholarship opportunities for middle school students

If you want to start garnering middle school college scholarships early, check out these opportunities for middle schoolers:

  1. Doodle 4 Google—Contestants can apply for this scholarship as early as kindergarten through high school.
  2. Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes—This scholarship goes to young people aged 8 – 18 who have made a positive difference on people and the environment.
  3. Kohl’s Cares—Students are recognized for their volunteer service from 6 years and up to high school graduation with this scholarship that awards up to $10,000.
  4. MathMovesU—These scholarships go to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders and can be used for a summer camp or college.
  5. Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards—This scholarship is the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in grades 7 – 12. Students can submit art or writing across 28 categories.
  6. The Angela Award—The Angela Award is a scholarship awarded by the National Science Teachers Association to a girl in grade 5 – 8, who is involved in or connected to science.

This is just a short list of opportunities to help you get started.

I encourage you to do a very specific search on Google to find additional scholarships for your middle schooler. It takes time and diligence to find scholarships and apply for them, so don’t give up!

These efforts can pay off in more ways than one.

What other scholarships would you add to this list?

Need a little more guidance with finding scholarships, college applications, and admissions?

For one-on-one support and other resources to help you or your child get into (or pay) for college, click here.

If you’d like to learn more about preparing for college and the college application process, you’ll want to have a look at these articles too:

7 Ways to Support Your Child During the College Application Process
Get In and Get Money: 5 Tips for College-Bound Juniors
Where’s the Money for College? Case Studies of How Students Earned Big Scholarships

This article was originally published on June 29, 2015, and has been updated.