It’s that time of the year again. School is starting, students are getting back into the swing of things, the weather is starting to cool down (okay maybe yet not in the Kansas City metro) and students are starting to think about the next step towards college. To be honest, that’s going to look different for freshman that it is for sophomores than it is for juniors and last, but not least, seniors. We’ve put together a road map to college as a visual to guide students through their high school career. Not sure where to start? Look at the roadmap.

Road Map to College

Freshman Year

A great place to begin is by building a resume as a freshman. Keep track of your classes, make notes of the courses you liked and didn’t like, put a star next to your favorite teacher. Your resume doesn’t necessarily have to be perfect and polished, but make sure you take notes. You’ll thank yourself in three years.

Sophomore Year

As a sophomore, your classes may start getting a bit more difficult and the thought of college a little closer. How best to prepare? Keep going. Keep taking classes that challenge you and keep getting good grades. Join a club, volunteer, try out for a sport. Keep in mind, you should be including all of these opportunities in your resume. If you’ve taken Algebra II as a sophomore, the end of the school year is a good time to start thinking about the ACT. You can take a practice ACT test at Get Smarter Prep to establish a baseline score. We offer Free Practice ACT tests every Saturday morning.

Junior Year – ACT Prep

Okay, we’re going to say it: Your Junior year of high school is important. It’s the time in your high school career when students start preparing for the ACT, put together college lists, and perhaps start visiting colleges. If you didn’t take Algebra II as a sophomore, then you will take it as a Junior, which is important because the math section of the ACT is heavy in Algebra. We have multiple options to start preparing for the ACT including courses with set curriculum, Semi-Private Tutoring and Private Tutoring.

Senior Year

Senior year and the countdown is on! If you still need to increase your ACT score, the first semester is the best time for ACT Prep so you can crush the ACT and get to your ACT goal. Hopefully as a senior, you have a college list prepared, you are working on your college essays, and are ready to start applying to some of those colleges. Then sit back and enjoy the rest of high school!

At Get Smarter Prep, we are here to help. We want every student who walks through our doors to succeed. Whether that means a 2-point ACT increase, 5-point ACT increase or help with college essays, our tutors are readily available to help students reach their goals.