Grades 9 and 10

Freshman and Sophomores

During your Freshman and Sophomore years you are getting to know and experience High School life. Take some time to transition/adapt and explore what areas of learning or subjects you like the most.

This is time to be casually exploring colleges or doing some basic research. Possibly having conversations with your parents or family members about your future plans, where you could see yourself in the future career wise.

This may seem early to plan for college, but this are a great time to start thinking about what you would like to do job wise and building your schedule around this.

Organize Yourself

This is the time to set your habits and routine at the start, this could include:

Establish study habits. Learn what works for you, this could be: Notecards, quizlet, reviewing notes, practice tests, etc.
Build a healthy routine. Make sure you are able to balance your well-being/health, academics, extracurriculars, sports, and your social life.
Learn time management and what works for you. Examples: Using a planner, setting alarms, using the calander on your phone, or other apps.

Get Involved

Even if you are playing a sport, being involved is important!

Joining any clubs or organizations offered.
Participating in community service opportunities or finding some.
Cultivating a hobby, you never know how this could look to a college. (Example: Mountain biking, origami, karate, and more)
Looking at how to incorporate this into your summers, utilizing this time to find things that would look good to colleges.

Set Goals

Setting goals will help set you up for success and provide you with focus. Goals give you something to work towards.

Use the acronym "SMART" to help you get started. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Based

Academic Goals
Sport or athletic Goals
Career Goals
Personal Goals

How and what can you do to achieve these goals?

Advice/Recommendations

Freshman

Take time to transition to High School. But remember, your GPA starts calculating your Freshman year. Try to strive for As and if you need help, make sure to ask for it!
Be sure you are taking core classes (Math, English, History, Science). Keep in mind most colleges require 3 years of a language, this may be different if you are looking to be recruited for a sport.
Make sure you are doing your homework and actively participating in class/classwork, this can be a huge boost to your grade. For example, if you know you do not do well on tests and quizzes, these grades can help balance this out.
Your teachers, coaches, and staff are all here to support you! Do not be afraid to seek guidance or help in both academic and personal situations.

Sophomores

You have a year under your belt, now is the time to use the skills you developed Freshman year.
Strive to improve from Freshman year. Reflect on last year, where did you struggle? What are your strengths?
- Example: You know you struggled last year with Math, you received a C or B in a course. This year you decide to seek extra support and sit with your math teacher to do some extra work. This year you want to go up a letter grade, which is a great goal.
- Example: You know that science is your strength, you do well in this course and find it easy. So you decide to challenge yourself by taking a higher level science course this year.
Start thinking about if you would like to take AP classes, see if you can handle more challenging courses.
Keep in mind that the PSAT will be coming up, maybe take some time to do some practice exams online.

*Transfer students only: If you completed Freshman year elsewhere, you must send PSA your transcript from your old school.

Guidance is here to support you! guidance@putnamscience.org or lveatch@putnamscience.org

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