As a teen enters their sophomore year of high school, they’re ready to start thinking more seriously about their future. That means building good habits and diving deeper into building necessary skills and experiences.

1. Maintain or Build Good Academic Habits

Now that they’ve had a year to settle into high school life, it’s the perfect time to start looking at what they can do in their sophomore year to prep for college. This segment of their high school experience is the ideal time to maintain and build good academic habits. That means turning assignments in on time, planning regular study sessions, and engaging critically with schoolwork. These habits will help them get better grades, which in turn open a wider field of options for higher education in the future, setting them up for success in their college years.

2. Start to Focus In

If freshman year was about exploring extracurriculars, sophomore year is the time to narrow their focus. That doesn’t mean teens shouldn’t still try out for the school play or join the debate team on a whim, but it does mean that they should start recognizing what extracurriculars they enjoy the most and dive deeper into those interests.

For example, along with joining the choir, maybe musically-inclined students look into private voice lessons or music theory classes. If they want to take on more responsibility, they can express interest in eventually being a team captain to their coach. The goal here is to start building more specific skills within a student’s areas of interest.

3. Think About a Future Career

As they narrow down some of their interests in extracurriculars, sophomores should also start to seriously think about what they may enjoy doing for a career. No hard decisions need to be made quite yet. Instead, this is the ideal time for exploration and consideration. Banzai offers a Career Field Quiz as part of their college prep curriculum for high school students. This quiz helps students narrow down the areas that align most with their goals and interests.

Students should think about the topics that interest them most and research potential jobs related to those topics. If there’s something they’ve always thought they may enjoy, now is the time to start building those relevant skills. That can mean job shadowing, taking additional classes in a related field, and volunteering at related nonprofits, and more!

4. Take the PSAT

Preparing for college in high school also means thinking about standardized testing. The SAT is a standardized test required for many colleges and universities. As early as the fall of sophomore year, students can take the Preliminary SAT, or PSAT. This gives them an opportunity to experience what the real SAT will be like without the pressure of the actual test. Please note that you cannot use your PSAT score for college admissions, and it’s scored slightly differently than the actual SAT. However, this score can indicate areas needing additional study to improve your projected score.

A sophomore is still at the beginning of their high school experience and, thus, still has a lot of time for discovering more about themselves and their goals for the future. Now is the ideal time to dive deeper into their interests and build their skills so that they can set themselves up for a satisfying and enjoyable experience in college and beyond.