10th Grade

College Planner

Welcome to your sophomore year! This year you'll be continuing to refine your thoughts about careers, majors, and colleges. Additionally you'll make sure you are taking steps to set yourself apart from your fellow classmates. The tasks and conversations below will help you in all of these areas.

Task List

Task List

These tasks will continue the process of preparing you for college. Click here for a printable list of tasks by month.

Change your schedule - Your counselor can help you adjust your high school four-year plan. You've had more experiences over the past year, so your goals and the types of advanced classes you want to take might be different.
Join extracurricular activities - Hopefully you enjoyed the activities you did in 9th grade. If so, continue with them. If not, explore something new! You also may have new interests - feel free to explore them as well. Remember to keep track of your activities and volunteer opportunities in Xello.
Join mailing lists - As you expand your list of potential colleges and universities, make sure you sign up for their mailing lists and follow them on social media.
Connect with family - Over the Thanksgiving and winter holidays, be sure to have conversations with family members about their college and career experiences. See the Conversations section below for ideas.

Prepare for the PSAT - The PSAT is the second Wednesday of October. The PSAT connects students to over $300 million in scholarships. Make sure you've connected your College Board account to Khan Academy so you can take advantage of personalized practice. A strong score this year will help you prepare well for your 11th grade PSAT, the most important one.
Set goals - As you continue through high school, set personal goals and track your progress. Take notes on how you've grown and developed through your goal setting process.
Learn over spring and summer breaks - Use spring break and summer break to visit colleges and universities, learn a new skill, or visit historical sites/museums. Document your learning and college visits in Xello.

Conversations

Here are some conversation starters for you and your family or other trusted adults.

Career Conversations

- What are your job responsibilities?
- What kinds of problems do you solve at work?
- What have you accomplished at work?
- How does your job fit into the company's purpose?
- How did you become interested in this career choice?
- How much school/training does this job require? What major(s) prepare you for this job?

Self-reflection Prompts - use these to continue your journaling from 9th grade

- In which subjects do I excel? Why does this subject seem easy to me?
- Which subject do I struggle with the most? Shy does this subject seem challenging to me?
- How can I utilize the skills I have in my easiest subject to help me improve my skills in my most challenging subject?
- In the classes in which I do best, are there more ways I can take on leadership roles to assist my teacher or fellow classmates?
- Am I taking on leadership roles in the activities in which I am involved?
- Am I passionate about the things in which I'm involved? Is this something I would like to continue to pursue?
- In what ways do I balance my time between school and extracurricular activities well? In what ways could I improve? What skills do I utilize to maintain the balance?

College Conversations

- Do the colleges I'm interested in offer spring break/summer programs for sophomore students?
- What is the difference between a junior college and a four-year university?
- What are our local junior colleges? How can I go visit campuses?
- How can the Burleson Opportunity Fund help me afford college?
- What are our local four-year universities? How can I go visit campuses?
- Are there any summer job/internship opportunities to which I can apply?

Build Your Resume

Continue building your resume on Xello.

Record all of your volunteer hours, educational opportunities, work experiences, trips, awards, and performances. Track your extracurricular activities as well.

Remember, you can go back to the 9th grade tab to watch the video on Resumes in Xello if you are ready to print yours as you apply for summer jobs.

Career Exploration

As you explore more careers, continue using Xello as a resource.

Complete the lessons on Work Values, Careers and Lifestyle Costs, Workplace Skills and Attitudes, and Program Prospects. Then complete the quizzes in the About Me tab. If you think you've changed quite a bit over the last year, feel free to re-take the quizzes you took as a 9th grader.

Spend some time with a family member exploring the Careers section under the Explore Options tab. Use the filters to help you find jobs you are interested in, and pay attention to the careers noted as Excellent Match or Good Match - those are the ones that your quiz results predict as best fits for you. Remember, when you find a career that sounds interesting, heart it so that you can come back to it.

College Exploration

During your 10th grade year, spend some time exploring majors on Xello.

Once you know what careers are of interest to you, determine what majors will prepare you for working in that field. The go to the Explore Majors tool under Explore Options in Xello. Heart the majors that you're interested in. You can also examine the schools that offer this major in Texas or other states.

Majors you are interested in can be an effective guide to selecting colleges that meet your best-fit profile. If you see a college over and over as you explore majors, consider hearting it as well.

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