Congratulations sophomores, you’re almost halfway through high school. You can almost finally consider yourself an “upperclassmen.” Although there’s a lot to look forward to during your junior year such as blackouts and getting better seats at the pep assemblies. There’s a lot of work you have to do in order to prepare for the hardship. Although summer is always about relaxing and not doing any type of school work, it is vital you use your summer to your advantage. The key to succeeding in your junior year is to always be one step ahead.

1.) Take a summer school class:

Junior year is always a pain. You can never avoid that, but you can definitely make it less painful. Get one of your graduation requirement classes out of the way over the summer so that you don’t have to worry about it while being a junior, and during your senior year you can have a lighter schedule.

2.) ACT Prep:

I wouldn’t recommend taking ACT Prep classes over the summer unless you’re taking the September, October, or December test. During the summer you should definitely get an ACT prep book and familiarize yourself with the types of questions that would be on the test and practice pacing yourself with questions. I would suggest taking an ACT prep class a couple months prior to your test so you can retain the information better.

3.) Get Organized:

You probably hear this all the time, but there’s a real reason for that. The one thing I would highly recommend is to get a planner. It just isn’t humanly possibly to remember everything your teachers say during the day, and writing it down will help SO much.

4.) College Visits:

The school year will get super busy so I would recommend doing a couple college visits over the summer. Everyone always says they’ll do it over spring break, but then what happens when your Aunt Susie gets married or your friends want to go on a road trip? You have so much free time over the summer, so it doesn’t hurt to do it a little earlier than others.

5.) Work, work, and work:

Working or volunteering over the summer is a very wise choice. Not only will it give you experience, it might expand your interests in certain things. Plus, it looks great on college applications, and some extra cash doesn’t hurt.

6.) Relax:

Last but most definitely not least, relax! You have a big year ahead of you and not only is relaxing fun, it’s healthy to take a mental break. 

Junior year is a heavy work load but starting to tackle it early on will help a ton. As long as you stay on top of your game you’ll be set.