Kickstart Your College Prep
Extracurricular activities for college, dual enrollment vs. AP vs. IB and when to take the PSAT
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During your sophomore year of high school, you’ll want to begin thinking about your college applications. Even though you won’t be applying until your senior year, there’s a lot you can do now to make sure that your application is strong and to set goals for your college education. From extracurricular activities to advanced placement classes, your early high school experiences lay the foundation for your college application in a couple of years. Learn more about preparing for college in your sophomore year of high school, including:
- Extracurricular activities for college
- Earning college credit in high school
- When to take the PSAT
- Visiting college campuses
Extracurricular Activities for College
When you apply to colleges, you’ll need to demonstrate involvement in activities outside of your regular academics. Whether you enjoy sports, student government, the arts, or the school newspaper, you’ll want to use your time in high school to explore and deepen your areas of interest. This will help you to shape your college experience and career pursuits in the future.
You can also consider activities that you may be able to continue in college. You can find a list of Pacific University’s clubs and organizations online. Some colleges will also offer scholarships to incoming undergraduates related to your high school extracurriculars and interests. For example, Pacific University offers a Forensics, Speech & Debate Talent Award, Music Scholarships, and the Tom McCall Fellowship for incoming freshmen involved in civic engagement. A liberal arts college is a good fit for students who want to explore multiple areas of interest and activities both inside and outside their majors.
Earning College Credit in High School
Taking courses that provide you with college credit while still in high school can bolster your college applications and shorten your time to college graduation, saving you money on future college expenses. Planning for these courses is an important part of preparing for college in your sophomore year of high school. There are multiple options for earning college credit while you are in high school:
- AP courses are college-level courses offered for high school students and are assessed through a test at the end of each course. You can earn college credit through these courses.
- An IB diploma is awarded through an assessed program and is respected by leading universities around the world. IB courses are only offered at some high schools.
- Dual enrollment is when you enroll in community college courses while in high school. This allows you to earn college credit that can be transferred to the college you attend in the future. This option is a good way to fulfill college-level general education requirements before you start college while also gaining experience in college level coursework and the structure of college classes.
Your high school may also offer honors courses, which are advanced level high school courses that do not provide college credit.
AP, honors and IB classes are taken at your regular high school, whereas with dual enrollment you attend classes at the community college campus. AP and IB classes involve intensive coursework and high stakes tests. AP, IB and honors classes may be weighted differently in your GPA than regular high school classes, so can serve to raise your GPA if you do well in them.
Although no option is necessarily better than another when it comes to overall college admissions, you’ll want to see what is available at your high school and at your community college, and what transfer policies apply at the colleges in which you are interested. Different colleges have different policies about taking AP, IB, and transfer credits so it is important to check with the individual schools you are considering to understand how each option could count toward your degree or be weighted in the application process.
Pacific University accepts transfer credits (including those from dual enrollment programs) for courses with a grade C or better and awards four credits for AP test scores of four or five. Students entering Pacific with an IB diploma with a score of 30 or higher can enter with a sophomore standing and also have the opportunity to earn additional credits for each exam passed with a 5 or higher. Undergraduates entering Pacific University with previously earned college credit may be eligible for the Advanced Academic Standing Award.
When Do You Take the PSAT?
You can take the PSAT in your sophomore year of high school and it is recommended that you take this test if you plan to take the SAT later in high school. The SAT is required for some college admissions and taking the PSAT gives you an opportunity to practice. The PSAT is usually taken in the fall of your sophomore year of high school as it is offered during the month of October. The PSAT is now a digital exam, making it very similar to the format you will experience when you take the SAT.
It is important to remember that the PSAT does not count toward your college admissions, though it is the test you must take to be considered for a National Merit Scholarship (a $2,500 scholarship for top scorers on the PSAT), which not only provides a scholarship for college, but also is helpful for your college applications. The PSAT is also scored slightly differently than the SAT, with a maximum score of 1520 rather than the SAT’s maximum of 1600. You can take the PSAT more than once.
Visiting College Campuses
Your sophomore year is also a good time to begin exploring the colleges to which you may want to apply. Talk to your family, coaches, teachers and mentors about colleges and start thinking about what you want your experience to be like. You can also visit college campuses near you and participate in programs for high school students that take place on college campuses like the COPE Junior Health Scholars Program, Synapse Healthcare Career Explorations Camp or Music in May. This will help you become familiar with college campuses and programs, making it easier for you to make decisions about where to apply and, eventually, where to attend.
At Pacific University, any high school student can register for a one hour campus tour that will show you around campus and give you a sense of what it could be like to be a Boxer. You can make the most out of your campus visits by asking questions and exploring the campus and town.
There are many ways to prepare for college as a high school sophomore. During this year, it’s important to focus on the classes and extracurriculars you are taking in high school while also preparing for the college admissions process to come by taking the PSAT and beginning to explore college options.
Pacific is one of the top private research universities in the Pacific Northwest and empowers you to pursue your purpose with real-world training.