Make High School Count!
Prepare a solid foundation & boost your skills
Realize that your grades count.
- Your academic record, the transcript, is crucial to college entrance because it tells a college who you are over a 4 year period.
- Keep your grades up and ask for help as soon as you struggle
Develop good study skills now.
- Practice good time management, plan ahead
Plan now to take a wide variety of rigorous courses.
- College will be looking for strong grades and tough course choices. This will not only help you with gaining college admission but will also better prepare you to be SUCCESSFUL once you are in.
Start practicing for college entrance testing now.
- Take the PSAT each Fall of high school and take practice tests on line
- Take a “Test Prep Course”; begin understanding the patterns of these tests early
Attend College Fairs whenever available.
- Sherman & Denison High School both offer a local opportunity to attend and met representatives from up to 100 colleges and universities
- National and Christian College Fairs are offered several times a year in the Dallas Fort Worth area.
Start a college search now at:
- www.collegeboard.org – Make finding a “good fit” for you priority over a prestigious college name
Explore your interest, strengths & gifts.
- Register at www.bigfuture.org for free exploration powered by collegeboard
- Talk to family members about their careers
Get involved & Keep a list of your activities.
- Community service is important to college & scholarship applications.
- Focus on activities that interest you, quality rather than quantity.
- Plan meaningful summer experiences during HS – camps, volunteering & jobs
- Maintain a list of your activities and awards throughout your high school years for your college and scholarship applications.
College Athletics Interest?
- Be realistic about your abilities; keep track of accomplishments including videos of your performances
- Register with NCAA, NAIA and or NJCAA and video your skills
Don’t forget – CHARACTER COUNTS
- Be mindful of your attitude and behavior; you will need administrators and teachers to complete recommendations for you!
- In the spring of Sophomore year, students will be considered for the TCS chapter of National Honor Society. Considerations will include GPA, service & character.
Identify academic strengths & weaknesses – TEST PREP
- Take the Pre-ACT/PLAN, to identify academic areas of weaknesses early and develop a plan to improve
- Take the PSAT and utilize free access to College Board’s Kahnacademy.com where you can link your PSAT scores for personalized feedback!
- Take college entrance test prep seriously! Consider taking test prep courses in the summer after Sophomore year.
Build your COLLEGE LIST by:
- Have family discussions and ask yourself “What kind of college experience am I looking for?”; “What kind of college will help me grow as a person as well as gain a degree?”; “Do I want to stay close to home or move away?”; “Am I more comfortable with campus where some of my classes may contain 200 or more students or where the student to professor ratio is smaller?”
- READ this book! Colleges That Change Lives by Loren Pope
- Utilize www.collegeboard.org and www.bigfuture.org where you can set up a personal account to compile your own lists and research schools. These are user friendly sights that help you cut to the most important college search information.
Continue to build your college resume
- Get involved in extracurricular & service activities seeking opportunities for leadership and service
- Maintain and update your list of activities regularly for your college resume