What 10th Grade Students Should Do Now to Prepare for a Competitive Application Process
Elton Lin
(This is an updated version of an article from 2021.)
Although sophomores may still be a few years away from college applications, it’s never too early to start preparing for the admissions process! From standardized testing and curriculum to extracurriculars and good study habits, there are many areas sophomores can tackle now to prepare them for both a strong academic year and well-built applications further down their high school career. Here are some essentials that 10th grade students should focus on this year:
Standardized Testing
The exact role of standardized testing in the sphere of college admissions may be shifting (evidenced by increasing test-optional and test-free admissions policies, which has been a trend even before the pandemic), but the SAT and ACT still remain a strong component of many schools’ applications.
Aside from testing policies, one of the biggest changes in standardized testing is CollegeBoard’s shift to an all-digital SAT. (The ACT is also planning to roll out a digital version, with a pilot set for December 2023, but further implementation will depend on pilot results.) Here is the basic rundown on the digital SAT:
The entire test will be online, but students will still need to go to designated test centers to take the test.
There will be shorter reading passages with only one question tied to each.
Students will be allowed to use a calculator for the entire math section.
Scores will be delivered in days instead of weeks.
The test will be shortened to 2 hours, as compared to its current 3 hours.
The SAT will be administered with multistage adaptive testing, which is what makes the shortened test possible.
(With the shortening of the SAT, a notable difference between the SAT and ACT is their length, as the ACT currently remains a nearly three hour test.)
What is adaptive testing? In the context of the SAT, this means that each of the two test sections is further split into two sections, which CollegeBoard calls “modules.” The first module contains a mixture of easy, medium, and hard questions. The difficulty of the second module questions is adjusted based on a test-taker’s performance on the first module: the higher their first module score, the more difficult the second module questions, and vice-versa. The overall section score will then be calculated using scores from both modules.
According to CollegeBoard, adaptive testing makes for a more efficient test-taking process, shortening the time from three hours to two and still accurately evaluating test-takers’ skills and knowledge.
With this different testing format comes different practice tests, too. CollegeBoard has their own set of four digital practice tests that students can take, and there are plenty more to be found online. Practicing is essential for students to both understand where they stand with the test and work on their weaknesses! Students should prepare over the summer between 10th and 11th grade at the latest; the timing gets tight closer to the end of 10th grade.
Either way, now is the time for test preparation, not test taking. Current 10th graders should not worry too much about taking the exams now; getting the tests out of the way early isn’t crucially beneficial, and students will want to wait for the 10th and 11th grade curriculums to go over more SAT and ACT-relevant test material before taking the tests.
One test 10th graders will likely be taking this year is the PSAT/NMSQT, or the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which serves both as an official practice of sorts for the SAT proper while also awarding high test scorers with college scholarship opportunities. We do not recommend any official preparation for this test; instead, 10th graders are encouraged to keep their focus on their usual studies and activities.
Course Curriculum and Rigor
When students are considering their courses, it's essential to strike a balance between courses in which they can excel and courses that challenge them. Pushing oneself too hard can lead to burnout, while taking it too easy won't demonstrate the academic rigor that colleges look for when evaluating applications. If possible, students should enroll in the honors or Advanced Placement (AP) classes in subjects where they excel.
Note that admission readers will take the context of the attended high school into consideration when looking at a student’s application, so if a student’s school has a policy that doesn’t allow them to take AP courses until 11th grade, they should not feel obligated to try and rush into this curriculum!
Students should also be sure to pick and choose their battles, especially when preparing for their 11th grade course selection. Automatically taking all of the most advanced courses that one can take is often not the best decision a student can make! Optimizing one’s courseload and delegating time and effort where it is more needed is a much wiser and effective way to choose classes.
For example, if a student is potentially interested in majoring in chemistry in the near future, AP Chemistry will be a critical course to tackle in 11th grade, whereas AP US History might just be for personal interest. For a student interested in studying history or writing, AP US History now has a priority when considering other AP courses.
Students should avoid being overwhelmed by the sheer number of AP classes, and try not to get too fixated on taking the most that they can; instead, students should make sure to take the ones most important to their academic interests, while adding any additional classes only as bonus options.
Extracurricular Activities: Beyond the Classroom
Ideally, students spent much of 9th grade exploring their interests, in the classroom and in extracurriculars alike. Students should keep pursuing those interests by committing to extracurriculars that match them! Fine-tuning interests into concrete experiences will not only be great for students’ personal development, but also for their college applications down the road, when they’ll want to provide evidence that they put valuable time into their interests.
However, if students are still unsure about their interests, they shouldn’t worry too much—it’s okay if 10th graders don’t have their interests completely sorted out already. There is still time for them to explore! If they’re very confident in their skills in a certain academic subject, or if they think they have a passion for teaching others, they could try tutoring (high schools and local libraries often have opportunities available, and students can also put up flyers for personal tutoring or reach out to family and friends if they know any students who could benefit from some help with certain subjects). Maybe a student wants to pick up a new skill, like coding or painting—they can look up introductory material online and try their hand at it. If a student has a niche interest that they’d love to pursue more in an organized club, but their school doesn’t offer any related activities, they could even start a club of their own.
Additionally, instead of joining many clubs for the sake of membership numbers, students should focus on a few clubs where they can take on leadership roles or make a meaningful impact.
Time Management, Study Habits, and Prioritization
What is critical for 10th graders this year is to focus on developing (or strengthening!) time management, study habits, and organization skills. These are important to develop now not only to help students juggle coursework and extracurriculars, but also to have in the bag before schedules and task loads get heavier in the coming years, from high school to college to beyond!
Every individual student has a different time management system that works for them. What is consistently important, however, is learning how to prioritize. Homework, extracurriculars, hobbies—not everything on a student’s to-do list is equal, and figuring out which task is of higher priority is the first step to effective time management.
It’s important for students to keep a calendar full of all their time obligations (e.g. classes, club hours, hangouts with friends and family) in order to properly visualize their schedule and the time they have to work on their various to-dos. It can help students keep track of assignments, tests, and extracurricular commitments alike!
Google Calendar is a great platform for this. (For a very thorough guide on Google Calendar, check this out.) For example:
Here, you can see a student’s classes, club hours, internship and volunteer hours, group meetings and practices, scheduled hangouts with friends and family, and events. Despite its density, this is the bare bones of a Google Calendar schedule; it consists of all of the student’s time commitments, and helps the student visualize where their time is going, as well as organize the time for their other tasks, responsibilities, and things they want to do around this skeleton.
Some people prefer to leave their schedules in this bare bones form, simply interpreting the empty spaces as time they can spend on work and play alike. Others, however, may prefer (or benefit from!) specifically marking out chunks of time for work and play, perhaps to keep themselves accountable or to more concretely visualize that additional time spent.
When making their initial schedule and then filling it out, students should also keep commute time and break time in mind. How long does it take to get to their next commitment? When would it be best to take a breather? Students should measure out their time slots accordingly.
Below is an example of the same schedule, but with additional time allotted for study/work time and breaks:
Setting aside specific blocks of time each day for homework and study can help reduce stress and prevent last-minute cramming. Also, not all tasks are of equal importance, and this changes day by day! Students should learn to prioritize their assignments based on due dates and importance.
It’s also a strong study habit to limit distractions while studying or working. Students are recommended to create a study environment free from distractions, which might mean putting their phone on "Do Not Disturb" mode or finding a quiet place to study.
Hopefully these pointers will help your student get started in considering what to do now in 10th grade to prepare for the admissions process! If you’d like to get some additional help or individualized feedback, feel free to book a free consultation with us so we can discuss your student specifically.