Freshman year of high school can be an exciting time: new campus, new friends, new activities. But by Sophomore year, sometimes the excitement of not being a middle schooler any more has worn off, and it can feel as if you’re on mile 2 of a marathon. You’re trudging along, working hard every day, but the finish line is still nowhere to be seen. Sounds like the ol’ Sophomore Slump to me!
first, I want to emphasize that It’s understandable to feel this way: how many trilogies of books, movies, and tv shows have fallen into this pattern?
For example:
Remember how subdued “New Moon” was in the Twilight series? As the second book in the series, we were no longer getting introduced to the crazy world of Edward/Bella/Jacob/vampires. Yet at the same time, we weren’t yet deep enough into the plot to encounter the bigger themes of saving hybrid babies, conquering Volturi, and general good vs. evil. In a way, the series was entering its own unmemorable chapter—its “Sophomore Slump”.
Something similar happened with Harry Potter. We all remember Harry’s first arrival at Hogwarts, the Triwizard Tournament, and Sirius Black, but how many of us would say Chamber of Secrets was our favorite? How many of us could say much at all about the plot of that book (or movie)?!
You see, many people think of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, being book (and movie) #2 as a kind of “Sophomore Slump” for the series.
Need more proof of how this is a racket ingrained in our culture? Ask any friend who is a middle child! (Or ask yourself, if that’s you.)
So it must be settled then: Sophomore year is just doomed to be dull and pointless, right?
Don’t worry: I’m here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth!
Sophomore year is a very special time, and this uniqueness actually comes from the origins of the word itself.
“Soph” means “wise” in Ancient Greek. Think “Sophocles,” one of the greatest ancient Greek playwrights.
The root of “more”, on the other hand, means “fool” (think “moron”!).
So as a Sophomore, while you are “wise” enough to not be a clueless Freshman anymore, you are also a –
JUST KIDDING! I know you’re not a “moron”—you just have room to grow.
What does this mean for you, right here, right now?
You need to turn this “meh” year into a launching pad for a superlative high school career that can open doors to your dream college. Here’s how:
1. Find Your Focus in 10th Grade
Ninth grade may have been a time when you dipped your toe into lots of different clubs and activities. Now you can “wisely” use those experiences to choose which ones you want to pursue seriously during the rest of high school. Colleges love to see commitment, passions and initiative (read: leadership), so if you hated fencing last year, you still have time to start bowling and maybe make it to team captain by Senior year.
2. take advantage of sophomore year’s lighter Courseload
I want you to keep this in mind: the coursework you’re taking this year is not as heavy as it will be next year as a Junior. Woo-hoo! This means it’s easier this year to score excellent grades than it might be next year. So grab that low-hanging fruit! Snagging top grades Sophomore year pumps up your cumulative GPA, so even if you’re on the struggle bus for Junior year Physics, you’ll have your wowza Sophomore grades to help bring up your average. Also, slam-dunking your coursework this year will make a good early impression on your teachers, some of whom you’ll have again your Junior and Senior years: if they see you excel while your classmates are slacking off, they will give you the benefit of the doubt (and top-notch college recommendation letters!) later on down the line.
3. Consider Taking AP’s
If you are already taking an AP class (or several), aim to take the AP test at the end of the year. During admissions, colleges won’t see the scores you earn Senior year (since those tests happen in Spring)—so they’ll be extra impressed if they see some scores from both your Junior AND Sophomore years.
4. Read! as much as you can!
Here’s a secret from a testing pro who loves efficiency: the most tried-and-true way to get an SAT Reading section score (or “Reading and Writing” section score, on the Digital SAT) above 750 is to READ. A. TON. Reading high-quality texts (the “classics,” articles from the New York Times, New Yorker magazine, for example) is the most effective way to expand your vocabulary naturally and learn to understand sophisticated writing styles…i.e., the same type of formal, sometimes dry writing you’re probably going to encounter on Test Day. If you never crack open a book except when you have to for school, you can still improve your score with lots and lots of elbow grease during your Junior and Senior years, but I rarely see students like that get their scores into the top-notch 750+ range.
5. Visit Colleges
Wait, what?! Yep, you read that correctly. I know you may not know which colleges you even want to apply to yet, but the summer between Sophomore and Junior years is one of the best times to start figuring out what you like and what you dislike in a college, by visiting campuses. I recommend scheduling a handful of college visits in June and July (NOT August, when campuses are flooded with high schoolers cramming in school visits before admission deadlines). Also, do you really think it’s “wise” to wait until next year, when you’ll have to skip several days of Junior year AP English Lit and Trig…when you’re already spending all of your spare time on a burdensome courseload AND prepping for the SAT/ACT?
I didn’t think so.
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So there you have it. Follow these tips, and I promise—you’ll turn that Sophomore frown upside-down!
If you’d like more guidance on how you should be using your Sophomore year to think about standardized test prep and the college process more broadly, check out these four testing timelines. The timeline called “early-bird Sophomore” might be especially relevant, here (because if you’re motivated enough to read this post, that might be you!).
And if you’d like someone with 13 years of experience in the field to take ALL of the big-picture thinking off your plate, learn more about working with me here.
