Sophomore Year Academic Planning As a prelude to the activity-filled junior year, stay on course, study hard, play hard, explore your passions and build activities around these passions, whatever they may be. It is extremely important to maintain your GPA and build key relationships among your teachers. Evaluate your transcript, with a counselor if possible, to stay on course with your college goals. Class participation is critical. You want to be a contributor and leader. You want your natural curiosity to shine and wax within the classroom. Now is a good time to start exploring the colleges that might match your interests. If you have an inkling of your major interest, start exploring departments within target schools, whether over the web, in books by faculty members within target schools or by, if such an opportunity arises, visiting campuses. During the summer participate in either a paid position or volunteer work that matches your interests. Take courses, if appropriate, in a local college or summer campus program to expand your subject knowledge and your scholastic experience. And have fun doing it. Make this effort a true extension of your interest and your benefits multiply and your horizons expand. Start asking yourself, honestly, where it is you truly want to spend four years (and four years worth of tuition and costs). The choices are many and it's important to start narrowing them to conform to your needs. Do you prefer an urban or more rural campus? Do you want to be taught in a small class with true professors, or large lecture halls with TAs (Teacher's Assistants), graduate students? What portion of the school's class graduates in 4 years? How many go on to get graduate degrees? Questions lead to more questions that lead to focus. Narrow your horizons and discover your real wants. Do it before you get into the maelstrom of junior year.